Once Upon A Sequin // to be continued after NQABB

Chapter Two - She Was A Size 18. Apparently.

CHAPTER TWO - She Was A Size 18. Apparently.

Ella shook herself out of it. She had no time for this kind of silly nonsense. She had never had a crush, and never planned to have one. To Ella, love was useless. She would be happy enough growing up to live in a small cottage with several cats.

She exited the dressing room, and flashed a warm smile at Cynthia.

“So, what kind of style do you have in mind for the wedding?”

“I want classical, traditional designs and colours like white and black, but not so old that they are boring and with those stupid giant skirts and corsets.”

Ella hid a grin. She would have hated trying to make that as well.

She walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out a giant book. Spinning on her heels, Ella lugged the book back over to the table in which they were seated. She flicked to a page, and then gave it to Cynthia.

“What do you think?”

The image was of a wedding party. all garments included. A bride’s dress, a groom’s jacket, right down to the best man’s socks. Anything you could ever dream of was right here on the pages.

“Perfect! But now we must be off. Venues to see, caterers to organise.”

She flashed a smile at Ella,  and then went and rounded up the two little flower girls, who were playing with paper dolls in the corner of the room.

the whole party then went and stepped out of the door, the bell jingling up above their heads as they vacated.

But it didn’t stop Jack from turning his head and mouthing “CALL ME” with a twinkle in his eye.

Ella simply looked down and blushed furiously.

The next couple of hours went by in a daze. Ella served, sold, and sewed the hours away.

Every customer she served had come away with a smile. Well, except that one lady.

But hey, it wasn’t Ella’s fault she looked like a size 24, when she was size 18. Apparently.

Ella felt sorry for the poor clothes, bursting at the seams.

Pablo handed her the cash that was her pay. It wasn’t much, but it was as much as he could afford to pay her. It was rising though, because once everyone heard about Ella’s talent with a needle and thread, they flocked to his store in hopes of getting one of her creations.

Even Clarissa knew. But she used it to her advantages.

“Thanks Pablo!”

Ella dashed out the door, her mind clouded with mindless thoughts, such as “I wonder if I sewed a toy llama, would someone buy it?”

As she ran in through the back door of her house she heard the first bell go off. She sighed in relief.  Clarissa, knowing of her job, had set a bell to go off at midnight so that Ella had to press the stop button and let Clarissa know that she was back.

Clarissa had midnight rituals that Ella had to attend to.

They weren’t exactly things that Ella liked to think of. They included feet. And her stepmother’s abnormally large pinky toe.

Enough said.

After that horrific ordeal, Ella finally got to bed at around 2am. Tired, she slept soundly until her alarm went off at 6 in the morning.

She had to get up and take the breakfasts up to the family, and deal with Anabella and Crystal’s whining over their outfits. Everyday there were new guys they wanted to impress.

Honestly, Ella didn’t think the “fake platinum blonde” look and “the more skin the better” look was exactly appealing, but hey, she wasn’t the one trying to impress.

After taking a meal of pancakes smothered in butter and maple syrup up to her stepmother and so-called father, Ella faced the demon that was Crystal.

She knocked on the door, and was greeted with a grunt of noise. She assumed it was ok to enter.

“Ella! Where have you been? I’ve been waiting forever for my breakfast!”

If this was the reaction she got from Crystal for bringing in her breakfast at this time, Ella hated to think what Anabella’s reaction was to be like.

“I’m sorry Crystal. Here is your gluten free muesli with greek style lemon yoghurt, no milk, dried cranberries and chopped banana’s.”

“Well, put it down and get the hell out of here!” Crystal screeched, grabbing the bowl. “I have limited time to pick out my outfit this morning, and I just have to impress Blake today!”

Ella gladly exited the room and left to Anabella’s room, to where fortunately the other sister was in high spirits.

“Hey, Ella, do you think that Matthew will like my Very Cherry Lipgloss, or Strawberry Sass Lip Balm? Whichever one goes with my outfit better, you know, it’s a Prada handbag, with Louboutins…”

Anabella’s talking was boring.  Ella found herself nearly dozing off.

“ELLA! If you’re not going to listen, then just give me my breakfast!”

Ella set her breakfast down, and set off back to her room, the small attic at the top of the house. She showered, and then went into her small wardrobe where her collection of clothes were, as well as her precious materials, threads and sewing machine.

Ella chucked on a pair of denim shorts, and a simple white scoop neck tee. It wasn’t much, but hey, it was better than her work uniform.

She grabbed her school bag, and ran out the door, clutching her flip flops in her hand before tossing them on the pavement and stepping into them. The twins always drove to school in their cars their mother had so lovingly bought for them, and not bought for Ella. Ella had to walk to school, as Annabella and Crystal would rather be dead than let her ride in their precious Ferraris and Cadillacs.

Ella didn’t really mind. Walking stopped her from being fat and the twins taste in music was, per-say, not the best.

She finally arrived at Green Mount West High, her school where she could finally be herself. Although only having one friend, she felt a sense of belonging with her.

“Hey! Ella!”

Ella, smiling, spun around, only to be engulfed in a hug by her very best friend, Brigid.

Brigid wasn’t irish, but she did have beautiful blonde hair, now tied in two braids, as well as sparkling green eyes, hidden behind her thick black-frame glasses. Her and Ella had immediately been drawn to each other when they first started high school, and had been inseparable ever since.

They set off towards their lockers, and Ella grabbed her textbooks she would need for first period.

“Well, I have maths now, and you have history. I guess I’ll see you at lunch?”

“Of course you will stupid!”

Ella rolled her eyes at her very bubbly best friend as she bounced off. Ella entered the maths building, and settled herself down at her usual desk. It was the desk right at the front, where she could see the board. She absolutely hated sitting at the back, where you couldn’t see the board, and with Ms Ellersmere the maths teacher being a tough nut, there was no excuse as to why you couldn’t grasp a concept.

She leaned back against her chair, and let her eyes wander out the window. The boys outside surely couldn’t be old for high school, could they…

“Hey! Ella!”

She immediately snapped back to reality, her eyes seeking out the person that called her name. As they landed on them, her face was a look of shock.

It couldn’t be, could it?

A/N Cliffy! Just saying, I listened to Sara Bareilles and Lorde whilst writing this up. So, uhm, go check them out because they are amazing c:

Sarah