Fated Fairy Tales - Beauty Sleep

Beauty Sleep - Chapter 2

Ora’s POV

I enjoy math class. There’s something about numbers that makes sense. Math is a part of daily life, from calculating the cost of your grocery shopping to the math used in physics. But my classmates don’t see that. But today I can’t seem to focus on the figures. I’m simply tired of the never-ending darkness of winter. I stared out the window and watched as the large raindrops smacked the window. I can’t wait for spring and all the brightness it brings.

No matter what the weather. Aunt Jo insists I help her train. The woman is obsessed. She always wants to exercise and learn new fighting techniques. Over the years, she has learned so many fighting styles. But she never enters competitions. She says she doesn’t need others to tell her how good she is. She knows. Honestly, the woman is so full of herself sometimes.

“We will work with Mr. Templeton today. To show the connection between math and science.” Mrs. Mossop announces as she leaves the classroom.

Once Mrs. Mossop is out of the room, everyone chats. I continue gazing out of the window. Not focusing on anything that is happening around me.

“Ah, what is Ora the orphan looking at? Hoping it will stop raining so that some far-away stranger will adopt you? Because no one around here would want someone as useless and ugly as you.” Tina smirks as she leans over my desk.

I can’t believe Tina never let me forget I am an orphan. You’d think she’d find something else to pick on me for, like my hair or my clothes. My aunts tell me I’m not an orphan, but I have never met my parents. Nor have I ever seen a picture of them. So I am none the wiser.

I don’t have any friends at school thanks to the constant tormenting from Tina and her pack of hyena friends. They think they are something special because they have boyfriends. But I don’t need friends. I have aunts. Aunts that love me. Provide for me. Offer me life skills that these childish girls will never comprehend.

I’ve learned so many fighting styles from training with Aunt Jo all these years. I could squash Tina like a bug. But Aunt Jo strongly emphasized that I only ever to fight to protect myself. I looked out the window, ignoring Tina. “I guess it must be hard,” I said calmly.

Tina sneers at me. “Breathing is hard for you,” Tina snaps rudely at me.

I smile and play with the pencil on my desk. “I guess it’s hard being jealous of an orphan. Or is it because I don’t have awful parents like you? I mean, they must be awful to raise such an awful child like you.”

I looked up at Tina, whose nostrils were flaring. I must have hit a nerve. I can see by her body language she is revving herself up. Then she lunges forward to grab me. I expected her to do that.

“I am going to kick your ass.” She yells for the entire class to hear. Not that they weren’t already listening.

“You couldn’t kick a bloody flower in those shoes,” I laughed mockingly at her impractical school shoes. I crossed my arms while still sitting in my seat.

“I’m going to rip your hair out,” Tina screams as she lunges forward again, trying to grab me. Only this time, I grabbed hold of her wrist, dragging her forward. Then I grabbed hold of her hair and slammed her face on the table. The sound of her face contacting the desk, followed by her screams, made me smile. I let her body slide to the floor as her hands reached for her nose.

Tina’s friends started screaming as they rushed to her aid. I calmly sat back in my seat and looked at Stuart, who was sitting next to me. He looked terrified.

“What in god’s name is going on in here?” Mrs. Mossop yells.

“Tina attacked Ora.” Someone calls out from the other side of the room.

“Then why is Tina on the ground bleeding?” Mrs. Mossop shouts as she rushes to help Tina. Her confusion made me smile.

“Ora fought back,” Stuart informed her.

Mrs. Mossop looked at me. “Get to the Principal’s office, while I sort Tina out,” she yelled at me. Usually, Mrs. Mossop would escort a student there herself. I have seen her do this countless times with other students. She wants to make sure they get there and not veer off somewhere. But on this occasion, Mrs. Mossop had to take Tina to the school nurse.

It’s been a long time coming and what I did was not right. But Aunt Jo always said I should only ever fight to protect myself. Even though Tina posed no real threat, she was the one who attacked first. Principal Cross is fuming and complaining about having to dig out policies about what to do next. There hadn’t been an act of violence in the school for years.

The seriousness of the incident required him to make a call to Tina’s mom. I wasn’t bothered and remembered all the times I had refrained from fighting with Tina. But when he picked up the phone to call my aunts, I realized he was going to bring them in. With every digit he pressed, my heart quickened. Sweat ran down my back. Please let it be Aunt Josie who answers the phone, I mentally plead. She will at least go easier on me than my other aunts. “Hello. It’s Principal Cross of Saint Matthew’s High School. Can I speak to the guardian of Ora Kingsley, please?” I can’t hear who is on the other end of the phone. “There has been an incident at school. I need you to come here immediately.” He says before hanging up the phone.

“Someone will be here shortly.” Principal Cross informs me before sitting me outside his office with his secretary, Mrs. Carroll. I have to wait there for my aunt to arrive.

Please let it be Josie who shows up. I prayed internally as I waited patiently. I bit my nails, worrying it would be Aunt Jo that would turn up. I don’t have to wait long before Aunt Josie walks through the door. I blew out a sigh of relief.

Aunt Josie rushed over to me, questioning me while checking I was physically okay. Breathing out a sigh of relief when she sees I am fine. A shadow hovered over us, dreading who it was. To my relief, when I looked up, I saw my Aunt Jayne. My shoulders sagged with relief, but my heart quickened. I hate disappointing Aunt Jayne. She is the Aunt who is always encouraging me to do better. To be better. When I disappoint her, I can practically feel how sad I’ve made her. It’s weird.

A few seconds later, when the air in the room became suffocating, I knew she was close. It’s like she hates everyone outside our family, and she can project that aura. It’s when I see her expression I sink into my seat. Oh crap, this is going to be bad. She must have been in the middle of training, as she was wearing a sports bra and a pair of cycling shorts. Her perfectly sculpted body reveals every muscle, leaving nothing to the imagination.

“We’re here to see Principal Cross.” Aunt Jo says to Mrs. Carroll. Her attention seemed to be drawn to Aunt Jo’s abs.

“Take a seat. We are waiting for another parent.” The secretary informs Aunt Jo. Aunt Jo is not a woman who sits. She stands with her arms across her chest, while staring at me. I don’t need to look at her to know she is angry. I have never heard someone breathe as aggressively as Aunt Jo. We waited in silence.

Tina and her mother eventually walk through the door. Tina has a huge plaster over her nose, and you can still see smeared blood on her face. Then, we are escorted to the principal’s office. “Take a seat, ladies,” Principal Cross offers.