A Perfect Rose

Once upon a time, how every perfect story has begun for centuries.  This takes you back to the story's beginning, letting you get a glimpse into the past, to show you why things end up as they do.  The story travels through many ups and downs but ends with the happy ever after everyone has come to expect.  There is no surprise, each story always follows the same pattern, of ups and downs until finally arriving at the happily ever after.  This story, however, isn’t once upon a time it is happening now, it could happen tomorrow or maybe it did already happen.  It’s a part of your life and becomes a part of your story. There is no happy ever after, no perfect prince or princess, and no lovers holding hands riding off into the beautiful sunset, there never is. It’s just a fantasy created to tell a good story to keep the listener’s attention.  This is real life, your life, a life where dreams don’t come true and darkness rises and takes even the best of us.  Unfortunately, this story is more real than you are willing to admit.  

Most people will pick up this book and read it as if it is just another fairy tale, a story that couldn’t ever happen to them, one that is for a dramatic plot twist to get people's attention and con them into picking up the book again and again.  No, that is not what this is though, this is life, real life, a sad, everyday occurrence.  This is real, a life that someone is living every single day.  A trap that has been built to entangle humans into depression and drive them further into despair. This nightmare has only one way out and that is to fall asleep for eternity but then, even then, we may not escape this brutal darkness we face. We may pass into a never-ending torment that cannot come close to the pain we feel today.  This is the account of once upon a time when Ellie walked this earth.  It was her, her parents, and her younger brother Cam.  They lived but was it happily ever after?

Ellie was just like any other high school girl out there, she had a normal family, well as normal as a family can get. Every family has their quirks but she had a hard-working father, a loving mother, an obnoxiously annoying little brother Cam, and herself.  Ellie was 17 about to turn 18 next month and a senior in high school.  Her little brother was 15 and was going to be a sophomore in high school this year.  She looked like a normal high schooler. She had long naturally brown hair with the tips dyed multiple colors giving her a bit of flair when she entered a room.  She may not have been the most beautiful person in school but people took notice as she would pass by them. She was nervous yet excited heading into her final year in high school. Ellie, like most older sisters, enjoyed picking on Cam and his little friends when they were hanging around the house.  It seemed like they were over every day this past summer, which drove Ellie up the wall as they made annoying noises from the basement, and teased her about wearing too much makeup and how it was weird how she dyed her hair.  This would probably be the last year for them to be living in the same house and as much as she didn’t want to let it show or admit it, she was going to miss her little brother when she entered into the world of adulthood.

It was a sunny morning at EastSide High.  The birds were tweeting, there was a slight breeze, and the dew on the grass was sparkling like glitter from the sunshine above.  The morning church bells chimed marking it to be eight o’clock in the morning.  It was the perfect morning. It was that time of the year when it wasn’t cold yet but you couldn’t quite consider it to be hot. The hoodies were starting to make an appearance from being hidden in the back of everyone’s closets for the summertime.  The hallways were peaceful despite the slight chatter amongst friends as the students made their way to their first classes of the fall semester.  Everything seemed to be lining up perfectly for another great year at Eastside High.  “This was going to be the best year yet”, Ellie thought excitedly as she walked up the steps to the first day of her last year of being stuck in high school.

Ellie was amongst those heading towards the rush of the day.  Excitedly carrying her books she faded into the crowd, which was filled with excited kid’s chatter, as she headed toward her first period, Biology.   It was the beginning of a big year for her, she was filled with all kinds of emotions but was determined not to let it show.  She wanted to be brave and maybe even make some new friends before she headed off to college and then into the real world of work and hopefully starting a family.  She wasn’t one of those girls who always had people buzzing around her so this gave her plenty of time to think about her future.  It wasn’t like she was a nerd or hated by other students she just did not always have the best social skills which made it hard to find friends she could hang out with. Ellie struggled with holding a conversation which left many awkward silences that slowly pushed others away.  She needed someone who would put in the effort to hold a conversation with her, someone who not just acted as if they cared but truly cared deep within their soul.  She wasn’t the type of girl to create superficial friendships that did not mean anything in the long run. She needed a strong foundation to be set in her friendships especially if they were going to last.

As the attendance was being taken for the first time this year Ellie began to daydream about how the year was going to go.  Maybe she would find a boyfriend who would be cute, charming, and love her more than she loved herself.  Her thoughts went to Caleb, this cute guy a few rows in front of her.  She had always imagined them together but laughed at the thought of it because he was way out of her league. “Ellie”, “Ellie”, “is Ellie here”, the teacher called out.  It took a few seconds for it to register with Ellie that it was here that the teacher was talking about.  She had been so lost in daydreaming she hadn’t noticed when her name was called for attendance. “Here”, she quietly said.  She heard a snicker from behind, “what was that? A mouse”, one of the boys in the back of the class snickered.  “So that’s how the years going to go”, Ellie whispered to Holly her best friend who was sitting right beside her.  “Don’t worry about them.  They don’t have much respect for anyone. And you don’t need to worry about them because nothing they say ever matters anyways”, replied Holly, who always knew how to comfort Ellie and make her feel better.  Holly had been Ellie’s best friend for as long as she could remember.  She couldn’t imagine life without her.  

Biology seemed to drag on, this year’s teacher must be a robot!  He spoke in an extremely monotone and spaced each word perfectly out.  It was like he had been programmed just to spit out information in their general direction.  Ring, ring, ring the bell finally rang and all the students jumped up out of their desks rushing towards the door.  Everyone trying to find their next period before the bell rang again marking them as late.  Ellie found she had to go up to the third floor next to her Calculus class.  Ellie hated math so she knew this period would drag on, and it didn’t help that the teacher was rumored to be the most strict teacher in all of EastSide High.  The first thing she did when the kids entered the classroom was to make everyone get out of the seats they had chosen and give them assigned seats that she thought would be the most miserable for everyone.  Ellie let out an excited squeak, that she hoped no one heard we she was assigned a seat right next to Caleb! As she sat down he looked over and smiled at her.  Her heart was pounding so hard she was afraid he was going to hear it.

The day seemed to go by much faster now that she could look forward to seeing Caleb daily.  Third period, English came and went.  Then fourth-period Graphic Design became one of Ellie’s favorites, as her dream was to be a graphic designer one day.  She hoped to start her own business designing logos and merchandise for clients. Her excitement grew as she looked through the syllabus where all of the projects for the year were laid out. At lunch, Ellie hung out with Holly as they sat together in the corner.  As they ate Ellie told Holly about the fairy tale she must be in getting to sit next to and talk with Caleb every day in the second period.  “Maybe things will work out for us”, Ellie said dreamily.  At this, Holly laughed and told Ellie to “keep dreaming big, and maybe you will get your once upon a time, happily ever after you silly girl”. The rest of the day went by in a haze and Ellie was excited to get home after her first day of school.

####

Thanks for reading the first chapter of my first short story! Make sure you like and subscribe so you don't miss part ii next Friday! My goal is to release one chapter every Friday for the next few weeks!