They next day, Arabella yawned as she grabbed her math book. She had stayed out longer than she meant to with Maddock so she had to stay up and finish her homework. She shut her locker and someone tapped her shoulder.
“Can I take that for you ma’am?” he asked and motioned at her book. She was surprised to see country boy standing in front of her. Arabella just stared at him while he took her book out of her hands, “Where to?”
“Um, this way” she said and started walking down the hall.
“So, Ella, I still haven’t introduced myself have I?” Ella. Like ArabELLA. Like CinderELLA. It was completely cheesy, but she couldn’t help but smile as she shook her head.
“Well I could tell you... but that almost seems too easy.”
“What are you going to do? Make me guess?”
“Yes ma’am” he grinned, “And for every wrong guess I get to ask you a question.”
“You’ve thought this out, haven’t you?“ Arabella asked apprehensively. “A question about what?”
“Well anything I’d like.”
Bad idea. Baaaad idea.. Why did he even want to get to know her so badly? She really didn‘t think she was that interesting. He couldn’t like her already, could he? They just met! No boys allowed! No. I’ll just say no now and he’ll go away. Wait, but then he would go away, she frowned.
“Ella?” he asked with a hopeful expression and her resolve was gone.
“Alright, alright” she sighed as they approached her class. He handed her book back and winked.
Oh no.
After class he met up with her at her locker again. He looked like a freaking model leaning against the lockers like that. Arabella took a second to look at him. Hot. He caught her checking him out and winked. She blushed to her roots but he just kept smiling and even took a step closer.
“So what’s your first guess?” he asked, leaning in. he smelled wonderful, again just a little bit like cinnamon. She forgot to breathe.
“You know, I don’t think this is fair. You get to ask all these questions, but all I get to know is your name? Actually, what it isn‘t.” She was babbling. He seemed to notice she was uncomfortable and gave her a little space.
“Darlin’ you can ask me anything you’d like. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
“What’s your name?”
“Except that,” he smiled. Arabella rolled her eyes and shut her locker but she smiled as she started off to her next class. She had to admit he was funny. He took her books and looked at her expectantly.
“Billy Bob Joe,” she guessed sarcastically and he laughed out loud. Some people turned around to look and did a double take when they saw Arabella talking to a boy. Or probably really anyone at school. Oh well.
“Wrong!” he said and she braced herself for whatever this boy was going to come up with. She just knew it was going to be something personal and awkward. What if she didn’t know the answer?
“What is your favorite color?”
That’s all he wants to know? That’s what I was getting all worked up about? Jeez Arabella. Lilac” she answered and he nodded.
“Hank” she sarcastically guessed again. There was no way she was going to pick a random name and get it right, so she just gave up and guessed stupid stereotypical country names.
“No, it aint a redneck name from down yonder in der boondocks I aint from round there and I aint got no buck tooths” he said, exaggerating his accent.
Arabella giggled and blushed, “Where are you from?”
“Southern Kentucky” back to his normal voice. Not that she was complaining, it was very pleasant.
“Oh, OK.”
“When is your birthday?” he asked.
“November 17. Can you at least tell me what it starts with?”
“Sure, but it will cost you five more questions.”
“Done.”
“T” he smiled and gave her books back because they had arrived at class. The warning bell rang.
“You’re going to be late! Arabella exclaimed.
“Oh, darn, you’re right!” he said, but walked into the room with her. She went to her seat, confused, and he sat down in the seat behind her in the back of the room. She turned in her seat, confused.
“I’m in this class, Ella” he whispered and smiled. He whispered so softly that he had to lean in extremely close so she could hear. Though his tone was light and playful, the combination of his smooth voice and sweet smelling breath on the back of her neck made her shiver.
“So. What’s your favorite flavor gum?”
“Cinnamon.” she said immediately, which surprised her because just a few days before it was spearmint...
As Arabella was walking the few blocks home from the studio she stopped at the little Chinese restaurant on the way to pick up dinner for her and her dad. The petite Chinese woman that owned it expected her every Monday and Wednesday, so she had Arabella’s order ready when she walked in at 6:40 sharp. She always ordered the same thing, a sweet and sour chicken with two egg rolls for her dad and chicken lo mien with a side of white rice for her. She paid with her credit card and headed for the door.
“Wait,” said the owner as she hurried out from behind the counter. “Too skinny” she accused with a thick accent. She dropped two more egg rolls into the carry out bag.
Arabella looked down at her stomach and saw that her leggings had rode up a little. The elastic at the top squeezed the skin on her hips and gave her a small muffin top. Ew. “Really, I’m fine” she said, trying to give the egg rolls back.
“Shh.” she responded sharply, interrupting Arabella’s protests. “Go.” she insisted and pushed her out the door with the extra egg rolls. She locked the door behind her and gave a stern look from behind the glass, determined not to let her back in. Arabella waved her thanks and headed home.
At a corner two blocks from her apartment sat a man around thirty with his arm around a little girl. She looked about six, her toe was sticking through her right shoe, and her hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in days. He wasn’t wearing a coat, despite the brisk night, and she noticed that the girl’s coat looked about his size. Arabella walked over and wordlessly handed them the chicken lo mien and one of the extra egg rolls.
