Cassidy Monroe~
'Oh my god! What the hell did I just witness? Estella is not ok. Everest left angry, and I closed the door behind me.
"Estella, what just happened? Is he abusing you?" Estella sighed and sat on her bed.
"That was the first time, I swear, but this arrangement is the only thing that can help my future. I promise I'm not gonna let him hurt me again. Just please don't tell anyone, Cass, it is too important," She pleaded with me. I stared at her incredulously.
"How can you be okay with this? He just hit you, for crying out loud! He hurt you, and you're still not backing out? You know he's just gonna do it again. Guys like him think they can take whatever they want and damn the consequences. You won't be alone, you still have me, am I not good enough for you that you just need more?" I asked with tears in my eyes.
"Why can't you accept what I want? What I need. Just back off, please, it's none of your business anyway." She shouted at me, and now I'm conflicted.
'Do I not listen to her and tell the headmistress, or listen to her without knowing when Everest could hurt her again?' I sat down on her couch and stayed quiet for a while. Estella is basically ignoring me, which is fine for now, while I think, but I'm not gonna let it last long. 'She is being too secretive, and the Estella I know wouldn't let a stupid boy hurt her physically. I'm gonna tell the headmistress, Estella isn't in her right mind at the moment, but I'm not gonna tell Estella because she will try to stop me.'
A little while later, I walked to the headmistress's office. I knocked on the door and entered at her demand.
"Hello, Mrs Starr, can I talk to you for a second? It's about Estella," I said. Mrs Starr looked up from her computer, concerned. Her long, dark brown hair, which was in a high ponytail that flowed all the way past her hips, seemed to shake with the rest of her body as she asked,
"What's wrong with her? What happened?" she replied, concerned with contorting her voice. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I was doing the right thing. I took a deep breath and spilled everything I saw between Everest and Estella. I could tell Mrs Starr was getting angrier the more I talked. When I finished, she was almost jumping out of her chair.
"That bastard will pay for how he treats her. I don't care if he has a demon inside him and the Queen is all over him." She turns back to me, almost distractedly, and adds, "Why didn't Estella agree with you and want him gone?"
I was fully shellshocked, 'What does she mean by demon? Is that supposed to be a metaphor?'
"She said that she can't lose her newfound family. She wouldn't listen to me, so I came to you," I said. She nodded curtly and stood.
"You did the right thing, Cassidy. I will figure out the best punishment, but I'm not going to Queen Victoria with this because she picked Everest for some reason," she said.
"Okay," I nodded, "I'm gonna go for a walk to clear my head."
I left the room and walked down the halls and stairs to get outside. I slowly walked around the school and headed for the empty stables. As I walked, I thought about the first time I saw Estella. We were six years old, and her parents had just died in a house fire. I walked up to her with a small smile.
"Hi! I'm Cassidy, but you can call me Cass. What's your name?" A little version of me said brightly. She looked up at me slowly, and I could see the sadness dripping off her. I tried really hard to remember what she looked like. I don't know why I can't remember.
I remember she had purple eyes, and I asked, "How do you have purple eyes? That's so cool." And I remembered she asked me what I was talking about because her eyes were green. Then I remembered that her eyes are green now. I wonder how something like that can change so drastically. She had told me her name was Estella, and that was probably the only thing she said that day. We've spent years together, almost twelve, and she looks like she's always changing. I thought I was crazy, but I think she was changing. She looked different every second, but I didn't think too much about it because every time I looked at her, I always thought she looked the same, but now I don't know. I was always the crazy, impulsive, and maybe a little self-centered one in our friendship. I made her attend parties and vacations during the summers with my wealthy parents, who barely paid any attention to me. I'm an only child, so they sent me away to this boarding school.
I finally turned the corner and saw the stables looming ahead. I don't remember it looking so sinister. Maybe it was just me being paranoid.
'Oh, screw it, there's nothing in there anyway.' I walked the long walkway to the back of the stables, and I saw something moving, so I slowly walked toward it. Once I got to the end stall, I opened the door and peered in. I screamed and stumbled back.
'What the hell was that? I must be hallucinating.' I straightened myself and looked again. Sure enough, the skeleton-looking horse was right there in front of me. I yelped and ran into the woods, scared out of my mind, not caring where my feet were taking me as long as it was far from that scary horse. As I run, my mind races. 'What is happening? Demons, Estella, and a skeleton horse? I think I'm losing it.' I stumbled through the woods for a minute, and suddenly Everest was right in front of me.