What if the seven dwarfs never really existed and were just branches of Snow White's personality? Happy for the good days, Grumpy for the bad, Sneezy when under the weather and Bashful around that special someone. What if every time you looked into...
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I used to be the kind of girl who never wore make-up. I used to be the kind of girl who didn't cry herself to sleep. I used to be the kind of girl who didn't feel self conscious when looking in the mirror. I used to be the kind of girl who didn't care what anyone thought. I don't know what happened to that girl now.
"Who have you been texting all morning?" Riley asked, eyeing my phone suspiciously. I raised my eyebrows. "Do you really think I'd be doing anything different?" I asked. "Poem?" She asked in a bored tone, as if whatever tiny hopes she had of me becoming interesting had deflated. I nodded, then shifted my gaze back to the phone as she initiated a conversation with Thea.
"Hey Els!" Stacy came up to me with a huge grin on her face. She was clad in a pretty little sundress. It was a light yellow colour- her favourite- and it definitely brought out the hazel in her eyes. I looked at her, unflinching. "You and Ace are fighting again."
Her shoulders immediately slumped and she threw me a devasted pout. "And here I thought I was doing well in hiding it.... How are you so good at reading people?" I half-smiled at her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Aw, Stace... You're doing fine, don't worry. I don't think anyone else can notice. As for how I found out- it's because of that over-enthusiastic aura you force onto yourself."
She shrugged and stared pointedly at the floor. I hated seeing her so upset. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked tentatively. She just shrugged again. I decided to drop the subject. I guessed it was probably about something insulting he'd said to her. That's the thing about Ace; he made so many jokes about the smallest things that eventually they start creeping under your skin. As much as I hated that about him, he was still my friend and friendship was all about loving someone despite the mistakes they made. I'd told him on several occasions to cut it out when someone was getting hurt, but he never listened. After a point I gave up on it.
"Hey, hey- he's coming. Is it confrontation time or over-enthusiastic-fake-smile time?" I asked in a hurried whisper. She hesitated for a split second, then whispered, "Over-enthusiastic-fake-smile."
That was another thing about Stacy- she hated confrontations. She was a full-on feminist and was there to defend her friends in need, but when the matter concerned herself, she gladly stepped out. She didn't like unnecessary drama, but with her and Ace, that was pretty hard to avoid.
"Em! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Ace exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Emma in a hug. I felt Stacy stiffen beside me. Ace reached into his pocket and placed a bar of chocolate in her hand. Emma's expression morphed into one of pure joy. "Chocolate?! I love you!" She squealed.
He grinned. "Well... You said you were having a bad day, so I thought I'd get you something to make it better." Even my heart started to melt at that. Their friendship was so precious; they understood each other so well and tried their level best to make each other happy. But Ace and Stacy on the other hand.....
Before I could do anything to react, Stacy walked away from the group. It was such a subtle move, and I could tell no one else noticed because they were too busy swooning over Ace and Emma. I slipped out quickly and caught up with Stacy, who was making her way towards an empty classroom.
Once we were inside, I put my hands on her shoulders and made her face me. "There's nothing going on between Emma and Ace. You know that, right? They've been best friends for years and have no intention whatsoever to make it anything more than that. Plus, he's dating you, Stacy!" She looked like she wanted to cry. "Why doesn't he care about me like that? Whenever we're together he seems so distracted, or he acts like I'm not even there! I mean, the least I can get is some acknowledgement!"
Honestly, I understood that. I really, really did. Relationships were the absolute worst when one person puts in more of themselves than the other. "Okay, I get it. But now I think it's time you figure out what you really want. Do you want to stay in this relationship and continue trying or do you want to break it off?"
She thought about it for a minute. Then, wearing a confident expression, she said,"I'm not going to give up this easily. There's a reason I fell for Ace in the first place, and maybe that old Ace is still in there. I'm going to try and find it."
I smiled. This was the Stacy I knew. After our talk, we made it into class right when the bell went off. Ashley called Stacy to sit next to her, and I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Sure enough, the only empty seat was next to Will.
For a moment I felt a surge of suspicion. What was wrong with that boy? Why didn't anyone else sit next to him? Was the whole class in on some secret I wasn't aware of yet? He seemed like such a charming person; always trying to make me smile. I liked him instantly.
I made my way towards the table and he grinned at me. I think I stopped breathing. "Hello," he said, to which I smiled. I placed my books down on the desk and Mr. Todd started the class. I couldn't help but feel a slight bit disappointed that Will was only in my English class. It would've been nice to get to know him better by having him in all of them.
"What's your favorite word?" I asked out of the blue. He threw me a quizzical smile. "What's yours?" He asked me. I giggled. "Bubble." He raised his eyebrows. "You're not serious!" I laughed. "No, really. I'm obsessed with that word. Sometimes when I'm bored I just say it over and over again. Bubble. Bubble. Bubble. Bubble!"
He laughed. I felt a blush creeping up my neck. Why was I willingly embarrassing myself in front of him? I was aware of my weirdness around everyone else and didn't bother to hide it, but around him I felt like I should be a slight bit more civil. Or should I? I mean, why should I care what he thought of me? If I wanted to act like a two-year-old or start telling him my terrible puns, then that's what I should do.
I turned to faced him once more, not even bothering to pay attention to the English lesson. "Now it's your turn," I said.
He looked into my eyes and smiled wistfully. "Holly,"he said.
A/N I just realized how many stories I'm starting to weave in just this one book. There's Holly, Elody, Alora and Daisy, who have their separate problems and drama, and not to mention Ava, Ted and Will- my supporting characters. I hope it's not too confusing for you all!
