Popularity's Spindle
—
Hey guys! First off, this fic is dedicated to none other than my Theory Buddy NAP TEAM CAPTAIN! *Round of applause from no where* Anyway, thanks girl for letting me feed you conspiracy theories and therefore inspiring me to write some of my own.
I wanted to write really angsty stuff. Sad stuff. Realistic stuff that does happen. I targeted my fav character, Briar, and wrote her. The idea stemmed from the fact that everyone thought Apple was fake when in reality Briar was the one who had split personalities. She also changes a good deal from being popular and pink and party-ish.
Anyway, enjoy!
—
Strutting down the hallway, the brunette daughter of Sleeping Beauty was a galiant, beautiful picture of success, wealth, and popularity. Everyone she passed waved, swooned, and grinned. She blew kisses, waved, and shared hi-fives as everyone stopped to look at the sight.
"Hey, Briar!" one of the girls greeted. "I'm such a fan of your fashion."
"Thanks—" Briar scanned the nametag on the girl's bag. "—Melania. I'm a fan of your absolutely…amazing…" She spotted a paintbrush in the Melania's canvas bag. "Artwork. I can't paint as well as you!" Briar beamed one of her fake, cheery smiles, and Melania blushed and stammered her thanks.
"Awesome party last night, Bri!" a tall boy called.
"Glad you could attend," Briar responded, winking. She continued along the school, greeting people she didn't even know and smiling at people she hated. Giggling when another person laughed like they were sharing some inside joke.
Life was great. Now she was a somebody, not the person she actually was. Deep inside.
She ducked inside the dorm room and slammed the door. Only then did she let herself cry. Because she was a wannabe, a loser, hideous and clingy. And it was so hard to pretend. She didn't want to pretend anymore.
She seated herself down at her metallic pink vanity that her fanclub, the Briarnators, had given her for her fifteenth birthday. Sighing, she grabbed some make up remover and squirted it on a cotton pad.
Briar scrubbed the concealer off her nose and cheeks. The mirror jeered in her face, laughing its reflecting surface at her.
Look at you, it said.
"I'm looking," the brunette whispered, staring boldly at her reflection. This wasn't Briar Beauty, popular princess, daughter of Sleeping Beauty, rad party thrower and the starter of every possible trend. This was Brianna, a big fake.
There were eye bags under her eyes, that were plain brown, not the rosey-coffee colour it made out to be. Freckles that were dark brown were spattered across her face. She had a mole on her cheek and a scar on the bridge of her nose when she had bumped into a table as a kid.
Briar stared at her long, manicured nails. Godmother, did she want to cut them. And they were pink. She hated pink. It was such a girly colour - she preferred prussian blue or a rich, darkly shaded aqua - but pink, out of all colours!
Briar jumped as a knock came from the door.
"No no no! Don't come—"
She groaned as Hopper peeped his head through the door.
"—In…" she finished miserably. Briar slapped both hands over your face. "What do you want?" she asked.
"Um, you left your sunglasses in the classroom," Hopper answered, blushing.
Those sunglasses! She couldn't freaking see through those ridiculous tinted lenses. They had to be shaded pink, huh?
"Put them on the floor, and leave," Briar said stonily.
"Briar, what's wrong?" Hopper asked, softening slightly. Briar wanted to cry. She had turned down, teased, and rebuked him so many times, and yet here he was.
Don't lie anymore, a little voice said in her head.
"Well, you can start by calling me Brianna," she began, prying both hands away from her face.
Hopper raised his eyebrows, a look of confusion. He stepped into the dorm and sat down on a stool beside her. Briar turned slowly to look at him. She was immediately shocked when he broke out into a grin.
"Hey, you have freckles like me! That's so cute!" he smiled. "How come I never noticed them?"
Briar looked carefully as Hopper looked at her face up and down. She held her breath as he glanced at the contact case on her table (one of the only things she had that was dark aqua), ajar to reveal two tinted contacts.
"I knew they were fake," he said, grinning again. Briar felt a blush creep up her neck and onto her cheeks. "You did?"
"Briar, your parents both have brown eyes, and so do your brothers and your cousins and grandparents on either side," Hopper pointed out, as Briar flushed.
They sat in silence for a while. Finally, Hopper started. "Now, what's with all this?" he asked, gesturing towards the pots and pots of expensive makeup, nose strips, pimple cream, and contacts.
