The Invisible Princess of Everglen

Chapter 4: Jealousy, The Teal-Eyed Monster

After yet another tiring and annoying day at Foxfire, Biana slumped onto her bed with her school uniform still on.  She usually took the thing off as quickly as she could, since it was not flattering at all.  But somehow, she didn't care at the moment.

Biana lay in her gigantic bed, staring up at the tiny orbs of light that hung down from her ceiling, giving the whole room a galaxy feel.  Yes, Biana had always been striving for attention.  But she never really felt... insecure.  She actually liked herself.  It had just been difficult to make others like her too.

Things were different now.  Not only was Biana yet again becoming unnoticeable, she was starting to feel insecure.  Mostly because of Sophie's sudden connection with Keefe.  The handsome troublemaker teased almost everyone, especially Sophie.  Biana had tried to ignore it, thinking it was nothing, but she'd been around Keefe enough to recognize the flirtatious hints in his usual joking manner.

And to make things even worse... it was hard to hate Sophie.  She was innocent, shy, and the trauma hidden behind her soft brown eyes was enough to make anyone feel protective.  Even worse, it made Biana feel guilty.

But never in her life did Biana think she'd feel jealous too.

Sophie was the weirdo!  She was the brown-eyed freak in school.  Biana heard the whispers, she knew that Sophie was unpopular.  Stina, the detestable Heks girl, constantly bullied Sophie.  The blond elf's life was certainly not easy.

And yet, something deep inside Biana smoldered with envy whenever she saw her.

"Are you okay?" Maruca asked.  Biana jumped, looking around.  She'd been too busy gazing into Keefe's eyes.  He was quite the distraction, but Biana had been thinking about something else.

"Yeah," Biana said automatically, glancing down at the cafeteria food she hadn't touched.

Maruca pressed her full lips together into a thin line.  "You've been really quiet lately.  You don't invite me over anymore.  What's going on?"

Biana's eyes flicked over to land on Sophie, who was still looking shy and innocent.  The glance was only for a millisecond, but Maruca still noticed.  "Sophie Foster?" she asked, surprised.  Biana sighed.  "She's rather annoying," she lied.  "She's so obsessed with Fitz, it gets on my nerves."  That was also a lie.  Sophie clearly wasn't obsessed with Fitz, aside from a few looks she gave him every now and then.

Maruca took the answer and shrugged.  "I get it.  That's annoying."

Biana blew out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.  Never, ever, ever would she let anyone know the reason of her animosity towards Sophie.

Because Biana Vacker, the invisible princess of Everglen, should never be jealous of anyone.