The bullfrog croaked loudly on Felicia's bedside table. She smacked it with her hand to silence the alarm. The frog hopped away, slightly shocked at the hit, as if this wasn't something that literally happened every morning.

This was it, her last day at home before being shipped off to Worcestershire Academy. Felicia rubbed her eyes and begrudgingly sat up in bed. Her red hair tangled around her face. She yawned, stretched, and took in the scent of breakfast.

"Waffles?" she thought. "Donkey must be here."

She suspected her parents would probably make today full of pomp, though the siblings didn't really need it after leaving Far Far Away.

Before they were old enough for the Academy, Fiona and Shrek took their children to Far Far Away each year to be trained and schooled by the best. They grew up with Uncle, rather, King Arthur and Merlin, and the best-of-the-best tutors the King could hire.

They spent years perfecting the basics like reading, writing, arithmetic, and history, but also music, topography, archery, axe wielding, jousting, potion-making, spellcasting, dragon training, royal dancing, cooking, dinner etiquette, and, most importantly, according to Shrek, belching.

After fourteen or so years of castle school, and graduating with high marks, the castle workers, the family's closest friends, and the rest of the royals, threw an enormous "Castle School Graduation" party for the triplets. Felicia was proud of all she had accomplished.

While she wasn't the best at sports like her brother Fergus or as intelligent as Farkle, she was a great student overall. Her favorites, however, were history and magic.

While she wasn't born with the innate gift of magic, she was surprisingly able to hone in on it and make it her own. It took time, but with Merlin's help, she quickly became a fierce magical duelist and could conjure nearly any potion you could think of, which, of course, she used both to make her life easier and to torment her brothers.

Fergus, always getting into trouble and roughhousing, constantly needed healing potions, and a good amount of bone regrowth. Farkle on the other hand, was fun to torment with more obnoxious potions, like throwing stink bombs in his room or making his head extra-large to fit that extra big brain of his.

As the oldest of the three, it was Felicia's responsibility to both love and torment her younger siblings.

Felicia threw off her covers, changed clothes, and headed to the washroom. After having three kids, Shrek took it upon himself to update the singular outhouse. Now there were five private outhouses, one for each member of the household. Not that it was nearly as lavish as the private bathrooms in the castle, but for a swamp ogre, it worked just fine.

Felicia brushed her teeth and put her hair up. She stared at herself in the mirror. How had fourteen years gone by so quickly? She smiled at her reflection and headed back toward the house.

Upon entering the living room, she discovered she was correct; Donkey had indeed been making waffles and lovingly annoying her father at the same time. He was singing some song she had never heard. Her mom was setting the table for breakfast.

"Morning, sweetheart!" said Fiona.

"Morning, Mom," she greeted back, going in for a hug. Fiona kissed her cheek.

"Please don't tell me we're having another goodbye party," Felicia asked, side-eyeing Donkey.

"No, since we already had the party at Far Far Away. But Donkey—" she was cut off.

"But I just had to make you my specialty breakfast one last time!" said Donkey, balancing a stack of waffles on a plate on his back. He bucked, and the waffles landed squarely in the center of the table.

Donkey sniffed back tears. "It seems like only yesterday you were wearin' diapers and givin' Shrek nightmares."

Shrek thundered up behind him, covered head to toe in flour and syrup. "Well, Donkey, now the only one giving me nightmares is you."

Donkey smiled sheepishly, and Shrek playfully rolled his eyes. He began laying glasses of water on the table and heading to and from the kitchen for more, as well as some side dishes of fruit and fish.

Felicia laughed. "Are our cousins coming over today?" she asked, referring to Donkey and Dragon's children. Since they were so close, Donkey was basically their uncle.

"Nah, they're stayin' home with Dragon today. They gotta prepare for their own kind of dragon school, apparently."

"Well, good luck to them!"

At that moment, the boys ran into the kitchen, overlapping each other's comments about how good the waffles smelled and hoping Donkey had made enough because they were starving.

"Boys, boys!" Fiona called out. "You are not eating all of these yourselves. This is a family breakfast, understand?"

The boys sighed. "Yes, mom."

"Excellent. Then let's take our seats."

Everyone sat down at the table. Fiona and Shrek at either end, the boys on one side, and Felicia and Donkey on the other.

Breakfast was nice and casual. In fact, the whole day was pretty casual. They spent the day just lounging, talking, playing games, watching the Magic Mirror, reminiscing about the past, and, of course, packing. Lots and lots of packing.

By the evening, Donkey had headed back home. The sunset burned orange over the swamp. The onion carriage was filled with bags and boxes of clothes, books, and other homey things. All that was left was the final suitcase.

Felicia stared at herself in her bedroom mirror, and for the first time, she got butterflies in her stomach, and not the kind she'd eat for a light snack. She was headed to a new school full of new people. The only friends she had were her brothers and the other fairy-tale creatures, if either even counted as "friends."

What really made her stomach flip was the fact that these other students, human students, only knew her through word of mouth, maybe their history books, and whatever cameos she happened to be in on the Magic Mirror.

Living at Arthur's castle, being half royal, and an ogre, no less, set her apart. She knew her parents had worked hard to get to where they were and obviously had the kingdom's respect, so maybe things wouldn't be so bad.

Felicia sighed and tried to clear the scary thoughts from her mind. She blew out her earwax candle and lay down in bed. She closed her eyes, trying to sleep, but all she could think was that high school was its own kind of kingdom, and she was not its ruler.