Briar took a deep breath. "I'm a fake. My eyes are fake, my face is fake, my personality is fake, my life is fake," she started. "And it's a long story."
"Well, you have an hour and a half," Hopper responded. "Tell me."
—
11 years ago
Six year old Brianna Beauty grabbed another cupcake from the plate. Her chubby, plump form was covered by an aqua plaid dress, straight and boring brown hair in a ponytail.
"Who's she?" a voice whispered. Brianna turned to see two girls behind her. One had gorgeous light blonde pigtails, an angelic face with large blue eyes and a lovely form. The second was another blonde, with a blue frock and furry boots and a huge cornflower bow in her hair.
"Isn't she the daughter of Sleeping Beauty?" the blue-dressed girl whispered back. The two were oblivious of Brianna overhearing everything. "I think she's called Brianna or something."
"What a plain name!" the angel replied. "Look at her, scarfing down that cupcake. She's so…urgh! She should be called Brianna Ugly, not Brianna Beauty!"
They giggled quietly. Brianna's eyes filled with tears. She was fat and ugly, like the girls had said. Staring at the cupcake in her hand, she threw it in the bin and left, the words leaving a slash across her heart.
—
"Brianna?"
Brianna froze and turned to see her dad rubbing his eyes. "It's five in the morning," he mumbled in a most unkinglilike fashion, crown askew. "What in the world are you doing?"
"I-I…" Brianna stared at her running outfit. "I was meeting with Ashlynn to go for a run," she lied. It was a half-truth, anyway. She was definetely going for a run, just not with Ashlynn.
"Take care," her father grumbled, and went back into the hall. Brianna sighed in relief and opened the door. The harsh wind hit her in the face. The horrible things those two girls said still stuck with her after all those years. Now she was twelve, and she needed to lose weight.
Brianna started off into a jog. Legs pumping, hair wild in the breeze. She struggled to catch her breath. She had never run this far before, nor this fast. She looked back, her pink marble palace a speck in the distance. She sighed as she pinched at her belly fat. She'd have to go on a diet next.
She took a long chug from her bottle and sighed, before beginning to run again. Her entire body ached and she longed to stop and grab some chocolate. But she couldn't do that, not when she was Brianna Ugly.
—
"Brianna, you're not eating much," her mother reprimanded as she stared at her roast beef and gravy.
"Not hungry today," Brianna lied. Her stomach rumbled, but she couldn't bring herself to eat. Instead, she took a bottle of 100% healthy juice from the fridge and returned to her room. Her bangles that she had purchased (because every princess at school was wearing them) jangled against her bony wrists.
Brianna sat down on her four-postered bed and stared at glossy magazine pages printed with pictures of beautiful models, and a picture of Snow White. She was so pretty. Maybe even prettier than Sleeping Beauty.
The next day, Brianna loaded her bag and headed to school. She fell asleep twice during classes. She woke up to the sound of clinking jewellery next to her.
"Lazy and ugly," whispered the angelic blonde to another girl. The blonde's not too bony, not too plump wrists were loaded with golden bangles laden with rubies and diamonds. Was she wearing makeup? They were freakin' thirteen.
Brianna tried to go back to sleep, but the blonde's words bored in her mind.
"Hey, daughter of Snow White, right?" she said suddenly, feeling angry.
The blonde turned to her, blinking her soft cobalt eyes at her, mascara-covered eyelashes batted. "That's me," she answered chirpily, as if she hadn't been talking about Brianna behind her back.
"I thought Snow White had black hair," Brianna smirked. This was obviously a sensitive subject. The girl gasped. "How dare you!" she hissed. "How dare you! My hair is perfect, unlike that…that rat nest you call a hairdo," she sniffed. The girls next to her laughed. "It does look like a rat's nest," the other blonde wearing blue giggled.
When Brianna returned home, she self-consciously touched her plain, straight hair. She walked up to one of the maids. "Hey Martha, do you think you can curl my hair?" she requested.
—
At school, Brianna's newly curled hair attracted the attention of the students.
"I love your hair," one of the girls complimented. The boys nodded steadily in her direction and the girls commented kindly on her new look.
So this is what being popular feels like, Brianna thought. If only I wasn't so bony, and ugly and freckly.
