So I've been told this chapter is very depressing. I was going for dark humor.... I guess I failed.

What I'm saying is... look for the sarcasm in the shitty situation!

Chapter 1.1: Does it come in XXXL?

Aphrodite is a 15-year old girl. She is slightly un-pretty, slightly overlooked and very antisocial and very overweight. Current status: Hell. Aka, high school.

It’s not the academics that she has a problem with. In fact, she loves tests. It’s the people that she can’t handle.

Growing up in a rich household that pampered and protected her to the extreme, she grew up thinking of herself as the best. This mentality didn't last long though.

In kindergarten she was already quite plump – a result of pampering, level max. Her parents couldn't say no, and neither could the extended staff of her household. So she grew up thinking of herself as a princess – until other kids crushed her perception of reality, to something more… well… real.

Kindergarten taught her she was not the center of the universe – a hard lesson for her to learn. She was exasperated when bossing others around wouldn't work like it always had. And then the other kids hated her and called her names. As a result, her self-esteem went down the drain.

On the outside though, she wouldn't let it show. She created a bitch persona that she showed everyone. If they didn't like her or didn't want to play with her that was their problem. She wasn't going to change to appease them!

This lasted throughout middle school, where she alienated herself from others and continued to be a bitch. All the while her self-esteem becoming lower and lower.

In high school, she decided she was going to remake herself and adapt to the ‘environment’. By this time it was already too late though. Having eaten her feelings in the last 8 years, her body was quite huge. People might claim that appearance isn’t everything, but first impressions matter. As a result – she couldn't make up for her lack of people skills and a lack of appearance (a large factor of popularity in high school… if you didn’t notice in that particularly glamorous period of life).

And thus the alienation continued. Having put herself on the line to be friends with others, her self-esteem plummeted when it failed and she couldn't even muster the bitch in her.

She withdrew into books. In kindergarten she used it as a means of superiority. Having been taught to read at a very early age, her mother was a renowned novelist, she wanted to show off her skills when others were struggling. In middle school she used books as a replacement for friends – since she didn't have any. And in high school they were her escape from reality.

She read everywhere. When she woke up and had breakfast with her parents (who were also busy doing other things: reading the newspaper and talking to their agents). On her way to school (personal chauffeur – Gregory). Before class (to avoid people). In class (she already knew all the material by having read in advance). On her way back home, etc.

She was very smart, and she knew it. It was the only shred of confidence she had left from her early childhood and she clung to it for a lifeline. She had the best grades – she always had. In a way – she reveled being superior to others subconsciously. But unlike she might have in the past – she kept her feelings to herself and didn't rub it in anyone’s face. Life had humbled her.

Speaking of life. Today was her birthday. She was going to be 16 years old. It was not going to be sweet though.

Sitting alone on her bed reading about a fantastical world of elves and magic, she imagined herself away from her own life while waiting for her parents to come back home.

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Her parents were back. She heard them come in. Sighing herself back into reality, she marked the page and got up to greet them.

‘Finally, some food.’

Running down the stairs of their Victorian Mansion she hugged her parents and quickly led them into the dining room.

“Honey, it’s great to see you! Happy Birthday, we are so sorry both of us had to be busy on your birthday! But at least we are here now so we can celebrate!” her mother began.

“Ts’alright mom! The cake is the best part of any birthday anyway!” Aphrodite answered.

Her mom slightly scowled at her very overweight daughter’s answer – but then shrugged her worries away. As an acclaimed author she lived in her work more than in this world anyways. She loved her daughter, so she let things like appearance slide. She wasn't aware of the solitary life her daughter led and didn't feel like there was that much wrong with her.

Her father hugged her tightly while her mother contemplated this. He loved his daughter and didn't see anything wrong with her. “Hey bug! Whatcha been up to!? Did you have fun with your friends today?” he inquired.

“Ya, ya. It was a lot of fun. But I’m happy you guys are back most of all!” She answered.

She was used to leading her parents to believe she had a normal social life. She even believed it herself sometimes. With so many servants in the house – she often infused a degree of friendship in their relationships – even when this friendship was non-existent.

