Chapter |5|

It was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon when I saw the familiar big, old rusty board saying 'Welcome to Silver Valley'. My hands tightened against the steering wheel as my car moved along the path that was etched into my brain like no other.

The familiar green bushes that guided the path into the town and the bright flowers sent a small ache as the memories of the last time I'd been here swarmed me.

"I'm sorry, mom. It's my fault," I whispered before breaking down into sobs.

I rested my head on the board of my mother's coffin as the pain of losing my mother made my body tremble with every tear.

My dyed black hair stuck to my neck, my bangs almost reaching my nose, curtaining my swollen, blotchy eyes while the rest of my hair hid my face.

My knees buckled under me and I couldn't hold on any longer as I fell down on the ground.

My black dress was absorbing the water from the wet grass, making big patches on it. My body felt weak as I kept on crying.

I was the one at fault. Mom left me and it was all my fault.

A single tear ran down my face as the painful memory entered into my mind. I clutched my hands tightly until I couldn't take it any longer. I swerved my car out of the road and parked it on the side. Once I killed the engine, I held my head in my hands.

I could sense a panic attack coming so I continued taking deep breaths.

No. Not now. Please.

I thought I had let go of these panic attacks when I abandoned Skylar but I guess there are things which you can't have any control over. 

After a few minutes of sitting like that, I calmed down. Once I was sure that I wasn't going to have a repeat episode of the same thing, I looked up. I lifted my head to see that there was a small coffee shop right in the corner.

Wiping my face, I got out of the car and picked my the poly bag that held my belts and my wig.

I put the wig on my head and adjusted it so that my hair didn't come out. I sat in the back seat of the car and pulled the sweatpants over my shorts and wore my hoodie on top of my white top. After that I got out and headed towards the coffee shop. I hid my face with my black hair and as discreetly as possible, I slid into the shop and headed towards the washroom.

I did this so that no one questioned the fact that how a brunette came out with jet black hair and got twice her size only in a span of few minutes.

Getting into the washroom without creating much suspicion, I started wearing my belts.

Once I was done, I discreetly exited the shop and sat back in my car. Taking one last deep breath, I started the car.

Driving through the maze of the roads easily, I finally reached the destination.

The entrance to where the Ball was going to be held along with the activities was beautifully decorated with different kinds of roses, forming a beautiful pattern.

There was a big board that read 'Get ready to live your Once Upon A Time'

I almost snorted at that, feeling my earlier panic fading away. I entered the grounds and parked my car in the parking lot.

Getting out of the car, I picked up my suitcase and proceeded towards the Registering desk where all the invited families had to get their names confirmed before heading inside.

Nearing the desk, I saw two females sitting there. Both of them seemed around my age. Both had blond hair. The one to my right however, had bright pink highlights in them and wore glasses while the other one was wearing some fancy jewellery.

The moment I reached the desk, both of their heads snapped up.

The one with pink highlights smiled politely at me while the other one immediately lost all her sophistication on examining me from head to toe.

"The cleaning crew is at the back," she pointed, snobbishly.

I raised my eyebrow at her. "I am not here for cleaning. I'm a participant," I replied, making her let out an obnoxious laugh.

I clenched my jaw but said nothing.

"You are going to participate? Ha! Good luck with that!"

I was going to reply when the one with Pink highlights interrupted.

"Uh. What's your name? I need to check it out, if you don't mind," she said politely. The other one snorted but didn't say much.

I smiled at her, trying to let go of my anger. Today wasn't the best day and I really didn't want to shed blood on my birthday.

"Sk- uh Penny Carter?" I replied a bit more like a question. I wasn't sure what name I was registered with.

She scanned the list on the computer before nodding. "Yeah. Got ya. Come with me and I'll show you the room."

I nodded and followed her into a huge hotel. The walls were off-White in colour while gigantic portraits hung on them. A beautiful shiny chandelier hung from above, making everything glimmer with beauty.

The desk girl went to retrieve my room key before coming back to me.

"A quick question before I show you your room?"

