Fine China

Oh, Drew's fine. She's fine in many ways.

Dark hair in ringlets and warm brown eyes? She's got them. And no, they're definitely not hair extensions and contact lenses.

Pear-shaped body? Check. How else is she going to make jeans and a t-shirt look glamorous?

Perfect make-up and kawaii jewelry? Fashion is just another accessory for someone with great style.

But her feelings? Honey, they're the opposite of fine.

[It's what's on the inside that matters.]

Ha! If that oh-so-famous saying were actually true, wouldn't people have bothered to ask her what exactly went wrong in her childhood?

Too bad nobody cares. And besides, Drew would've probably broken a nail trying to slap the offending person to some country. Nuh-thing went wrong in her childhood, mind you.

She has always been like this. You know, that typical brat who only does something to get her parents' attention. Everything is never enough, though.

She was picked for the lead in their Brooklyn Academy for the Gifted's amateur production of Chicago, and all she received was a congratulatory party and the cutest poodle from her dad. He never attended the shows. After the performance, Drew was even forced to witness Sadie Kane's freak show of a family fawn over her when her role was simply Murderess #5. Doesn't Daddy dearest understand? All she wanted was his affection and nothing more. Was that too much to ask?

Apparently, yes. Not even Aphrodite showed it.

When Silena died in the Battle of Manhattan, it was time for Drew to take over. Finally. A chance to prove her worth. She didn't do a good job of proving it. But, yeah, was she really a tyrant? Uh-huh! Guilty.

She was trying really hard, though. If everyone had given her more time, then she was sure she would've done better. Piper just had to show up to ruin it all.

If what's on the inside is what truly is important, go ahead and take a peek
inside her. That thing called inner beauty? Keep caution, because she's actually a little, green monster—jealousy doesn't look good on anyone after all.

[You may be good-looking, but you're not a piece of art.]

When Silena was still alive, Drew was like the junior head counselor. The thing is, Silena didn't acknowledge how Drew was the next head. It was obvious how she didn't like Drew from the very beginning—thought of her as too demanding, too vindictive, too untrustworthy. (That's why Drew didn't like Silena either. How could she, the head counselor who distrusted her own sibling, trust the enemy when everyone practically trusted her? The traitor.)

So Drew was forced to stand back and do nothing, almost like she was just used for display. A useless piece of China locked behind a cabinet to be only looked upon by interested people. Such a sad, pathetic life. Let's face it: nobody was really interested in her. They overlooked her, much like how her parents continue to ignore her.

It was a nice feeling to find out she had charmspeak. She always thought it was fun manipulating people, although she wasn't that good at it until she mastered her ability. Now she could make people not ignore her. She never felt like a princess, but with this handy talent she could be the queen bee. That, of course, made her even more distant from Silena. Oh well, that didn't matter because before they knew it, Silena was gone.

Drew had mixed feelings about her sister's death. Regret, anger, shame, and a teensy bit of joy swelled in her. Power and control, everyone was after that. And even if she was just heading her cabin, it was a big accomplishment for her. Finally she was unlocked from the cabinet and was used for something more purposeful. The only problem? She was already stained and dirtied too much; they had let a degenerate beauty queen run lose.

[You know what they say about hope, it breeds eternal misery.]

You'd think something else would be her mantra, something along the lines of "My walk, my talk, the way I dress. It's not my fault, so please don't trip," but her favorite line turns out to be as depressing as the River Acheron.

Hope is just a four-letter word that disappoints you if you expect too much. And Drew's done expecting. She's over hoping that everything will change—the way people view her, the way she views the world.

Can you blame her? She's already teetering over the edge. Give Drew one more push and she'll fall to a million pieces. Sometimes she wonders what would've happened if she helped herself, if she tried to change herself. Or perhaps if her siblings actually reached out to her, maybe she'd be at least slightly different in a good way.

Whatever. Too late for that now.

Freaking Piper was the last straw. So there she went, falling until she reached the rock-bottom. It's an ugly sight when you see something break. But to see a person? Heart-shattering.

[All you need to know is you've got a friend.]

When you're broken, there are two things a person can do: turn for help or nothing at all.

Drew chose to do nothing at all. It was Melanie who approached her.

They're not exactly the closest friends, but they're something. Melanie was one of the few people that sought out the nicer side of Drew, and she was the only one successful enough to do it.

Drew never really liked to admit it, but she felt lucky because of that. It's better to have a friend with you. It always is.

There were nights when the two would sneak out and watch the stars as the latest tunes softly played from Drew's illegal iPod. They'd just be lying down, venting out their difficulties and raving about their fave new styles. Drew had done this many times before with her troupe of followers, but when she was with Melanie, everything was different.

It's nice to know that there's someone who'll show you the brighter side. It's nice to know that someone will help you pick up the pieces.

Drew's still broken; she still needs to learn a lot of things. It won't be easy to piece everything back together. They'll get scratches and bruises at first, but it'll all be worth it in the end.