Barefoot Cinderella

8. A Night To Remember

5 years ago...

I was in my room crying my eyes out. Nicole had just busted out of my home without even listening to a word I have been trying to tell her.

The dresses I had chosen for myself and Nicole were glaring at me from the front of the armoire. I still couldn't understand what could have happened. What was it that I had done that could have made Nicole this mad at me. The dance was only two days away. I thought that if I give Nicole a day to cool down, and make my case the next day, there could be a very good chance that she would listen to me.

I couldn't be more wrong.

10 hours before the dance, I walked up to Nicole's armed with all the accessories and our dresses. I had planned to beg and plead Nicole. To tell her that I hadn't done anything wrong and even if I have, I am extremely sorry. I was going to make a case and I was going to make her tell me what was wrong.

But all of my plans dissolved into dust when I saw Nicole. She was stepping out of a car that had just pulled into the driveway. A car, which belonged to none other than my step-sister, Rhea.

In a matter of minutes, I was here in my room once again crying my eyes out. There were only two hours left for the dance to start and I was in no state to attend it, and neither was I going to.

Rhea, it seemed, had taken Nicole out to replace the homecoming dress that I was making for her, since she no longer wanted to wear it. She was also going to take care of the accessories she was going to need and had also secured an appointment for her at the best salon in the city.

Neither Rhea nor Nicole were the ones to tell me this. It was Mrs. Bowman.

The formerly soft spoken and sweet lady who treated me the same way she treated Nicole seemed every bit the in-demand lawyer she was when she told me all this before shutting the door in my face and all I had done was ask her if I could speak to Nicole.

Even she was mad at me for reasons I didn't know.

It was then when the door bell rang and I was out of my bed in a flash.

Maybe Nicole had decided to forgive me and she was here to go get me to go to the dance together, just like we had decided. I could definitely get dressed in two hours or maybe a little over two if my hair misbehaved.

My train of thought came to a halt the moment I opened the door.

It was Drew, not Nicole. It seemed like he was all dressed up for the dance. He looked so cute in his little tuxedo with a red rose boutonniere pinned to his lapel. He also brought a corsage for me which was a little weird considering we were just going at friend. Still it was a sweet gesture, one that I could greatly appreciate but unfortunately not return.

"Hello Elle," he said nervously, "Do you need more time to get dressed? I can wait..."

"Drew, I am not going to the dance I told him evenly. I felt hopeless. So much that I didn't want to see anyone anymore.

"But why?" Drew replied, looking bewildered. "You said that you..."

"I know what I said before, but I am sorry. I have changed my mind. Sorry for wasting your time. Without waiting for a reply, I simply shut the door in his face and returned to my room.

Drew the only person, after Nicole, that was left in my life. With the rate that the people I loved are leaving me, the sooner I lost Drew, the better.