She sat down on one of the empty lunch tables and started unwrapping her salad. She planned to eat half and then dump the rest.
"Hey, can I sit here?" a voice asked.
Brianna looked up to see a redheaded boy her age.
"Sure," she answered. "It's not like Iike I have anyone else to sit with."
The boy shrugged and sat down opposite her, and started eating his fish fingers. They both reached out to grab a napkin and grabbed the same.
The boy laughed. Then he paused. "Wait, what happened to your wrists?"
"What's wrong with them?" Brianna asked. Wasn't skinny beautiful?
"They're so bony! Have you been eating properly?" the boy fretted. "Are you…are you anorexic?" His eyes widened on the last word.
"Anorexic?" Brianna wondered aloud. What did that mean?
The boy took out some chocolate. "Here, have this. You'll need it," he offered. Before Brianna could decline, he placed it on her tray, hitched up his bag and smiled before walking off.
He was the one who pulled her out of anorexia.
—
"Wait, that was you?" Hopper asked, eyes widening like they did when he had realised thirteen-year-old Briar was anorexic.
"Yeah," Briar said. "But there's more."
—
Ever since Brianna didn't know the meaning of anorexic, she felt dumb and uneducated. So she started studying about everything she could. Learning became easy for her, with her quick brain and good memory. She often made up odd rhymes and songs to help her remember complicated sums and such.
"Nerd," the daughter of Snow White snickered as Brianna accidentally bumped into her while she was absorbed in a maths book.
"Blonde," she responded lightly, walking off in the other direction. She could hear the girl fume as she walked off.
—
Brianna got full marks on the test that week.
—
The petty blonde got forty out of one hundred.
—
"Happy birthday, Brianna!" the twelfth fairy smiled, giving a wrapped present to Brianna. It was her fourteenth birthday. She was to move to Ever After High in a few weeks.
"Thanks, Crystal," Brianna smiled, placing the present on a tray of others. "And thank you to Ruby, Garnet, Citron, Emerald, Sapphire, Pearl, Amethyst, Diamond, Onyx, Aquamarine [Aquamarine was Brianna's favourite], and Amber, and straight after I finish this sentence…"
The enormous double doors burst open and Faybelle stormed in.
"How dare you not invite me to your birthday party!" she shrieked as lightning struck the sky. "As a punishment, on your seventeeth birthday you will prick your finger on a needle and get chickenpox!"
But somehow, it was all resolved with a promise of a voucher to Cheerleaders R Us.
Brianna opened all her presents last. From Ruby she got new notebooks. Garnet gave her jewellery. Citron gave her new shoes. Emerald gave her the adventure novel she had been wanting for ages, Sapphire's present was a new blue watch. Brianna got a set of aqua and white t-shirts from Pearl, heaps of chocolate from Amethyst, a HexBox from Diamond, rollerskates from Onyx, a zip-lining set from Aquamarine, a set of pens from Amber and a box of make up from Crystal.
After the party, Brianna was looking at the makeup box. There were lipsticks in nude, velvet, and carnation, eyeshadow of various different colours, blush and concealer and foundation with spongy brushes to match, and two sticks of expensive mascara. Brianna wasn't really one for make up, but she decided she'd give it a try.
Her maid, Scarlett, applied the make up on. When Brianna looked in front of the mirror, she didn't see herself. She saw a dazzling girl with huge, pretty eyes and a perfect face, glittery pink lips and long lashes.
It was wasn't herself, but she was beautiful.
—
Brianna went to her new school with the makeup on.
"Looking good!" one of the girls called as she walked past.
"Love the makeup!" another one shouted. Brianna felt warm and fuzzy inside.
"Hey there," a princess with dark brown hair said. "What's your name? I'm SweetPea, daughter of Princess Pea."
Brianna smiled. And then the blonde's voice echoed in her head.
What a plain name!
"I-I'm Briar," she stammered. "Yeah, that's me. Briar Beauty. Sleeping Beauty's daughter."
"Hey, Briar," SweetPea greeted. Brianna felt the name sounded foreign to her. "You'd look lovely in pink. Aqua makes you look like your…villain." She shuddered at the last word, emerald necklace jangling on her tan collarbone.