I nodded, unsure of where this was going.

"Uh, Penny is short for Penelope, right?"

My eyes widened a bit as I stared at her. "Uh-yeah. How did you know that?"

She let out a sigh of relief before answering me. "Well, you're name in the list wasn't Penny. It was Penelope. But if I had asked you that in front of Miranda, she would've declared you as an imposter saying that there was a huge name difference between Penny and Penelope," she said rolling her eyes.

I figured that Miranda was the other one at desk.

I let out a chuckle.

"Actually it's not her fault. Even I've been pissed off since there have been too many people claiming that they got an invite while there is no mention of them. One girl went as far as claiming herself to be one of the actually invited person," she huffed as she led me through the pristine corridors of the hotel.

I watched amused as she rambled on and on. Her frustration oozed out of the words she spoke.

Finally after a while, we reached the room assigned to me. I looked at the door where '27' was carved.

"Here are your room keys. This will be your room only for a day. When you get selected, you'll be shifting into the house of your partner. And if you have any other queries, I'll be at the desk," she said smiling.

"Thanks," I muttered.

She was about to turn around when something struck my mind.

"Wait!" I called out.

She raised her eyebrow in question.

"You said 'when I get selected' not 'if'. What did you mean by that?"

She gave me a cryptic smile in return. "My intuition. It's never really wrong."

With that, she turned around and walked out.

I stood there confused. What did she mean by that?

I shrugged and turned around to examine the room. The room was painted beautiful lavender and a small chandelier hung from the top. There was a king sized bed in the middle and a study desk towards its right. A small couch was placed in front of the TV.

Too tired to check out more, I dragged my feet to the bed and collapsed on it, succumbing to sleep.

****

I woke up around six in the evening. I took in my surroundings. Not waking up to the familiar beige walls, made me jolt up in surprise.

That is when I remembered that I wasn't at home.

I sat up, not feeling tired anymore. I looked around to see what I could do to pass time.

After contemplating for a few minutes, I let out a groan and got up. I knew I couldn't go for a jog or anything. It was way too risky. I hadn't even asked the desk girls name.

After a few more minutes of idly sitting, I decided to explore the hotel since I had pretty much nothing else to do.

Getting out of the room, I wandered about in the endless corridor until I found the elevator.

I pressed the arrow button to call for it. Beside the button, there was a huge green board with a map of the hotel, basically telling about the facilities here.

I examined it as I waited for the elevator.

Food court, Spa and swimming pool, arcade, reception, dance club, bar and the list went on until something caught my eye.

Gym.

I smiled and decided to check it out. It had been three days since I last ran. So maybe I could try doing it here. It would be really hard to run into someone I know, anyways because Alicia generally stays miles away from anything that involves exercise. And it is mainly her who I think can maybe have a chance to catch me.

The elevator stopped with a ping. I entered into it. There already were two people there.

A girl, again almost my age was trying to flirt with a boy.

The girl wore a pink mini-skirt and a top that pretty much hid nothing. She stood there twirling her black hair as she batted her eyelashes at the boy beside her.

The boy was clearly irritated by her but she didn't seem to get a hint.

He was quite good-looking too. With his messy light-brown hair, green eyes and a strong jawline, he was attractive to say the least.

He was carrying what seemed like a gym bag on his right shoulder. I quickly stepped in the elevator and pressed '3' and put my hands in my pockets.

"You're going to the gym?" A nasally voice sneered.

I turned back to see the same girl standing there and scanning my appearance from head to toe.

I clenched my hands but said nothing.

"Of course. Anyways you need it. But hey, who knows, maybe you're just going to stare at the hot guys there but let me just give you some advice, they're not going to be interested into you. Like ever!"

My teeth were grinding against each other as I tried to keep my cool. She had no fudging right to judge me when she didn't even know me.

I hated those people who thought they could judge the whole world when they didn't even know them. Like, excuse me, just because a girl has more tattoos and piercings than you can count, it doesn't mean she fails classes. Just because a girl wears makeup, it doesn't mean she is trying to impress guys. Just because you were not interested in the these kind of things, it doesn't give you the right to categorise people on that basis.

