The Brave and Beautiful

Even Queens Have To Fall

Hope's POV

I strutted through the halls of Elmsville high, and thought, HOW DID I END UP LIKE THIS. I had a clear plan, an image. Enter Grade 8, beautiful as ever. Popular as ever. That all worked out. I found myself a boyfriend, and things were looking up. But, in January, it all shattered. Into a million pieces. My boyfriend was now dead. My two best friends were either behind bars in an Asylum or a Jail cell. My other two best friends had demoted me to the LAST SPOT IN THE POPULARITY TRIANGLE. Since my many appearances in the Elmsville news, after all these deaths and arrests, people look at me NOT like I'm some hot girl, they look at me like I'm so hot girl with  a giant sign on my head that says "Hey, I might murder you!" 

The police had investigated me many times since Izzy's arrest. They had found nothing on me, which meant 236 obviously wanted me gone in a different way. A worse way, maybe. Or something similar. Lets see what they could work with: Cheating on tests, driving a car way underage. Yikes.

Then I saw it. The one thing that I still had, shattered among the rest. On the bulletin board... a poster. I ran as fast as my Chanel heels could take me, to Liz's locker. I ran up to her, practically pinning her to her locker. 

"How could you do this!" I asked, screaming. She was holding a basket, filled with buttons. They said: Vote Liz. She looked down at them, and made a face that said: oops! Jill was beside her, handing out buttons with Liz's face, smiling on them. She saw me, and tried to hide them behind her back. 

"We made a deal!" I said. "I am the one who gets to run for Grad Queen! You, me and Jill said we would have a competition to see who would run, so we didn't fight over it if we both went up for the position. BUT NO! How could you do this!

"Sorry, Hope. I just think I'm better for the position, and I'll get more votes!" Liz shrugged her shoulders. She continued to hand out buttons, but I grabbed her.

"Oh no you won't! You're withdrawing, and helping me with my campaign!"

"Yeah right, I'm not going to participate in the make-a-wish foundation!" Liz snarled. 

"Well, I won our little competition, so you guys gave me the right to run. For the winning test, I had to take a mirror selfie with a sports bra, and no make up on! AND KEEP IT UP FOR 24-HOURS! That's not going to waste!" I screamed. "And the other trails weren't to easy either. Lasting with out Starbucks for  FOUR HOURS. UH!"

"Well, Hope, I decided to run anyway. I would be a better candidate. Lets face it, your popularity is falling fast. I'm prettier, and have a hot boyfriend to run for Grad King. It's just... perfect for me"

"Yeah, you're boyfriends hot. Hot for men, if you can't see that!"

"Oh SHUT UP! He is not! And at least I have one"

"Well I did too, but then he, um, GOT SHOT IN THE HEAD!"

"He was not your boyfriend! He was someone who helped you become even more of a slut!" I pushed her up against the lockers with force I didn't know I had, and the election buttons fell out of the basket.

"You're such a bitch!" I said, a little to loud. Liz laughed.

"That's all you got?  A bitch! Please, we all know I'm much more than that" Liz snickered. She pulled an earring out of her ear, one that sparkled like a diamond. And with one quick motion, swiped it across my arm. A small amount of blood poured out.

"WHAT THE HELL! YOU'RE INSANE!" I  screamed.

"Well, than I'd just be another friend of yours who ended up in  a mental hospital" Liz said. "COME ON JILL!" She screamed, as she strutted away. Jill followed, uneasily. I rolled my eyes, and walked into the bathroom, where they always had an ample supply of band-aids. I grabbed one, and put it gently over my wound. I looked in the mirror and jumped when I saw Jullia.