Briar - or Brianna - looked towards Faybelle. Faybelle did wear a lot of aqua, but Briar didn't think it should mind too much.
"I'll think about it," she offered, before ducking away.
Pink! she thought. What a disgusting girly colour! Still, she wanted to be liked. The way the girls smiled her at and the ways the boys stared - she felt famous. Smart. Beautiful. Popular.
She felt like she belonged.
—
Briar, as she was now named, became more and more popular. She wasn't sure how. She was just pretty and royal. Everyone knew her mother. She helped people in class with her exquisite knowledge. Flirted more and attended clubs.
"Hey, Briar," SweetPea giggled, key-lime dress swinging around her knees. "Let me introduce you to Apple White! She's the daughter of Snow White and sooooo nice!" She pulled a blonde into view.
Briar's stomach dropped. It was the bully, the brat.
And now, she looked even more beautiful than ever.
Her enormous pale eyes were framed with long, thick eyelashes. Her red lips and pale skin made up to her destiny. Her fableous long curls swung enticingly as she smiled with perfect teeth.
"Hello there!" she chirped. "I'm Apple White!"
"Briar Beauty," Briar responded wearily.
"You guys were meant for each other!" SweetPea crooned. "You're both fashionable, and popular, and princesses and beautiful and so sweet!" she listed off. "You two were made to be best friends forever after!"
Briar forced a smile.
"Thanks SweetPea, but I think I'm gonna be late for class!" she blabbered. She winked and strutted off like a popular girl would.
For some reason, Briar wanted to be popular. So bad. She didn't know why, she just did. And Apple was at the top of the popularity ladder, being the number one princess and all.
Word had soon travelled around Ever After High by lunchtime. Everyone was buzzing about Briar and Apple and how they were absolutely perfect for each other.
"Can I sit here?" a voice asked softly. Briar looked up to see that blonde princess in all of her glamour, in a hoop-skirted tulle crimson dress and a cute little white velvet collared blouse-jacket thing (what were those? Briar had the right mind to think Apple had drastically edited an 80's wedding gown).
"Of course," she responded, covering up her shock. Apple sat down gracefully and tucked her legs together. "So, I know that you're the perfect best friend for me!" she smiled, flipping some hair off her shoulder with a swift, elegant push of her hand. The boys around them swooned.
Alright then, Briar thought to herself. I'll play it sweet and sassy.
"I knew you'd say that," she smiled, flashing a grin at the princes around her. She placed on leg on top of the other and tucked a piece of curl behind her ear. The boys basically melted.
"I mean, we're both perfect, pampered princess!" she laughed fakely (but it was hella realistic), tracing the curve of her lip with her fingers. "Alliteration," she added saucily. All the nerdy princes fainted.
"I know, right?" Apple agreed, batting her eyelashes. "And you know what, Briar? You'd look fableous in pink! Don't you think so, boys?" she trilled.
"Yes!" the princes chorused.
"You'll see me in pink tomorrow, then," Briar smiled sweetly, wondering what mess she had gotten herself into.
—
Briar had on a tight, sleeveless, taffeta top of hot pink, with black lace on top, these ridiculous fabric rose clumps that were connected to a black onyx necklace of sorts, and a tight skirt in the shape of a really deformed rose. Briar had no idea what weirdo store the maids had gotten it from, though.
She cursed elastic not being allowed in princess dresses as she tugged on these hideous brown-grey tights with odd thorn patterns on them. She slipped her feet into pink stilettos and did her makeup.
At school, she gained more stares, whistles, and swoons. She felt…right. Like she wasn't a nobody.
"Briar!" Apple called, once again in that adorable little ensemble of her's, complimented with a golden crown on a headband and golden-bowed red iris shoes. She clutched a beaded apple handbag.
"Let me introduce you to the royal entourage! I can't believe we're going to start boarding at this school next week!" she gushed, latching on Briar's arm. She led the brunette to a table of various princesses and princes.
"That's Dexter, Daring, Ashlynn, Blondie, Holly, and Lizzie!" she introduced, pointing at respective royals.
"I love your hair!" Holly gushed. "It would look gorgeous in pink highlights!" She smiled and continued staring at Daring.
"Not more pink," Briar muttered under her breath.
"Pardon?" Holly asked, smiling.
"I said, that's what I think!" Briar lied, grinning.
