The Fairest of All

Hierarchy of the Forest

The bell rang loudly.

     School for the day was officially over. The students of Mrs. Sara Apple's class rose from their seats and collected their books. Chloe stood along with Solara and Sanford; both of them looked exhausted from the school day.

      The teacher raised her hand in a sharp, swift motion, "Not so fast everyone, please advert your attention to the board at the front of the classroom. Copy the information to your notebooks, there will be a quiz. If your name is listed at the upper right-hand corner of the board that means you need to stay behind and talk with me."

     The only name listed in the right-hand corner in chalk was "Chloe White".

     Solara looked at Chloe sympathetically. "Well, you were late. I guess it's kind of expected, right? Text me later."

     The classroom cleared out until the only two people remaining were Chloe and Mrs. Apple.

     The teacher in red leaned against her desk. Her long, pale legs crossed at the ankles and her arms neatly folded. "I imagine that you are smart enough to realize why your name is on my board today."

     "Yes, Mrs. Apple. I was late for class and I apologize, I won't ever be late again." Chloe decided to be compliant and take whatever punishment dealt to her.

     "You've collected a demerit for yourself, Miss White. I'm going to be kind and offer you a chance to clear this demerit from your tally."

     Chloe lifted her head curiously.

     "You will be the class assistant. When I need more paper on my desk, you will retrieve it. When I need my pencil sharpened, you will sharpen it. Do this job well and I'll have the demerit removed."

     Chloe waited, she expected Mrs. Apple to mention something about their connection to one another through Elizabeth. She had to know that technically—by way of marriage—she was her aunt.

     Mrs. Apple's features had an expression of constantly looking bored, "Well, Miss White does that agree with you?"

     "Yes, Mrs. Apple. That sounds fine to me," she quickly voiced.

     "Then you're free to go," her teacher said with a gesture to the door.

     Chloe hesitated. Was this woman really going to let her leave without saying anything else?

     "You can go now, Miss White," she emphasized strongly. Her tone sent a message that Chloe did not want to be on her bad side.

The hallway in front of the classroom felt like being on a racing track to Chloe. Students were moving quickly from one end to the other in a blur of uniforms.

     Some were on their way to Tennis practice at the gym, others to swim practice at the heated pool. Everyone had somewhere to be, even when the school day was seemingly over it wasn't.

     Outside the windows, the skies looked a bluish-gray hue. Everything felt like it was in low saturated colors. Everyone was moving, but moving without joy or color.

     In the rush, a girl with round, brown eyes was carrying a stack of books. A small group of teens with badminton rackets collided with her, sending the books and the girl down against the floor. The teens who caused the incident didn't give more than a glance before they continued on to class. People walked by the girl like she was completely invisible.

     Chloe hurried to the girl and reached for one of the stray books to return it to its rightful owner. "Here, I'll help you."

     The girl looked at the book but didn't take it. "You shouldn't be helping me."

     Chloe kept the book held out. "Why not?"

     With a deep exhale the girl reached to claim the book. "Can't you tell? I'm a Scholarship student."

     "So, that just means you're really smart. I'm Chloe White, what's your name?" Chloe continued to help the girl gather together a few scattered pencils.

     The girl still seemed uncertain about the situation, but despite it she timidly said, "Ameesha Gupta."

     "Hi, Ameesha. You're carrying a lot of stuff; do you want me to help you?"

     Ameesha snatched the pencils from Chloe's grasp. "No! Look, you might think you're being nice, but you're not. You're just new here, so you don't know how things work. If you try to be nice to me the others will make up for it by being meaner towards me. If you want to really be nice to me, then the best thing you can do is pretend I'm invisible."

     Ameesha lifted her heavy load and tried to scuffle down the opposing end of the hallway. Chloe couldn't do or say anything about it either, it happened too quickly. When Ameesha attempted her disappearing act, Chloe spotted a familiar face at the end.

     It was Charlotte Tang.

     She'd seen the whole encounter and didn't try to help at all. Charlottes' expression looked guilty.

     "Charlotte!" Chloe called out to the girl, but like a cat caught in the act of stealing a treat, Charlotte darted away.