You'll Just Lose By Amanda Rivera

She stole him, she took him away from me. He fell in love with her, that hideous creature. Her dark black, almost raven. Her pale skin, almost porcelain and her blood red lips. He left me all alone, his own mother, well stepmother but still why her? Where did she even come from? I never even heard of her until my magic mirror announced her as the “fairest of them all”. I looked into this so called woman and she is nothing special, yeah she can talk with animals but that is nothing compared to my powers.

I have the power to take this girl out, forever. To make sure she never see’s my stepson again, and to regain my beauty back and make sure that I am once again, The fairest of them all. Not some pathetic girl who sits around cleaning for dwarfs and singing all day to animals. Me, the most beautiful woman in the world.

I devised a perfect plan, I am going to disguise myself as a horrid old women who the girl will befriend and trust.  I make my way over to the dwarfs house and knock on the door, the black haired girl opened the door and smiled sweetly at me.

“Why hello,” She said in a gentle voice, oh how her voice irks me, it’s like pins and needles in my ears.

“Hello Dear, I was walking about the woods when I heard a sweet melody which sounded like it was being sung by an angel, and it led me to you”

“Oh my, thank you ever so much” She says, her cheeks as red as her lips.

“No problem sweetie, would you care for an apple?, I picked it this morning, it’s very ripe and juicy.”

“Well, I am very hungry, thank you” She says, as she takes the apple from my wrinkled hands. Such an ignorant fool she is.

I watched in anticipation as she took a bite out of the apple and smiled as she froze, her eyes widened, I watched as the blood red apple fell from her pale hands, then she collapsed.

I bend down and slowly tucked some of her hair behind her ear and then whispered “ Oh dear, just a word of advice, never mess with the queen, because Snow white.. you’ll just lose.

The Money By Amanda Rivera

THE MONEY

Saturday evening, colorful leaves fall from the old oak tree outside of the St. Patrick's church. Somber people in black clothing gather around the church, used tissues in hand and dried tears on their faces. A long black limo pulls up and a young woman in her early 20’s steps out with her family. The young woman named Lilly was the closest to the deceased, helping her aunt through chemo and other various stages of cancer until she finally succumbed to the deadly disease 2 years later.

Lilly chatted with other mourners outside of the church when she heard a noisy car pull into the church's parking lot. A young man in a wrinkled suit steps out of the car, and proceeds to kick the tires with a frustrated groan. He makes his way over to the church's entrance, a lit cigarette in his hand. This is Lily's cousin Derrick, and the son of the deceased.

Growing up, the two cousins were never close. Lily, being the popular girl had many friends and was nice to everyone, while Derrick was the recluse and never had many friends. Lilly always tried to talk with the boy but he never made any effort back which upset her. During the time his mother had cancer, he was too afraid to visit her and decided to let his cousin take over, he still shudders thinking about the moment he found out that his mom had passed away.

He walked passed his family and saw their shocked faces and flashed a sarcastic grin displaying his rotten teeth. After the shock wore off and everyone exchanged knowing faces, they made their way into the church and sat in the squeaky and uncomfortable pews. Soon after, the priest began talking. Lily’s eyes danced around the room to survey who was there. Her aunt's employees were there, old friends and new ones were there also. But then her eyes fell upon Derrick, who sat staring at the coffin decorated with his mothers favorite flowers with a blank, emotionless face. He was tearing himself up on the inside, he was filled to the rim with guilt, he could feel his whole body start to tremble but he tried to compose himself.

She turned away and and gazed at the coffin also, as if waiting for aunt to just magically wake up, to take this unbearable pain away. She sat back and closed her eyes, hoping this was just one big nightmare that she could wake up from, but no such luck. Her eyes snapped open to the sound of her name, the priest just announced that her aunt left Lily all of her money from her savings. Lily’s aunt was a successful woman with her own retail business and even when she was battling cancer she still made time for her work, determined to not let it plummet into the ground.

Derrick was envious of his cousin, that was his mother, not hers. He had his reasons for why he couldn`t be there with her, reasons that he never shared with anyone other than a therapist that his doctor recommended. When the priest finished talking, the boy stormed out and sat in a quiet, empty room thinking about his mother and the events leading up to her death. While she was in the hospital, he sent her letters almost every day saying how sorry he was for what he had caused and how scared he was to face her. But he was closer than she thought, he was in the same hospital just one floor below her being treated for a drug overdose. That was when he realized that he needed to change his life around.

His mother fortunately forgave and continuously wrote him back, in the last letter she wrote him she said “When I am gone, I am going to leave you something that you deserve more than anyone” But what was it? Lily got all of the money, her co-manager Susan got the company, he was never even mentioned in the will. He was confused and hurt that his mother had lied to him.

He was startled when he heard a voice in the doorway, he turned and saw Lily, a nervous smile on her face asking if he was okay. He turned towards the window and frowned when she sat down next to him. Being the nice person she is, she continuously asked him how he was and tried to comfort him. He finally snapped and bellowed a loud “NO I AM NOT OKAY, MY MOTHER JUST DIED AND I WASN'T BY HER SIDE BECAUSE I WAS A STUPID ASSHOLE WHO JUST SCREWED UP! ” She jumped back in fear and his face softened, he began apologizing over and over.

Lily was concerned and asked him why he thought he was stupid and he finally caved and told her everything. From the gang, to the pointless initiation which ruined him, to the drug selling, to the time he almost died and had no one by his bedside. He confessed that when he found out about his mother's cancer, he realized that he couldn't face her and put this burden on her, so he started to write letters to her and told Lily what his mother said in the last letter.

It was all too much to take in and she was wondering what she should do, keep the money or give it to Derrick to help him recover. She hugged him tight and he stiffened before melting into her arms, not being used to affection from anyone. They sat there hugging and mourning and him mumbling “I'm sorry” over and over. They finally departed and laughed at their messy hair, wrinkled clothes and at the eye makeup running down the girl's face.

The two of them proceeded to Derrick`s car and Lily directed him to her house where they ordered pizza and stayed up all night talking about their childhood and lives now. Around 1 in the morning, Lily was fast asleep while Derrick was still up gazing out the window looking at the stars, he saw a particular one flash brighter than the rest and remembered what his mother once wrote in a letter to him “When I am gone, look up into the sky at night, that shining star you see? That my darling is me.” He looked back at Lily and realized, he didn't need the money or a fancy rehab, he needed someone by his side to help him through. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that his mother did leave him something that he deserved, a family. And for the first time in years he fell asleep peacefully beside his cousin.