"You know, Bri," Daring began, flashing a grin that had no effect on her, "every man likes exotic girls."
Briar immediately gazed at her honey-brown skin and frowned.
"Are you being RACIST ABOUT MY SKIN COLOUR?!" she fumed. Everyone gasped, like it was a crime to speak back to Daring in that tone of voice.
"I like you!" Lizzie spoke up. "She's in!"
—
Briar sat on her bed, thinking about all that had happened today. She searched up 'exotic models' on the internet.
There were girls like her, with light brown skin and wavy chestnut hair, but their eyes! Aqua, rosey-pink, gold, ebony and silver!
Every man likes exotic girls.
She really wanted those aqua eyes. She would look beautiful in aqua, she was sure of it. But then again…
You would look great in pink.
Your hair is gorgeous. Highlight it pink!
She'd get the rosey ones, and then put highlights in her hair. And then she'd be bumped up the popularity list.
—
"Briar! You look magnificent!" Blondie gushed as she filmed the brunette Beauty on her MirrorPad. "Any details on your makeover?"
Briar smiled at the camera and flipped her glossamar curls that were now laced with hot pink. "Blondie, I just went with how I felt inside of me. I always knew I was destinied for beauty, like my family name!" she grinned, feeling like a plastic Barbie. "Pink was my inner calling."
"I've never noticed how pink your eyes are!" Blondie added. "Any comments on that?" she smiled, zooming in on Briar's eyes. She hoped they couldn't see her contacts.
"It's absolutely natural," she fibbed. "Being the daughter of Sleeping Beauty and all. Genetics, right?" She laughed nervously, but thanks to an hour of practise, it sounded normal.
"I thought your mother had brown eyes?" Blondie asked, ever nosy.
"It was part of the curse," Briar lied again. "Don't ask me how, because I'm not associated with dark magic!" Now that sounded like she was definetely associated with dark magic. "But I know that Chemythstry and Spells and Sorcery can prove it!" she added.
"So, you're very smart, right?" Blondie perked. Apparantly she was moving on. Briar sighed in relief.
"I guess you could say that," she responded, acting hot and innocent at the same time. Luckily she loved soap dramas.
"Humble AND a genius!" Blondie said into the camera. "How is every Prince Charming NOT falling for you?"
"Maybe I don't want a Prince Charming," Briar blurted suddenly. Blondie gaped. "Really?! Awkward nerds, look out for Briar! Commoners, start buying roses! This princess is a real flower! And that's it for Blondie Lockes' Just Right!"
Briar was pretty sure there was a catergory that fit between Prince Charmings and Awkward Nerds & Commoners, but she didn't say. She only hoped she'd have enough Princes Charmings and Commoners alike swooning over her.
—
"What I need is a good party after all those exams," Briar heard a student say as she walked around the halls.
"I love princesses who can be fun," a prince muttered to his friend.
That did that. Briar was going to throw a party. If she was going to be at the top of the list, she'd do anything.
She would have balloons, punch, food, music…she would hire a DJ if it cost her the world. Disco lights, yes. Vegetarian selections and party games…
Briar walked over to her purse and emptied it. There was plenty of money that she was planning on to buy other things with. She was saving up for so long…biting her glossed lip, Briar shook all doubt from her head and seized her purse, heading out for the stores.
—
"Awesome party, Briar!" a random student shouted over the loud music.
Briar took another drink of the punch. She had seen Kitty spike it but she couldn't care less. She was miserable. Her stomach screamed in protest as another batch of alcohol swirled down her throat. Her head throbbed with the heavy metal music everyone was into but she hated. The disco lights and otherwise dim lighting hurt her eyes.
Oh godmother. Her eyes…she hadn't slept for ages. She rubbed her sore eyes and blinked at the partygoers, but her vision was still blurred.
She was wearing a skimpy dress that Apple had basically forced on her. The neckline stooped too low, the skirt too short. It was black, which she supposed was considerably better than pink. Apple had even cut her hair to shoulder-length. Now she looked hideous, despite everyone's compliments on her beauty.
She fought the urge to throw up as she made her way through the crowd of sweaty, swaying bodies, every boy she passed catcalling her. She made an attempt to smile, but she just couldn't. All her savings were gone. But if it stopped people from bullying her and making her anorexic, she'd take the risk.
