I was led into the assembly hall, where girls sat in neat stunning rows of white and blue.

Quickly scanning the hall with my eyes, I decided my step sisters were not within hearing range, and that was all I could ever ask for.

I was ushered to a chair, next to a disturbingly attractive girl. I studied her appearance, and decided against trying to befriend her, cause doing so would severely affect my self esteem.

Not saying it was easily affected of course. With my step family trying to bring me down for years, it had become quite indestructible. But I of course was not going to take any chances.

"Hello, my name is Fey White, and you are?" The porcelain girl asked. Not wanting to appear in an unseemly fashion, i answered.

"Hello, i am Arabella Cromwell, but I do prefer Ella." I told her.

"My name is Fey." She said again.

"Yes you told me, and I remember." I was quite surprised.

"Oh good, people tend to find me quite plain and forgettable you see?" She replied with a relieved smile on her rose red lips.

I was shocked indeed. Plain? If people found her plain, then I wondered how they'd find me, and promptly decided to jump off that train of thought. Self doubt was just not my thing.

"You are the least plain person I have ever seen." I whispered back.

Pink immediately dusted her porcelain cheeks at my comment.

"Well I think you are too lovely for your own good." She whispered to me.

Fingering my silky neck scarf, I decided she was not bad at all, for compliments were indeed the way to my heart.

A woman who wore grace like a tiara, and elegance like armor, took the stage.

"Good morning ladies." she said confidently.

"Good morning ma'am." we responded in unison.

"My name is Headmistress Privilege, and I am here to welcome you all to Elites Charm School." She took a dramatic pause and continued.

"Under my tutelage, you will learn how to become proper young ladies, and desirable wives." She studied our faces.

"We are here to prepare you for your future, and make sure you are sufficiently armored to face the real world." Whispers tinkled in the air before she raised her hand and commanded silence.

"Most of you upon finishing this school, would become wives of lords, dukes, and even a princess if you manage to ensnare a prince." She smile in satisfaction, as the whispers grew in excitement. Fey turned wide dark eyes to me.

"What about generals? does she have some thing against them?" I smiled at her.
"No Fey, you must realize that this little speech of hers is designed to feed more pink bubble into the empty skulls of our young noble ladies." I muttered with a smirk, watching various empty headed debutantes to be, keen at the idea of catching a prince.

"B _but I am a young noble lady, does this mean my skull is indeed empty? And you are one as well, wait! Does this mean this hall is essentially empty as we are all empty headed?" Fey rambled on with wide eyes, as I turned to give her an exceptionally flat look, a voice rang out silencing the entire hall.

"Pardon me, but don't you all find it strange that we are enabling our selves for men, and not for our sakes?" She said boldly without a hint of fear. The look on the headmistress face soured as she turned to the speaker.

"And what, pray tell is your name?" She asked with icy calmness, and the girl deserved a pat on the back for not been phased.

"Lady Rheanon Carona Ma'am." She replied with a flawless curtsy.

"Carona? well I must say your reputation presides you." She said with a shake of her head.
And I immediately turned to Fey.

"Presides? is lady Rheanon popular then?" I asked. And Fey's eyes lightened at the prospects of gossip.

"Do you not read Ladies Dailies?" She asked me with wide eyes.

"No, I am much too busy for such frivolities." I told her, sidestepping the fact that I just could not afford it, and my step family's were out of bounds.

Her eyes widened, spotting a decidedly scandalous look.

"Well she is the only daughter of viscount Carona and she was said to have been touched by magic." She told me, in a very hushed tone.

"Magic?" I was skeptical. "In what manner?"

"Her hair of course, it is magical I tell you, it is almost to her feet and without a single knot or split end in sight." I was in awe now. If that were true, then she simply had to be magical, no two way about it.

I looked at Fey with new found respect as well, for only a lady who knew the horror and pains of split ends deserves true respect. She looked at me and nodded sagely, It was all about respect.

"Assembly over, walk over to your mistress and collect your handkerchiefs which are in purple and lavender color, if you were given purple go with the mistress on the right, and lavender with the mistress on the left. Note that the classification is purely coincidental, and exchanging your handkerchiefs is punishable by expulsion Thank you." She ended, and made her way down gracefully.

Fey tugged me forward, and we moved down to join the line, the bustle however made us lose contact with each other and I was pushed to the back.

Rolling my eyes, i wondered why this ladies refused to act their age. And I was nauseous as well for the girl at my front was wearing a cloying jasmine perfume, while the one behind me smelled oppressively of oranges.

Finally it was my turn, and I was handed an handkerchief, with my name delicately embroidered on it.

It was lavender colored, and for the first time my anxiety sparked, I was worried about my classmates and dearly hoped my stepsisters got purple.

"It is beautiful. Thank you." I said to the mistress.

She smiled in appreciation, and I briefly wondered if she made them. Shrugging away my questions, i began to focus on the more important things, like finding a friendly face with a lavender colored handkerchief.

~

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