Here is the rewritten version of chapter 1; sorry it's so late. It's shorter than the original, but I feel that it's better. I hope you guys feel the same too. I revised quite a few of the chapters since many of you guys pointed out inconsistencies that even I didn't notice (I'm bad with stuff like that, so I really appreciate it when you point out these things). I'm probably going to get a beta reader (that is what you call it right?) to read over the help me edit before I put it out onto the Internet. Everyone makes mistakes…I just tend to make more than the average person and I can't see them until someone points them out to me. So thanks for all the helpful comments.

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Never Wanted Prince Charming

1-My Once Upon a Time

10.08.2006

4.25.2007 revised

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Here's my story. No 'once upon a time,' no 'in the beginning,' nothing fancy or romantic like that.

My life has had its ups and downs and right now I'm in one of those deep downs. I've fallen into this dark abyss that I can't seem to get out of. You what to know what happened? Well, even if you don't I'm telling you anyway.

It all started when my mother gave birth to me. I was seven pounds, two ounces, a normal, healthy baby. I guess you can say my older brother wasn't very happy (he'd wanted a younger brother to play with, not some girl). Eventually he got used to me (I think he's become rather attached to me actually). You may think, well what does this have to do with anything, and you're right. It really doesn't, but my mother plays a huge role.

You see, my mother was a big believer in fairytales and happily ever afters. They were her thing. She lived for happy endings, sappy romances and all the works. She lived, breathed, and slept fairytales.

She was always the optimistic one in the family, never frowning or sad. She believed that she had found her happily ever after: she had two wonderful kids and the perfect husband, her own Prince Charming. She was in her own world, a world where nothing could possibly go wrong. Well, you probably can see the problem with that already.

I, being her daughter, was supposed to follow in her footsteps, you know, become another believer in fairytales. Much to her chagrin, I hated fairytales. I never believed in them; I never wanted to. So many questions ran through my head.

Why was there a Prince Charming in every fairytale? Were there Prince Charmings in real life? If so, where were they? I probably annoyed the hell out of her. I could never accept things the way they were. I couldn't accept Prince Charming. I could not take the fact that they were what every girl wanted. Prince Charming was the one who all the fairytale heroines ended up with. I always wondered why the Princess or the heroine always ended with Prince Charming. It was never the poor farmer boy, the boy-next-door, or the best guy friend the girl grew up knowing. It was always Prince Charming. It was always Prince Charming with his perfect smile, perfect hair--perfect everything. I hated him for being perfect.

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You might be wondering how I could have become so cynical at such a young age, well you can blame it all on Preston Ashford. The reason I hated Prince Charming so much is because I had already found the perfect guy for me. He was the object of my unrequited affections from the day we first met. He had raven black hair, not at all like the perfect golden blond hair that covered Prince Charming's royal head. He had the most beautiful pair of green eyes I had ever seen. And since Prince Charming had blue eyes, I was convinced that Preston was anything but Prince Charming. Being the typical child, I was convinced that Prince Charming could only have blond hair and blue eyes, and thus, Preston Ashford was no Prince Charming.

Nor would he have lived up to the name Prince Charming if he were. He was anything but charming. In fact, he was the cruelest and rudest boy i had ever met. He never liked me; he was straightforward about that from the very beginning. But I, being the idiot I was at the age of five, still fell in love with him. I don't know if a five year old can fall in love, but I did. It was not just because we both had green eyes, there was more. It never mattered though; I was in love with a boy who would never possibly come to love me the way I loved him. He didn't even like me--he only tolerated me for my brother's sake. Prince Charming--no matter how I didn't like him, I still grudgingly respected him--would have never treat his soulmate the way Preston treated me. Preston Ashford was definitely not the embodiment of Prince Charming.

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I've never said anything about Preston to my mother. I'll never get the chance to either. She passed away when I was thirteen. I'm not going to elaborate on that, it's still a touchy subject.

As for telling Preston, there's no chance of that either.

Long story short, my ex-best friend Callie is now his girlfriend. He broke my heart and she broke my trust. Some life huh? Betrayed by my own best friend.

Besides, he made it clear years ago that I would be the last person on earth he could ever like. He only tolerated me because Marc was his best friend. Sad right? Well it's true. I'm just his best friend's younger sister. This is the pathetic reality called my life.

It gets even more pathetic because I still want him. I still want stupid Preston Ashford and I have no idea why. Even after all I've been through, I still think he's the one for me.

You see, I've never wanted Prince Charming. I've never wanted the romantic dinner, moonlight stroll, and all that jazz. I've only wanted him. He's all I ever wanted. So, Prince Charming? No thank you.

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I'm Reine Everett and this is my story pure and simple. This is my once upon a time.

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A/N: Hope you liked my new version! Check out the other chapters too, I revised a few bits and pieces here and there.