Maleficent

The Treehouse had collected quite an assortment of junk over the years. It could almost be uncomfortable if it wasn’t mostly plush. Coloured pillows and rugs were splashed across the floor, polished and cleaned by Marie’s grandpa when we’d told him what we’d found.

The birthday girl sat atop a throne of cushions, drinking in the magnificent glory of her reign over her friends. The foresty air was already tainted with the strong odour of vodka and whiskey. The scent made my glands tingle bitterly. I’d always hated the taste of alcohol, though it didn’t stop me from pouring the liquid down my throat. More often than not I’d find myself wondering, if I hated it that much, why did I subject myself to it?

Raspberry. That was what the bottle claimed the flavour was, but it was hardly raspberry at all. I grimaced, rubbing my tongue across the top of my mouth in distaste as I gazed at the three girls giggling around me. They had had far more to drink than I had. Their actions spoke more than words.

“I’m thinking it’s time to partay!” Flora squealed, pumping her fist into the air.

Marie answered with a high pitched chorus, rolling off her stack of pillows and bouncing unsteadily towards Flora. I grumbled a short objection as the two girls swayed to the little entranceway, worrying that they shouldn’t be left alone in their state, and knowing that I had every right to worry with Flora on the loose.

“Where are those bitches going!” Fern cried out, half amused. I knew what was coming before she climbed down off her throne.

“Precisely where we’re about to go, sweet-pea,” I laughed, rolling my eyes as she crawled to me.

“Come on, Allie! I don’t wanna miss out!”

I nodded, giving her a smile as her arm hugged around my waist tightly.

Emerging from the Treehouse was like stepping into a whole new world. From colourful plush pillows to the dark forest night. My eyes widened at the sight, Fern’s arm dropping from my waist before her hand clamped tightly around my arm. The vague feeling of her tugging on my arm excitedly wasn’t enough to overpower my shock as Marie and Flora stood before us.

“Surprise!”

Fairy lights glimmered along the branches of the trees around us, lighting the sky in a blanket of stars. I stared, mesmerised, as the branches swayed in the breeze, moving the lights like fireflies dancing in the deliciously green canopies above.

“Oh my god! This is amazing!”

Fern had let go and was now stampeding towards the giggling girls. My eyes snapped away from the trees, turning to the small gathering that Marie and Flora had somehow conjured up. Groups of people stood beneath the lighting, a small portable stereo humming a tune through the mumbling voices and laughter that had erupted as soon as the ‘surprise’ was over.

“Uh, hey Raven, where do you want this?”

I turned to the voice, seeing Bentley Harper staring at me with wide blue eyes and carrying a large esky along with a guy I didn’t know.

“Anywhere,” I sighed, knowing the look that he had given me.

I wasn’t as vain as a person might think. In fact vanity was pretty low on my priorities, but that didn’t stop God from giving me a flawless face and curvaceous body. I wasn’t ungrateful for it. Heck, it came in handy sometimes. But the glazed look that the boys gave me and the envious glares of my supposed rivals wore my patience thin.

I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask for any of it. Flora was more beautiful, Fern more social and Marie had money coming out of her ass. Who would have thought that the quiet, conservative quarter would lead the school?

I was Raven Diablo.

And I was queen.