Barefoot Cinderella

2. A Thing Called Life

10 years ago.....

"Hello."

I looked up, to find a small girl my age looking at me over the fence to my house's backyard.

"Can I play with both of you?" She asked, politely.

I took a look at Drew who shook his head in a no.

"I am sorry, you can't." I said flatly.

"But why?" she argued.

"My mommy told us not to talk to strangers." I replied firmly.

"Well if you tell me your name and I tell you mine then we won't be strangers." The girl held her hand out for me to shake and said, "Hi, my name is Nicole. I am six years old and I moved into the house down the street."

Getting to my feet, I gesture towards Drew to do the same. I walked towards the girl and shook hands with her. "Hello, I am Ariel. I am six years old too, and this is my friend Drew. Would you like to play with us?"

"Yes please." She said sweetly, her eyes shining and walked into my backyard.

*****

Present...

Oh boy... I can't believe I did this. While somewhere else it might not seem like that big of a thing, it was a big one for me. Why? Well... In the eyes of the "elite", the popular ones of the school who make the rules regarding "How non-famous people conduct themselves in High School", I was guilty of the following infractions;

Number 1 : I didn't see where I was going.

There is an unsaid rule in High School that people like me, with no social standing or something remotely able to be called "Cool", I had to keep my head down while walking in the corridors and never bring attention to myself. Also I had to keep out of the way of the rich and famous and never be found in a meter radius of them, unless I was one of them of course.

Number 2 : I crashed into Tristan Carter.

Yes, you heard me. I crashed into Tristan Carter. The same Tristan Carter that is kind of like the High School royalty. Star Athlete and the most gorgeous guy that had ever walked the hallowed halls of Rowan Wood High. People like me weren't even supposed to look him in the eye or wander close to him let alone collide and then end up on top of him.

Number 3 : I laid my hands on what belonged to the Queen Bee.

Low-lives like me weren't supposed to associate with the Queen Bee or her friends, let alone get close to whatever that belonged to them. And what I did was the worst thing I could possibly too. This was the highest infraction of all because I collapsed on top of Tristan a.k.a The Queen Bee's Boyfriend.

Number 4 : I messed with Nicole Bowman.

Even though it wasn't something I did intentionally, the fact that half the school saw what happened it was enough to conclude that I had somehow messed with her and did something I shouldn't have at any cost.

And that was Nicole Bowman right there.

I gulped and started to gather myself and get back on my feet. Even though Tristan was trying to help me I studiously ignored him and tried to get back on my feet all by myself, thinking that would salvage the situation somehow.