"Can you at least tell us what we look like?" Zelena begs as she adjusts the dress on my hips. There's like thirty minutes until the fashion show starts and she's desperately trying to fit my dress perfectly.

Robin rolls her eyes nonchalantly at her sister and takes another picture of this moment for the year book. She let's out a heavy sigh and finally says,

"Regina is the Evil Queen and you are the wicked witch."

"Seriously?!" Zelena snaps causing me to yell out in pain. The pin felt like a fucking needle. "Sorry..."

"I think it's great Robin, I can't wait to see it."

"And Emma can't wait to see you she's out there freaking out as we speak." Suddenly my heart falls into a pit. Robin's wiggly eyebrows doesn't help me at all.

"Emma is seriously obsessed with you, I wish I had that in my life." I turn to look at Zelena who seems to be suddenly stuck in a faze. I mean her boyfriend, Robin, loves her. Is that not enough? Seriously I can't understand most teenage girls, but that's probably because I've had Emma in my mind for most of my life so maybe I'd never understand.

Just as I was about to interrogate Z, Ivy bursts through the door and snaps her fingers to shoo Zelena away as she comes closer, "15 minutes left Z, it's time to do makeup for our star."

"Fine!" Zelena groans in return. Once Ivy comes face to face she gives me a big smile that I can't help but return. My facial features just simply gave away to her adorableness.

"You look stunning, today is going to be okay alright?"

Truthfully I am more than dying inside. Today is a very very sensitive day for me, one where my mother can simply breathe through without a care in the world, but for me it's hard.

My father was killed today, it's been 10 years but it still fucking hurts like hell. He had been home alone that day and I came home to find that we'd been robbed, but I couldn't find him anywhere so at first I thought that Daddy just took off with most of our stuff and left our family behind. Police investigated our home but still, nothing.

A few days went by and our home started to smell, mom just thought that it was dead mice in the attic and I was only 8 so I just went along with it. After a few more days went by and mom hired exterminators or whatever it was still there and worse. We both totally forgot about the basement simply because we never went down there and there was nothing in there.

Mom decided to see if something died down there and begged me to go with her and that's where we found him. No wounds or anything: he died of suffocation. The doctors believed that the killer murdered him in his sleep.

So, with a very heavy heart today, I am forced to keep my mind off of things. It's funny because I took extra medication today and it's not working worth for shit.

"I'm still wondering why you haven't joined a club yet." Ivy points out as she applies concealer. I shrug my shoulders, knowing that if I move any part of my face she'd flip out about it. "Almost done and then you can answer." She laughs but I answer anyways.

"Nothing really catches my attention really." Ivy hums in thought. Even though my eyes are closed I can feel her moving away from my personal space.

"I am finished. Muah." She kisses the air. I grin at her obnoxiousness and stand up slowly, being careful of this huge dress. This dress is fucking huge.

"You are the serious definition of a Latin goddess." Robin drools. She aims her camera at some weird angle above her chest and takes another shot.

"That's because she is bimbo. Let's go Reg, time to shine." Zelena motions and holds the door open.

Come one Reg you can do this, do it for Daddy...

I miss that man's warm smile so much it hurts. Shouldn't I be at his grave? I shouldnt be doing this right? Its so selfish, "Hey hey, look at me hun."

Zelena grips my chin a little and dabs away the tears that I didn't know were streaming down my face.

"All you have to do is walk out, walk back, and then Emma will hold you for the rest of the day right?" I nod my head and take another unsteady breath due to the heavy painful weight in my heart.

Keeping my head focused, not saying a word, I let Zelena drag me back stage where all the other girls are. They all continuously compliment me and I only speak then to say thank you or whatever kind things that spurs out of my mouth.

Suddenly, I get this tingly feeling on my tongue, my brain gets hazy and all I can think about is drinking. Usually I drink my tears out on a day like this and be so drunk that Emma would find my face in a toilet in the middle of the night. Then she'd check my phone to find out that I went to a party and slept with someone again. I think I made it really hard for her because she'd been stuck between sympathizing me or being pissed hat I cheated over and over.

"Regina, you're up." Zelena motions. My watery brown eyes takes a glance behind me towards her and then back towards the stage. Instead of taking a step forward my leg decides to take a step back. "Regina?"

"I can't do it Z I'm sorry." With that, I leave her behind. My legs carry me back to the hall and to no where. My eyes burn with so much water to the point where I can't even see a thing.

In seconds my body crashes into another, but that person catches me instead of us falling to the ground. Firm arms wrap around me like a comfortable blanket. This hug, at first, reminded me of my father, but the strong scent of vanilla simply reminded me that I still have someone worth living for.

Emma doesn't say a word. She holds me close with all the strength in the world and let's me cry out my sorrows on her chest. I honestly hadn't notice how tall she's grown. She's so much taller than me now.

"Yo tengo un amor...un amor que me hace feliz. Un amor que me hace sonrier. Este amor lo guadro en mi corazon." Of course she knows how to make me feel better instantly.