As dinner progressed and she stuffed herself as usual, her parents talked about their trips. Her mother had gone to South America to do some research for her new book – as well as some advertising tours. Her father on the other hand had gone to Korea and was in the midst of describing his trip.

“It was the opening ceremony for this virtual reality game from some small-scale company called Unicorn something or other. They had me give a review for the beta version a couple of months ago and called me in for their promo. They invested a lot in this release; unless this game is successful they are definitely going to go bankrupt. Their previous game has lost a lot of its popularity so they are taking a big gamble with this virtual reality. It was an interesting game, but it had a lot of bugs. Unless they fixed them and upgraded some, they are going to be in a lot of trouble. They had me give some speeches about the game; their opening party was tremendous. They really went all out. Now all of their cards are on the table, I hope they don't go belly-up. I kind of enjoyed their previous game. It was lacking in the visual aspects, but Continent of Magicks was a really good game, very overlooked in the rest of the world. But that is to be expected….” Her father was saying.

Aphrodite hardly paid attention – when her father started talking about games it was hard to get him to shut up. He was one of the most successful game developers of the United States, making him world-famous. He had stopped developing games about ten years ago though, claiming that invention was for the young and maintenance for the old.

Now he mostly managed the company that the built – a very large company. He often received samples for games and was asked to give an opinion. His opinion was greatly treasured in the gaming community.

They finished dinner, she got her favorite cake: chocolate and continued to stuff herself until her belly hurt. She didn't know why she did it, but it gave her some comfort to be uncomfortably full. It was like some kind of punishment she gave herself for being who she was.

She went upstairs and got ready for bed. Looking in the mirror as she brushed her teeth – she flinched away from her own image. It made her uncomfortable. She felt ugly both in the inside and the outside. She wanted to get back to her book where she could pretend to be someone else.

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Her parents might ignore her outside appearance – but the mirror and the kids reaction at school showed her what a mess she was. And while she kept her inside feelings hidden from her parents – she knew them for what they were and hated herself for it. She knew she was a failure in many ways, but the grains planted from her childhood still made her feel superior to others – even when she wasn't.

Laying in bed reading she drowned her thoughts.

--- The elfin queen granted Mist, the village looser, her beauty back. It had been taken away from her at an early age and she was now getting it back after helping the elfin kingdom when others spurned her. Mist was surprised at her body – she was so used to being ugly that she broke out in tears. Immediately others looked at her differently because she had saved the kingdom…

‘Yea right, appearance is what made them change their mind… but no matter.’ Aphrodite thought to herself.

… Mist was then able to move away from her cottage to be a personal attendant to the queen. In the end she married the queen’s son, happily married, etc. etc.---

‘Even in fairy tales appearance matters I guess. I wish I could become someone else like Cinderella or Mist, a swish of a wand and BAM: hot babe. Not in real life though’ Sigh.

Her parents walked in as she contemplated this.

“Hey Honey, Happy 16th Birthday again! It only comes once! Oh, to be young again!” Her mother merrily commented. She had a book in her hand and sat down on Aphrodite’s bed.

“Hey Bug! How ya feeling?” Her dad added.

“I’m okay. I don’t feel much different.” ‘Other than uncomfortably full that is – but sleep will make it go away soon.’

“Here honey, for you!” Her mother handed her the book she was holding. Titled: “The Highlander’s Bride”. The cover showed a scantily clad couple groping each other. Her mother wrote... descriptive... romances and always gave her a copy of her new releases.

She smiled. “Thanks mom...” – She was used to it. Her mother had been giving her these novels since she could read. ‘Nothing wrong with understanding human desire.’ She would say. But what mother gives her 5-year old daughter erotic novels? … ‘This one.’

“No, no honey! Look at the first page!” Aphrodite turned the page and looked at what it said: Dedicated to Aphrodite. My lovely daughter. Groan. ‘Oh God. Did she have to make it so public?’ “See!? I dedicated it to you! For your birthday! What do you think?”