She stumbled into the cold night air, the wind raising goosebumps all over her tanned skin. And considering all the uncovered skin, that was a hell lot of goosebumps. She closed her eyes but that didn't help.
"Briar?"
She turned to see Hopper, that guy who liked her.
"I'm fine," she mumbled, although it was clear she wasn't. Her stomach gurgled but she ignored it. She had eaten too much chocolate lately. She needed to go on a diet, excercise in the gym like she did today.
"I'm fine!" she shouted as Hopper edged closer. "I don't need you! You're just- You're just some filthy toad who thinks you can control my life, like everybody else!"
"Briar, you're drunk—"
"Just go!" she screamed suddenly, regret biting at her. When Hopper left, she cried. Her shoulders shook as she gasped for air. Every bone in her body ached. She was so tired. She needed a nap. Not three hours of gym time. She needed sleep, not flirting.
The truth, not lies.
—
Cold water nibbled at her warm body. As she opened her mouth, water filled her lungs. Her eyes stung with chlorine and the dark blue tiles clouded her vision. She tried to breathe but she wouldn't make it to the surface.
Clawing at the pool wall, Briar pulled herself up, gasping and spluttering as the sound of splashing and laughing reached her waterclogged ears.
"Oughn't a princess know how to swim?" a princess in a mauve swimsuit muttered. Briar knew she was the one who had pushed her in the pool. It was all happening again, it was all happening again…Depression. Bullying. Anorexia. Sleepless nights. Popularity.
"I do know how to swim!" she protested. "I'm just tired."
She walked towards the diving pool, where the popular clique was hanging out. The princess only followed.
They watched as Apple gracefully dove off a diving board, straight as an arrow as her luscious pale curls toppled over her backless red swimsuit. She soundlessly dove into the water before resurfacing and effortlessly gliding towards the steps.
The class left for the changerooms, as the class had ended.
"Ew, are those freckles?" the mauve girl asked, pointing at the concealer that had rubbed off Briar's face.
"Just a trick of the light," Briar muttered, heading for the changerooms, but the princess blocked her.
"They are freckles!" she argued. "Look at them!"
Before Briar could say anything, the hateful ginger grabbed Briar's neck and shoved her into the five metre diving pool.
Briar screamed, but only bubbles arose. Her chest was clogged with heavily chlorinated water. Her eyes damn near exploded, her nostrils thick with pool water. She struggled helplessly but her arms wouldn't move after all those neck breaking gym sessions.
Suddenly, a reddish shape propelled towards her, followed by a cascade of bubbles. Something grabbed her. She tried to inhale air but only swallowed more of that sickening pool water.
And then her lungs were tearing apart as fresh air hit her face. Tears down her cheeks, she gasped for oxygen and scrambled onto the pool floor, shuddering intensely. Hopper thumped her back as pool water came up her throat, followed by a few drops of blood.
She wiped at the crimson liquid with a tissue, trying to look normal. "You're a great swimmer," she managed through hacking coughs.
"Son of the frog prince and all," Hopper answered, smiling.
Briar lost it.
She wasn't sure what happened, but she cried. She cried hard.
"I'm sorry," she choked. "I'm so sorry."
"Hey, it's okay," Hopper answered gently, wrapping both arms around her. Briar only leaned into his chest and cried more. It was hard. Too hard. To be popular, to please everyone in their own way, to waste her money on things she didn't want. To hide herself with makeup, to face shame and disappointment, to be on diets and not eat enough. To wear skimpy dresses and sunglasses she couldn't see through, to get drunk to hide her depression, to throw parties she didn't want to throw. To push away Hopper, because she didn't want to.
To be fake, because that wasn't who she was.
—
"I-Is that who you just see me as?! Just a-a party girl?!" Briar shouted.
"Of course not, but—" Apple started.
"I have to sleep for one hundred years! And leave all my friends?" And Hopper, she thought. "All the people I'm going to miss, don't you care?!"
"Briar, it's destiny," Apple said weakly.
"Yeah, and you sleep for, like what? A week?"
"Oooooohhhh…" three girls echoed. Briar was suddenly filled with fury, but she could say nothing. She stormed out of the room. She didn't want to do this.
—
"I have to go in! She's my best friend!" Briar lied.
"For Apple," she whispered.