My father used to sing this song to me because I used to be obsessed with Selena. So we deemed it our special song. He'd sing it in spanish and I'd sing it in English because I didn't know spanish. My generation is the first generation of latino kids who grew up understanding spanish but couldn't speak it at all.

Emma knows it. She pays really close attention in all of her classes granting her the pleasure to speak Spanish better than I ever could.

"You are this love, you are everything for

me. And I can't live without you...I give to you my entire heart sweet love." I can't believe those words just came out of mouth if I have to be honest.

I gain the courage to look up, to find Emma staring down at me with her cute little smile stretched on her face. She gently wipes away my tears and says,

"Did you look to see how gorgeous you are this time?" I feel the burn of embarrassment and shamelessly look back down.

"No, its really hard Emma. I–"

"Don't tell me its hard." She snaps but it's so soothing in a way. "Looks like I'll have to show you right?"

Before I could protest, Emma is dragging me down the hall in this huge prom like dress and towards the area where all of the artwork is displayed for the art clubs. They're so good; I hadn't realize that we had this much talent in this school.

She then takes me towards the photography section and my heart explodes with pride.

First I see baby Mary and Dorothy. They look absolutely adorable. Dorothy is obviously Dorothy and Mary is Snow white. Robin and Emma are very clever for that.

"They are so cute!" I squeal in delight. Emma chuckles and continues to lead me down the section to show me Ruby and Ivy next.

They are so beautiful it's amazing. Being the Diva that Ivy is, those clothes definitely fit her. She looks like a Victorian princess from like the medieval times. Ruby is obviously red riding hood and that fits her perfectly as well.

Next is Elsa, Mal, and Mo. Whoever did Mo, which I'm assuming was Robin, really brung out her natural Hawaiian beauty. Mal lucked out earning the title of Maleficent and Elsa is an ice Queen. The graphics in her photo are phenomenal.

Last but not least, there's me and Z but I can't stop looking at me. I know I'm not evil but the look definitely suits me just fine. I've never seen myself more beautiful until just now.

"Emma..."I whine, "These are really nice, but thanks for making me look like some evil panda!" I tease.

"Oh shut up!" She laughs and wraps her arms around me without a care in the world. It reminds me that there are so many fucking people around and I'm still wearing this big ass dress so eyes And re surely on us. To make things more complicated, Emma rests her chin on my shoulder. "You look so hot though."

"Do I?"

"Of course you do. And then Robin and I decided to put you two together since you are bestfriends." She then points to the last of the pictures. Seriously, I want to keep one. Z and I look so cool!

"I want one!" I announce and pull away from Emma's grip to face her. She shrugs as if she'd give me anything I want. Well, she would but that's besides the point. "What about you? Where are you?"

"Aside from the fact that you are Cinderella, why does this scream...you?" Emma lets out a heartfelt laugh and nods her head in agreement.

"Because I will never be a damsel in distress and depend on a man to come and save me."

Emma is so funny,. She sticks out her chest like she's some real super hero and flashes the most charming smile she could come up with. I can't help but laugh at her seriousness.

"Hey! You skank you weren't supposed to show her yet." Lily snaps. Emma growls inwardly and turns behind her to see all of our friends and family coming our way.

Mom forcefully pushes her way through the group to face me. She does what dramatic Italians always does to their children: examine every inch of their body.

"Are you okay? You had me worried sick!" She whimpers and lifts my arms, most likely checking for any signs of cutting.

"Mom I'm fine." I groan out and snatch my limbs away. I can't help but give this woman a cold look.

"Cora give her some space?" Dad suggests by resting his hand on mom's shoulder. Mom let's out a heavy sigh and turns to take the baby away from him.

I take this moment to cower next to Emma. She gladly locks her pinky in mine as comfort. It's really the only thing we can do since mom and dad are right there.

"You should definitely wear this dress to prom. Nobody can wear it better." Zelena suggests. Emma nods in agreement and so does everyone else.

"Okay fine, but can you at least help me get it off?"

"Papi I can't get this stupid glove off!" I whine out. Today I dressed up. I love to dress up because Papi tells me how beautiful I look all of the time. He thinks that someday I'd be a big fashion designer or actress. Maybe even a famous dancer because I do it all.

"Here let me show you mijah." He motions. I step closer to papi taking in his familiar Latin cologne and letting it sooth all of my frustrations. "When you wear gloves like these, you have to pull it off by the finger tips yes?"

"Ooooohhhh!" I laugh. He shows me how to do it with one hand and let's me do it myself with the other. Once is all said and done, he lifts my tiny body over his head causing all of my super long curls to fall right in his face. "You can't see now daddy!"

"Dios Mio! How am I going to see with your hair in my face!" He exaggerates, but still, being that I'm the most innocent 7 year old ever, I laugh my heart out. "If your hair stays in my face I can't see the concert tomorrow."

