Twisted Fairy Tales

Elle

Elle steps out of the carriage, her perfect blond curls undisturbed in the wind.  I watch her loftily walk over to us, seeing if we are worthy of her respect. 

"Good morning, Lady Tremaine."

Her voice is nasally, and, quite frankly, extremely annoying.

"Good morning," Mum replies.  "I presume you're Elle?  Your father said you'd be coming."

"Yes.  Who else would I be?" she scoffed.

Ignoring her arrogance, I make my introduction. 

"I'm Ana.  Nice to meet you."

"Yes, yes, you can take my bags."

She hands me two cases which weigh twice as much as they look and strolls into our house like she owns it.

"Remind me, why on Earth are we having this brat over?" I hiss at Mum.

 "Elle isn't a brat; she's a perfectly nice young lady."

I glare at Mum.

"She might be a little spoiled, but we owe the duke.  We promised we'd let her stay over."

"And why is she here?  Why now?  She knows that everyone's busy with the ball this weekend."

"Maybe that's why she came."

"She can't even go to the ball!  Our kingdom only, remember?"

Mum stares at me like the answer should be obvious. 

"Why else would she want to stay with us?"

Good lord.  She plans to cheat the system. 

We both head inside to find Elle looking around.  She shrivels her nose in distaste, clearly not approving of our modest home.

"Where will I be staying?  Please tell me it's a better room than this dump."

The nerve of that girl!  I will have you know, our sitting room is very nice.  And certainly not a dump.  Mum leads her to her room while I practice deep breathing exercises.  I wouldn't want to "accidentally" assault our guest.

The next day, I scour my closet looking for my best dress.  The ball is in three hours, and I'm still looking for my clothes.  Totally not on schedule.  My dress is dark pink and white with a golden trim.  I still need to find it, and it's getting too late.  Time to contact the specialist.  Mum. 

"Mum.  Do you know where my dress is?  The pink one?"  I call, making my way to her.

 "No.  Isn't it in your closet?"

"No."

"Just wear another dress.  Does it really matter?"

 "But I liked that dress!"

My cries of frustration aren't heard.  As I walk back to my room, I notice a flash of pink in Elle's room.  The same shade of pink as my dress.  Oh no she didn't!  I storm into the room, going to take back what's mine.

 Elle spins in front of me.

"Don't you think I look amazing?"

 "You little witch!  How could you?"

Elle has definitely made some changes to my dress.  It's now covered with garish light pink bows and ribbon.  I wouldn't be caught dead wearing it, but the light pink seems to bring out Elle's complexion.  It does look good on her.  But she is still a thief.  I reach out and tear a fistful of ribbon off.

 "What are you doing to my dress?"

"Your dress?  I can see through the ribbon, Elle.  It's very clearly mine." 

I yank another fistful off.

"You can let go of one dress, right?  I need a decent dress to go to the ball in, and this will make do."

"You can't even go to the ball!  And I was going to wear that dress!"

"Who says I can't go to the ball?"

Mum hears the shouting and intervenes.

"The law says you can't go to the ball.  No matter how much we owe your father, I can't ignore the law for your own conveniences.  You're going to have to stay home tonight."

Elle's jaw drops.  She's clearly stunned that Mum isn't letting her go.

"Close your mouth dear.  You'll catch flies."

And with this final remark, Mum turns and goes back to her work.  I always knew she had it in her.

Three hours and five dresses later, I finally pick a dress.  The one that Elle stole is too far gone to use now, so I have to wear a different one.  It's purple and gold, and not nearly as pretty as the pink one, but it works.  I head to the carriage outside.

"You'll regret this!"Elle shouts from her window.

I will not, in fact, regret following the law.  I smirk at her and get in the carriage.  Mum waits inside, and we set off towards the palace.  It takes half an hour or so to get there.  I'm wiggling in my seat, excited for the chance to become the princess, or at least meet whoever's going to be the princess.  We finally get there, and I am stunned.

Outside, hordes of girls flock around the entrance, waiting for their chance to get in.  For now they are like sheep, but I know if they get the chance, they'll attack.  I walk around the group, looking for little cracks for us to slip through.  I see my chance and push through, targeting where the group is spread apart more.  Mum doesn't make it through; she'll have to wait a while, but I make it to the entrance.

I go in, and the lights are astonishingly bright.  There are giant diamond chandeliers all over the hall. I'm almost worried one will fall on me, but if it wasn't safe they wouldn't let everyone in.  The first thing I look for is the royal family.  They sit on a balcony in the ballroom, secluded from the rest of the world.  They might be waiting to come down for someone who looks right.  I smile sweetly and hope that the prince likes my smile more than the hundreds of smiles that everyone around me give him.  He probably doesn't even notice me. 

I hear a collection of gasps behind me, and the royal family turns towards the area.  The first thing I see is a golden gown studded with jewels.  It's only after that first realization that I notice the face of the wearer.  It's Elle.

She smiles at everyone, and when she talks, it's softer and sweeter than her voice before.  The nerve of her!  I'm scowling and practically growling at this point.  I'll just have to report her.  As I sit and think of who to tell, the prince comes down from his royal perch and goes to Elle.  I'll just tell the prince himself!  I start towards them, and Elle catches my eye and winks.  She whispers in his ear.  He nods, and they both walk away from me and towards the balcony.

I bet, this whole time, she was just messing with me.  She ruined my dress and played with my mind, but she was really going to go no matter what we said.  She probably had the dress in one of her bags.  My good mood is gone for the rest of the evening.  Elle and the prince sit in the balcony the whole time; he doesn't even come down again.  At the end, the prince makes an announcement.

 "Thank you all for coming today.  Meet my lovely bride-to-be, Elle.  I'd like to say something on behalf of her, to her family.  You are cruel sick people.  How could you?"

What on earth is he babbling about? 

"The Tremaine family has treated Elle like a slave for years, for the simple reason that they are her step-family.  They made her clean the house, make food, and do all of the chores.  They even called her names, like Cinderella, just because she cleaned the cinders.  This isn't something that I approve of.  They even banned her from the ball!  It was only thanks to her fairy godmother that she made it today.  I am disappointed that this could even happen in my kingdom.  Especially to such a lovely, kind lady, and my bride-to-be!  And it is for these reasons that I must condemn the Tremaine family to the dungeons, for these atrocious crimes towards the royal family."