Not That Evil

Chapter Seventeen

 So I've decided I want to base Aline off Kate Marsh from Life is Strange. If you don't know who she is, then this will be even more interesting. For those of you who know who she is/ have played the game, whether she will meet the same fate as Kate (haha that rhymed) is still uncertain.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sat down in my history class, waiting for a boring lecture on how Auradon came to be. The teacher had finally given us the liberty of choosing our own seats, and I was hoping that because I was that weird, villain, new girl, no one would sit next to me, but I was wrong. Only a few minutes after I had sat down, Aline walked in, hair and dress perfect, but her face a mess from crying. She spotted me and quickly walked over, keeping her head down so no one would notice her. She quickly sat next to me and looked over my figure with her bright blue, blood-shot eyes.

"Hey, Hera..." Her voice quivered as she spoke. I was worried she was about to break down in tears at any second.

"Hello, Aline." There was a part of me that felt bad I was so hostile, but at the same time, I felt like she was being over-dramatic. She very clearly had a mental disease, and she wasn't going to accept it. "Are you alright?" I found myself asking. She shook her head and wiped her nose.

"I found these in my dorm today. I think people slipped them underneath the door while I was in my science class." She pulled out some slips of paper and handed them to me. I unfolded them and read them with careful thought. I felt more and more guilty as I read each one.

You're such an idiot.

Why are you still here, idiot?

If the cats are real, you should ask them to gouge your eyes out.

I hope your 'caterpillars' eat your flesh and the 'talking flowers' eat your organs.

Aline put the worst one on the bottom.

Go kill yourself, Aline.

"Wait..." I looked at the last note carefully. "I recognize that handwriting. Do you know who gave you this?" Aline nodded.

"She handed it to me herself."

"Who was it?"

"Aria. Do you know her."

I slammed my hand down on the desk and tore up the note.

"I'm going to kill her!" The bell rang and I settled back down externally, but on the inside, the instincts I had inhabited from my mother were starting to kick in. I wanted to kill Aria, cut off every one of her limbs and make her suffer until I finally cut off her head and hung it on my wall. I could give it to my mother, and it could be her sacrificial head.

But at the end of the day, I knew I couldn't do that.

After what seemed like forever, the bell rang for the end of history class. I said goodbye to Aline and walked out to meet the others by the lockers to give Prince Ben the cookie so that he would fall in love with Mal. I raced through the halls and quickly got to where the others were. I made it just in time, meeting Mal and Evie before they went out to where Ben's locker was.

"Hey H," Evie smiled. "You look upset. What's wrong?"

Can I admit to actually feeling sympathy for someone, or will they just laugh at me?

I decided not to risk it.

"Nothing. I just have really boring teachers. I'm sure it's the same for you."

"Oh, my chemistry teacher is the worst. His lectures seem to go on forever!" I laughed at E's over-dramatic response. Mal ignored our conversation, her eyes on the prize. We walked past a group of girls and they all seemed to fangirl over her.

"Hey Mal!" They all cried. Jay and Carlos caught up with us and I walked next to Carlos, petting Dude behind his ear. Mal and Jay stood and talked at Mal's decorated locker.

"Hey, are you feeling kind of weird about this?" He asked Mal. I cocked my head, confused on why Jay was asking that. "I mean, it's not so bad here, you know?"

"Are you insane?" Mal snapped. "Long live evil! You're mean, you're awful, you're bad news! Snap out of it!" She clapped her hands in front of Jay's face and he seemed to instantly change.

"Thanks Mal," he smiled. "I needed that." Jay walked over to flirt with some girls and I turned to talk to Carlos. I figured if I could talk to anyone about Aline, it could be him.

"Hey Carlos..." He looked at me with wide, interested, brown eyes. "...can I, uh, tell you about something?"

"Sure." He sat down at a lunch table behind us and I sat next to him.

"I met this girl, Aline, last week. She clearly has a mental disorder, but she refuses to accept it. This morning, in history, I found out that, uh, people bully her a lot. They were leaving her notes telling her that she was an idiot and they hoped that the creatures she hallucinates about would eat her alive. They were even asking her to... to... to... to kill herself..." I could feel tears welling in my eyes and they started falling down as I looked right at Carlos. He seemed shocked that the toughest youngster on The Isle was crying. "What do I do?"

He looked at me in pure and utter shock. He set down Dude and did something I never thought Carlos would do: he hugged me. He pulled me against his chest and held me tight. I cried into his shoulders, not sure what to do, worried I was going to have an anxiety attack at some point soon.

"Hera, calm down," he whispered. "You're going to be okay. You just have to always be there for her, and make sure she doesn't listen to them, alright. Hey, hey-" he forced me to look at him. "-you need to stay strong, okay? Be the strong girl we remember you being."

"Hey, Carlos!" Prince Ben called him over.

"Stay strong," he whispered to me. I nodded, but it felt like a lie. I looked over and met the eyes of Jon.

Oh god...

He noticed me and walked over, sitting down besides me.

"Hera! I need you to do me a favor."