"Her hair is so light!"
"I know, isn't the tale to have hair as black as ebony?"
"That's the exact opposite."
"How is she supposed to be the next Snow White with such light hair?"
Royal princess Apple White, daughter of the famed Snow White, paused in her actions. The slightly used paper slipped from her hand, landing with the other pages in the book. She blinked her eyes and brought her hands to her forehead. Her fingers gently prodded and rubbed the skin as she took deep shuddery breaths. She took a few moments to calm down before she closed the book and placed it inside her bag. She stood up, her nose in the air and an air of superiority around her. She tossed a lock of flaxen hair over her hair and glanced at the gossiping girls, who quieted when they saw her.
Apple walked through the hallways, making sure that the other students saw her cool and composed, as she was supposed to be. They greeted her happily and Apple smiled, waving at them. As she passed, she winced and whispers of her hair bounced through her head. She paused in her stride and glanced around at everyone. No one was looking at her. No one was talking about her. But she could still hear it. The taunts about her hair.
"It's supposed to be black!"
"How did her daughter end up with such light hair?"
"Not ebony."
"So blonde."
"She's the next Snow White?"
"She's no Snow White."
"She doesn't look like her mother at all."
Apple took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead, standing in the halls.
"Apple? Are you alright?" a voice said out of nowhere, causing the princess to jump. Apple turned around, spotting the next Goldie Locks, Blondie.
"Oh, Blondie," Apple breathed. "I'm just fine."
"Are you sure?" Blondie asked. "It seems like something is bothering you."
"No, I just…I just…" She trailed off, seeing that she had attracted a small crowd. Her hand rose to her hair, and she twirled it around her finger, bringing a blonde locked into view. Her blue eyes connected with Blondie's. Blondie's head tilted in confusion as she stared at Apple. Apple looked between Blondie and her light blonde hair. She swiftly dropped her arm, wincing as her hair snagged on her ring. "Ouch," she muttered, looking down at the ring. Her eyes widened when she saw a few strands of blonde hair wrapped around it. "I'm sorry. There's something I need to do."
Apple turned around and ran away, leaving the OCD girl confused.
Apple took a deep breath and looked into the mirror. She was wearing a white robe with gold decorations. A towel was wrapped around her hair. She took a shuddery gasp as she saw a tear slide down her reflection's cheek. She raised her hands but stopped when she saw the stained plastic gloves on her hand. She pulled off the gloves and tossed them in the trash bin. Her small mirror vibrated and she slid her finger against it, unlocking it. She looked at the flashing message and took a deep breath.
00:00
TIME'S UP
Apple took a deep breath and looked in the mirror, her hands slowly going towards the towel. She pulled it off and stared at her reflection in horror. A scream passed her lips as she stared at her reflection, her breathing becoming heavier.
"No! No! I have to fix this!" Apple shouted her voice cracking. She grabbed the box and looked at it frantically. "It's wrong! How do I fix this! You have to tell me how to fix this!" She sobbed, looking anywhere but the mirror.
"Apple?" Raven called, stepping into their shared room. She stepped over the red carpeting that signaled that it was Apple's half of the room."Apple! Are you alright? Everyone's really worried. Apple, are you in here?" Raven shouted, looking around the room. She walked towards Apple's full-length golden mirror and took a deep breath.
"Magic mirror, where's Apple?" Raven asked nervously.
"She ran into the bathroom," the mirror replied, the glass lighting as she said every syllable.
"How long has she been in there?" Raven asked, rushing towards the bathroom door.
"All day I'm afraid," the mirror told her. Raven grabbed the handle and twisted it, finding that it was locked.
"Apple! Open up! I know you're in there!" Raven shouted, pounding on the door. She paused in her assault on the door and pressed the side of her face to the door. Through the wood she could hear someone crying, and there was running water. Raven looked down at the floor and saw that the carpet was soggy and water was seeping out from under the door. She lifted her stiletto and drops of water fell off of it.
"Apple, please open up! I'm worried about you!" Raven shouted, knocking on the door, gentler this time. When she got no response she sighed and took a step back. "Apple I'm sorry, please forgive me for this, but you forced me to do this." She raised her hands, a purple aura surrounding them. The energy shot off her hand and hit the door, creating a small cloud of smoke. After a few seconds the door knob fell onto the carpet and rolled over to Raven's shoe, hitting it.
The rebel grabbed the hole in the door and wretched it opening, freezing in her tracks.