They looked up and thanked her, his eyes equal parts shame and gratitude. She nodded and walked away with guilt settling in her gut. They were so grateful for that little bit of food while she could have all the food she needed but didn’t want it. She would have given them the other egg roll, but since she didn’t pay for it she felt it wasn’t right to give it away.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. A text from her dad. Meeting running over. Won’t be home until late.
Arabella didn’t know why he even bothered to text, he always worked late. That’s how she got away with skipping dinner, he just assumed she ate on her own. She couldn’t remember the last time they actually had dinner together.
The two of them dealt with grief in a similar way on the surface. While she threw herself into ballet after her mom died, he put all his time into work. Distractions. The difference was that she cherished every memory of her mom she could cling to while he simply chose not to think of her. He never brought her up anymore.
Arabella’s growling stomach interrupted her thoughts and she groaned. She picked up her speed and barely even took the time to thank the doorman. She took the stairs, as always, to the second floor. There were elevators in her building, but she always liked to get more exercise and burn more calories. It was only one flight of stairs anyways.
She opened the door to her apartment and went straight to the stainless steel refrigerator to put away her dad’s dinner. The floor had been newly washed and the living room area was spotless as well. Her dad hired a maid to clean once a week, so the apartment was always neat.
Due to her dad working so much, the two of them were financially comfortable. They lived in a spacious apartment with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a large kitchen open to the living room area. It was more space than they needed, but neither had the heart to consider moving. The place was still decorated just as it had been when Arabella’s mom was alive. It was filled with warm colors and felt cozy and comfortable. Since she died, however, it was missing little touches that made it feel like home such as candy bowls on the counter or books laying around where she had left them. It was almost too clean and too big so it felt empty.
She sat down at her desk to start her homework and opened the side of rice. Arabella ate about a quarter of the container before she started feeling sick. She took a few miniscule bites of the egg roll to try and settle her stomach down. She zoned into her English assignment and was almost done when she realized she had absent mindedly eaten the entire thing! WAY too many calories! She shoved the wrapper in the trash and immediately sat down on the floor and started doing sit ups. She did some quick math to calculate that it would take about 300 to work that off. Her core was tired from the grueling ballet rehearsal, but she pushed herself anyway. After 300 she still felt fat so she did another 100.
When Arabella finally finished she rolled over in pain. She didn’t know how long she laid on the floor, but eventually found some sliver of energy to get up and finish her homework. She took the last bit of energy she had left to grab her books out of her bag. When she took them out the flashback from earlier hit her hard. She immediately grabbed her carving tool and climbed out her bedroom window. She maneuvered around until she was sitting comfortably in the tree and let the memory take over.
When Arabella was little, her mom used to read her a bedtime story every night. She had a huge stack of them, and at exactly 9:00 she would come in with a stack up to her chin and tell Arabella to choose. She would try to gracefully set down the big stack of books, but usually ended up laughing merrily as they went crashing to the floor. Sometimes she even came in trying to balance a few on her head. Her smile always lit up the room and made Arabella feel home.
Young Arabella’s favorite book was always the Nutcracker. She asked for it every time her mom gave her a choice. By the time the girl was six she had probably heard it around 500 times. She loved the magic of the story and her little imagination always went wild.
“Do you want to go WATCH the Nutcracker?” her mom asked on Arabella’s sixth birthday.
Arabella’s eyes lit up. “What do you mean watch it? Is there a movie?!”
“No, honey, it’s a ballet.” she said and explained how people told the story through dance. Arabella really didn’t understand. Her mom seemed excited, however, so she smiled and nodded.
When it was time, she put on her favorite pink “dressy dress” and headed to the theatre. A prestigious local studio was putting on The Nutcracker. She watched in awe as she saw her favorite story come to life. The way they moved was amazing and they were all so beautiful, so perfect.
The very next day Arabella and her mom went and bought her first pair of ballet slippers and the next week she was enrolled in her first class at the studio.
By the time the memory ended Arabella was done. She looked at the previously blank spot in the tree. It now displayed a carving of a ballerina holding a book. Each memory of her mom was so precious to her that she didn’t want to forget it. When she felt a flashback coming on she dropped whatever she was doing, if at all possible, and went straight to the tree. Each memory had its own carving in the tree to make sure she would always remember.
Exhausted, Arabella climbed into bed without bothering to change into her pajamas. Her stomach ached and growled, but she was too tired to move. Deciding her homework had to wait, she turned off the light and curled up in her bed.
She wondered what her mom would think of her mystery boy. They definitely had the same mischievous glint in their bright smiles. Honestly, Arabella didn’t know what she thought of him herself. He was dashing and polite and funny... “No” she muttered to herself, “No boys allowed.” Why was she even thinking about him? He was an annoying hillbilly that had nothing in common with her. Mentally reprimanding herself, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.
A/N Hiiiiiii:) So how about that southern gentleman? Ain't he cute?;) Hopefully you guys understand Arabella's anorexia a little more now. Thank you to everyone that is reading this, you're definitely boosting my self esteem. Remember to vote/comment so I know you like it, or else I can't tell! This dedication goes to StephanieElaine93 for always reading and commenting:) Next dedication goes to the first person to guess his name (if anyone does)
Mwah.
Hannah Rose<3