Hello readers! I'm super excited for this new story, as I really REALLY love The School for Good and Evil. My characters will hopefully pull you right
into a world of wonder and magic! Bon Voyage~
Gwyneth stared at the children running in the daisy field. She had never been allowed to go, due to her severe allergy to pollen. If she got near flowers, her face would swell, turn red, and get covered in hives. Most people thought it was creepy, and Gwyneth guessed it was, but people were just so cruel. She had a small picnic basket with her, filled with little buttery raspberry tarts she made with her mom, and some fudge. It was for her best friend, Ella. She was supposed to meet her at the play structure that Ella's dad made for her when she was seven. Gwyneth was a few months younger, and her birthday was on the 30th of October, so everyone basically hated her, because what weird kid liked Halloween, with skulls, gore, and death? Well, Gwyneth did. She shook her long mane of raven colored hair, pushing it out of her face. She huffed, and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging herself as the breeze sent goose-bumps crawling up her legs.
She stared at her bony, awkward, hair covered limbs, and then caught a glimpse of Justin's, running in the field, barely a blur of color. Even he had less hair than she. Gwyneth snorted but stopped herself when she saw Ella in a peach frock, her piercing dove eyes flaying her with disapproval. Ella smoothed out the wrinkles in her lace collar and giggled.
"Gwen, don't snort like that. Your eyebrows scrunch up and you'll get wrinkles," Ella informed her, very matter-of-factly. "You should laugh more like this," Ella showed her a bad impression of a laugh, sugar-coated and then dipped in honey. Ella wrinkled her nose daintily. Gwyneth snorted. Again.
"Gwen! I told you-"
"Don't snort. I know. I'm not an idiot, Ella." Ella disregarded the comment and started burrowing through the basket. She zeroed in on the tarts, and gagged. "Gwen! Do you know how much sugar is in there, dear? No wonder your mother is so fat. You need the flab though, you're all skin and bones." Ella poked Gwyneth in the ribs with her elbow, and rested her chin on her hand, staring into the setting sun, looking like a princess all the while she sulked. Gwen knew Ella would rather be running in the daisy field with Justin, making tiaras of daffodils with Aishling, or… or… anything but hanging out with Gwen. It was all because of Justin, of course, he had made a presentation about his "dream girl" on the last day of school, since the teacher asked them to share a hope or dream of theirs. Ella couldn't decide between having no wrinkles in her clothes ever, or having no wrinkles in her skin. Aishling wanted to fix her acne, Lila wanted to get new lace curtains for her room, Marilyn wanted new flats, and Gwyneth wanted Justin to bury himself in a pit. But she couldn't say that, no matter how bad she wanted to, so she came up with the lamest dream ever. I want to fly. Great job Gwen, doesn't… I don't know… EVERYONE?
Ella was picking at a tart as she sulked. They sat like that for a while. Ever since Ella went on a mission to become Justin's dream girl, she had needed a new friend. The problem was, she was friends with everyone. Except, Gwyneth, of course. Gwyneth had no friends but Ella. She was the freak with the hives. The creep with the swollen face, the outcast. The loner. Ella's reedy voice brought Gwyneth back into reality. "So.. Gwyneth? I'm getting a bit cold… I'm going to go home now… Gwen?"
"Huh? Yeah? Oh, right. Yeah, I'll see you around… I guess." Gwen didn't want to admit it, but Ella going home was more painful than she expected. It was nice to feel wanted, even if it was fake. As Ella walked home, the sun set and Gwen sat on the playscape by herself, in the dark.
The next day was cheery and bright, but started off badly. First, her dad had brought home peanut butter biscuits from church, and he had forgotten that she was seriously allergic, so when she had some for breakfast, a few moments after, her tongue started numbing and she had to have some medicine. Gross. She saw girls flouncing around in their prettiest sundresses, with straightened and curled hair, honey blonde, auburn, and rich, chocolatey brown. Gwen knew that they were hoping to be accepted into the School for Good and Evil, and of course, the school hadn't chosen someone for evil from their village for seventeen years now, so the girls all assumed they were basically guaranteed a spot in Good. Of course, the parents didn't believe all the hogwash, but they barred the windows and doors anyway. The boys really didn't care, the School Master never took more than two students, so as long as there were still decently cute girls still in the village, it didn't matter if they were taken or not. Of course, every girl wanted to marry a fairy tale prince and have a fairy tale wedding, so naturally every girl wanted to be a fairy tale princess. Gwen could see girls french braiding each other's flaxen hair by the fountain, and with the occasional splash of water, the girls would shriek and giggle prettily and toss a coin into the fountain. The adults told the children that wishing fairies collected the coins, but Gwyneth was pretty sure she was the only one that knew the old hag in the square took them all at nine o'clock every night.
Gwyneth put on her everyday clothes- a long, gray dress that prevented her from accidentally brushing up against poison ivy and other rash-causing plants. The dress was just long enough to cover her ankles, but not long enough to brush against the dirt path. Gwen walked barefoot around the village, stopping to add a few coins to the fountain, saying hi to the hag in the square, and buy bagels from the market (without sesame, wheat, and gluten free). Gwen was pretty sure she was the only one who bought that type of bagel. Everywhere she went, people gave her odd stares- the sun was out, and it was mid afternoon- and here she was, dressed like a little old lady in the wintertime. Gwen had to admit, the dress was heavy and she was hot, but she was used to it. It really didn't matter.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Gwyneth sketched, watched Ella flirt with Justin, and helped repaint a sign in the village that read "Gavaldon Barber" and got hives while she was at it, the hair irritated her eyes and she had to spend the rest of the day at home, reading and helping her mother cook dinner. Nighttime came, and Gwen felt satisfied. After all, she had accomplished more today than she had in a week, and as she went to bed, she felt a warm, fuzzy feeling spread through her body… something she hadn't felt in a very long time.