For Hopper, her heart whispered.
—
"There you go," Briar finished, eyes brimming with tears. "See? I'm just a wannabe fake who pretends they're something they're not."
Hopper only looked at her carefully. And then he pulled her into another hug.
Briar felt safe like this. She wanted to be with him. Forever after.
"Briar, this isn't who you are," he said finally. "Are you going to keep being fake? Or are you going to speak out? Briar, this is hurting you."
"I know," she sobbed. "It hurts so much to be who I'm not. But it hurts even more to be who I am."
"You're strong, Briar, you can do this."
—
Briar waited backstage as Apple's long speech ended. It was Parent's Day, and Briar was also told to make a speech. They were inside the Charmitorium. She wrung her hands as Apple descended offstage.
As the audience grew silent, she took a deep breath and stepped out into the limelight.
There was a collective gasp.
Briar wasn't wearing her contacts or her makeup. Her highlights were gone. Her nails were trimmed and not polished. She was wearing a large white t-shirt and dark aqua shorts, along with a pair of aqua sneakers. Crownglasses perched on her head, as per usual.
"Hi guys," she said into the microphone.
Silence.
"I'm Brianna Beauty, daughter of Sleeping Beauty," she announced. "Or to Apple, Brianna Ugly."
Another gasp as everyone turned to the pale princess.
And then it all came out. Her anorexia, the bullying, the almost drowning, the diets, the party throwing she didn't want. No one made a sound through the entire thing.
"You can bully me if you want," she added. "But that won't change me anymore. One of my close friends inspired me today. I want to thank him. For everything." She scanned for Hopper's face in the crowd.
"But I don't want to be fake, guys," she continued, getting choked up. "I wanna wear aqua, I want to eat chocolate. I want to be with the people I love, because they make me happy…being myself makes me happy. I want to be Brianna, plain old Brianna. I want to be strong, I want to save my money on things I want."
She took a deep breath. "From now on, Briar Beauty is gone."
And then she grabbed the sunglasses off her head and smashed them hard onto the stage.
—
The applause was deafening.
—
"Hey Bri," Raven greeted as Briar - or Brianna, now - peeked over her locker door. The dark-haired sorceress frowned momentarily at the words scrawled on said girl's locker. "You still keeping that on?"
Brianna shrugged at the fat black words 'Never Briar, Just A Liar'.
"Yeah. It's true anyway. And they can't hurt me," she responded, closing her locker. "Wanna head to lunch?"
The second they walked into the castleteria, a cacphony of 'boo's and shouts came from the Royal table.
"Suck it!" Brianna shouted, as she followed Raven to the Rebel table. The rebels waved as they seated themselves down.
"Good to see you're eating again," Cerise said, gesturing at Brianna's burger before wolfing down her steak.
"Yeah," the brunette replied. Brianna peeked over to the other side of the room, where the Royals were giving her evil glares. Her eyes lingered on a certain froggy prince, but looked away.
As she walked back to class, Blondie shoved her hard in the back. Brianna turned around and smiled at the scowling blonde. "That's one way to greet people," she commented. When Blondie remained silent, she walked away.
After school, Brianna was chatting to Maddie about some hextra-curricular activities when she saw Hopper walked by himself. Excusing herself, she jogged over and tapped him lightly.
He turned around. "Brianna, I—"
He was cut off when Brianna leant forward and kissed him.
"There," she said after she had pulled away. Hopper blushed the colour of his jacket and immediately turned into a frog with a poof.
"Fair lady, I am deeply flattered by your absurd but pleasant way of thanking me!" he exclaimed.
Brianna laughed and kissed him on the head as he turned back to human form.
"I'm not really fair. And I'm not much of a lady. But thank you," she grinned.
"Well, you're a lot fairer than Apple any day!" Hopper blurted.
Brianna smiled, and for a second she was going to cry.
"Thank you for everything," she whispered. And then the words Hopper had been wanting to hear all his life: "I love you."
—
I'm in a phase where I want to write heavy stuff, hence this fic. Don't forget to review. If you like heavy and slightly dark stories, feel free to read my other Ever After High fics.
Thanks again to Nap Team Captain. She's currently being abused by an evil being called Uni. Let us wish her well!
Anywho, there ya go. Hope you liked it!
- Reade :)