If there was one thing Aliseanne Laenuleil knew for certain, it was that she did not belong at Crystal Academy.

It didn’t matter how many times her mother insisted that Crystal would give her a far better education than any public school could, or how many times her grandmother remarked on how the blues of her school uniform ‘suited’ her, Alise ultimately held fast to her belief that this was not the destiny she was meant to have… whatever that meant. Certainly, she had protested the decision ever since it was announced, before she had graduated from Knightside, and certainly, she had her suspicions as to why her mother had been so insistent on the choice in schools, but Alise was having none of it. The fact was that all her friends, or at least the ones that weren’t younger than her, were attending Meadowview, especially Clem, who was like, her best friend ever (and fellow Defender of Justice), and none of them were attending the snooty rich girls’ school.

Well, almost none of them; Kalani, a classmate of Alise’s she had met last year, was also attending, though she didn’t seem to share in her misery, unfortunately. Actually, it almost seemed as if the other girl enjoyed being here, which baffled Alise to no end. All in all, high school really sucked so far, and Etoile had been of no help for once, though the little cat had tried her best to offer some encouraging words, assuring that everything would be alright. Of course, Etoile was a cat who mostly ate sweets and watched tv all day, and sometimes helped Alise awaken other senshi, so she couldn’t possibly relate to Alise’s plight.

Sighing forlornly, Alise snuck a glance at her phone when nobody was looking. Only six more hours until she was free from this infernal prison and could go home… only to have to come back the next day, but she tried hard not to think about that last part. Could she even survive that long? Salvation, if any, would not come to Alise quickly, if at all; she contemplated feigning illness, asking to go to the nurse's office, while she looked for some convenient exit or window to escape out of. Sure, truancy was Bad, and they'd probably contact her mother, but it didn't stop her from fantasizing of a scenario in which she could obtain true freedom.

Just four more years of this, huh? she thought to herself, with a dramatic sigh that earned her a Look from the girls seated at the desks closest to her. Personally, Alise wasn't sure she could survive even just a few more months of this hellscape- just the first three months alone had been hell on earth! Nobody here truly understood her, not even Kalani, and being alone in a sea of 'ordinary mortals' was slowly but surely turning the teen into a withered husk as she proceeded to do everything but attempt to fit in.

Six more hours until school let out. Four more years until she was ultimately free from Crystal Academy. Would she ever survive? Every second spent wasting away in this prison was a second too long- she felt much like a princess locked in the high tower, except instead of a tower it was just a private school for rich girls, and instead of a princess, it was just Alise, who was... Alise. Sneaking another glance at her phone, Alise was disappointed to find that only a minute had passed since she had last stole a glance at the time. Certainly, it had felt like more time had passed than a measly little minute, and Alise was convinced that there was a higher power at play, with the power to slow down time.

And then, finally, or rather, six very long hours later, it was all over... at least for now. Unsurprisingly, Alise was the first out the door once class let out, practically bowling over her classmates in a mad rush to get out and enjoy her temporary parole of sorts. Sure, she was probably going to hear all about how rude and uncouth she was being later on, but who cares? Not her, that was for certain. With a newfound spring in her step, Alise worked to put as much distance between herself and Crystal as possible, just in case any dark forces tried to suck her back in, for whatever reason existing. She was free, at least for the rest of the day, save for the small problem of her homework, which she could just save for later... much much later, that was.

Although home wasn't much better than school, Alise at least had a safe haven in the comfort of her bedroom, where her mother and the housekeeper had stopped trying to bother her, for the most part. There, she could unwind and have some time to meditate, so to speak, to better prepare for how she would handle the next day of school. It helped to have a battle plan, though she wished she didn't need to have one at all. Why, oh why wasn't there some kind of way to dispel this curse upon her, that had landed her in Crystal in the first place? For all the browsing she had done online, Alise had yet to really find a cure to her problems once and for all. All the rituals and incantations she had found were for matters of a different type, and none of them seemed to cover her very specific problem of 'I got enrolled in the elite all girls' private school against my will'.

Arriving in her room, Alise immediately flopped onto her bed after shutting the door, letting out a noise that was something between a very frustrated sigh, and something of a growl, perhaps. She'd said it time and time again, but it really bore repeating- this whole situation was very, very, very unfair. So why couldn't anyone else see it like she did?