Stepsisters

Chapter Two

Ella woke up bright and early. It was seven in the morning, and the sun was starting to rise above the trees surrounding Ella's house. Ella liked to go to bed early so she could wake up early. There was something special about the morning, like how the way everything was peaceful, quiet, and calm.

The calm before the storm.

Ella got out of bed. She went down into the kitchen and started the coffee maker. As she waited, she checked her phone. She had gotten a text from Jenny. Hey what's up?

Ella wrote back and explained that she had just gotten up and was drinking her coffee. At the end, she asked: You?

Listening to the new Chloe Haywood album, Jenny wrote back. Jenny's (along with many other teens across the country) favorite singer was teen sensation Chloe Haywood. She had gotten famous from posting videos of herself on YouTube singing covers of popular songs.

Cool :), Ella replied. Ella's coffeemaker buzzed. Ella got up and poured herself a cup of coffee. She put some cream and sugar in her coffee, and then went outside on the deck.

Ella liked to sit on the deck and drink her coffee in the morning. It gave her a chance to stop and think.

Today she thought about a variety of things. She thought about her best friend, Jenny. During the school year, Jenny had made a new friend named Hannah. Hannah didn't like Ella very much, and Ella couldn't think of a reason why. Hannah didn't like it when Jenny and Ella hung out, so they didn't get to as often. Ella also thought about seeing her dad and his new family. Would her dad be excited to see her again? Would his new family like her?

Ella's mom walked onto the deck. She yawned, and then turned to Ella. "Good morning, Ella."

"Good morning, Mom," Ella replied.

"When you're finished with your coffee, we're going to go to the grocery store to buy food for your father's visit, alright?" her mom said.

"Okay," Ella said. "I'm almost done."

"Your father and his family are staying for a week, so we are going to need a lot of food," Ella's mom commented.

Ella took the last sip of her coffee. She went inside with her mom and put her shoes on. They both got into the car and drove to the grocery store.

Ella helped her mom pick out good meals she knew her dad liked. Her dad's favorite meal was lasagna, so Ella told her mom that they should buy ingredients for that and make it for dinner tonight.

After they had bought a week's worth of groceries for five people, Ella and her mom went home and did chores around the house to make it look nice and clean for Ella's dad's visit.

At around six in the evening, Ella sat the table with the nicest plates she could find in the cupboard, and then waited for her dad to arrive. He was scheduled to come at six, but by six thirty, he still wasn't there.

"Where's Dad?" Ella asked her mom.

Ella's mom shrugged. "I have no clue."

By seven, Ella was convinced that her dad and his new family weren't coming. But ten minutes later, she heard a knock on the door.

Ella jumped up and ran over to the door. She opened it and saw her dad. She gave him a hug.

"Hi, Dad!" Ella said.

"Hi, Ella," her dad smiled. He was carrying three suitcases in his hands. He brought them inside and set them on the floor near the entryway.

Behind him was a very nice looking middle aged woman. She had shoulder length brown hair and kind looking brown eyes. "Hello. I'm Sydney. Nice to meet you, Ella," she said.

"Nice to meet you too," Ella said shyly.

Following Sydney was her daughter, Chloe. "Ugh," Chloe exclaimed, struggling with her large tote bag. Ella thought Chloe looked familiar, like she had seen her before, but she couldn't remember where. Ella ignored the thought.

Ella went over to Chloe and helped her bring her bag inside. "I'm Ella. You must be Chloe."

Chloe didn't reply. Instead, she turned to her mom. "Mom, what is that smell? Is that...lasagna?"

"Yes," Ella said quickly. "My mom and I made it for all of you." She motioned towards her dad, Sydney, and Chloe.

"I literally hate lasagna," Chloe said. She sounded disgusted. "So many carbs. Like, you don't even know."

"Uh..." Ella said. She was at a loss for words. "I guess...I guess I don't know?"

"I can't eat that," Chloe said to her mom. "I have the weight loss shake my trainer gave me, so you know what, I'll just drink that, because these people made lasagna."

"Weight loss shake?" Ella said. "You're so skinny! You don't need to lose weight."

"Ella," her dad said harshly, "don't comment on Chloe's weight."

Ella was confused. She wasn't being mean to Chloe. Chloe was already very thin, so Ella didn't understand why she wanted to lose weight.

"Alright!" Ella's mom exclaimed, breaking the tension between Ella, her dad, and Chloe. "Let's all eat!"

Everyone sat down at the table while Ella's mom served them, and Chloe got out her weight loss shake. Chloe opened it and took a sip while Ella stared at her. Chloe had the same hair as her mom, but her face was very different. She had big green eyes and a small, perky nose, with freckles across the tops of her cheeks. Ella thought that she was pretty, and the thought that she had seen Chloe somewhere before reoccurred in her mind.

As everyone ate dinner and made conversation, Ella and Chloe both stayed out of it. Chloe was texting on her phone the entire time, and Ella couldn't shake off the thought that Chloe looked familiar.

Finally, Ella remembered. "Excuse me," she told everyone. She ran upstairs to her room and grabbed the latest issue of a popular teen magazine called Teen Celebrity Insider. She rushed back downstairs.

"This--" Ella started, pointing at a face on the cover of the magazine, "this--is this...you?"

She showed Chloe the magazine. A pretty brown haired, green eyed girl was smiling on the cover. She had the caption Chloe Haywood underneath her. Ella knew her as a popular teen singer. Chloe rolled her eyes. "Yes. I'm Chloe Haywood. How could you not recognize me?"