She knew that she was perfect.

It used to be the only thing she ever heard. Everyone would stop and stare at perfectly flawless skin, her perfectly fashionable clothes, her perfectly silky hair. If anyone had ever asked, she would say the P in Paulina stood for perfect. No one had ever even thought to suggest anything less. It was unthinkable.

It should still be unthinkable. Paulina tucked her hair behind her ear, the biting winter wind had somehow managed to blow it out of place. Paulina was just as perfect as she was yesterday, last week, last month, last year. Heck, she practically defined what perfect meant. Whatever she chose to do, that was the perfect choice.

Some called her spoiled. Or shallow. And maybe she was slightly spoiled. But "spoiled" is just what people who are jealous say. They were jealous that their parents weren't as successful as her parents. That they couldn't buy the newest and greatest.

But she was not shallow. No, Paulina had standards. And, of course, those standards were inevitably perfect. There were no boys at Casper that could meet up to those standards. A few came close, and she had toyed with the idea of trying to rough out those edges. To buff away those imperfections until they glittered like diamonds. But that wasn't really necessary anymore.

Paulina searched the night sky, only barely able to see a few of the brightest stars. The bright city lights obscured them even this high up. But she didn't care for some paltry twinkling lights that were thousands of miles away. She was looking for her real star, the one that she knew was always close.

Her perfect love, Phantom.

The Ghost Boy was perfect in every way. He was brave. Strong. Protective. Devoted. Cute. Sweet. Romantic. And, of course, he loved her all for herself. He knew that she was special. He had never failed to save her. He was her knight in shining armor. A Prince ready to sweep the Princess off her feet.

Paulina leaned over the edge of the building, looking down at the road. There were no cars. It was late. Her dad's place of work was not the most romantic place to meet Phantom, but it would have to do. It was the tallest building that she had roof access to. She was probably only a few hundred feet up, but she felt on top of the world.

On top of the world was how she always used to feel. Until the whispering started.

Obsessed.

She had obviously whipped around from telling Star the wonderful qualities of Phantom's hair to see who had spoken. Little Miss Manson had stared her down, looking not one ounce ashamed of her blasphemy. While other students scuttled from her glare, that girl always glared at her in defiance. Paulina had merely turned away from the dreary girl and continued her conversation. Manson's word was less than the dirt she chose to eat.

But it spread. Like a virus. A curse spoken by that witch Manson. No one said it to her face. Just a whisper as she passed, a chuckle under breath when she talked about her one true love. More and more, people were laughing at her. Less and less people adored her. She used all of her old tricks to let people know of her perfection. She batted her eyelashes. She tossed her hair. She smiled in the way that made most people melt.

But Manson's curse must have made people blind. Instead of winning back her followers, more and more of them flocked away. Less whispers and more all out conversations. People rolled their eyes when she glared at them instead of wilting where they stood. No one seemed enthralled when she talked about her opinions to the exclusion of all else.

Paulina shook away these thoughts as she stared over the building ledge, seeing if she couldn't catch a glimpse of her love. Where was the Ghost Boy? Phantom? It was a perfect night, not a cloud in the sky. And here she was. Waiting. And she wasn't a lady-in-waiting in this story. She was the Princess.

She lost all control of the situation when Star, the real lady-in-waiting, had asked that stupid question.

"You know that Phantom is never going to fall for you, right?"

Paulina had wanted to scream, but had reigned it in. She felt no reason to hold it in here, at the top of her tower. She vented her rage to the sky. How dare she say something like that? Phantom already loved her. She didn't need him to fall. They were destined to fly together. Paulina took a step, her perfect heel just an inch away from the building's edge. She felt a lurch in her stomach as she looked down, some human instinct calling her away from the dangerous position.

Star had abandoned her after that, choosing to go back to spending time with Valerie, of all people. Valerie was the farthest thing from perfect. She talked horribly about Phantom. She was poor. Her clothes were basically rags. Paulina was everything that Valerie wasn't. And that was a good thing.

It was supposed to be a good thing.

It had always been a good thing before.

But then Kwan followed as well. And it became awkward for Dash not to follow Kwan, they had been best friends since forever. And no crowd of adoring fans rushed to meet her. Instead, she was left to face the biting remarks of the snakes she had previously ground underfoot. She wasn't daunted, as she had triumphed before. But that was with her royal entourage behind her. Without them, the other students laughed at her.

She knew what it felt like to be Cinderella, now, with her ugly step-sisters tearing her dress to shreds. Paulina gently wiped a tear from her eye, not letting the mascara streak as she put her second foot next to the other. Balanced on the edge of the world. The wind threatened to blow all of her hair into her face.

Everyone thought she was obsessed. Delusional. Crazy. That the Ghost Boy did not love her and he never would. She had tried to prove them wrong. Anytime the Ghost Boy would show up, she tried to get his attention. To get him to tell all those losers that they were wrong. To get them to leave her alone. And then they could fly off into the sunset together, living happily ever after.

Both those crazy Fenton's always showed up, always trying to shoot her Love. He couldn't stick around as long as they were going to ruin the moment. It would be a paltry romantic moment. It would ruin everything. No, he needed the chance to make his move without being attacked by those ghost hunter villains.

Paulina could be patient, when she needed to be. So she had waited for the Freaky Fenton's to go to some kind of loser conference. They had even taken their freaky son, Danny. Seeing the disappointment on the Witch's face had made her feel happier than she had in weeks. But the real joy was that there would be no Fentons shooting at the Ghost Boy. Paulina looked away from the building's edge to scan the sky again. Making sure that not even the Red Huntress was near. No one gets in the way.

Paulina had been up here for hours, hoping that her Love would reveal himself to her immediately. But then she realized, that's not how you break a witch's spell. You have to do something. An act of true love and trust.

Paulina had never been a fan of superheroes. She had watched a few movies, though, since Phantom appeared. And she had realized that not only is he the wonderful Prince Charming to her Princess, but she is the Lois Lane to his Superman. And she was in the perfect place to prove that. Superman never let Lois Lane fall.

She took a deep breath, letting her nerves melt away. The cold air rushed against her face, blowing her hair backwards in what must be a perfectly beautiful halo. She imagined that the cold wind was the embrace of her Love, of the Ghost Boy, of Phantom. Once Rapunzel left her tower, she could live happily with the Prince.

She leapt.