I laugh as the girl in front of me tries desperately to escape. She shouts at me to stop as I chase after her, but I can’t. I’m having way too much fun. There are so many things I can say, but I decide to pick on the most obvious choice. Her outfit is hideous, I almost pity her. She just had on a white shirt, a butterfly plastered on her chest. I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be centered or not. She had on blue jeans, and if I remember correctly, those were given to us for free. 

Her peculiar sense of style at such an extravagant place like this, it was a mockery to people like me, who work hard for our place in this school.  I watch as she suddenly stills, clearly she has had enough of my nasty remarks. 

She disappears from the screen at the same time I hear footsteps approaching the door of my bedroom. I glance at the small clock in the corner of my laptop. It is 12:32 A.M. Quickly, I shut off my laptop and shove it under my white bedsheets. My long, brunette hair splayed around my head like a halo from urgently throwing myself under the sheets, I rubbed my tired eyes for a bit of relief. Small taps on the door echo through my room, and I do not respond. 

“Faye, I know you’re awake,” My mother's stern voice sounds muffled through my thick, white door. I’m aware she knows I’m awake, but I pretend to sleep anyway. The door opens, and I see my mother's blurry figure through my squinted eyes. Slowly, she begins to walk over to my bed, I start to add soft snores for good measure. I really thought I fooled her, too, until she harshly flicked my forehead. My hand instinctively rubs the red, stinging area. Wait what- oh crap. She really caught me. That was a cheap trick.

“Were you playing that game again?”  She let out a long sigh like she answered her own question. 

There was no point in lying, “well, yeah. I swear I was about to get off!” There was no point in trying to redeem myself, it was clear I was going to get into trouble. My mom is extremely strict on curfews, my siblings and I are expected to be in bed by 9:30 P.M, sharp. I would say I’m surprised she lets us keep our electronics in such close capacity, but now I’m afraid I’ll only jinx myself.

I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. Her palm is reaching out to me, gesturing for me to hand over my computer. I nearly choked to death on all of the excuses I could make, but all of the gibberish stopped immediately after one harsh glance from my mother. Hesitantly, I hand over my Gray laptop and watch with wide eyes as she walks out of my room, not even bothering to say anything else.

I sat there for a few seconds. Minutes, even. Why does she care so much? I’m the one who has to deal with the consequences. We aren’t even doing anything tomorrow, I can sleep in! My frustration grew with each thought. I was so angry at my mom, I wasn’t doing anything wrong, so what was she proving by taking my laptop? Easy. 

Nothing.

Whatever. I’ll get it back in the morning. I relax a bit, my shoulders gently ease onto my soft mattress. My eyelids automatically close, clearly I was more tired than I thought. I allow myself to slowly drift off into what I thought would be a nice slumber. 

My head was pounding so hard I saw white. I wanted to get up, but my limbs were heavy and numb. My eyes would not open, and my body began to tense up. My brain was awake, no doubt about it. I whimpered in pain, my body was searing and the nerves in my hands and feet began to awaken with sharp, tickling sensations. All of this was happening simultaneously and I felt utterly helpless. My thoughts were incoherent, the panic I was feeling was so surreal like a spell was being cast upon me by a wizard.

It was beginning to get overwhelming. My breath was coming and going in short circuits. I felt water running down my face, it was too much. 

Then it stopped and lost consciousness before I could process what had happened.

My limbs ache as I stretch, my throat manages a few groans of relief as my tense muscles feel rejuvenated. My mattress feels a lot nicer than usual. I sigh, throwing my legs over the king-size bed.  I paused, my stomach sank with anxiety.  I...I have a twin-size bed. I frantically search the room, searching for anything familiar. My fish tank? Gone. My bookshelf? Gone. The walls were painted a baby blue color, the ceiling was a pretty lavender color, with a gold chandelier hanging right in the middle. There were plants everywhere, hanging from the ceiling, sitting in the huge windowsill, by the pink, massive wooden doors. I continue to search, a sob escapes my lips and the room starts to spin.

Where am I? My hands run through my hair, my legs buckle and I fall onto the floor. I was just at home! This is-where- I never left! I was playing Roblox, and then I- I stopped hyperventilating, my eyebrows pinch together in confusion, as my eyes dart across the room again. My hand flies to my mouth, I let out a loud gasp. Wait, this is- this is the dorm rooms at Royal High?

I sat there for a few minutes, wondering if I was dreaming. This seemed too real. My eyes held open, I’m not sure if I blinked at all. My body shook in fear, tears occasionally left my swollen eyes, the sun shined through the window, giving a harsh glare off of the clean tiles. 

All of these small details confirmed that this was not a dream, only my worst nightmare.

A mirror in the corner begs to be looked into, so I crawl over to the oval shape and stare into it. The girl who stared back was, in fact, me. There was something wrong. I was wearing the exact same thing that girl was wearing last night. It was way more realistic, and now I can tell that the butterfly was accidentally placed a tad too far to the right, instead of being centered. The blue jeans are tight on my legs, and the white shoes I wore were just as ugly as they were on the screen yesterday. 

