Like a Princess

Disclaimer: None of it's mine.
A/N: See, I don't even like Marissa. But this plot bunny jumped out at me and gnawed at my brain until I wrote it. (You're welcome for the graphic imagery.) I think it's a good portrayal, though if you like Marissa, you might not appreciate it as much.

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Ever since she was little, she was told grand majestic tales about the pretty princesses in peril, and how they're saved by a knight in shining armor. Her daddy would hold her in his lap, and tell her lovingly that she was his precious princess.

And it made sense. They lived in such a big house, and owned so many nice things, surely her parents were royalty? Surely she was a princess?

With this belief in her heart, she would wear a tiara to school everyday, a gift from her daddy. She wore pastel colors, mostly pink. She felt really pretty, in her fine, silken clothes or her fun dresses. She would show them off to all the girls in school, and they loved her. Of course they did. She was a princess!

Sometimes, when she told people what she was, they didn't believe her. She didn't understand. Her daddy said she was a princess. She said that she was lovely and loved by all. Why did people doubt this? She got upset and yelled at them. But then she would remember what her daddy told her. Princesses are kind and polite. They do not yell at people. So she apologized to them, but they just walked away.

She told her daddy later, and he said that she shouldn't worry about them. They're not as special as her, the princess. And she believed.

When she was nine, she saw Snow White for the first time. Watching it made her realize that her mommy was the evil queen. She told her daddy this, but he just laughed. He clearly was put under her wicked spell. She began to feel miserable in her own castle, and she wished her knight would come.

She didn't have to wait long, because when she was ten she met Luke Ward. Luke fit every image she had for a knight in shining armor. He was cute, tall (for their age) and he was strong. She knew that he could save her. So she agreed to start dating him in secret, even at her age.

It was a romance straight out of a fairy tale book for the first two years. He complimented her, bought her things, gave her flowers, wrote poetry for her. She was in perfect bliss. She was being treated just like a princess should.

But then, in the middle of seventh grade, he wasn't satisfied. He wanted something in return. So at first, they started shyly holding hands, kissing here and there. But she didn't go much father than that. Princesses were prim and proper, her daddy said. Surely anything sexual would fit under that.

It slowly rolled down hill from there. They both started to become really active in school. He had water polo and his new buddies, and she had tennis and student council. Not to mention getting perfect grades. They didn't get to see each other as often as she would've liked, and he wasn't as romantic as he used to be. But she waited it out, because her daddy said that princesses were patient.

Her daddy also said that princesses were pretty. She gazed longingly at the picture books, with the beautiful women with the perfect body. She wanted to become pretty and stay pretty. So she began to give up food. She mostly ate vegetables, and avoided sweets like the plague. She didn't mind this, because her daddy said that princesses made sacrifices.

Towards the end of her sophomore year, she knew that something was seriously wrong with her fairy tale life. Luke went to too many parties, and she knew deep down that she was being cheated on, but she denied it. Plus, they both started to drink alcohol obsessively. With her evil mommy, her controlled daddy, and her knight in not-so-shining-armor, she felt that the only thing that she could do was to avoid it. At least when she was drunk, her world seemed perfect. Her daddy never said that princesses don't drink.

She was intrigued when Ryan Atwood entered town. Sure, he was a lowly peasant, but he met all the requirements for a knight in shining armor. But she was afraid of breaking up with Luke; would her world crumble if she did?

Life found a different way of crumbling when she found out that her daddy stole money from other people. They weren't as rich as royalty were supposed to be, and kings and queens aren't supposed to divorce. She felt so lost. She was still a princess, wasn't she? She tried to revive her relationship with Luke by giving him her virginity, but that failed.

It seemed even less likely when she saw Luke making out with Holly. She couldn't deny it; Luke was no longer a knight in shining armor. What was a princess without a knight in shining armor? She was so depressed that she overdosed on painkillers. Her daddy never said anything about that, but given her situation, it would make sense that a princess would do that, right?

When she came to in the hospital and saw Ryan, she knew now for sure that he was her true knight in shining armor. She was even more convinced when he helped her escape, at the expense of his education. She was so happy; she was still a princess. She gave him true love's kiss at the top of the ferris wheel, and she had great hope that her perfect world would come back.

Her relationship with Ryan didn't go as smoothly as she thought it would. He wasn't as romantic and forgiving as a knight was supposed to be. He didn't understand her thievery and alcoholism. Princesses were supposed to have pretty things, so she needed to steal. She needed alcohol to see a world that wasn't there.

So when she met Oliver, she was delighted. Here was a boy who really treated her like princesses should be treated. He had a penthouse, access to private golf courts, and seemed so wealthy. He was also in a lot of pain, and she was more than happy to help. After all, her daddy said that princesses help people.

This made her knight so mad and jealous that he broke up with her. She needed a knight, so she hoped Oliver could be it. But when Oliver went crazy, she realized that she had no knight.

So therefore, she tried really hard to get him back, but he wouldn't budge. He finally caved in, and it seemed so close to perfection, but then she found out about Theresa's pregnancy and involvement with Ryan. She felt like her world was beginning to crumble, so soon after she had put everything together. She wanted Ryan to save her and be her loving knight again.

But with her mommy's marriage to Caleb, and Ryan heading off to Chino with Theresa, that's when her world finally shattered. She stood on the balcony of her new mansion and drank, needing to see her perfect world. She wanted to be Rapunzel and let her hair down so that her knight, Ryan, could save her. But it never happened.

She didn't understand. She read all the books, saw all the movies, listened to her daddy's comments. As a princess, she was supposed to have a perfect world with a knight in shining armor and she was supposed to be happily ever after. But that's not what happened.

What if her suspicions were true?

She wasn't like a princess after all.

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