Brown Eyes

Chapter 18

(Eliza's P.O.V.)

I showed up at Henry's house on my bike. It was probably about seven thirty. School started at eight for both of us. I revved the engine twice, and Henry came running out, a big leather book under his arm.

"Is this it?" I asked.

"Yup!" he said, his adorable ten-year-old smile lighting up. He put on the second helmet and got on the back of the bike.

"Have you figured out who I am yet?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll tell you when we get to school."

I felt my stomach tie itself into a knot. Ever since Henry told me about the curse, I've been noticing things I had never noticed before. Nobody remembers the Regina's election that made her mayor. And Henry's right, nobody has aged. I feel hollow, knowing "Eliza Morrison" isn't real. I've been dying to know who I really am.

We stopped at school and I parked my bike in the parking lot. We ran to one of the benches outside of the school.

We must've been quite the image, a sixteen year old girl and a ten year old boy, in school uniforms, hunched over a big, old looking book of fairy tales, talking in hushed voices.

"So who am I?" I whispered.

Henry opened the big book and flipped through the pages. He stopped at a picture.

"You're the Lost Girl," he said. "AKA the Pirate Princess, AKA the Neverland Princess. And I was right, you do have a history with Peter Pan."

"Really?" I asked.

"You were in love," he said with a smile.

I raised my eyebrows.

"Huh," I said.

Henry turned the page and I saw a picture of fairytale me kissing a brunette boy.

"That's him?" I asked.

"Yup," Henry said, popping the "p".

"Wow," I said. "I used to date Peter Pan....I don't think I can wrap my head around this."

"Your name was Beth," he said.

"Really?" I asked. "That seems kinda plain."

"It's a fine name," Henry said.

"Well yeah, it's not bad, but I just don't think that's me," I said.

"That's cause it's not," Henry said. "Beth is being held captive somewhere inside you by the curse, which is the only thing keeping you from being her."

I stared at him. "That's freaking deep," I said. "You're ten, when did you get so poetic and wise?"

He smiled. The first bell rang and Henry put the book back in his backpack.

"I've gotta get to class," he said.

"Tell Snow White I said 'hi,' " I said as I got up and smoothed out my skirt.

"You just wanted to call her Snow White didn't you?" he asked.

"Very much so," I said with a nod. "By the way, Halloween's next month. What are you going as?"

"I don't know yet," he said. "What about you?"

"The Evil Queen," I said with a smirk.

"Why?" he asked.

"Just to taunt her," I said. "She cursed me. I have a right to make her feel paranoid."

He smiled and rolled his eyes.

"See ya," I said and started running to class.

When I got to class I sat down in my seat at the back. My teacher started his usual boring talking and I started my usual not listening.

The Pirate Princess, I thought to myself. Wow.

I thought about it, and realized that sort of sounded like me. I'm not a bad person or anything, but I'm not exactly a "star pupil." I've had my fair share of detentions, I had this phase where I shoplifted everything I could fit in my pocket and even got arrested once, which makes me wonder why Regina still lets me babysit Henry. She has to know about that. She knows about everything.

Then I realized I probably never got arrested. It was when I was fourteen, and I've been almost sixteen for twenty-eight years. I have a really clear memory about the shoplifting thing though, so I think that was real. Plus, it happened while I was first babysitting Henry when he was a baby.

I watched my teacher as he spoke about... something.

I wonder who he was, I thought.

"Eliza," my friend Kylie whispered next to me. "We're going out tonight, wanna come?"

"Where?" I asked.

"Just bowling," she said. That meant we were going to that teen night club she and her sisters sneak out to all the time.

"I'll see if I can," I said.

Kylie was my friend from dance class. Ruby is definitely my best girl-friend, but I sort of consider her my older sister since I live with her. I but there are thirteen girls from my dance class in my class, myself included. The other twelve are adopted sisters--I don't know what human being wants to adopt and raise twelve daughters, but their dad seems to think he made a good choice--and they all decided to befriend me, so I guess they're my best girl-friends really. I hang out with them more.

I wondered who the girls were.

I watched Kylie as she drew in her notebook. I wondered if I should recruit her for Operation Cobra. She loves fairy tales just as much as I do, and she knows I'd never lie to her.

I decided I'd tell her about it tonight.