The doors behind me swung open, my head whipping around in anticipation. Is someone coming to help me? I fell to my knees, they smack hard against the tile. I wait anxiously for the source of the loud noise.  A girl walks in, I assume she’s the same age as me. Half of her long, blonde hair was tied up into a bun, the rest was let loose and flowed in loose waves. Her bright blue eyes scan over my cowering form, her thick lips curl into a smirk. Her dress was blue, the same shade as her eyes, it was covered in glitter and gems. She was absolutely beautiful.

“Oh? I’m not even the queen yet, but I already have peasants on their knees. Cute!” Her voice was angelic, even while she was teasing. Her eyes gleamed with excitement, she strode over to me. I felt sick, this girl clearly did not have good intentions. My eyes were wide with fear, I could hear the clunk of her glass heels, her tall, thin frame stood in front of me, staring at me with disgust.

Her hand makes its way to my chin, she harshly grabs it, “your eyes are so pretty, you know? Shame, such a waste. Anyway, It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Faye. I’m so excited to make up for a lost time!”

I shiver, her hand was cold, just like the stare she was giving me. She yanks me up and I let out a small yelp. I was too afraid to ask who she was, she did not seem like someone I would want to interact with. Her cold rings press against my wrist as she drags me along. She pulls me down a long, extravagant hallway. I didn’t even have time to look, this girl was dragging me all the way down a flight of stairs into the main area of the school.

I was standing in front of at least 60 people, they all looked at me as I was thrown to the ground like a ragdoll. I stare up at the girl who brought me down here, a sinister look plastered on her face. She turns to the giant crowd, relishing in the attention. 

“Look who’s back, my dear friends,” the crowd began to chuckle, “I hope you all are excited to see her again! I know I missed her.”

She pulls me up again by my hair, my face burned red with embarrassment. Everyone stared at me, eyes twinkling with amusement, while mine fogged with tears. 

“Come on, don’t cry,” she whispers into my ear, the vibrations made me flinch, “tell everyone how much you missed me. Tell them how well I treat you. They’re all so jealous of you, I bet. As the future queen, I treat my peasants well.”

Her breath fanned my ear, goosebumps pricked my skin. I let out a small whine in response. She rolls her eyes and shoves me back onto the floor. She walks to the crowd, glancing at me from over her shoulder.

“You better be in the bathroom by lunchtime, love.” She gives me one last glare before she continues to walk. The people part like the red sea, they stare at the girl with adoration in their eyes. 

“Amber, that was so funny!” I heard the crowd praise her, my mouth hung open, I so desperately wanted to say something. My nose throbs, the white tile beneath me is starting to be painted red, the thick liquid runs down my nose. The hot taste of copper runs down my throat involuntarily, soon mixed with the saltiness of my own pathetic tears. Laughter rang in my ears, I spit out more blood that seeps into my mouth. Students walked by, the majority of them grimaced and made a comment or two about my hideous outfit. I sat there, staring directly at the floor. More blood. More tears. 

A handful of girls walked up to me, all of them dressed head to toe in gorgeous attire. I ignored the words thrown at me. That was until one grabbed a fistful of my hair.

“You should know better than to ignore us, peasant,” she threw my head into the ground, my nose making a sickening crack. I hear the disgusting noise of a few girls spitting on me, but unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. They begin to kick, grab and yank at my body. Their heels punctured my skin, their nails rubbed my skin raw, the force of their kick bruised my tender skin. Every inch of my body was touched, and the witnesses laughed. Not even the teachers stepped in to assist me. I begged for help, my arms taking brunt force for the first few blows in an attempt to protect myself. I soon gave up, allowing them to have their way with me. My screams, cries, and pleads were not heard. After a while, it stopped hurting, though my soft cries did not stop. They finally walked away, leaving me in the middle of the giant hallway, eyes dull and body spent. 

“Please, let me leave!” My head is cradled by the tile, sore from being beaten into the ground. I cough up a tad bit of blood, “you can leave Roblox games! I want to leave! Please, let me go home!!”

The world felt like it had stopped, but the pain intensified. I closed my eyes. There Amber was, reaching out to touch my face, “you look so miserable. Don’t like it? Everyone else had to deal with it, but since it was you, it was okay? Sorry, darling. That’s not how things work around here.”

I blink, my surroundings morph into complete and total darkness, Amber begins to wither away until only half of her face is visible, “I’ll miss seeing you around Faye, guess I’ll have to find another lowlife to do my chores.”

“Wait, I want to go home!” I watch in horror as she shakes her head, and begins to laugh. I scream. Every wound on my body screams. The void around me echoes. The sinister laugh of the voices around me swarm my head. I scratch my ears so intensely, they might have fallen off. I’m not sure. I don’t want to be sure. 

I want this to be over.

I continue to scream to avoid coming to the realization that this is my reality. I’m stuck in the mess I’ve created for myself.

Forever.