prince charming {COMPLETED}

thirteen

My reflection stares back at me, and it feels like a slap to the face. Darkened rivers of tears run down my cheeks. My heart genuinely aches; my eyes burn. The green dress is so heavy all of a sudden, and I just want to go home.

But I can't, because Percy is outside and if he sees me crying, he's telling Danielle. Danielle will then tell Tyler, and they'll all be mad at Zach. The last thing I need right now is for anyone to take sides. I told him I was fine, but I'm obviously not. Why do I do that?

Why do I keep pretending that I'm fine?

I am emotionally exhausted. I've put all I could into helping Zach, just to be repaid with a kiss. A kiss that gave me an unfair amount of hope.

Because, trust me, if it meant anything, he wouldn't be making out with Silene Morales right now. I don't blame him. She looks beautiful. And they did say they were in love.

I'm going to be plainly melodramatic. Why is this happening to me?

I thought the night started out nicely enough. I made well-placed snarky comments about Zach's suit. I tried to ignore the fact that his eyes actually coordinated with my dress, and we talked about Silene. Then my night got gradually more drab.

Silene showed up. With all of the letters. All of them. Sometimes I see things happen, and I am left wondering if that actually happened in reality. It was crazy. Anyway, Tyler is trying to joke with me to ease my feelings about all this. In the meantime, Zach and Silene-derella have already started dancing. They move so gracefully together that even I can't help but think about how pretty it is.

But of course, I couldn't suffer in silent pain. Silene has the nerve to say "I want to meet your friends", and obviously, Zach would never say no to that.

I had a painful interaction with her, and here I am now. In the bathroom, while my best friend falls head over heels and shares a joyful kiss with his new girl.

I still can't understand - how could he kiss me and tell me he loves me before telling me he thinks he loves her the very next day?

I try to wipe away the stains on my face, almost jumping when the door opens and Danielle rushes over to me. She doesn't even falter in her prettily jeweled shoes and not one beautifully coiffed strand of hair is out of place. I don't hesitate to tell her this, even through my slightly scratchy voice.

"I couldn't care less about my hair right now," she says, hugging me. I sink into the comfort, feeling less weighed down.

I want to scream at him. I want to describe how heartbreaking it is to be around him now, so that maybe he'll finally see why I can't be around Silene. I hold myself back every time, because he doesn't deserve it. He doesn't deserve to be hurt.

It'd be unfair for me to do that to him, so I don't. I just let Danielle hold me in her arms and try to make me feel better about being so annoyingly sensitive.