I'm No Cinderella

3. I Won't Go All Electra on Her Ass

Pic of Drew above!
I don't think anyone expected the first place I ran to. Normally girls in this situation-you know, bawling their eyes out from embarrassment, anger, heartache, etcetera etcetera-they run to the bathroom. That's where I should have went. My hair was a birds nest, I smelled like elephant manure, my face was red and blotchy, I looked like I had a bad encounter with pimples, and I was crying a river. Slightly, not really, Long story short,

I was a hot mess.

How can girls be so cruel? I thought these things only happened in cliché television shows like Glee. Because, damn, was I sloshed or what? I think that slushies would be better than food. Disgusting cafeteria food. Anything is better actually.

I ran as fast as I could to where my legs carried me. I wondered how much trouble I would get in for this. The principal is truly an idiot. How could he believe Drew rather than me? This was ridiculous. Drew was a known bully to this school. I'm sure many students have come to him in the past about her tyranny. But to blame me when most of the food in the cafeteria was plastered to me skin? That's absurd.

I have to thank Thalia and Piper for sticking up for me. Again. Even though they weren't near me, they were there for me. I just wish Percy was there for me too. He should have been my knight in shining armor and helped me up, told off Drew, and carried me to the bathroom so I can clean myself up, and he'd be a gentleman and give me an extra shirt and wait outside the bathroom, then he'd comfort me on our way to the principal's office.

But, no. I can never have that. One, it's a bit too cliché. I mean, come on, what are the chances that Percy would care for me in that way? Zero out of zero. That's how much. I need to stop wishing for something I can't have, but it's so hard.

I stepped into the library. It was a bit empty, no one really ever comes in the library during this period. And that was perfect. I made my sobs small as I approached the desk. The carpet crunched underneath my feet, calling attention to the librarian. Her head snapped away from the book she was reading.

"Ms. Minerva," I sniffled. Her expressions changed quickly. Her eyes trailed my body and she wrinkled her nose. Then she gave me a look of sympathy.

She quickly stepped around her desk and held her arms out as if to hug me. "Oh, honey," she said softly.

Ms. Minerva was the librarian yet also my personal guidance counselor. She has black hair and grey eyes like mine. She looked just like me in the face. Thalia said it was almost as if she was my mother, and not Helen (gag, she's not even my real mother). Of course, I cried at the hopeful thought. Ms. Minerva was more of a mother to me than Helen ever could be. She was a woman who held herself with poise, wisdom, and pride. She was just like mom. Her name was Anehta. She used to be in rehab as a teen from an alcohol addiction. Running around trying to kill people she thought were "Roman" because of her drunken act made her family believe she was unstable. But after fifteen years of being sober, she took the position of a librarian while selling her own weavings and other crafts on the side.

She put her hands on my shoulders to keep from getting messy. She touched my face with such motherly care, I didn't even want her to let go. Tears dropped from my eyes onto her hands. I breathed hard to stop from sobbing again.

"Just breathe, Annabeth," she said. I nodded frantically in agreement. I needed to pull myself together.

"What happened?" She asked. I hiccupped. My breathing even out and I swallowed.

"Drew, I don't understand why she hates me so much," I replied. Ms. Minerva looked at me with pity and took my hand. She always understood my problems and she was just what I needed right now.