"Morning, Snow" a familiar voice chirped.
Snow looked up from her textbook and smiled, "Hey, Giselle."
Giselle and Snow had been friends for years, a carry over from their days in the sandbox. Back then Snow hadn't always been so, well, Snow. Meeting Giselle changed that.
Because Giselle was everything Snow aspired to be. Happy, cheerful, kind. Giselle didn't have bad days, she didn't have baggage.
Then again, Giselle also didn't have Grimhilde for her only family.
"Notice anything different?" Giselle asked, tucking her long strawberry blonde hair behind her ear nervously.
Snow raised her eyebrows, "Uh, new haircut?"
"No, silly!" Giselle laughed, and sighed dreamily, "I'm in love."
"With who this time?" Snow teased.
"Hurtful!" Giselle said, poking Snow in the side.
Snow giggled and shooed Giselle away, "But, no, seriously. Who?"
Giselle closed her eyes dreamily and smiled, "Edward Prince."
Snow's raised a single eyebrow, "Prince, as in Charlie Prince?"
"Yeah they're brothers," she said, "How'd you know?"
Snow shrugged, "Charlie does odd jobs for Grimhilde sometimes. His dad makes him do it, calls it 'building character.' "
"Weird. Did Edward ever?" Giselle asked.
Snow shook her head, "No, Edward's the baby of the family last I checked. Charlie's the big boy. His dad's always pressuring him into stuff."
"Like?" Giselle pressed.
Snow pursed her lips, "Uh, getting on honor roll, being on all sorts of teams, getting a girlfriend. Stuff like that."
"And never Edward?" Giselle said.
Snow shook her head, "No. Edward's more of a mama's boy. Their step mom Narcissa adores him."
"Weird family dynamic," Giselle commented.
"No kidding," Snow said, idly turning the page in her science book, "So besides you're love life, what's up?"
"Well," Giselle leaned forward onto the table, "I was wondering if you could hang out tonight."
Snow bit her lip, "You know Grimhilde would never let me."
"Snow! Come on, you're almost 15. You're missing out on the best years of your life because of her," Giselle said.
Snow shrugged, "What am I supposed to do? She's my only living family."
"And she's crazy," Giselle said.
"How?" Snow asked.
"Come on, Snow, you're family is filthy rich, and you're constantly stuck in old clothes. You're not aloud to wear makeup, not aloud to do your hair, not aloud to grow out your hair, not aloud to go out and you're always doing chores. Are you sure she doesn't secretly hate you?" Giselle said, leaning back in her chair.
"Grimhilde just shows affection differently," Snow said.
"Come on, Snow. I want to hang out with my best friend," Giselle said, "Please?"
Snow set her pencil down, "What are you asking me to do, Giselle?"
"Sneak out," Giselle whispered.
"To hang out at the park?" Snow asked.
"Well, no," Giselle said.
"Then what? What are we doing that it's absolutely necessary I lie to Grimhilde and sneak out?" Snow pressed.
"There's a party tonight. At Edwards. And I'll look like a total loser if I go by myself," Giselle explained, her nose turning pink.
Snow pursed her lips. On one hand, she didn't want to disappoint Giselle. They had been friends since they were kids, and she was the closest friend she had. Plus she understood Giselle's fear of looking like a loser, since Giselle had a tendency to come across as more than a little strange.
But on the other hand, Snow didn't want to disappoint Grimhilde is she found out. Yes, Grimhilde was bossy and vain and controlling, but she was Snow's family. Snow respected her.
Snow sat back in her chair and squeezed her eyes shut. She stood still for a moment, scared to answer, unsure what part of her would win.
"Okay," she said, "I'll do it."
Giselle squealed and wrapped Snow in a bone crushing hug. The teacher shot a glare at Giselle, which made her flush a deeper shade of pink.
"On one condition," Snow warned, "You never, ever, ask me to do it again."
"Deal," Giselle smiled.
The bell rang, announcing the end of the class. Snow slowly gathered her things, suddenly feeling fatigued. All this talk of rule breaking made Snow tired.
Snow followed Giselle out of the room, her excited prattle going over Snow's head. Snow continued to nod and gasp at the correct parts, but her head was swimming.
She closed her eyes as she walked, trying to sooth herself. She wasn't exactly sure what was wrong, but it felt like it was more than the imminent rule breaking, it went deeper.
A lot deeper.