The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker Read Free Page B

life.

Chapter 3
    Cory’s mother was lugging a heavy tooth bag when she flew through the window. After dropping the bag on the table, she fluttered to the middle of the room. The air shimmered and she returned to her normal size, just a little shorter than her daughter.
    Cory sighed. She didn’t want to have this conversation now, but she didn’t have any choice if she wanted to tell her mother before the TFG announced that Cory had quit. It was going to be doubly hard because even ordinary conversations with her mother had been strained ever since Cory started working on her own. The two fairies agreed on very little, and they weren’t anything alike, from the way they thought to the way they looked. Other than having the same delicate, pointed ears, they didn’t have much in common. Delphinium’shair was the same blue as the flower she was named after, like most people born into a flower-fairy family. Cory had dark chocolate–colored hair, which was unusual among fairies. Like the rest of her family, Delphinium had leaf-green eyes. Cory’s eyes were turquoise blue, the same shade as the eyes of the father she had never known.
    â€œMother, I …,” Cory began.
    Ping!
Another letter bearing the TFG insignia appeared in the basket, only this time the flying tooth was bright red.
    â€œJust a minute, Cory. I have an urgent message,” said her mother as she reached for the envelope.
    Cory watched in disbelief while her mother ripped the envelope open. The TFG couldn’t possibly have notified her already! But when her mother raised her head to glare at her, Cory knew that that was exactly what they had done.
    â€œYou quit!” Delphinium said in a horrified voice. “How could you do that? No one quits the Tooth Fairy Guild! We’ve talked about this before! Being a member of the TFG is a lifelong commitment.”
    â€œAnd I’ve told you that I want to quit I don’t know how many times, but I always let you talk me out of it. This time is different, Mother. I’m not meant to be a tooth fairy. I don’t like it the way you do. Flying aroundat night collecting teeth is not how I want to spend the rest of my life. I want to do something that matters, something that will make a real difference, something that will help people. Collecting teeth isn’t at all what you said it would be, and I am not going to do it anymore.”
    â€œBut the job … The prestige … Being a tooth fairy is one of the most exalted jobs a fairy can hope to earn! Most fairies can only dream of belonging to the TFG!”
    â€œMaybe,” said Cory. “But it’s not my dream. Honestly, Mother, I’ve given the job a chance like I told you I would, but I can’t just—”
    Her mother’s eyes had narrowed when her glance fell on the tooth washer that had already finished cleaning Cory’s collection. “How many did you get?” she interrupted, lifting the lid and peering inside. “Four! You got only four teeth in an entire night!”
    Cory winced as her mother’s voice grew shriller. “I had a bad night.”
    â€œYou must not have tried!” Delphinium cried, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. “You collected more teeth your very first night out!”
    â€œI’m no good at it, Mother. I’ll certainly never be as good as you.”
    Delphinium pulled one of the mushroom-shaped stools out from under the table and sat down with agroan. “Good or bad, the Tooth Fairy Guild will never let you quit. You’ve gone through all the levels of training. You’ve learned everything they have to teach you. If you were going to quit, you should have done it before you reached the third level and learned their most guarded secrets. No one outside of the special guilds is supposed to know how to go from our world to the humans’, or pass through solid objects when the job requires it. I was so