"Oh god," she breathed in shock. The bathroom mirror was shattered, a pair of scissors sticking out of the wood base. Brushes, knives, and hair coloring supplies littered the counter. Water poured into the porcelain sink, flowing out of it. Raven rushed forward and turned off the sink, pulling out the hand towel that covered the drain. Something caught her eyes and she turned to see long locks of dark hair on the sink. She looked down and saw them floating in the water that pooled on the linoleum floor. A sob caught her attention and she felt her heart slow down at what she knew she would see.
Raven turned around saw Apple huddled in the corner, curled into a ball, sobbing. Her hair was cut erratically, some locks longer than others. Some chunks of her hair were slanted and others were jagged. Her once beautifully blonde locks were now a dark purple with some strands being an even darker blue, nearly black. It reminded Raven of her own hair, except more chaotic.
The witch slowly stepped over to the princess, the glass from the mirror crunching under her shoes. "Apple…" Raven whispered, stepping in front of her. She crouched in front of the crying girl. "Apple, what happened?" Raven asked. She hesitantly placed a hand on Apple's shaking shoulders, causing the girl to tense.
"It's wrong, it's all wrong," Apple whispered.
"What's wrong Apple?" Raven asked quietly. She grabbed a towel and swept away some glass, kneeling on front of the broken girl.
"It's wrong, it's completely wrong" Apple choked, looking up. Her eyes were red and bloodshot. Her mascara ran down her cheeks in black streaks. Her light grey eye shadow was smudged, surrounding her puffy eyes. Her red lipstick was streaked across her mouth, looking like a sick smile. "And I couldn't fix it!" Her hands flew to her eyes as she cried even more.
Raven's eyes widened as she saw the blood dripping from the future queen's hands. "Apple, what happened? What did you do?"
"I couldn't take it Raven!" Apple sobbed. "All the taunts. All the disappointment!"
"Apple what are you talking about?" Raven asked. "Everyone loves you! No one's disappointed in you! You're the most loved girl in all of Ever After High! Hell, I think you might even be the most loved person in all of Book End!"
"It's wrong!" Apple shouted, lowering her hands.
"What's wrong?" Raven asked slowly.
"My hair," Apple choked, before crying even more. She lurched forward, wrapping her arms around Raven's torso. "My hair! It's nothing like hers! It's all wrong!"
"Oh Apple," Raven whispered, running her hands through her tangled hair.
Apple sniffed as she sat in the chair. Raven had cleaned off her makeup and bandaged the cuts on her hands.
"Do I have to sit here…?" Apple asked weakly, unable to take her eyes off of her reflection in Raven's mirror.
"Yes, I'm sorry," Raven sighed, holding up a spell book. "I think I can fix your hair, but it won't be blonde again, not for a while anyway."
"Why not?" Apple asked, finally turning away from the mirror to stare at the mirror. "I made a mistake, Raven! I want my blonde hair back."
"I'm sorry Apple. I can turn the hair dye to the color it was supposed to be, but until it washes out you're stuck," Raven told her. She set the open book on her bed and grabbed a pedestal, dragging it over to Apple. She quickly grabbed the book and set it down, laying it open. "Are you ready?" The witch asked.
"I guess," Apple sniffed, looking down at her lap. "I mean, I have nothing to lose."
Ignoring the comment Raven turned to face Apple, holding out her hands. She glanced at the book and took a deep breath.
"Fac applicata egressus optatum effectum. Convertimini sicut in nigrum et hyacintho purpura capillos hoc ebenum, ut dictum fuco." Raven recited. The purple aura swirled around her hands before shooting out and surrounding Apple's head. The previous blonde tensed and watched the energy as it got absorbed by her hair. Once it was done Raven smile and lowered her arms.
"There," she nodded to herself. The picked up the pedestal and moved out of Apple's way, allowing her to see her reflection. Apple gasped at her hair. Her black hair. Her hair that was as black as ebony, just as the story wanted.
"It's black," she whispered, reaching up to touch it. She watched her reflection, as if in denial that she was seeing the truth.
"Yup, just like the story said, you happy?" Raven asked. Apple looked at her before looking back at her reflection before sighing, dropping her hands.
"No…I'm not," she confessed. Raven nodded in satisfaction, picking up a pair of scissors and a hair brush.
"Now, I'm pretty new at this, so I'll try not to make it worse," Raven joked. She ran the brushed through Apple's hair, causing the girl to let out a shout as it got caught in a knot. "Sorry! Sorry!" Raven apologized. She took the brush out and repeated her actions, starting from the mismatched ends of Apple's hair. Once she could pull the brush through her hair without a single snag she smiled and set it down. "So far so good."
