Disney Chills: If The Shoe Fits

Broken Dreams

After what seemed like forever, lunchtime finally rolled around. Cynthia carried her calorie-controlled meal with her to the cafeteria, planning to meet Stacie there. A smile came to her face, as she was actually looking forward to spending time together during lunch hour. It would be nice to finally have someone to sit with and talk to while they ate, rather than have nothing else to do but enviously watch other cliques chat and laugh, like a stranger staring through a window.

When she got the cafeteria, she scanned the crowds pouring in and out of the doorway for her sister. But her signature red hair was nowhere in sight. She studied the moving students for ten more minutes when she finally got fed up and texted Stacie.

Where r u?

Ten seconds later, she got a text back.

I'm already inside.

Curious and confused, Cynthia went into the lunchroom, eyes darting all around, looking for Stacie. Finally, her eyes stopped on her shining blond hair, and Cynthia's body became numb.

Stacie wasn't just sitting at a table in the lunchroom. She was sitting at THE table. The one where all the popular kids sit together. And they all looked totally interested in whatever it was she was talking about, smiling and nodding at every other word she said.

Cynthia felt a cold fury envelope her. She had been going to this school for years, falling under the radar, never getting noticed by any of the cool kids, unless it was to mock her. Stacue had been at this school for less than a day, and she was already sitting at the popular table?  In what universe was that fair?

Stacie glanced her way, and smiled from ear to ear, standing up and waving a hand high in the air.  "Oh!  Cynthia!  Over here!"  She waved her over, oblivious to the other confused and irritated looks from the popular kids.

Backed into a corner, Cynthia slowly and steadily made her way to the table, trying to ignore the unwelcome stares from everyone sitting there.  Stacie smiled, still clueless, and swept a hand towards the nervous redhead.  "Everyone, this is my sister, Cynthia.  The one I was telling Stephanie about earlier!"

Some girl in a cheerleading uniform looked back and forth between Stacie and Cynthia.  "You two don't really look like sisters.", she remarked.  "You look nothing alike."

Her words were different, but Cynthia knew what she really meant.

But you're so pretty, and she's not pretty at all.

"We're stepsisters.", Cynthia confessed sheepishly.

Everyone at the table oohed.  That makes sense., their faces seemed to say, rubbing salt in the wound.

"Yeah, our parents got married over school break.", Stacie explained.  "So my mom and I just moved here."

"Well, lucky for us!", said another girl in a cute red top that Cynthia recognized from the latest issue of Teen Scene Magazine.  "'Cause now we got you!"

"Come on, Cynthia!  I saved you a seat!", said Stacie, patting the bare spot on the cafeteria table bench next to her.

Cynthia froze.  Stacie had saved her a spot at the popular table?  It almost seemed too good to be true.

Then she saw all the disapproving faces looking at her and Stacie, and realized that it really was.

The cool kids clearly did not want some loser like her sitting with them.  But none of them were saying anything, just exchanging upset looks with each other.  It was obvious they just didn't want to look bad in front of Stacie.  For a moment, Cynthia weighed her options.  Be an unwelcome guest at the popular table, or stick to her usual routine of eating lunch alone.  After a few seconds, she made her decision.