Ever After High: Secret Storybooks

Chapter Eight: Apple White

I arrived at the Storyreading party right on time and greeted Cedar, who was checking names off the list.

"Hey, Cedar! I asked Briar to come with me, but she insisted on being fashionably late. She'll be here in a few minutes, don't count her out yet!" I said warmly, warning Cedar that Briar would definitely be here as Briar had asked me to.

"Okay, thanks Apple. That's going to cost her... She's going to have to read her own story," Cedar replied. "Oops! I wasn't supposed to tell you that! I guess I'm not so good at keeping secrets, huh," Cedar laughed with her sweet and clumsy sounding voice, reminding me of mine when I get a stuffy nose.

"Why is reading your own story a punishment?" I asked innocently.

"Because you won't get to see what it's like to be in someone else's shoes, of course! And what's the fun in that?" Cedar explained.

I suppose Cedar is right. All my life I'd been hearing my story my way. What would it be like if someone else was in my place? Would I still be the same person I am today? Is it the Apple that makes the story fairest or the story that makes Apple fairest?

There was only two open seats, between Holly and Hopper or next to Faybelle, so I took a seat next to Holly. It seems everyone else had arrived early... I felt awkwardly out of place being right on time. I'd timed everything perfectly so that I wouldn't be a pea too early or a hair too late.

Maddie dragged the impossibly overflowing enchanted storybook over to the circle from the school entrance. She'd retrieved it from the library bravely, having to have known how hefty it is. She dropped it in Lizzie's lap.

Lizzie was the first reader of the night. The rules are, read as much as you want until you're at the next story or you feel you've come to a good point. When you've finished, pass it to the person to your left.

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarves," Lizzie announced, opening to the first page. She didn't read much, but I don't blame her. The beginning of the story is all about my mother's tragic death and the Good King's remarriage to the Evil Queen. Obviously things had changed quite a bit, or Raven and I would be sisters... Or she'd be my aunt... All impossible scenarios to be passed down throughout the ages, and therefore were edited. She stopped reading and then passed the book to Cerise, who seemed uncomfortable with having to read. Cerise read at a reasonable speed through the crazy parts of the story, like when the Evil Queen sends the Huntsman to cut out Snow White's heart, or when the Evil Queen poisoned Snow White with the apple.

Once Snow White had fallen into a deep sleep, Cerise tiredly passed the book to Daring. Daring read, fittingly, through his part of our tale, where the Prince wakes Snow White with True Love's Kiss.

The stories flew by surprisingly quickly. Briar and Faybelle both read Sleeping Beauty, and Raven and Dexter shared Cinderella. Ashlynn and her boyfriend Hunter (who I was still getting used to as a couple) took turns reading parts of Red Riding Hood, but no one really cared that that was technically breaking the rules. After that, Poppy and Sparrow sped through Rapunzel, going fast as to avoid awkward moments between them. I suspected a crush, probably from Poppy's end. Darling, Cupid, Kitty and Holly broke the painfully long version of Alice in Wonderland into sections, and each seemed to enjoy playing out the parts.

When it was finally my turn, the heavy book didn't seem so heavy in my lap. I decided to take a chance and go for the whole story. "Pinnochio," I began.

"PINNOCHIO!" Cedar echoed, attempting an Italian accent that reflected the story's-and her own- background. We all laughed, and some of the guys even tried it, but nobody nailed it like our favorite wooden friend.

Once the uproar had died down, I rode through the abridged story rapidly. The stories' proportions to each other were just not fair- while Alice in Wonderland had seemed like a lot of responsibility for all four girls, I'm pretty sure my selection had been shorter than even one of the Alice in Wonderland excerpts. I frowned, feeling slightly guilty. My story took three people to read it, and Cedar's had been reduced to a spellementary-level passage.

I tried my hardest to make it exciting and fun, because the story deserved it. All stories are equally important. I wish everyone could see it this way. I wish there was a way to show them...