I pondered her statement, remembering what a villain is. "You are a villain? You do not look like one."

"Looks can be deceiving, my dear," Diversity pointed out. "The same can be said about you. Your idiot father forces you to dress up in that outfit, and you are not even of royalty descent."

I raised a hand to signal her to halt. "Watch your mouth. You may be a villain, but that gives you no right to call my dearest father an idiot."

"There you go again." She clapped some more. "Let me ask you something important, Ada. Are you aware that your own dad is a villain?"

"What kind of fool do you take me for? Of course, I know! He does evil things like blackmailing and killing innocent people."

Diversity circled around me. Her long, black was like mine. Tied in a bun. "You are descended from both the Maxwells and Nights."

I eyed her suspiciously. "What do you mean that I am a descendant from the Nights? Unless my mother was a Night."

"Forget that. It is nothing of importance. What I am getting at is that you are from a bloodline of evil and more than aware that your daddy does naughty things."

"Like having his way with women?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and was next to me. "Girl, you had better not say things like that."

"Why not? It is the truth. When men are referred to doing the naughty, it usually means that they are cheating on other women."

She slapped her forehead in disbelief. "Naughty does not always mean cheating. It is another term for wrongdoing. Where did you get that mindset from?"

"From Mary Sue. She knows what is up."

Diversity rubbed her chin. "Mary Sue, huh? Is she not that character who acts too perfect?"

"That is her. She is my best friend. Well, my only friend."

"Jeez. Now I really feel bad for you. No one of your standards should have to deal with a Mary Sue."

I guess that her dress had pockets because she reached into one of them and pulled out a small piece of paper. It was folded, and she unfolded it and handed it to me.

I took the paper and read it. It was an invitation for a party at the...Shecduke's Comno De Linez.

I held up the invitation and pointed at the strange words. "What does 'Shecduke's Comno De Linez' translate to?"

"'School For Fictional Villains.' The words are just gibberish to make the title sound fancy."

"Why is there an apostrophe S?"

"The made-up word did not look good without it. Anyway, do you accept?"

"Do I accept what?"

"Silly. The party. You would fit right in."

"How do you figure that?" I handed the invitation back to her. "I am not a villain."

She played with the paper. "The reason that I have been watching you is because I believe that you would be a candidate to run for apprenticeship."

"Apprenticeship? For what?"

"I am the greatest and strongest fictional villain in the universe, but even the most powerful villains need apprentices every now and then." She shoved the paper in my hands. "I see great potential in you, Ada. I promise that if you become my apprentice, you will receive riches and glory. You will gain respect from the people who fear you. Plus, you will be free to be who you choose to be, not your dimwitted daddy."

Her words had the wheels in my brain cranking. I glanced at the invitation, and then back at her. Diversity held out a hand for me to shake. It was tempting, but...

"What do you say?"

"Um...can I think about it?"

She glared angrily and dropped her arm. "No."

"Why not?"

"The party is tonight. You have no time to ponder."

"I have the rest of the day. Plenty of time."

She let out a heavy sigh. "As you wish. The party begins at seven o'clock, and there is a map at the bottom of the paper that will guide you to my school." She started wandering away. "It was nice to meet you, Ada. I hope to see you at the party tonight."

The shadows of the woods engulfed her, and I was alone once again. I rubbed the back of my neck.

"What should I do?" I said to myself. "I cannot return to school or home because I killed that student. So what is my next option?"

I stared hard at the invitation, wondering what to do now, when the universe answered.

Ring!

Silence was cut short by a phone that was ringing in the distance. I did not own a phone and tracked down where it was. Turns out, it was a pay phone - I hope that you remember what those are - and I snatched up the phone. I held it to my ear.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Ada! Thank the heavens that you finally answered. I have been calling you all day."

"You have? Sorry. I have been...busy."

"I need to see you as soon as possible."

"W-why?" I was worried that she knew about the killing of the boy.

"I...um...I did something really bad."

"Huh? What did you do?"

"I...I killed a real worlder."

I blinked rapidly. "What?"

"I did not mean to! They were attacking our writer, and I managed to get one of their guns and..." Her voice trailed off.

"Stay where you are, Mary Sue. I am coming. Where are you?"

"Just outside of town."

I suddenly heard two shots from the phone.

"Mary Sue? Mary Sue!"

"I am sorry, Ada. I could not allow them to flee the scene."

"Do not do anything else, Mary Sue. You hear me? I am coming."

I hung up and took off. All the while, I was saying, "Why would Mary Sue kill someone? She is too perfect to do something like that!"