Cinderella Isn't Her Name

Chapter One

Ella's hogging the bathroom again, covering her face with a mask of make-up. I knock on the door and she yells, "Get lost, Cinder!"

I glare at the wood and swear at her under my breath. Dakota comes up behind me and brushes her long blond hair out her face. "Hey, Lu. Having bathroom troubles?" she asks sweetly.

I don't bother looking at her. She's not going to help me. "No."

"Hey Kody! I need you!" Ella calls.

"Coming!" Dakota, or Kody as she's now called, coos back at Ella, unlocking the door. She slips in and I hear the door click again. Great.

Ella and Kody start whispering and laughing. Probably plotting how to ruin my day, I think angrily. What seems like an eternity later, they finally burst out of the bathroom. Ella's brown hair is messily swept up onto her head, some tiny hairs hanging loose. Looks like snakes, I think. She could be Medusa. Ella bumps me as she leaves and offers an overly sweet, "Sorry, Cinder."

I roll my eyes and walk into the bathroom, dropping my clothes onto the floor. I scowl at the amount of makeup containers scattered all over the counter and lock the door, wary of Ella and Kody's pranks. I glance at myself in the mirror and sigh. My hair is an explosion of brown and blond, like someone just dumped the colors onto my head without any care at all. My light skin is slightly tanned, mostly from my days out in the greenhouse where I work. Then there's my eyes. I don't like them one bit. The shape and size are just about normal, but the color... ew. Murky brown with a ring of blue twisting through and tiny specks of gold splattered all over.

Quite judging yourself, I scold. I walk over to the shower and turn it on. Then, as I let it warm up, I strip of my pj's. I kick them into a corner and put my clothes for the day in front of the counter. I lean into the shower and test the heat with my hand. Just hot enough. I smile and step into it, immediately rubbing shampoo into my hair. As I rinse out the shampoo, I notice the water getting hotter. I glance at the temperature control: it hasn't moved. I swear at Ella again and move away from the water as it continues to grow hotter.

My legs are still being burned when the temperature goes back down. I move back under the water and groan as I realize the water keeps getting colder. For the next few minutes, I try showering through the continual hot-cold-hot-cold water changing. Finally, I can't stand it anymore and I climb out, grabbing my towel. I leave the bathroom and holler, "Ella! Kody! It's not funny! Ari's going to be here soon!"

"Oh, the Little Mermaid? Aw, how cute!" Ella replies.

I go to the end of the hallway and say, "That joke is old. He's been teased enough about his name!"

Ella comes into view, smirking. "I hope you don't plan on seeing him in person," she says.

"Why? Of course I do. He's my best friend," I snap.

"Well, I hope he doesn't mind your lack of clothes," she laughs as Kody darts past me, snatching the towel from around me.

As the two of them run off to their rooms, I realize Kody's carrying all the towels and my clothes. I rush after them, only to find their doors locked. I go to my room and tug on the handle. Locked. I hear them giggle from inside.

"Wow, Lu. You've got some cute panties," Kody snickers. "Look at the swirls."

"Oh, Cinder!" Ella squeals. "We really should take you shopping."

"Why don't you let us pick out some clothes?"

They laugh and I hear them tossing clothes across the room. "Let me in there!" I shout.

"We're still looking!" Ella says in a sing-song voice.

I grumble and stomp my foot, then hug myself. I'm naked and standing in the middle of the hallway. I glance down toward the kitchen, windows are closed, thankfully. And it's a good thing there's no windows at the end of the hall either. The only other thing I'm dreading beside Ari coming right now, is what Ella and Kody are picking out.