Love is a Losing Game

LIALG - Chapter 1

I never believed in fairy tales, in stories of prince charming or love at first sight. It just did not come naturally to the daughter of the Mistress of All Evil. But for the longest time, I looked back on the moment I laid eyes on her again and thought, that must have been it: the start of my very own happily ever after.

The chatter of the locker room and the pleasantries of the stout lady who had been showing me around the campus quieted. No one else was in the room in that moment: just two descendants of villains in an unfamiliar context. There was no doubt in my mind that it was her. Evie Grimhilde, daughter of the Evil Queen, with her flawless tan skin and signature dark blue hair, was standing before me once again. My tour guide called Evie's attention towards me, and my heartbeat quickened as her crimson eyes met mine with immediate recognition. Her answering grin was mischievous, and every step closer to me sucked more and more air out of my lungs.

By the time we were face-to-face, my knees begged me to sit down, and my palms were readily collecting evidence of my nervous state. I slid them into my pockets as casually as I could, hoping the denim would soak up the sweat. The last thing I wanted was to appear weak in a brand new environment.

The shrill voice of the older lady finally disrupted my tunnel vision. "Evie, this is Mal; Mal, this is Evie," she introduced, gesturing between the two of us, blatantly oblivious to our familiarity.

Evie's eyes never left mine. "Oh, I already know Mal," she purred like a lioness. Her voice had changed so much since we last spoke. But of course it did; we were only children back then.

The stout lady gasped and clapped her hands together once, the sound startling me into an involuntary flinch, something Evie was sure to catch with how closely she was watching me. "Wonderful! I hoped that was the case!" she exclaimed, grinning ear-to-ear in blissful ignorance. "So, you're okay with showing Mal around then, Evie dear?" she asked, tilting her head in question towards the blue-haired girl.

"Of course, Fairy Godmother!" she assured the lady, apparently Fairy Godmother herself.

Perhaps paying attention to her would have been beneficial; I had done a good job of pointedly ignoring the annoying woman thus far.

"Then I'll leave you ladies to it!" Fairy Godmother nodded, my nose instinctively crinkling at the term ladies.

Evie's gaze was intense, her eyes sparkled with curiosity, and her pearly teeth sunk into her red-painted bottom lip.

"Stay out of trouble!" Fairy Godmother yelled on a final note, already around the corner and exiting the locker room.

A fraction of a chuckle separated teeth from lip. "As if," Evie mumbled, gently snaking her arm through mine and pulling me towards a small group of girls she had been standing with earlier. Her grip subtly tightened as we got closer to them, anticipating my flight instinct to rise.

I didn't know if I loved or hated her perceptiveness.

The first to spot me was a short brunette, whose round, blue eyes widened comically. Her body stiffened to the point where she could have simply been a convincing wax figure.

Noticing the change in energy, a taller brunette pulled her head out of her locker and turned to examine the intrusion. Her scoff of disgust was audible, and my fingers clenched in preparation for a fight.

"Who's the fetus?" she growled, expanding a hair tie with her long, skinny fingers and quickly putting her hair up into a high ponytail. Her eyes flicked between my purple hair and old, ripped clothing disapprovingly.