Cinderella's Ghost

Chapter 1: Ellynderella

Cinderella's Ghost
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance, Teen Fiction
Copyrighted © 2016 Eleina Wren
All rights reserved

Dedicated to a friend who has been supporting my writing. Thank you! :)

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Chapter 1

I barely watched where my feet were stepping as I rushed up the stairs. The school bell had just signalled the start of the first lesson, and I still had another two floors to go. You'd think having this routine almost everyday of my life would get my stamina up by now, but no, this form of exercise had no use whatsoever. All it did was work my heart too hard, my legs to burn up, and my breath to catch. I didn't even care if the decorative stitches on the front of my restrictive school skirt ripped any more than it already had.

Finally reaching the topmost floor, I held a hand to my chest, touching the rose pendant hidden under my uniform, while I tried dragging my feet towards the classroom with the strength I had left. I ignored twenty-three pairs of eyes - well, twenty-four, if you included Mrs Wether's - and made my way to my seat at the back of the class, calling out a "Sorry I'm late!" as I did so. A muffled chorus of sniggers came from somewhere to my left. I clenched my teeth and ignored that too.

"That's the second time this week, Ellyn," Mrs Wether said sternly.

"I'm sorry!" I said again, hoping she would ignore me and continue with the lesson. If only she knew what the reason really was, she wouldn't have been so hard on me, but I wasn't going to tell her the truth now in front of everyone - especially not them. There was a slight pause before Mrs Wether continued talking about tectonic plates.

I pulled back my chair, removed my bag from my shoulders and sat hurriedly. Squelch. I froze. Careful not to show too much of a reaction, I removed the essentials from my bag before placing it by the side of my desk. Then there was an exaggerated, high-pitched laughter. My expression remained indifferent, although I did let out a little sigh.

Mrs Wether paused again. This time, she gave an even more poisonous look.

"I never realised that a Geography lesson could be so funny, Lilla. Care to tell us what the joke is?"

"Oh, it's nothing," she replied flippantly and giggled again. "I just thought Ellyn's facial expression is a little funny, that's all."

All eyes returned to me. I searched every single one of their faces. I wanted to catch anyone who was guilty of it. Who saw them stick a piece of chewed gum on my chair, and said nothing? Who were the cowards? I flashed them all a glare, and one by one, they returned their attention to Mrs Wether. Yep, definitely guilty. Finally, I allowed myself to stare at Lilla and the rest of her gang. A smirk played on her lips, an eyebrow raised. Lina, her unidentical twin, mirrored her expression, before covering her mouth to stifle a giggle of her own, a dimple appearing on her left cheek.

"All right, break it up. Anymore disturbances and you will find yourself standing outside the classroom, are we clear?"

"Yes, Mrs Wether," replied Lilla, who looked like a goofball trying to act innocent.

Mrs Wether shook her head, muttered something about immature seventeen-year-olds, and returned to her lecture.

The rest of the period passed peacefully. I managed to keep the thought of having a chewed gum stuck to my butt out of my mind, absorbed in what I could learn today about Earth's natural forces, something I found extremely intriguing. I had learnt quite a bit when I was in secondary school, but having to know them again was great. It would mean more advanced facts in future lessons about them and, more importantly, faster revision when I returned home later.