"You know it's funny," Apple whispered.
"What?" Raven asked, holding up a pair of scissors and cutting off a part of Apple's hair.
"As a little girl I used to love my hair. It was blonde, just like my dad's. It's the only thing I inherited from him," Apple told her, ducking her head.
"Don't move," Raven told her. Apple's head snapped back up and she looked at the mirror once again, this time focusing on Raven's reflection. "Sorry, it's just that, I can't cut properly if you keep moving your head."
"It's okay, I understand," Apple said in an assuring tone.
"So, you were saying?" Raven asked, snipping off some more hair.
"My blonde hair was the only thing I got from my father, everything else came from my mother, the beautiful Snow White. My parents loved my hair. And for the most part, so did I. I didn't know what was wrong with it," Apple sighed, wiping her tears. "Sorry, I moved again."
"It's okay, just try to keep your head steady," Raven told her, placing some hair between her figners and pulling it. She cut it quickly, watching it fall back to join the others.
"Anyway, when I turned six, I finally knew that something was off," Apple said. "I overheard a maid talking with one of the dwarves. They were talking about my hair. About how it was so light and so blonde and so wrong." She spit the words out, as if the left a bad taste in her mouth. "I asked my parents if there was something wrong with my hair, but they insisted that it was perfect. After that, the comments didn't stop. I heard them more and more. I grew to hate my hair. It was so blonde, such a contrast from Snow White's perfect black hair. I thought that I would never be a perfect Snow White unless I had her hair. I asked them if I could change it, but they said 'no'. After that I met Briar, she adored my blonde hair, it was one of her favorite things. She just loved to mess with it and braid it. As we grew closer and became friends, I began to love my hair again."
"What happened?" Raven asked, cutting off more black locks.
"I thought once I came here they would stop, but they didn't. I heard them in the library after lunch, and I became a little more aware of my hair. I just couldn't stop hearing it. The comments, the disappointment. 'It's not the right color' 'Is she really Snow White' 'How can she be if her hair is so light' 'her hair is nothing like her mother's'. Something just snapped. I couldn't take it anymore. The comments," Apple whispered.
"For what it's worth, I loved your blonde hair," Raven smiled, looking into the mirror. "It was perfectly you; hexecellent and enchanting. It fit you perfectly." Apple turned around to face her roommate, looking up at her with pleading eyes.
"Really?" she asked quietly.
"Really," Raven nodded.
"Raven!" Briar shouted, spotting the witch. Raven quickly turned around and ran off, only to come to a halt as she saw Ashlynn blocking her path. She turned to go another direction but saw Blondie blocking her, with her arms held out for effect. She looked around and ran off in another direction, only to collide into Daring Charming.
"Sorry," Daring apologized, holding a hand out to help her up.
"Daring grab her!" Ashlynn shouted as the three girls ran closer. Daring looked at them and back at Raven before grabbing her arm to prevent her escape.
"Curses!" the witch cursed as the three girls approached. "Alright, you got me; you can let me go now." Raven yanked her arm out of Daring's grasp and glared at the girls.
"Thank you Daring, that will be all," Ashlynn told the prince. The blonde shrugged and walked away, leaving the girls alone.
"What do you want?" Raven demanded.
"You know exactly what we want," Briar said. "Where's Apple? We haven't seen her all week!"
"Apple's, going through something right now," Raven answered, rubbing her arm nervously.
"Oh! Did you accept your destiny to be the future evil queen and practice poisoned Apple?" Blondie asked excitedly.
"What? No!" Raven shouted. The gossip girl pouted at the news.
"Then what's happened to Apple?" Ashlynn asked. "She hasn't shown up for classes, she hasn't gone to the castleteria to eat anything, she hasn't gone shopping, and she hasn't even posted anything on her mirror blog!"
"Plus she isn't returning any of our calls!" Briar added.
"Look, Apple's just going through something right now," Raven told them. "She just needs sometime to cool down and relax. And don't worry, I've been getting her assignments and turning them in for her. And I've also been grabbing meals for her from the castleteria. She's fine."
"No she isn't," Briar huffed. "If she's not talking to us then she obviously isn't fine!"
"Raven, she's our friend, you have to tell us what's going on," Ashlynn pleaded.
"Alright, but you aren't going to like it, and you have to keep it a secret," Raven sighed. "Blondie, that means no talking about it on your mirror cast show!"
"Alright," the future trespasser agreed.
