Barefoot Cinderella

11. Storms n' Life

6 years ago...

Thunderstorms.

They, along with rain and cold, pass through our little part of the word very rarely. Even winter is not as cold as I want it to be up here. Maybe that is why I loved them so much.

Therefore, when the rain pelted against my window at night relentlessly and thunder lit up the sky like fireworks on the 4th of July, I sat by my window and started at the night sky in wonder. I guess I was the only 10 year old who does that, because most children my age usually cower deeper under their blankets and call for mommy and daddy.

That might be the other reason why thunderstorms fail to scare me so; I did not have a mother or a father to call.

It were early hours in the morning and I was still perched by my window staring at the night sky with eerie fascination, waiting for the next flash of white to return colours to the night sky. No sound could be heard in my little corner of the world other than the occasional crackle of lightening and my breathing when a knock startled me.

My door creaked slightly, following the knock. A three feet tall figure stood in my doorway, clutching onto a blanket tightly in one hand.

"Can I come in Ari?"

The small timid voice in the doorway brought a smile to my face.

Of all the bad that came into my life when daddy remarried, some good made its way in too. One of them was the sweet and tiny porclein doll standing in the doorway now.

"Yes Bea, of course." I stepped off the window seat and walked towards her.

Holding onto my hand, she shuffled into my room, barely making a sound. She climbed onto my bed and took a seat at the foot of my bed.

"What is wrong Bea?" I questioned her, taking in her nervous and scared expression.

"I hate lightening." She said, nervously pulling the blanket closer to herself. Her tiny face looked pale in the light streaming through the window and she was visibly shaking.

"Would you like to sty in my room, with me, tonight?" I offered without any hesitation. Upon hearing my words her entire face lit up with a bright smile.

"Thank you so much Ari." She leapt off of her perch and into my lap, hugging me with all her might. I chuckled, holding her tight. Together, we made space for her on my bed.

After a while, Bea fell asleep, cuddling next to me. She held onto one of my hands in hers tightly as I drifted off to sleep, her soft breathing a lullaby to my lonely ears.

*****

Present...

It had been a couple of days since I saw Drew having lunch with the "it" crowd. I haven't talked to him and it seemed like he, too, was avoiding me. This was quite an easy feat as neither of us had any of the classes together except lunch now and he had stopped coming to Ruby Ribbons, especially since he only worked there to humour me.

I asked Aunt Claire if I could do a longer shift at work tomorrow instead of tonight since stepmother had some people coming over dinner tonight and I needed all the time I could get to come up with a dinner of high caliber – the type that stepmother expected.

It had been quite a while since Nicole had visited the place I called home. Imagine my shock when I got home that day and saw her lounging on the couch in the living room, sitting next to Rhea, chatting away like they were the best of friends.