Ever After High: The Tale of Jared and Annika
Chapter 1
"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves" – William Shakespeare
In a small town in Maine, the birds chirped happily as they flew over an large apartment building. Called Hook Boulevard 1023, it was located in the middle of town. It was a giant rectangular brown building with multiple windows, and the sun's rays had just about covered it.
Inside the apartment building, there was a very plain looking bedroom. The bedroom had posters on the wall, a wooden floor and a dresser. A hand popped out from under a pair of blue sheets, and hit the 'snooze' button on the alarm clock on top of the bedside table. The person underneath the covers groaned since he was just awoken from a blissful sleep. The clock had read '7:23'.
The covers lowered and revealed a nine-year-old half-Caucasian, half-Vietnamese boy named Jared Prince. Jared was a small boy with short brown hair and blue eyes. He also had pale looking skin and was wearing ocean blue pajamas.
Jared opened his eyes and stared at one of the posters on the wall. It was an 'Alice in Wonderland' poster. While he stared at it, images of a big and unstoppable monster flashed in his mind, causing him to shiver at the memory of the nightmare. Then, a female voice with a Vietnamese accent snapped him out his day dream.
"Jared!"
The nine-year-old sat up and saw his mother, a thirty-three-year-old Vietnamese woman named Paula Prince at the door.
Paula was around the same height as her son, but she was a few inches taller. She had dark brown, almost black hair that ran down to the nape of her neck and dark brown eyes. Paula had a slender build, an inverted triangular head and olive skin. Her dark brown, almost black hair was combed to either side behind her ears. She had bangs that hung near her eyes and beside both her ears. She also had pronounced cheekbones and wore a royal-blue sweater with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows with a white shirt beneath it. She also wore dark-green knee-length denim skirt and black sandals.
"Come on now Jared, I don't want you late for your first day of school. Your sister Annika is already up. Now get dressed." Paula told him.
She walked away, as she did so the floor boards creaked with each and every step. Jared groaned and covered himself back up with his bed sheets.
"Terrific…" Jared said in a slightly sarcastic tone.
As Jared went down the stairs, he saw that the dining table is ready and his twin sister named Annika Prince is sitting on one of the chairs.
Despite being the same age and height as her brother, Annika was 20 seconds older than Jared. She had blue eyes just like him and brown hair that reaches down to her middle back. She also had pale looking skin and was wearing a light yellow night gown with blue star prints.
"Morning, Jared," Annika greeted her brother.
"Morning, Annika," Jared greeted her back.
At about an hour later, in the middle of dense traffic, a small 1974 Ford Country Squire station wagon stood out among the crowd. Inside it was Jared, Annika, and their mother. Jared and Annika were now wearing the uniforms of their new school.
Jared's uniform consisted of a white button-up shirt, a royal blue jacket, a blue tie, khaki short pants and blue and white sneakers. He also wore a watch with that was white, blue and gold. Annika's uniform is almost similar to Jared's; the only difference is the skirt she is wearing, white knee-length socks and black flats. She also wore a blue studded butterfly barrette on the left side of her hair.
"Now I want you two on your best behavior at this school, okay?" Paula ordered Jared and Annika.
"Yes, Mom." Annika answered. "Hey, Mom? Remind us how we got into this school in the first place? We didn't even apply…" Jared said, raising a brow.
"It's the not that kind of school, you either qualify or you don't. The Oldtown Academy is very prestigious, you should be thrilled!" Paula told him, clearly happy.
"But all our friends are at our old school…" Jared was depressed. "They were also the only friends we had and the only ones there that were nice to us."
"I know honey, believe me, I know. But think of all the amazing friends you will meet at your new school." Paula said optimistically.
"Yeah, but isn't private school a breeding ground for the socially inept?" Jared asked.
"Now Jared…" Paula began.
"All our new classmates are probably all either rich snobs, or hopeless nerds. I mean I don't like to brag, I'm smart and so is Annika. I know that I am! But I've never shown that on my test scores or anything and most of my teachers were pretty apathetic towards me, and…" Jared started to say before Paula suddenly pulled over to the side of the road and slammed on the brakes. The buggy screeched to a halt. She turned back to Jared, upset.
"Jared, this is a chance to have a better life. And you too, Annika!" Paula exclaimed, before she began to tear up. "A chance I never had…"
Jared and Annika then began to feel bad for being so against going to the new school and sighed. While they wasn't overly fond of this school it made their Mom happy and maybe it even had a library which he always enjoys going to.
"Okay Mom, if you think this school is best, then I'll have to trust your judgement." Jared said to her.
"As do I," Annika agreed.
Paula smiled and wiped away her tears. She started the car once she saw that the traffic has cleared up. Then, they resumed driving.
"Besides, how bad could this school be anyways? Right?" Jared inquired, as the car continued to drive down the road.
They soon arrived at large concrete building with three floors. It almost resembled a castle in a way, and had multiple windows with a bell tower in the center.
Standing around the school and walking into it were several kids between the ages of six and eighteen. They were all wearing the same uniforms as Jared and Annika.
Paula parked her car parked near the school, then got out of the car. Jared and Annika exited the car as well. They both gazed at the school.
"Well, here we are." Paula said.
"Yeah…" Jared added, thoughtfully.
Paula bent down to look Jared in the eye. "Well Jared and Annika, I wish you the best of luck." She said as she hugged him. "Be good children, alright?"
"Okay, Mom. We will." Jared and Annika nodded.
"Good." Paula smiled as she kissed their foreheads. "Take care, I'll be back to pick you up before you know it."
Jared and Annika nodded once more. Paula stood up and went back into the car. Jared and Annika stepped back as she started the engine and drove away. Jared and Annika watched her go until the car could not be seen any more before he headed towards the school.
When he neared the front entrance of the school, he gazed upward and saw just how big the school really was.
Then, a thirteen-year-old girl with curly blond hair and blue eyes approached Jared.
"Hi! You must be Jared Prince and Annika Prince. I'm Bette Stoner, your new student liaison. Welcome to The Oldtown Academy!" The girl smiled as she told him.
"Thanks. We're Jared and Annika, but you knew that already." Jared said, nervously.
Jared and Annika then spotted a nine-year old girl hiding behind one of the nearby columns looking at Jared shyly. She had delicate features with brown hair that was swept back behind her ears and blue eyes.
She smiled at him sweetly and Jared returned the smile before she ran off, much to his confusion.
"Uh…, who was that?" Jared asked Bette, curiously.
"An elementary student, like you, and she's from Latvia." Bette informed him.
"Latvia? Cool!" Jared and Annika said, both surprised and amazed.
"Yeah, it is," The teenage girl agreed. "Come on, time for the tour."
Bette then started to lead Jared and Annika towards the school, where their big adventure would begin.
Voices
Kate Higgins as Jared Prince
Gwendolyn Yeo as Paula Prince
Laura Bailey as Annika Prince
Hayden Panettiere as Bette Stoner
There you have it. I know it's short, but it's my first Ever After High fanfic. It's also a remake of Ever After High: The Tale of Jared. I changed some voice actors because I wanted to. No flames, curses, or negative comments, please.