Anachronous

Chapter 1 - Little Chocolate Horse

The town's popular candy store known as Indigo's was Ivori's favorite candy store as a child. She had always ordered the chocolate horse lollipop, given that horses were her least favorite animal after one kicked her in the face and stepped on her foot when she was only four years old. Eating the tiny chocolate horse helped her overcome her fear of horses, and made her feel like she had a sense of control over her fear if she ever saw another one. These chocolate horses also calmed her down before huge important events were about to take place, and tonight for Ivori would be one night she'd never forget. It was both her 18th birthday and the opening night of the spring musical Annie at Scott Ridge High School, the high school that Ivori had been attending since the start of her junior year. She was now a senior, thrilled to be able to star in the high school's bi-annual spring musical before graduating. People at Scott Ridge accepted her, they appreciated her androgynous fashion sense, and both guys and girls alike swooned over her. Ivori had short black hair with purple highlights, almost always wore a black beanie, and typically wore dark aesthetic clothes. It was easy for people to mistaken her for being a male due to her short hair, that is, until they heard her speak. After a traumatic experience at a beauty pageant where her dress ripped onstage when she was only seven years old, she vowed never again to wear dresses or anything "girly" unless she absolutely had to for any formal event. She was the definition of a badass, tomboy, emo edgelord. Despite her intimidating appearance, she was actually super chill and easy to start conversations with. Her fashion sense and chill yet outspoken attitude gravitated just about everyone towards her, as opposed to her former high school that she had attended during her freshman and sophomore years: Valley View. During her freshman year at Valley View, she made the awful mistake of dating a senior girl named Stella Lochowitz: A manipulative, vindictive, psychopath who attempted to kill her by putting a dagger in her stomach after Ivori dumped her. Evidently, Ivori had been through hell and back, but she'd always bounced right back and inspired others with her stories of escaping her abusive relationships successfully. Many people liked Ivori simply for being relatable, and not someone who would strive so hard to be perfect just to fit in. Tonight was her night to shine at the spring musical, as they had been rehearsing for the play since the beginning of January. Of all days, opening night had to be on April 15th, her birthday. Aside from being opening night to a production of one of her favorite musicals that she'd get to star in, it would also be quite the eventful birthday.

As Ivori parked in the high school's parking lot, ready to head backstage of the school's auditorium for costumes and makeup, she received an Instagram DM from her friend Gracie, the show's understudy for the lead role of Annie. The DM read:

"hey ivy, sorry to bother u but i think u have a right to know what annabelle just posted about you on her spam account..."

Below the message was a picture of Ivori onstage as her role of Drake the Butler during their last dress rehearsal, and below it a caption on Annabelle's spam account that read:

"hi i know y'all love ivori but just be aware that she has this weird obsession with upstaging me. she's obviously upset that she didn't get the role of Annie like I did, and now she's trying to steal my spotlight because she apparently HAS to always be the center of attention. i have screenshots of her telling me i suck at my performance btw. swipe right if you wanna see em"

The screenshots below showed out of context screenshots in which Ivori was appearing to belittle Annabelle, attacking her appearance and overall performance.

Ivori responded to the DMs:

"What?! Is she joking?! My god... dude, I was literally mocking my middle school drama teacher who used to harshly criticize us as a class! She cut that part out of the screenshot where I CLEARLY said: 'This is what Mrs. Myers would've said to me if I had dared to audition for her plays back then:' Damn... she took my messages and manipulated the screenshots to make it LOOK like I was personally attacking her!"