Modern Day Cinderella (Wattys 2016)

Chapter 5

Sky smiled and looked around the apartment. It wasn't nice but it also wasn't horrid. The main painting color was a light brown, but this was only found in the kitchen. Most of the apartment was bricks. The fire place, or what seemed to look like it, was filled with candles. The tv was set on the mantle and it was small, but bigger than what Sky was used to. Right next to an antique bookshelf that seemed to not have been used in ages. On the left side was a lamp on a table that seemed to match the book shelf.

Sky's smile faltered when she saw a picture frame. She walked over and picked it up. It was a family photo.  Her eyes focused on her step mother who was smiling, which caused a smile to tug at he corners of her mouth. The woman seemed much more alive and happy.

I wonder what happened.

Sky thought which caused her to furrow her eyebrows. She looked over to a very young girl with her two front teeth knocked out. This caused Sky to snicker. She had a dress on with ketchup stains and her hair was parted down the middle. The picture was cut off at about her knees, but Sky would have bet her computer that the girl was wearing crocs.

A little older girl was standing there slightly irritated but she was smiling. She had braces and her hair was pulled back. She was wearing a jean jacket and a white summer dress. One thing that stood out was that all the girls wore the same necklace. It was a heart. Sky pulled it closer to her face to study more. It looked as though it had some lettering on it, but Sky moved on to the man that stood there.

His eyes were piercingly blue which caused Sky to reach up and slightly touch the bottom of her eyelids.

Flashback

"Mom please! At least tell me what he looks like?" Sky pleaded to her clearly upset mother. She shook her head. Sky groaned. "All I want to know is what I got from him! We're learning about genetics in class and everyone keeps asking me questions. Like who I got my eyes from and who I got my personality from. I can't answer those questions if I don't know the answer myself." Thirteen year old Sky complained to her mother.

"I bet you he doesn't want to know what you look like. You've seen him before, why cant you go off that?" Kate, Sky's mom, crossed her arms and refused. Sky did remember what her dad's appearance looked like, but it was very faint and blurry.

"I don't remember! What am I supposed to tell my teachers when they ask those questions?" Kate started to exit the stool but Sky followed her.

"Then you say your father isn't a comfortable subject and that he left when you were young." Sky slapped her forehead and pleaded more and more until her mother made her way upstairs and locked herself in the room. Sky was in tears now.

"Mom.... Please.... I...." Sky stopped immediately and started to walk away but she heard a sheet of paper slip under the door. She wiped her cheek of the hot liquid and turned around to a photograph. It was ripped on the right side indicating that someone didn't want another to see the other side of the photo. The man in the photo wore a tuxedo with a red tie. His teeth related to ones in a toothpaste commercial, bright and shiny. His hair was obviously shaggy but it was gelled back. Midnight. That's the word Sky thought of when she looked at the pitch black hair. His eyes were almost as mesmerizing as his teeth. Sky ran her hand over the picture as she sobbed. Her mother listening to her reaction and was emotionally breaking down with her daughter but on the other side of the door.

End of flashback

Sky felt a familiar substance stream down her cheek as she stared at the man in the picture. He was happy, no, he was spontaneously exerted to the happiness. Far happier than she'd ever remembered him to be while he was committed to her family. She ran her hand over the picture in a habited way. Her breath hitched as she ran to her boxes digging through them hurriedly. She put her hand on her mouth as she gently opened the jewelry box maneuvering the tangled necklaces to the ground beside her. There it was, the only picture shed seen of her dad before this one. Sky furrowed her eyebrows. Her father seemed much older in this picture. She laid the ruffled up picture by the framed one and studied them both. She turned the singular picture of her dad over and saw a date 9/9/2000.

September 9th 2000? that's when mom and dad got married.

Sky reverted her eyes back to the framed picture. She glanced around the apartment which was dead silent. She looked back at the picture and slowly started to get the picture unframed. Sky turned the picture around. Her eyes widened 5/3/1997. Her eyes widened, but that couldn't be that's the day they met. They being her mother and father. Just as that thought crossed her mind both pictures were ripped from her hand forcefully by her step mom.

"You little snoop! You've been here for less than a half hour and your already taking things apart!" Step Mother yelled, but not as much with a angry tone with more of a scared tone. This confused Sky. The first part of her Step mothers words was all she heard. Her mind was anywhere but there. She was conscious enough to hear the last part about her forced to follow her step mother to her room.

They walked into a nearly decorated room. White being the main color of the household items. Sky frowned when she noticed only two beds. She looked over at her grimacing mother and she pointed up. Following her finger she noticed a attic type string. She slowly entered the room and pulled out the string releasing the old stairs. Also revealing many dust particles to fly into sky's throat causing her to cough in reflex. She turned around and picked up a box and headed up the stairs, which creaked with every step.

The attic was dark and dusty. Every step that she took released a dust pile to fly in the air. Cob webs made Sky's skin itch in fear. She shuddered again before heading downstairs to get the rest of her boxes.

Hey guys! Thanks for the votes! I would love it if you'd recommend my book and get its name around because, being thirteen and all, I've found it very hard to get people to notice my works. So thanks again! Vote and comment what you think I should do! Thanks❤️❤️❤️