"I couldn't be fake about anything even if I tried. My facial expressions would never allow it."

-Sonya Teclai

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"Stop it, Ash. Enough is enough. What you've done is enough. Just stop," Sarah said, her voice coarse.

Ashley had bumped into her deliberately or maybe it was just a mistake.

But Sarah had had enough. Papa had always told her that her actions would have consequences.

She hadn't paid heed then, but now, she understood what he meant.

"How can I forget what you have done?" Ashley pointed a finger at her, Riva and Ruby, but the accusation her fake blue eyes held wasn't fake. "You all treated me like a slave, worse than that."

You deserved it, Sarah thought, her jaw twitching, this is what you get for stealing all my friends.

She wasn't a jealous person, but circumstances had drawn the green monster out in her since childhood.

She had made friends and Ashley, the rich kid, new in town, had turned all their small heads towards her.

And that led to a chain reaction in the making of puppets. No one wanted to play what Sarah had in mind, but they agreed to a boring game of hide-and-seek upon Ashley's nasal command.

Had she even commanded them? Sarah wasn't sure, the memory was fuzzy. But she liked to think of it that way.

Then when Riva and Ruby had arrived in Aurora, Sarah made them her friends before Ashley could.

Ashley wasn't a snob, but her wealth attracted attention, even hers. If that wasn't enough her good looks wrapped the hearts of male tweenies in little ribbons of infatuation.

Despite the overwhelming attention she got, Ashley didn't forget Sarah. And what more could she want? That was the perfect way to use the rich kid's innocence for her benefit.

"You made me do all your work in the name of friendship." The veins in Ashley's neck bulged out as she stood with a stormed expression.

Sarah choked back a giggle. She reminisced little Ashley following her, Riva and Ruby around like a lost puppy.

"We were kids back then, Ash," Sarah explained with a sigh, her eyes darting right and left.

Dang! Now everyone was staring at their exchange. Maybe the "kid card" would extinguish the heat of their disgust.

"Puh-Lease, you weren't a newborn." Ashley scoffed. "You knew what you were doing."

She couldn't deny that. She perfectly knew what she was doing. But had that stopped her? No. There was a certain satisfaction in seeing others suffer.

When life had made her suffer, it was her job to make others sad. If she was denied happiness, why should others smile?

She hadn't asked for their parents' divorce. She hadn't asked for her mother to cheat on her Papa with a wealthy man.

Papa was poor, except for the wealth of his words.

Ashley's nasal voice grabbed her attention back. "All I had was you guys, only you."

The perfect Barbie doll sniffed. "Do you know much it hurts when your own friends treat you like the dirt below their shoes?"

Did she know how much it hurt when a father left his daughter behind? Why hadn't he fought for her? Why had he given in to her mother's horrendous demands?

Living with her mother made her learn that money was happiness. Emotions made them weak, they had to be bad to get ahead in life. If you were good, people would crush you within minutes.

"Who does that to their own friends?" Ashley raised both her palms. "So, I decided to stop being the good person I was. Goodness is abused, torn apart, and made fun of."

Sarah couldn't agree with her more. That was exactly her motto.

The eyes of her classmates scrutinized her. She had to stop the Barbie's blabbering. "Ash, please--"

"For me then, bad turned the new good."

Ruby held Ashley's wrist. "Over the past years, you have abused us as well. You made us do your homework, kicked our butts, and treated us like trash cans."

Oh, that was the turnover. The little puppy had managed to sprout wings. What more? She had escaped out of their clutch and had trapped them instead.

That was her biggest mistake--changing schools when Ashley did. Riva and Ruby had suffered as well. Good for them. They would remember not to be puppets.

Wow! She was helping to inculcate values in others. Papa would be so proud.

Ashley's sob story raged on and she resisted the urge to yawn loudly.

Elena rushed forward, bumping into many shoulders as she did, including hers.

The hero rubbed Ashley's back and her little sidekick, Kate, did the same from the other side.

Ever since the twins had joined their school, she felt intimidated by their presence. They hadn't done anything to her, other than helping her out, but she didn't like it.

Had she asked them to help her? Why were they pretending to be heroes then? Elena was cool, at least she listened to her rants without butting in.

But Kate, that honey-eyed girl, always frowned. Couldn't she just pretend to be honeyed, to be sweet?

That was what had irked her--that triggered the series of paper balls on the back of that curly-haired nuisance.

But what was most frustrating was that she hadn't even minded the insult. People could be so thick-skinned.

The twins hugged Ashley and Max stepped back to make space.

Max looked hot, but his bank balance was hotter.

She smiled at Ashley briefly, trying her best not to grind her teeth. "What we did is gone. What we can do still remains."

The Barbie had no idea what she had in store for her. Firstly, Mother Diamond Dearest would know what her little doll had been upto.

Wouldn't it be great if Ash was caught playing Maleficent?

She couldn't help the glee slipping in her smile as she group-hugged the Barbie with Riva and Ruby.

"Friends?" she asked, but her heart knew they couldn't be.

Max smiled at her and blew her a kiss. She grinned. Golden-Hearted and Platinum-Pocketed was set in her trap.

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Hey, people! 💖 How are you all doing? I'm back with Bonus Episode 3.

This is written for my good friend, _Enchanted_Princess. Hope you like it.

What do you think of Sarah's POV? This is the first time I've written from her side.

Did you like it? Yes?/No?

Next up will be Bonus Episode 4 for my good friend, AnchanaRadhakrishnan. What will it be about? Stay tuned to know. :D

Keep smiling! 💕
Lots of love❤💙
Sakina

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