The Prince & The Pauper

The Plan

I awoke to the sounds of whispering and talking by my bed. I opened my eyes to see about six or so girls crowding me. They all asked so many questions that I didn't know the answers too. There was one girl in that group called Sophie who was so kind. She spoke to me for hours and never questioned me, we became inseparable. Life at the orphanage was pretty bleak, I was forced to carry out horrible tasks and do horrible things. No one outside of the orphanage really knew what went on. For years I had a great group of friends, we had so much fun together. Well. The amount of fun you could possibly have at an orphanage. Sophie was my best friend though. As I grew older and into a teenager, the girls began to judge me and talk about me behind my back. I was almost fourteen when I was ostracized by most of my friends, I never understood why. I still remained close to Sophie, she never left me.

 It was July 2007, Monday, when I awoke to an excruciating pain in my stomach. I went to the loo and noticed the blood seeping through my knickers, my period had started. I went for a bath and cleaned myself up when I decided to look at myself properly in the mirror.  I never really cared about looks and rarely spent much time looking at myself but the others did, they were obsessed. Claiming Prince Charming would one day come and rescue them. Yeah, right. I approached the long mirror and stared at my naked body. My hair was such a deep shade of black you wouldn't even be able to see it in the night sky. It graced down past my shoulders to the small of my back. Sophie always said how it was as though my hair had a life of its own. When I moved, it danced furiously to the beat of the wind, picking up the pace when the gusts grew stronger. She said my eyes were like the glimmering colour ef emerald, sparkling in the light of the morning sun like a fresh sheen of morning dew. When I turned my head. this way and that, they caught the light and played tricks with anything and everything that screamed 'spring'. And when I lifted my face to the sky, emerald shifted into the colour of deep ocean shimmering in the moonlight. Sophia always said how jealous she was that I was so beautiful and that was why the girls despised me so much.

 'You don't know how lucky you are Cass,' She said sadly. 'Whys that?' I replied, not having a clue what she was talking about. 'Everything about you is so perfect, your like an angel. You are genuine and have a kind heart, there isn't a bad bone in your body yet your so modest with your beauty. I've seen how others react when we go on outings, men turn their heads to stop and stare at you. They look at you as though you are the most beautiful creature on this planet.' I smiled sadly at her. 'That's not true Sophie, you're equally perfect! Don't make such silly remarks that just aren't true. I'm flattered but don't be silly.' She sighed knowingly. 'Well, one day someone is going to spot you and whisk you off your feet and take you to somewhere you deserve, you deserve the world and I'm so sad you're stuck here in this awful place. I wish we could just run away together.' I laughed. 'Then let's do it? Let's run away and never come back! What do we have here for us? Nothing. We could start a new life together, just you and me!!' A grin broke across her face. 'Then let's start planning.' She smiled.