"What concert?" Papi gently set me down leaving me to stare up to the huge man with confusion. We share the same birthday month so maybe we'd get to share an extra special moment together like every year. I look forward to those always.

"I brought us tickets but you have to take a wild guess on what it's for." My heart bubbles over with so much excitement and anxiety. I never thought that ever in my life that I'd get to see my idol, but I hope I can. I hope that's who he's talking about. I mean it could be Michael Jackson because I love him too but I already saw him quite a few times.

"Selena...?" I trail nervously. Once daddy nods his head in confirmation I go in absolute loco mode. "ITS SELENA! WE'RE SEEING SELENA!!!!!"

"Aye muy loco!" Papi laughs.

"Sorry Daddy." I giggle. Daddy picks me up and gives me a firm kiss to my forehead.

"Nonsense mi Corazon. Never be sorry for who you are Regina. You are beautiful inside and out, always."

The Selena part of our birthday celebration was great but the best part was that we went to puerto Rico to see her. I finally got to meet my family and my Abuela who I hold dear to my heart. She came to the concert with us and so did a few of our cousins, uncles, and Aunts. Who am I kidding? It was way more than just a few of us. Papi's family is huge, as expected.

After that Selena died a few months later and it was devastating. I remember seeing it on tv. Some channels stopped everything just to let the whole world know. Daddy told me that I should be gratefully for my life and the fact that I got to see her and he also said,

"Tomorrow isn't always promised mijah which is why you should stay true to yourself and live your best life no matter what." Daddy took me to Selena's memorial service too, which had so many people. More people than my little brain could count.

Three weeks later, Papi died. We didn't know he was dead we thought he went missing and his body sat in the basement for an entire month until Mom and I finally found it. For days, mom soaked in hate because she thought dad just took off and left without so much as a note. She made me feel bad, she made start to despise him too with her self rambling. But after seeing his face, he looked so peaceful, he looked...happy to the point where I could mistaken him for sleeping. But the stench reminded me and also the boils growing here and there from his body decaying.

Papi never raised me to live with regrets, but I regret letting mother force me to go horse back riding that day. I regret telling him to wait for me at home so we can go to Salsa classes later because I thought that I should please my mother for once and spend some time with her. I always spent time with Papi mainly because he was the one who had always been home. So, when mom would be around I tried to please her the best way I can and spent every second drowning in her tyranny out of desperation to be with her for the time being. She's a great woman, but I regret losing myself when around her and leaving daddy behind.

I always feel like I let him down and I completely lost myself after he died. I didn't talk anymore, especially at school, and I mostly kept to myself. Mom would take me out to try and distract me but it never worked.

I'm sure if Selena were alive I'd never end up the way I am now or vice versa, but things happen. It all led towards mom finding someone new and me meeting Emma.

Despite me sitting here with my earplugs in and jamming to my Micheal Jackson, I can still hear Emma in full gamer mode, screaming at the top of her lungs. She's playing fortnite with Lily, Ruby, and August.

"JESUS CHRIST GUYS! How hard it is to build a simple fucking fort!" She yells.

"It's hard when there's people shooting at us asshole!" I cant help but laugh at them.

"Stop showing off for your girlfriend Emma it's getting old." August groan. I laugh a little louder than I initially intended to. Emma whips around and glares at me for a hot second as if her eye roll scares me.

"Regina isn't paying me any mind, just focus guys we have to win this time. No more top 30 that sucks ass."

"Fine fine whatever you say captain."

Emma and I have been in this treehouse for quite a while now. I told her I needed time to think. It didn't matter of what, I just needed to think. My mind led to my father and all of things he's taught me. I'm sure he'd be shaking his head at me from up above. I'm not the girl I once was, who I'm meant to be. Instead I'm a potential alcoholic drowning in my sorrows and just despising the next day to wake instead of being the happy Latina I once was living and knowing my culture day after day...

"Abuela!" I mumble out loud.

"What?" Emma questions and turns off her game. I'm assuming she lost.

"I think I should see my Abuela and Abuelito during winter break." I tell her and pause my music. While doing so, I discover a handful of texts from my friend but think nothing of it right now.

"If that's what you need then I say go for it Gina." God I love her so much.

"But I want you to come with me. Please?" I beg. Literally the only way we can get there is by plane and Emma is afraid of heights which is why I have to beg.

"I don't know..."she trails cautiously. She leaves me no choice but to give her the puppy eyes.

"Come on please! It'll be the perfect birthday vacation with just us. And I can't speak spanish so you'd be great help."

"I find it odd that you refuse to take Spanish classes." She scoffs earning an eye roll from me.

"Because when Papi died I just naturally eliminated my latin heritage out of my life, but I see now that its a big mistake and who I am so I have to do this and you have to come with me. Pleeeeaaassseeee!" I beg.

"Okay okay fine! But after you invite Robin and Z because I refuse to feel like an outcast alright?"

"Deal!"