These kind of people were the ones who made me want to throw a punch at them.

The urge to judge her on the basis of her appearance was far too appealing but I restrained myself because that would just be going back on the words I believed which would be immensely hypocritical.

I ignored her as she turned away from me and started flirting with the green-eyed boy.

Were all the girls in the competition going to be like her? 

She reminded me so much of Alicia's clique. A frown made its way up on my face when I thought about the possibility of having everyone like her.

I couldn't have been more happier when the elevator pinged open to the third floor. I immediately stepped out and hurried away from her. I was about to enter into the gym when a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

I turned to see the same green-eyed boy standing there.

I held in the urge to groan.

I braced myself for a few more mean words. What's the worst he could even say? That I was fat, ugly and didn't belong in the gym? Been there way too many times.

So imagine my surprise when he asked,"You okay?"

And for the first time in many years I was taken aback and left without words.

Usually, whenever someone insulted me, I always had something to say in my mind. Even though I didn't voice it, it was always there.

Since no one ever cared about my well-being, I didn't have to think of some reply.

But this was new.

So, very unsurprisingly, I blurted out,"Why are you talking to me?"

I immediately wanted to smack myself. Seriously?

He raised his eyebrow, clearly amused. "And why can't I talk to you?"

I felt a blush creep up my neck, which kind of shocked me. It was almost an unfamiliar feeling.

"Uh. Because... I'm fat?" I lamely replied. I knew that was no reason for someone to bash another but thats what happened when my brain presented lack of better replies.

He just shook his head. "Don't let their words get to you."

I was shocked to say the least. Was he real? This had to be a dream. There was no one this... this ... I don't even know. It was hard for me to find a positive adjective. Three years of negativity could do that to someone. 

I was aware of the fact that not everyone would hate all the people who stood out in negative ways but I had never come across people who didn't judge me or bash me for being ugly or fat because my step-sister didn't let them. She had somehow made sure that I was constantly reminded of how worthless I was just because of my physical attributes which in reality didn't even exist.

So it wasn't a complete surprise that I managed to utter no words at all.

"I-uh...," I trailed off, unable to form a response.

He chuckled. "I'm Andrew by the way," he held out his hand.

"I-uh Sky-uh no-Carte- I mean Penny. Yeah," I breathed out, embarrassed to height of the tallest thing in the world.

He laughed. "You sure about that?"

I turned redder. Way to go Skye.

I just mumbled something incoherent and quickly turned around and entered the gym.

The moment I entered, the whole scene had me in awe. The gym was beautifully built. All the equipment seemed of a very high quality. Two of the walls were built in pure glass, overlooking the whole view of the town.

But strangely, there was no one there in the gym right now.

"Wow," I muttered, unconsciously.

A low chuckle brought me out of the daze. I turned to see Andrew standing there looking quite amused.

It was probably let's-show-Skylar-how-to-blush day because this just made me turner redder, if it was even possible.

I quickly sauntered to the desk where a man in his forties sat with all the paper-work.

I was clueless as to what I was supposed to say or do.

I cleared my throat, and the man's head snapped up. He realised that I wanted to use the gym so he spoke-

"Sorry miss. The gym is for members only. Guests can use anything else beside this."

Disheartened, I was about to turn away, when a familiar voice interrupted.

"It's okay John, she's with me," Andrew spoke and dragged me by the arm.

The man looked at Andrew and nodded. "No problem Mr. Crawford."

Andrew dragged me into the gym and I could barely hold in my excitement upon seeing the different machines. I could feel my adrenaline spike up as I anticipated the next few hours in this room with the familiar machines all around me. For a moment I even forgot that I was being dragged my someone until I realised I had come to a stop.

I cleared my throat, jumping out of my reverie.

"Thanks. I guess," I said, looking around to see that we were in the locker room. "But how did you get me in so easily?" I questioned.

"This is my hotel," he replied nonchalantly.

