Disney Chills: If The Shoe Fits

Back to School Blues

The car ride to school was shorter than Cynthia expected.

Another perk about getting a new mom was that Mary could drive her to school now. Her dad had to go to work early in the morning, and had to go to his job first thing after breakfast, so before, Cynthia took the school bus, which smelled like baloney and stinky feet on the inside, and had all sorts of rowdy troublemakers shouting and picking fights.  Now, at least, she could ride in her family car, which smelled ten times better, in peace and tranquility.

She and Stacie sat next to each other in the backseat. While Stacie listened to music, earbuds in ears, lost in her favorite rock n roll song, Cynthia scrolled her social media feed. Even though she had no friends to follow or to follow her, she still followed her favorite influencers, especially the ones who did beauty and fashion. They had tons of tips and hacks that Cynthia felt she so desperately needed.

When she was done scrolling on social media, she went to MeTube and watched clips of makeover shows, specifically the kind where a team of experts in clothing, hairstyling, and makeup completely transformed a plain-looking girl, like herself, into a gorgeous bombshell worthy of any catwalk on the runway.

Cynthia loved those kinds of shows. She would watch these shows, watch as some ugly duckling underwent an almost-magical transformation into a beautiful swan, and it gave her hope that she, too, would one day find the opportunity to become as pretty and popular as all the people on those kinds of shows became.

"So girls,", said Mary, her eyes looking at the reflection of the daughters in the overhead mirror.  "New semester!  How do you plan to own it?"

"Well, I'm gonna try out for the soccer team.", said Stacie, shifting through her playlist on her phone.  She looked over at her stepsister sitting next to her.  "What about you, Cynthia?  What clubs or activities are you apart of?"

"Oh...I'm not...apart of anything, really.", Cynthia said sheepishly, cheeks burning from humiliation.

"Oh.", said Stacie awkwardly, shifting her gaze away momentarily before looking back.  "Well, why don't you join one now?  I'm sure the school has tons of stuff to be interested.  Heck, you can even join the soccer team with me, if you want!"

"Stacie!  That's so sweet of you to include your sister!", Mary gushed with pride.  "Wasn't that nice of her, Cynthy?"

The dirty-blonde pressed her lips together.  "It is nice of you to offer, but I'm not an athlete like you. I never got into sports."

"Besides,", she added."  "You should have some stuff to yourself.  You're the new kid, after all.  You need this stuff more than I do."

That was a small comfort to Cynthia.  At least at school, Stacie would take a while to find her place and fit in with the other kids in their grade.  For once, Cynthia wouldn't feel like the only one on the outside looking in, at least for a little while.

"Isn't that sweet?", cooed Mary.  "I'm so glad to see you two getting along so well!  Looking out for each other!  You two are practically sisters already!"

Now if only we looked like sisters on the outside., thought Cynthia.  She didn't care if that meant she got to look Stacie or Stacie looked like her.  Either way, she wouldn't feel so inferior when they were side-by-side.

"Well, I'm sure there's something at school you can do.", said Stacie.

"Well! We're here!", came Maria's song-like voice as they pulled up to the front of the school.

The girls unbuckled their seatbelts as the doors came unlocked, gathering their bags and other belongings and climbing out of the car. As the doors shut behind them, Mary poked her head out the window, beaming at them like the proud mother she was.