"En garde!" A sharp sound echoed through the halls of the gym as sabres wacked against each other. One arm carefully positioned behind her back, Reyna countered expertly as her body followed. Within a few short moves her opponent, who had never really stood a chance anyway, was disarmed, his weapon on the floor. 

"Damn," Eliza chuckled, dragging her mask off to reveal her bright, red face, "It's like you predicted my moves!" The few stragglers who had been watching their match laughed as well, admiration shining in their eyes as they began to leave. 

"Nah," Reyna responded humbly, "I've just had a lot of practice." Most of that statement was true. Her father had a fascination with the sport and had not so gently nudged Reyna towards lessons the minute she could hold a sabre. Out of habit, Reyna rubbed the old fishing watch her father used to wear.

The two girls walked towards one another and shook hands before they turned around to clear up. 

"We should get food after this!" Eliza exclaimed as Reyna turned around to lock up the school gym. Outside, the afternoon light was fading fast and it was a Friday. "Or even better we should go to a party!"

"I'm sorry, I can't. You know I can't." The regret was obvious in Eliza's face. 

"Come on, the ACTs aren't that important! Besides you already practically got a perfect score the last time you took them!" Eliza came from a good place, but she wouldn't understand. For her mother, close enough simply meant failure. 

Reyna rolled her eyes. "A 35 isn't good enough for my mom. They want a 36 this time around." 

"I want a 36 Reyna! How dare you get a 35!" mocked Eliza, her red pigtails flying as she did a poor imitation of Reyna's mom. The two girls laughed loudly as they climbed into Eliza's old Toyota pick up.  

"Fine," Eliza said after their laughter died down. "How about we have a girl's night? I come over with my homework and we can go into your room and pretend to study." 

"I don't know..." Reyna said indecisively as she set her backpack in the backseat. If her mother caught them she would be in huge trouble, that much was guaranteed. 

"Oh come on! It will be so much fun! We can rewatch all the Disney movies and paint our nails!" Seeing Reyna begin to crumble Eliza became more animated. "We can talk about boys and plan what to wear for Halloween! You promised we could match this year."

"Fine, fine, fine!" Reyna threw up her white flag to surrender. "You win! Just make sure you keep the volume down this time so my parents don't get suspicious."  

"It will 100% be worth it, I promise." Eliza held out her hand for a pinky promise the way the two of them used to when they were young and then started the engine. As the two of them rode out of the parking lot, neither noticed the shrowded eyes that watched them in interest. 

-------

"Eliza, I never agreed to makeovers!" Reyna's hands clung tightly to her office chair as Eliza began to dab her eyelids with sparkly eyeshadow. The two of them had just finished rewatching Mulan for the umpteenth time and Eliza had started fiddling around with Reyna's makeup. From there, it had gone downhill. 

"Shh. Shh. Stay still. This shade makes your eyes pop!" Reyna resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she thought about the consequences that would arise if her mom walked in on them. 

"You know what else is going to pop? My mom's head if she walks in right now!" Reyna whisper-yelled. 

"Oh you're just being dramatic now," Eliza muttered as she narrowly avoided spilling makeup on Reyna's fancy matching set pajamas. "Let's talk about something interesting. Any boys caught your eye lately?"

"Come on Eliza, you know none of the guys at school are worth my time." It was as if Essex Academy had a hidden school requirement where only douchebags were allowed to attend. 

"True," Eliza acquiesced, "but I appreciate good eye candy and don't you want to knock some firsts out of the way?" Reyna shrugged noncommital, but Eliza wasn't deterred. 

"Joseph from first period seemed really into me during class, don't you think? He wouldn't stop making jokes and trying to make me laugh!"

"That's just because you're one of the cutest girls in class was on display." Reyna stifled her laugh at Eliza's incredulous look. 

"I am not!" Eliza squealed, pretending to be appalled.

"Don't like to yourself!" Reyna scoffed, trying and failing to hide her grin.

"Oh please! Besides between the two of us you got the looks so I have to have something for myself." Eliza gestured her hand towards the mirror and Reyna saw her large brown eyes framed in green eyeshadow. She had bright red lips that popped on her dark skin and the dramatic contour had made her usual doll-like, innocent face look like...

"I look like a villain!" Reyna gasped. 

"Sure, but a pretty villain! Like Maleficent!". 

"Like who?" came a cold voice from Reyna's door as her heart dropped to her stomach. With wide eyes, the two girls guiltily turned around to face their executioner: Reyna's mother. Her hands were on her full hips, a cooking spoon in her hand and icy glare on her face as she looked at the two of them. For a moment there was just silence until Eliza tried to break it.

"Hi, Mrs. Tesfaye! We were just-" she nervously began.

"Save it." Reyna's mom responded rudely, her accent even more obvious with her anger. Her sharp gaze never drifting from Reyna's suddenly sweaty face. "Pack up your things and go home."

"But Mama, it's too late for Eliza to be driving!" Reyna tried to argue as Eliza slowly began to toss her makeup and homework into her overnight bag. 

"But nothing. You should be ashamed of yourself Reyna. All the hard work I have put into making you a good student and now you want to waste it all on foolish, lazy things? How was I so unlucky to wind up with an ungrateful daughter?" Her mother raised her hands to the sky and looked up as if the heavens had an answer to her question. Reyna sadly waved goodbye to Eliza who crept past her demon of a mother. 

"She is a bad influence on you! I don't want that girl in my house!" her mother cried, not even checking if Eliza was out of the house yet.

"Mama, she is still in the house!" Her mother just waved away her words as if they were nothing before continuing with her tirade.

"I don't care! I won't have you spending any more time with her. Am I understood?" Reyna sulkily looked down at her lap, tears slowly beginning to trail their way down her glamorous face. Far away downstairs, she heard her front door close and Eliza's loud engine start. 

"Am. I. Understood?" Reyna's mother repeated more forcefully. Spotting Reyna's phone slightly hidden under her forgotten homework, her mother snatched it up greedily and waved it around like a trophy. "You won't be getting this back until after the test!"

"Yes, Mama." Reyna suddenly found the floorboards incredibly interesting as she focused on them to resist looking at her mother with her rage-filled eyes. 

"And wipe that mess of your face! You are a student, not a whore." Satisfied with her verbal blow, her mother's footsteps went back to the kitchen, but not before Reyna heard her barbed last words.

"A disappointment, just like her father." They felt like a slap in the face, Reyna's absentee father seemed to be dragged into every single argument they had, but never failed to hurt her badly. For a few minutes, Reyna sat in the same spot trying to slow down her racing heart as she rubbed her watch. Her, stupid? Her, lazy? Her hands had begun to shake and when she brought them up to eye level, she saw half-moon crescents were her fingers had dug into her hands. 

She had been at the top of her class of 300 students since she had started high school. She was a member of student council and the captain of the school fencing team. Her walls were decorated with various trophies she had won over many years. Everything she did she excelled at. Yet that wasn't enough to satisfy her mother? Suddenly feeling like she was trapped, Reyna started scratching at her arms before frantically running to her window and throwing it open. 

Sucking in a few desperate lungfuls, the cool breeze cleared her head and dried the few tears that had escaped. Gazing at the full moon that was proudly on display, Reyna desperately wished to be carried away far, far away from the woman who had birthed her. Little did she know her wish would be carried out soon. 

That is the first chapter! Thoughts? Please feel free to comment and please vote! Have a great day!

xx Katreadsabook