"WHAT?!" I nearly yelled, blinking in surprise.

He just grinned at my reaction. "Well, technically my dad's but thats just details."

I gaped at him, much to his amusement.

"Anyway, do you have your change of clothes with you?"

My eyes widened as I realised that I had forgotten them at home. I groaned out loud as I slumped down on a bench.

Andrew laughed at this, his green eyes lighting up.

"Shut up," I grumbled, childishly.

He simply shook his head. "Don't worry. We keep extra clothes for people to use. Come on let's see if we can find something for you."

I followed Andrew to a small room which was stacked with all sizes of running shorts and tanks for girls and sports shorts and t-shirts for boys.

"So, uh, what size are you?" He asked, with a tinge of pink on his cheeks.

Aw.

I opened my mouth to reply but something dawned upon me. I was in a disguise. A fat disguise, to be exact. And I couldn't wear shorts or else they would expose my thigh belts.

"I-uh...," I trailed off.

Andrew raised an eyebrow.

I examined Andrew's face. He seemed like a really good guy. I was surprised at how casually I was behaving with him. I'd never been so comfortable with a person, within a span of few minutes.

I looked back to the door of the locker room which showed a glimpse of the exercising equipment. I gulped, caught in a dilemma as I looked between the gym and the exit door. I really didn't want to go back and slump in the hotel room.

Contemplating for a few minutes, I decided that I'd tell him.

It was a big risk because no one in the world knew my secret except for Coach Burns but I guess even I was tired of carrying this secret for so long. I might even use the company of a friend in the ball. Plus, Andrew seemed like a nice guy.

"Uh Andrew?" I called out.

He turned to look at me.

"Will you be able to keep a secret?" I asked. I didn't know if I was doing a sensible thing by spilling out my secret, but it felt thrilling to take a risk.

Maybe it was the burden of carrying this weight on my for so long. Maybe it was because no one had ever willingly talked to me or even cared about how I felt.

Andrew slowly nodded, not getting where I was going with this.

I took a deep breath. "Will anyone else come in the gym at this time?" I asked, just to be sure. I didn't want anyone else seeing me like that.

"Uh, no. This time is reserved only for me. Why?"

Letting out a breath of relief, I let a slow smile grace my face. "You go start warming up. I'll be there in a few minutes."

He slowly nodded before retracing his steps.

I grabbed the clothes of my size and went to the changing room. Taking another deep breath and confirming my decision, I pulled myself out of the baggy clothes. I removed my belts along with my wig and glasses.

My hair cascaded down, after betting free from the cage that was the wig. I pulled on the black sports bra and hot pink shorts that reached my mid-thigh.

The sports bra came down till my rib cage and left a thick band of my stomach on display.

Gathering my stuff and after putting it into the locker, I slowly walked towards the gym.

Andrew was on the treadmill with his back towards me. After hearing my footsteps, he spoke up. "What took you so long? I was-," he paused to glance at me.

And when he did, four things happened, one after the other.

His eyes widened, he lost control of his steps, he slipped off the treadmill and landed on the ground with a loud 'thump'.

My eyes widened as I rushed to help him up. "You okay?"

Once he was up, he spoke. "Me? What the hell happened to you in there? As far as I know, there is no magic mirror inside," he rambled.

I laughed.

"Seriously. What the hell? You are looking-well not you, at least not the one you were ten minutes back and....brown hair suits you," he started.

I laughed. "Well, I'd officially like you to meet Skylar."

"Well, Skylar, it's really a pleasure to be able to see your beautiful face. It was kinda hard to do that behind your big glasses and hair" he said goofily.

I chuckled and hit his arm lightly.

I'd been called hot and beautiful as Skylar many times. But it always had a perverted tinge to it but the way he said it only about my face, it sort of sent warmth tingling inside my body. Maybe I could finally leave with at least some positive memories of this place, after all.

And that is what made a huge smile spread across my face as I spoke.

"The pleasure is all mine."

******
Hey guys. What do you think about Andrew?

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