Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Apple finally acknowledged that she had been drifting away from Daring for some time now, like a chunk of rock drifting out to sea, leaving it's land behind. It had been since his kiss had not been able to wake her in the enchanted forest, but her friend Darling had been able to save her. She had not admitted it to herself for so long because she was frightened at the prospect of more change.
So much had changed already with Raven, Raven not embracing her own destiny, Raven making the bold and brash statement that everyone could choose their own destinies, Raven's purple eyes squinting at Apple's selfishness. Apple wasn't being selfish....was she? She just wanted everything to go as planned but she had never even once considered, it had never even once crossed her mind what Raven wanted. She automatically pressumed everyone wanted their destinies. Perhaps not.
Apple sighed and headed outside. It was summer, and the grounds were hot and green. As Apple headed over to Briar on a bench, she sighted Raven and Maddie laughing over a dormouse in a teapot. Maddie was giggling wildly, and Raven gave a little snort of laughter which Apple would have thought was unladylike in other circumstances from other people. Apple didn't like it but sometimes she envied the girls friendship. It seemed so easygoing and relaxed and, well, fun. It wasn't like she didn't enjoy spending time with her friends it was just...talking about shoes and parties and school and studies and makeup and boys all the time was, well, downright boring sometimes. She would never ever after dare to say any of this aloud, so she pretended to be bright and beautiful all the time. But the truth: she, Apple White, top student, golden girl was unhappy. Briar broke her thoughts by waving her over.
"So you're sure it's just a phase?" Apple was sitting at her vanity, brushing her blonde hair with a gold hairbrush. She had finally confided her Daring situation to Blondie, the best person she could think of. "Absolutely, stuff like this happens all the time with boys but when you come back to eachother you'll be closer than ever," Blondie said with certainty. "You sure?"Apple asked with anxiety. "Positive." "Besides you two are a match made for a fairytale it's destiny you end up with eachother," Blondie smiled with a wink.
"Destiny," Apple echoed, the conversation with the reporter had left her more unsure than ever.
That night in bed, Apple remembered her envy of Raven's friendship with Maddie. But that wasn't all. No, it was something more. It was something about Raven, the way she was. It was her......freedom. The way she wore black lipstick and didn't give a damn and prioritized herself. The opposite of Apple. That's what she envied. Apple couldn't remember the last time she had done something for herself, both her and Raven had controlling mothers, Raven promising to never follow in her's footsteps, Apple to do just so. And remembering her discomfort at how Blondie had mentioned Daring like he would be a part of Apple's life forever. Yes, a part of her understood Raven's rebellion completely.