A modern day retelling of "Snow White".
After tragedy befalls her mother, sixteen-year-old Chloe White is forced to live with her estranged father Henry and his new wife, Elizabeth, who was a former-famous actress. Out of spite and jealousy, Chloe...
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The school restaurant was like a large, lavish dining hall with high arched windows and red drapes. Based on what a student could afford to eat, there were different options listed on a large standing menu. Everything from simple toast and eggs to fresh berry stuffed crepes with sliced fruit was listed there. No sugary cereals, no toaster tarts and nothing with refined sugar. Still, the options were far tastier than Elizabeth's morning wheatgrass juice.
Both Chloe and Dominic sat together at a table in the center of the dining hall. Dominic was already halfway into his breakfast, while Chloe's scrambled eggs and toast had just been served.
"Eggs, good choice, you'll need the protein," Dominic complimented between devouring his strawberry crepes.
Chloe dared to look around the hall and found a few faces staring at the two of them curiously. If Prince's fear to be seen with her was any indication of how bad it was to go outside your social caste she had to wonder what was going to happen with Dominic going outside of his.
She kept her voice low, just in case anyone might be able to hear her. "I don't understand how this school works. Why is a person's status more important than what kind of student they are? I mean, I understand in the real world sense, but this is school."
"There was an experiment where they took two types of people and put them in a prison scenario. They told some they were the officers in control and the others that they were the prisoners with no power. Do you know what happened?" Dominic locked his piercing eyes onto hers.
Chloe shook her head.
"They started to believe that's what they were. The controllers became cruel and controlling and the prisoners became bitter and weak. When someone is given the title of 'president' or 'office operation advisor' it's a title that creates status control," he finished his explanation with popping the last strawberry on his plate into his mouth.
"This isn't like high school, White. This an educational system designed to train each student in what they will become after school. The social system is to keep everyone in their place. Elites will rule nations, Climbers will rule finance, Money Misfits will come and go and Scholarships will try to reach the top of the job rat-race. Classes and curriculum are adjusted based on your social group. You'll find out when school starts in three days."
She bit into the corner of her toast. It still wasn't explaining why Dominic was willing to cross those borders. "Everyone in my club was talking about what they want in their future. It made me start thinking about my future. What I really want."
Dominic wiped his hands in his napkin and crumpled it atop the table. "I'm listening."
Chloe took a deep breath and then said, "I want to be strong and unafraid like my mother was. She raised me on her own, she ran off to a foreign country where she didn't know the people or the language. I don't have a single memory of my mother being scared or afraid like me."
