Page 16 of Barbie: Dreamscape

“I… I failed her. I failed both of you.” Tears are running down my cheeks.

Robin is not a warm person, not really. But she has her moments. Like right now, when she puts her hands on my shoulders and draws me close. “You could never be a failure,” she whispers.

“But I am. I don’t have a Fate. I am the biggest failure!”

Robin frowns. She looks at my tears, confused, like she’s not quite sure what to do about them. I’ve never cried in front of her about anything but missing my mom. And I haven’t done even that in years.

I always try to be strong in front of her. Perfect.

But now… I’m splitting at the seams. I’m jagged at the edges.

“What if you got out of Swancrest for a little while today?” Robin finally suggests, making a pink tissue box appear, then handing it to me. “Go… see Callie and Sunny?”

At the sound of my friends’ names, I calm a little.

I pull one of the tissues out of the box. Sniffle. “Okay,” I say, because that’s better than wallowing alone in my room, or wandering the halls. I wipe my eyes, then lift a shoulder. “I’m pretty sure everyone in here is tired of my crying, anyway.”

Everything in my room—from the lamps, to Wardrobe, to my nightstand, to my bed frame, to Misty and Bonbon—nods at the same time, and I glare at them.

“Sorry my agony is so annoying,” I snap.

They all nod again, accepting my apology.

A little while later, I’m ready in a pale pink dress, standing at the gates of the school with Robin.

To my surprise, it’s not her majestic, two-story boat that magically floats up in front of us. It’s one I’ve never seen before—long, with curved ends carved into swirls. The side has a magnificent “B,” surrounded by the same stars that frame the “B” on my necklace. Pink cushions line built-in wooden benches.

“It was your mother’s,” she says as I stare at it in awe. “And now it’s yours.”

I blink, certain I’ve misheard. “I—I assumed, because I don’t have a Fate—”

“Of course you get a boat, Barbie,” she says. “It will take you anywhere you want to go.”

For the first time in days, something that resembles excitement breaks through the despair. “Thank you,” I say, my voice quiet.

“Be careful.”

“Always,” I respond, because I always am.

The boat rocks beneath my foot as I step onto it, but I quickly straighten and gain my balance. I sit directly in the middle, my blush skirts ballooning around me in waves of silk and gossamer.

The color might not be bright, but the style is one of my favorites. I picked it out to lift my mood. It’s hard to be sad in a pretty dress.

With a few steadying breaths, I close my eyes, the sun’s heat cutting through the surrounding mists and warming my face. A gentle breeze blows one of the strands of my crown-like braids free.

I envision where I want to go, and just like that, the boat starts moving.

The Book of Fates

Callie spots me the moment I walk through the giant heart-shaped door of the Heartland Library.

“Barbie!” she calls out a little too loudly.

Every head turns toward me. The already quiet library goes deathly silent.

I see more than a few of my former classmates scattered around tables, probably reading up on their new roles. Including Paige.

The moment she sees me, Paige packs up her stuff and moves to another table as far away from me as she can get. I glare at her and at the others who have started scuttling to the other side of the room.