"Apple…snapped," Raven sighed.
"What do you mean by 'snap'?" Ashlynn asked.
"I mean, she heard someone comment on her hair and-!" Raven huffed, and hit her hands against her thighs in frustration.
"Oh no," Briar whispered in worry. "What did she do?"
"She-she snapped," Raven repeated.
"Apple?" Raven called, knocking on the door. She opened it slowly and saw the princess on her bed. The normally bubbly girl was oddly quiet, carelessly flipping through a book. Even though it had been a week, she wore her white pajamas, not having changed since she replaced her robe with them. "I brought your homework for the day, and some company." Apple's head snapped up as Briar, Ashlynn, and Blondie entered the room behind Raven. The princess gasped and ran towards the bathroom to hide.
"Apple wait!" Raven shouted, just as the door slammed shut. "Oh! Why did I fix that door?" she growled as she took a step forward. Briar grabbed her shoulder and shook her head. The narcoleptic took Raven's place, approaching the door. She gently knocked and smiled.
"Hey, best friend forever after, what's up?" She asked quietly. "Look, Raven told us what happened. Don't be mad at her, we forced it out of her. She's really worried about you, and so are we. Will you please open up?" She sighed when she didn't get any response. She turned around and leaned on the door, looking at the other girls.
"Apple, we're not disappointed in you, if that's what you're afraid of," Ashlynn assured her. "We want to help you, in any way we can, even if it just means being there for you."
"Please open up," Blondie pleaded. "We just want to see you. You're our friend." The golden knob turned and Briar quickly pushed herself off of it as it opened. They gasped in shock at what they saw. Apple's blonde hair was pitch black and barely reached past her ears.
"Oh Apple," Briar whispered, gathering the girl into her arms. Apple gripped her sleep shirt, tensing up before tears ran down her face. The princess cried, falling into her friend's arms. Ashlynn and Blondie joined the hug, holding the girl close. Once Apple had recomposed herself they pulled away. Ashlynn held out a hand and stroked Apple's short hair.
"Raven told us you cut your hair, but she didn't say that it was this short," she whispered.
"It wasn't," Apple confessed.
"She tried cutting it on her own but the results were disastrous," Raven told them. "I fixed it as best as I could. I even managed to turn her hair black. She tried doing that herself and it ended up dark purple and dark blue."
"Don't worry," Blondie told them. "I'm sure we can make this look just right."
"Yeah, a little accessorizing can go a long way," Briar agreed. "And let's see if we can style it into something cute. Your bangs are long, so maybe we'll be able to do something about that."
"Thank you, I'd like that," Apple told them.
After a month of being absent, Apple stepped into the hallways. Her black hair had grown, reaching her shoulders in soft curls. Her normal headband was in her hair, perched proudly. Clips with bows and apples pushed back her bangs and there was a small braid in her hair. The students came to a halt, staring at her and whispering. The princess grabbed Briar and Raven's arms in nervousness.
"Don't worry, if anyone says something we'll deal with them," Ashlynn assured her.
"Yeah, and if they're stink eye doesn't work, I'll hex them," Raven smirked, causing Apple to giggle softly. The group walked through the hallway, causing whispers as they passed.
"Apple!" Maddie cheered, approaching the girls. "I love what you've done with your hair! It looks absolutely tea-riffic!"
"It does?" Apple asked, shifting nervously.
"Yes, but I must admit, you look better as a blonde! Even the narrators agree!" the mad girl smiled.
"Thank you," Apple smiled, feeling relieved.
"Apple!" Daring called, walking up to them with his brother. "I've been so worried about you."
"You have?" Apple asked.
"Of course," Daring assured her. "You're my princess, until forever after."
"Oh Daring," Apple sniffed, hugging him.
"Your hair looks really cute," Dexter told her.
"Yeah, it took a while, but we were able to find the right style," Apple nodded, pulling away from her Prince Charming.
"It's good to have you back Apple," Lizzie Hearts told her as she and Kitty passed the group.
"Hi Apple!" Cedar greeted as she passed. The princess waved as they passed, filling with confidence. Not once did anyone mention her hair, color or length.
After a few months, Apple hair was back to its normal color, much to her delight.
She was smiling, admiring her hair in her magic mirror.
"It's great to have the old Apple back completely," Raven smiled. "I must say, I missed the blonde hair."
"It's great to be back!" Apple cheered, clapping in happiness. She turned around and hugged Raven. "Thank you for everything Raven!"
"It's no problem," Raven told her, hugging her back.