“It’s great mom! I love it! Thank you so much!” She forcibly smiled. ‘Hopefully her classmates wouldn't get wind of this. Life could only get worse. Granted, her mother had a pen name… but how many people were named Aphrodite in this day and age?’

Her father smiled at her understandingly. He knew how… detached from reality her mother was sometimes. But then again – so was he. Every birthday they would give her novels and videogames, novels and videogame, novels and videogames, etc.

She read every one of her mother’s novels – even if the genre wasn't the one she preferred. She was more of a fantasy and sci-fi girl. There is a difference! As for games, she had played the ones her father developed briefly – but soon got tired of them. She wasn't much of a gamer. But she played to appease her father – and he loved her for it.

“My turn! Guess what I got you?” he smiled mischievously.

“Hmm… I don't know… A swimming pool!” she smiled brightly. It was one of their games. Every year he asked, knowing that she knew he was going to give her another game. After he stopped making his own games – he gave her popular ones that he thought she would like. Every year she pretended she didn't know she guessed something outlandish… which he would then also give her. When she was 7 it was a pony, when she was 8 it was a ferret, 9: cat, 10: dog, 11: turtle, 12: Koi pond (with Koi in it… obviously). After her animal phase – 13: 1,000 dollars (checking if her dad would just give her money if she asked – yes), 14: library (she wanted one of those rooms you read about in fantasy novels with shelves and shelves of books – she got it), 15: car (driver’s permit age). So now she wanted a swimming pool. She was pushing the boundaries to see when her dad would say no.

“Sorry bug. It's a capsule. Remember that game I was talking about at dinner? Royal Road?” At her blank stare, he added, “The one from Korea?” At that she remembered. And smiled. She was used to the games. The capsule thing was new – but whatever.

“Aww thanks daddy! I’ll be sure to try it out first thing tomorrow!”

“Great! I’m sure you will love it! I haven’t tried the released version yet – so you will have to give me your opinion about it. I put the capsule in one of the reading nooks in your library.” He smiled brightly. He always wanted to get her involved with his games. So far it hadn’t worked. But who knew?

Her parents gave her other congratulatory remarks on her birthday, said goodnight and got up to leave to their own room.

Before her father went out the door he added, “I’ll see what I can do about the pool tomorrow! What kind of pool do you want?”

“A big one!” She replied smiling innocently. ‘Let’s see what ‘big’ means to him. Haha.’

He smiled right back and left.

Aphrodite put the book away and turned off the light. Taking 5 minutes to get comfortable with her full belly she embraced the oblivion of sleep. By the time she wakes up her stomach, hopefully, won’t hurt anymore… Skill: Comatose digestion.

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The next morning. Barely… it was 11:50am by the time Aphrodite forced herself out of bed. Her parents were gone again. Nothing unusual.

Aphrodite had a large brunch. This meant breakfast plus lunch – not breakfast food substituted for lunch… and thought about how to waste her day.

Automatically she went to her library. She put away the book she had just finished about Mist the day before and thought about her mother’s book. After eating such a large amount of food – she wasn't comfortable reading about all the body descriptions that come along with that genre of book though – so she put it away for later.

She browsed the bookshelves for a while and decided on one. She picked it up and headed for her favorite reading nook without further thought.

There was a capsule there. For a second she was surprised, and then remembered what her father had said.

‘Did it have to be this nook? This is my favorite one. I guess I’ll have one of the butlers move it.’ She laid her book on the table and was about to head out to fetch one of them, when she thought better of it.

‘I’ll just get this out of the way, so when dad comes back I can tell him what I think. Then I can have it moved away from the library – this is my place to get away, I don’t need all this clutter. All I need are books. And this thing is huge – I wonder if Dad had to put in a special order to account for me being so big. Hmm. Maybe these capsule thingies are just naturally this big… yeah. Let’s just leave it at that. Ignorance is bliss.’

She sighed in resignation. Mustered her resolve and entered the capsule.

Connect to Royal Road?

Yes | No

Chapter 1.2

P.S.: If you've read this far without giving up... kudos to you! As for me: #tableformatingproblems...