Ever After High: Secret Storybooks

Chapter Five: Briar Beauty

"Ashlynn? Hunter? Are you out here?" I called into the Enchanted Forest.

I had to jump to avoid tripping over a tree root in my hot pink heels. The forest was particularly scary for me- with all the branches and thorns, I never knew if I would turn a corner, prick my finger, and fall asleep right then and there.

"Wait, Briar?" Ashlynn, my best friend forever after, asked.

I stepped through the trees, seeing Ashlynn and her boyfriend, Hunter, together for the first time. Their secret hiding place was cute, charming and romantic. It made me wish I had a boy that truly cared for me like Hunter does for Ash. The fact that Hunter isn't a prince and Ashlynn is a princess is so beautiful to me. True love isn't based on whether or not you're royalty. Most people would tell you there's no way their high school-sweetheart relationship will last but I'm a firm believer that what they've got is real.

"How did you know we were-" Ashlynn started.

"A girl knows her best friend forever after is in love when she sees it," I said, pushing a lock of chocolate-brown hair away from my face and securing it with my crownglasses.

"You knew about us?" Hunter questioned, "and you didn't tell Apple?"

"Of course not. Hey, can I sit?" I asked.

Ashlynn quickly nodded, and I sat down on the cute little picnic blanket they'd set up. Ashlynn whipped out a plate of pie and cut me a piece, handing it to me. Apple pie. It was always Apple's favorite, which was shocking- you'd think she wouldn't trust apples.

The truth is, I'd been beginning to wonder what about my destiny was so great. Yeah yeah, the fairytale princess and brave, charming prince live happily ever after in a huge castle, but what exactly was so great about a prince and a castle? What if my prince is terribly mean, despite his good looks? Even worse, what if my prince isn't my true love? I could fall asleep when I prick my finger and never wake up because the prince I was betrothed to at birth didn't truly love me, or I didn't truly love him. Right now I'm not seeing a reason to truly love my prince- he hasn't even been brave enough to come meet me at Ever After High. Don't I at least deserve to get to know him before my death-like sleep?

"I've been thinking about flipping the script," I admitted, taking a bite of the pie. A tear began to swell in my eye. When it was ripe, it dropped down my cheek like wet fire.

"Really?" Ashlynn put a hand on my shoulder, offering her sympathy. She, too, wanted to go off-script, but she had already signed the book, and there was nothing she could do about changing that now. The signatures are permanent.

A sad memory resurfaced in my mind- Ash was back on the Legacy Day podium, and I was seated in one of the front rows with the other legacy year students. Ashlynn looked gorgeous- her mother's dress was beautiful and modernized with the help of some in-style accessories. The glassy heels she wore were a stunning bubblegum pink, and her eyes shone a bright, almost neon green, the way they usually looked when she'd had a good amount of sleep or had just cried. As she signed the book, I thought I noticed her pink eyeshadow and black mascara slowly spilling down her face, probably staining anything they landed on. It was heart-shattering to see how much signing a book had effected her. Little did we all know, the only one of us who really benefited from locking our destinies in place was Apple White- her destiny seems just about perfect, and she was always willing to go through with it.

I slowly nodded and tried to swallow my tears, my throat making a gulping noise.

"Hey, did you girls hear about the Storybook Campfire tonight?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, Apple hasn't stopped yapping about it since she first got the idea last week," Ashlynn sighed.

"We should all go and read a story. Maybe just hearing everyone else's out loud won't make ours seem so bad."

"It's worth a shot, I guess," I sighed. I shifted onto my knees and got up with caution, avoiding poking branches and thorns.

Ash and Hunter also got up, and we agreed to all give the campfire story reading a fair chance, even if how we feel about our own stories won't change. And I have a good feeling that it's not going to change.