Like a Fairytale [njh]

Chapter One

IZZY'S POV

I walked into the parlor, where Crista and Hope were begging their mom, Louise, for some pointless item of their desires. The tray I carried held a glass of wine, for Louise, of course.

"But, Mom! What good are tickets if we don't have backstage passes? I want to meet Niall Horan!" Crista screeched. "I want backstage passes!" Crista whined, flailing her arms about like a child.

As I got nearer, Crista hit me with her arm, and I stumbled forward. The tray flew out of my hands, and the red wine spilled all over the white carpet. I stared at the stain, mouth agape.

Crista had gotten silent. "Ooh, Mom. Look what Izzy did," Hope, Crista's twin, said. I slowly looked up at my stepmother, who was staring at me with fire in her eyes.

"Girls, go to your rooms," she instructed her daughters.

"What about backstage passes?" Crista asked.

"I'll get you some, just go."

Crista and Hope hurried away to their rooms, giddy with excitement.

"As for you," Louise said, turning to face me again, "clean this mess and stay in your room. Only come down if you are called, is that clear?"

I nodded my head and ran to the storage room. I picked out some foaming stain cleaner and a brush to scrub the wine out before it dried completely.

Running back to the parlor, I sank to my knees by the spilled wine. I started humming More Than This by my favorite band, One Direction, as I started to scrub the wine out of the carpet.

One Direction was on their first tour, Up All Night, and I couldn't describe how badly I wanted to go. I wanted to meet all the boys...but mostly Niall. I knew it wouldn't happen. Louise would never let me go, but it would be really, really nice.

After a while of scrubbing, I ran to get a dish towel to dry up the remaining foam on the carpet. Once I dried it, the carpet was as white as it was before. I smiled and picked up the brush, can of foam, dish towel, wine glass, and the tray I had dropped earlier.

I put the foam and brush back in the storage closet, then went downstairs to place the tray, wine glass, and dish towel in the kitchen sink. I heard a car engine start and looked out the window. Crista, Hope, and Louise were backing out of the driveway in Hope's silver Infiniti.

Smiling to myself, I ran to the aviary to feed the birds. Arriving in the aviary, I kneeled by the small wooden chest I kept in there to get some bird seeds. All of the birds were happily chirping when they saw the seeds, and they settled on the ground next to me.

"Here you go, guys," I said as I threw the grain on the floor to them. While they were busy eating, I checked the small nest in the corner of the glass room.

In the nest, a bird sat atop her four small eggs. I know bird eggs are nothing special, but these were special to me.

I reached up my my hand, and put a few seeds in front of the bird. Once she started eating, I walked out of the glass aviary.

For a moment, I just stood there watching the birds fly around happily, blissfully unaware of the mad house they were living in. Sighing, I began the long walk up to my room, the attic.

This was a two story house, and, from the second floor, there was a long staircase to the attic. It was rather cold up in the attic; the insulation wasn't as thick up there, so the heat tended to slip out of the walls.

The only thing good about the attic was that I basically had a whole floor to myself. Originally, it was meant to be a third floor, but no one ever went up there, so it became the attic. There were two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a small living area up there.