The Urban Princesses: Cinderella

Chapter 1

"Ella! We are going to be late!"

"You have to drive! I failed my test.... again."

"Delia, you couldn't pass that test if you were driving a baby stroller."

"Hey! I don't see a license in your purse, Anya!"

"Shut up! You two are giving me a migraine!"

The bickering. It never stops.

I groaned and rolled out of bed. My blond hair stuck to my face with drool. I peeled it off of my cheek and shuffled over to my small closet. I plucked a denim jacket off the hanger and slid it on over my white tank top, peeling my sweatpants off and replacing them with a pair of jeans. Birds chirped at my window sill.

"Sorry, I don't have any food this morning." I said to them.

I took my brown bandana from the top of the dresser and folded it into my usual headband, tying it into a bow on top of my head.

"Ella! Hurry!" Delia's shrill voice called up the stairs.

"We aren't going to be late! I could've slept in ten minutes!" I yelled back down.

"Yes, but Caleb Grey gets there early! Somebody said he was going to ask me out!"

"I don't think he was going to ask you out." I mumble to myself. I don't want to be rude, but Anya and Delia aren't the most attractive girls in the grade. Usually these dating assumptions just turn out to be a bundle of big fat heart break.

I grabbed my cross body backpack and bolted down the stairs, and down the second floor stairs. My room was on the third floor of our large Victorian home.

I stepped into the kitchen and scooped a cup of dog food into Bruno's bowl and grabbed a granola bar from the cabinet. I snatched my yellow rain boots from the mud room, then I waltzed into the foyer to find my two anxious step sisters along with my step mother who was sprawled in one of the parlor chairs.

"Delia, you have cereal stuck on your face." She said lazily as Delia wiped the fruity pebble from her cheek.

"Finally," Anya sighed, "Could you take any longer?"

I slipped on my rain boots. "Well if you gave me some warning last night, maybe I could've been a but quicker."

"Ella, you forgot to do my laundry last night." Anya said.

"Sorry, I was too busy painting the front room. I'll do it right when I get home." I said as I pulled on my right boot.

"And Ella, you forgot to bring Lucy to the vet yesterday. I had to reschedule the appointment to tomorrow." Mother said lazily.

"Sorry, ma'am. I had to tutor."

She groaned. "Waste of time." She mumbled.

I pulled the car keys off a hook by the front door. "Let's go."

I slid into the driver's seat of Delia's polished red convertible. She had gotten it for her sixteenth birthday, which made no sense because she couldn't drive. Delia and Anya were arguing over who got to ride shotgun. I rolled my eyes and looked longingly over at my baby blue pickup truck. The quiet truck and cozy interior that made me feel so comfortable. It used to be my mom's. She had always been a girly girl, but that was her gardening truck she used to drive around on weekends.

Anya ended up sitting in the front while Delia sulked in the back. I pulled out of our circular driveway and made my way to Carson High. The warm springtime wind whipped my honey colored hair around my face as we drove. We drove into school five minutes later and parked in our usual parking spot right next to the soccer field. Anya and Delia were out of the car before I took the key out of the ignition. They did their silly strut up to the front door, tripping over their high heels a few times. I chuckled to myself as I popped the door open.