Happily Never After

Chapter 1: Senior Year

    I woke to the annoying ringing of my alarm clock, quickly turning it off to avoid waking my father. Quietly gathering my things, I poked my head outside of the door to make sure the coast was clear. Seeing that it was, I hurried to the bathroom to take a shower.

    As soon as I was inside I took off my pajamas, looking at the bruises that littered my torso. Pulling out the first-aid kit from under the sink I started to re-bandage the deeper cuts, wincing as the alcohol wipes sting against my wounds.

    After cleaning up my cuts I stepped into the hot water, hissing as the burning water hits my sides. I slowly begin to rinse my body, taking extra care when scrubbing my bruised ribs and looking longingly at the razor that sits to the side of the tub.

    I just have to wait till after school,  I repeat, like a mantra. After school, I can let everything out while dad is at work.

    After I finish my shower I throw my long, brown hair into a messy bun to keep it out of the way and changes into my worn-out blue jeans and favorite Beatles t-shirt. I glance at the clock seeing that there are only about 15 minutes till her dad got up for work. 

    Only slightly panicking because of the time, I ran to my room as quietly as possible and started frantically gathering my homework from the night before. Stuffing it unceremoniously into my backpack, I throw on my black converse and started digging around for my Stranger Things hoodie. 

    With only five minutes till my father wakes up, I find my hoodie stuffed randomly under the bed and sprint to the back door, stopping to grab an apple from the kitchen. 

    Finally leaving the house at 7:44 I rush off to school, the infamous Ravenwood High School. A place where all students are accepted and cherished, not. It's like any typical high school, full of cliques and bullies and teachers that are only there for the paycheck, which isn't even that much.

    Doing my best to keep out of sight, I head to my homeroom with Mrs. Mesbergen, the AP lit teacher. While sitting there waiting, I pull out one of my many books, one of my only escapes from the world, and dive right in. 

....................

    As the heroine runs towards the cliff she glances behind her, seeing the king's guard close behind, she makes a split-second decision and dives into the watery depths below. Doing her best to avoid the arrows raining down on her, she swims as far as she can before dragging herself onto the shore. Reaching into her pocket, she pulls out the vial, only about the size of her thumb and smiles in victory. With the antidote in hand she...

    "LIZA!!!"

    I snap my head up, looking away from the pages directly into the eyes of my best friend. Though slightly annoyed at the interruption, I smile toward the beautiful girl.

    "Sorry Mari, I got lost in my book," I say sheepishly.