The not-a-princess

Echoes of truth and dogs

Faye continued, "she called me to the woods the day you arrived, she said, 'lets settle this for once and for all.' And I said okay. I shouldn't have. She and Harley, they both planned this. During your class, Harley dropped her a paralysation curse, diluted to only work for 10 minutes." 

"Harley was in class, though!" 

"Yeah because Ria is the actor and Harley, the plotter. Ria then scraped my knuckles on the edge of her knife. I couldn't move or defend myself – I was under the curse. She pulled my hair, twisted my arm and insulted me. After, she scratched her nail against her nose, digging it into her flesh to make her scream." 

I was at a loss for words. All this was so hard to believe... Ria the same girl who was so friendly with me, offered me to dance and the one who remembered my lunch? This can't be true... I felt my temper rise. When someone who seems to care about you is put in the wrong, it feels out of place. I don't like being lied to. I lose my temper. "Don't try me." I yelled at Faye as I stormed out of here, clutching the basket tightly.

It was obvious she was lying, her voice cracked and she refused to look me in the eye. I mean come on if your going to lie at least try not to go all red and flustered. 

Behind me, she mumbled a weak "I knew you wouldn't believe me" as I slammed the door. And before I could leave, my eye caught a piece of paper attached to doom room door with a broken arrow. It read only one word, 'Excalibur'. I momentarily forgot about Faye and the gears in my head clicked. Take it... I'm going to take it... I'm after you. 

No. It can't be... my great-grandfather's sword. It's under attack. (The Excalibur is a mythical sword. Itis associated with King Arthur and his compilation of medieval stories. The legendary Excalibur was believed to hold ultimate power to its rightful master, but plague anyone else who attempted to use it.) I was the next heir to it... I was so swarmed in my thoughts I self-consciously made my way to the boys towers. I accidently noticed Kieren and Ria walking by - their hands filled with art supplies. A smile on both their faces. Ria looked like she obnoxiously talking again while Kieren's eyes were set on her (he probably wasn't even listening to her), a blush at his cheeks. They had an extra, extra long scarf with the words Harley Wilder (probably stolen from her, poor girl, her belongings falling victim once again) wrapped around both their shoulders. Here they looked so innocent and full of joy.

 Ugh. What the hell is going on here? Is everyone here secretly corrupted on the inside? Is this whole school fake? Even the teachers? Is Tapioca fake? 

I'm done. I can't even return to my room if its still lunch, the lovers might return. This is so frustrating. I checked the owl watch in the multi-purpose hall, 2:10. Class started. They must be heading towards their next period. I should be able to slink back into my room unnoticed. There was no one in the room when I entered, which saved me. I sat at my desk and pulled out my tatty journal. Despite it being my journal I was still taught to cast my thoughts formally no matter how inappropriate they might be.

'Day 1 of school: Ria (might have staged an attack). True. False. 
Dearest diaries, I had become close companions with a strange, artistic and a little all over the place girl. We met in the oddest of ways: then she offered me a dance. I feel happy around her. We met an intruder in my room. She attacked Ria and now telling me she staged it. But the lingering question is, why would she stage it?'

I left a whole page blank and moved onto the next matter: someone wants to steal Excalibur. Under it, went the titles 'Where:', 'How:' and 'Who:'. I dived straight into the who- it could the seniors who slipped my schedule under the door.
- 'Seniors Look out for stripy or odd hands.'
'- Blondes. Probably those just a little shorter, enough to bump into'
'– Ria?
– Harley?
– Faye?'

I let out a huff of annoyance. Who is this and why do they want the sword. It's not even located in this school; it's in the school master's old tower which is now a designated museum. So its locked and under high surveillance. It's impossible to get there so I shouldn't worry- 

"...I'm so glad we have a free period every 2 Mondays, we should get matching tattoos – I have stick and  poke in my roo..." I turned my head, I was so deep into my thought I hadn't realised Ria and Kieren had entered the room. I slammed my book shut. They both froze upon seeing me. Kieren slipped a hand around her waist defensively (as if his first thought was to keep her away from danger - how cute) and noticed my panicked expression. 

"Lets just go go-karting. We can add fireworks to go faster from Christen's lab." Before Ria could say anything, he kissed her forehead and dragged her down the corridor. He must've gotten the memo. Phew, that was so close. I got to thank him later. 

That night, Ria entered the room without a word, got undressed, put on a charcoal facemask and grabbed her sticker-covered ipad. She then went to the balcony and threw a thick rope over the gutter. Curiously, I followed her onto the veranda, peeking over her shoulder. At the end of the rope was a basket attached. It was dark so I couldn't see what was going on. 

"Help me pull this up," she said, her voice strained as she started to tug on the rope. I copied. Holy racoons! This is heavy, are we smuggling a person inside? No, this is far too heavy to be one person... three people?  With our last bit of strength we pulled out the basket and it revealed itself to be none other than Tapioca. Honestly if this dog stood on its hind legs it would be taller than me. I sigh and move back onto my bad, my journal in hand. Once Ria was tucked into bed with Tapioca watching doggies play in the park on her ipad, she said, "Your going to get wrinkles."

I was hit with a truck of surprise, I stop writing. An impolite "Huh?!" was all I could manage. 

She raised her eyebrow, "you look stressed and you didn't attend the rest of your classes today." I was at loss of words. She just picked her nose absent-mindedly. Ew. 

I didn't know what to say. My mouth felt like it was full of sand, do I tell her about the threats? What about what Faye told me? Ria is a prime suspect herself, "No its just..." 

"Are you still bothered by this morning?" 

Ah, that's right, I straightened up, "Yes. Allow me to cut the chase. Did you stage the attack?" 

She blinked in surprise then laughed, "I'm sorry, the thought of it is so silly, I can't... I can't...oh my goodness! Of course I did not! Give me one reason why I would." At that moment, I thought, yeah, why would she? Ria shook her head, "I know you spoke to Faye. She told you I staged this... that's the reason I left her. She was so violent and she would always try to turn the blame around to avoid the bad." I froze, Ria sounded so sad, like she was mourning for lost friend. 

"I mean if I did stage it, what would be my motive? For fame, popularity? I already have that. To de-fame Faye? She literally has no friends. I have no reason to attack myself, Minnie. Don't fall for her trap. Please, not like how I did." I believed Ria. Faye wants friends and attention, the only thing in her way is Ria. That's why she attacked her. I nod, at least that's cleared up, that's one problem out the way. 

Unbeknown to me, Harley had planned this and Ria had in fact staged it.