She's Not Cinderella

You're my Bastard

On Valentine's day my first single came out, shooting to the top of the charts.

The day after Valentine's day I was scheduled for a world tour.

The day after that I became a millionaire.

Somehow though, it meant nothing to me. I sat on the sofa of my beautiful expensive flat, dressed in beautiful expensive clothes, staring numbly at my expensive TV.

Jordan had gone home a week ago, though he visited every day to take me to various classes and shows, the afternoons were lonely and long, and the nights were quiet and sleepless. Jordan had his own life, with his own friends. Stacey had her own life, with her own friends. Nick had his own life, with his own friends.

But all that was left was little Adeline, a painted doll with a broken melody, snared in a gilded cage by the golden chains of money.

I hadn't seen William since the ice cream parlour.

Retracing the events with my mind, I worried over whether I was too rash, whether if I had been more patient, William would be here with me.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I picked up my pink phone, a long crack running down the side of the screen. Damn fragile phones. It was an unknown number, and I picked up warily.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

I immediately relaxed at a smooth, deep voice.

"It's Joseph."

"Hi Joseph!" I tried my best to sound cheerful. Can't a girl have some private time to reflect upon her life? Apparently not.

"How have you been doing?" I asked.

"Great, I've been working on a new poem."

"Oh cool! I would love see that. Email it to Jordan sometime, if you don't mind..."

"Sure. He's the gay one, right?"

"Uhh, yeah... He is gay. So are a lot of other people."

He laughed gently.

"So I heard. Well done on the success of your new single, by the way..."

I pictured Joseph in my head. He was like the polar opposite of William. William was blonde and pale, whilst Joseph was dark, with caramel skin. William was hot-headed and stubborn, whilst Joseph was cool and easy-going.

"Thanks, I've actually been really surprised at how well it's been doing."

I actually felt quite scared talking to Joseph. I felt like I could make a mistake and he would hate me. I didn't feel like myself.

"I'm not. It's a great song, really catchy too. I've actually covered it on YouTube."

"Oh, that's cool! I'll check that out too."

There was a long awkward silence that lasted a million years.

"So." I tried, racking my brains for something to talk about. "Um, how... Is your... Sister..."

"How did you know I had a sister?"

"Um, I'm telepathic?" I tried, mentally kicking myself. Why the fuck did I just say that? Now I sounded like some kind of stalker.

He laughed again, and I almost sighed with relief.

"Sure you are. What am I thinking right now?"

"...raisins?"

"Nope"

"Pomegranates?"

"No. Shall I tell you?"