Genderfluid (A Cinderella Story)

1: The Family

I felt heat.

My body was heavy, the skin on the lower half of it buzzing with pain.

"Eli!" A melodic voice shouted in the distance. "Eli, where are you?" I tried to call out, but my voice was lost in the roar of the flames. I struggled to my feet, collapsing as soon as I stood under the weight of gravity on my damaged legs.

"Mom!" I cried, my voice that of breaking glass. "Mom! MOM!" I wanted to tell her to get out and save herself. I wanted her to forget about me and leave the house...

"MOMMY!"

"Ellie..." a voice whispered. "Ellie..." I felt hands on me, shaking me. "Ellie, wake up!" I gasped, springing forward. My younger sister, Isabelle, was at my side, her eyes wide with panic.

"You were having that dream again..." I gulped, plastering a smile on my sweaty face. Isabelle was my youngest step sister, the nicest of the three. She was ten years old with curly black hair and light blue eyes that brightened up her creamy, porcelian skin.

"I'm sorry," I managed to say, patting her on the head. "I'm alright; go back to sleep." She gave me a half pouty, concerned look.

"Well, alright. See you in the morning." I laid back in my bed as she left, wrapping my arms around my chest as tightly as I could to try to keep myself from falling apart.

~~~

"I heard you crying last night," my father aid to me as I walked into the kitchen for breakfast before school. "Was it...?"

"Dad, I'm fine," I smiled. "Don't worry about me." He stared at me with concern.

"You're my little girl, Ellie. How can I not be concerned?" I sighed. I wasn't his little girl... He knows what I am. I thought he understood.

I'm Gender Fluid, meaning some days I feel like a boy and like to be identified as Eli, some days I feel like a girl and like to be identified as Ellie, some days I feel like both and some days I feel like neither, both of which I can be called by either name and not mind.

"Eli!" Isabelle called from her bedroom. "Eli, I need help finding my shoes!" I sighed, rolled my eyes, and turned around with a smile. It amazed me how easily a ten year old could adapt to calling her older sibling by a male or female name. I just wished my dad could be the same way.

"Coming, Isabelle," I replied, walking down the hall and turning into the room. When I entered, there was an interesting scene before me.

My older two step sisters, Trina and Cathy, were smiling wickedly, Trina's fist twined with a handful of Isabelle's black hair. She, ust ten years old, had tears in her eyes, but her jaw was set in an irritated, resisting way.

"Well well. Look who it is,"

"Drop her." I warned. "Drop her now."

"Shut your mouth Tranny!" Trina hissed. "This isn't your business. It's a dispute amongst family!" The word hung in the air, stinging me like a wasp. They still didn't think of me as a part of their family, even after my father took their mother's hand in marriage.

Cathy, five foot four in height, two inches shorter than I was, had long locks of black-brown hair. Her eyes were chestnut brown, her teeth concealed by perfectly shaped, red lips. Her skin was more tan than her sister Isabelle's was.

Trina was a bleach blonde, auburn streaks scattered naturally throughout her hair. Her eyes were a dark, emerald green. Her skin was dark like Cathy's. The two of them were as beautiful as dolls, but as ugly as rotting garbage on the inside.

I stepped forward, an irritated mood swing overcoming me. I felt like a man today, and likewise, my body did as well. My hand grabbed Trina's sharply, strength flowing through me. The strength of a man.

"Ow!" She squealed, dropping Isabelle from her grip. "Ellie! Stop!"

"I told you to get your hands off her." I growled, feeling a the tug of a small hand on my pants.

"Eli..." Isabelle mumbled. "I'm okay now..." My eyes dropped to her, at my side, and with that I shoved Trina back and let go.

"You bitch!" She hissed. I smiled down at Isabelle.

"Go get some breakfast, alright?" I said to her, pushing past Cathy and escorting her out the door. "I'll meet up with you in a bit."