Citizen Kate
She just had to be Kate Marsh
Victoria Chase buried her face in her pillow, and yelled at the injustice of it all. She used to have everything, popularity, cute clothes, a name that was going to propel her to the top of the photography world, but where was she now. If she had been anyone else in the world, she could have managed to get one or two of those things back, but things just had to happen this way.
Kate Beverly Marsh was a special point in her life at Blackwell. In the original timeline, Victoria had done absolutely terrible things to her after she had found her drugged at a Vortex Club party. The ethical thing was obvious, all she had to do was get her to a hospital, or at the very least do nothing, but no, she did the worst thing she had ever done before, she uploaded the whole sordid affair on the internet. The effects were almost instantaneous, Kate quickly lost everything she had in her life, her family, her friends, and perhaps the hardest hit of all, her faith. Victoria grimaced, as he remembered the most shameful part of the entire thing, she had reveled in Kate's misery. It had always driven her crazy to see Kate looking at her, seemingly looking down on her, judging her for simply acting her age ! How could she not enjoy seeing the devout girl fall from her Ivory tower , proving that she was no better than anyone else, that Kate was indeed mortal.
Victoria stood up and walked towards the mirror, bobby pins in hand as she prepared to put her hair up. The only penance she could provide now, was to not wreck Kate's life again, and to be the best Kate she could be until this whole unfortunate circumstance was fixed. Victoria's hands nimbly navigated the pile of hair resting upon her head, quickly securing it into the adorable little bun that she remembered, patting it fondly as she marveled at how good she was getting.
"That hipster better get here soon" Victoria muttered as she walked out the door "This shit better not become second nature...."
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Victoria quietly strolled down the hallway, making sure that she avoided meeting anyones gaze as she made her way to class. She had been doing a decent enough job of playing the bun bun, but she couldn't know everything about her life, and every conversation that she had opened the possibility of someone asking a question that she couldn't answer. She meekly lifted her eyes, picking up her pace when the photography classroom came into sight, photography was something that no one could take away Her hand graced the cool metallic surface of the doorknob, turning the corner, finding herself
face to face with Mrs. Grant
"Hello Kate, how are you doing this morning ?" Mrs. Grant asked jovially, looking Victoria over.
"I'm fine Mrs. Grant" Victoria smiled, cursing to herself internally at her rotten luck. Unlike Kate, Victoria had only bothered to get to know Mark Jefferson , as a means to further her photography teacher. She had never really cared enough about her other teachers to bother initiating a conversation, or even learn their names.
Oh I'm doing fine, but I imagine you want to get to class
Victoria shuffled in place ,desperately fighting her urge to push her way past. "What the hell was with this teacher ?" she though desperately "I just want to sit down ,take some photos, and hope Max shows up". She smiled defensively "No mam, I always like to talk to you"
"Oh Kate, you're such a sweet girl" Mrs. Grant beamed, pulling her satchel forward, removing a sheet of paper from it's recesses " I just wanted to see if you wanted to run for the Student Council this year. I'm sure that you could do some real good around this place"
Victoria felt her heart race, her hand shakily creeping forward as her mind processed all the possibilities. She could protect Kate, AND abuse her position to regain her rightful position in the Blackwell hierarchy. Her hand grasped the paper lovingly "Ummmm....well....I always like to help people" , quickly taking out a pen to fill out the treasured document, eager to start her Presidential campaign
"Thank you so much Kate, I'll send a few documents to your dorm later to tell you what you need to do. I'll see you later"
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Max stirred awake as Kate Marsh entered the room, her knuckles white from clutching her journal to her chest. She felt terrible for her friend as she watched her slow trek to her desk, her head hanging low as she finally lowered herself onto her chair, turning away from the busy chatter of the room. Before she knew it, Max found herself on her feet, preparing to comfort Kate, when she noticed something odd.......
Kate was facing the mirror, but Max could see her reflection as clear as day........was she.....smiling ? "That's not Kate's smile" Max thought to herself worriedly "That seems like a Victoria smile......"