A Twisted Cinderella

Chapter 3

My mother barrels forward, pushing past the nerd guy so hard he stumbles into the black girl who stumbles against another guy. I look at them as I past and they all look away.

I sighed it was me and not my mother. Why though?

I touched my face to see if I had anything on my face. I'm sure my eyes were red from all the crying I have done since his death. I jog to catch up with my mother, who was in an even more rush to get away from everyone. I half wondered if she was embarrassed of me. She turns onto a downward sloping path leading off the main one to the right.

This one is worn less than the main trail, covered with old leaves and shaded by big trees. My mother drops my suitcase by the door before stamping up the house steps. The screen door slammed closed behind her, I grab my suitcase glad she hasn't slammed the door in my face. I was still in stock of what happened in the last couple of hours, I slowly made my way up the steps taking my time.

I have to hold the door open with my foot as I drag my suitcase into the house since it doesn't have any wheels. I was glad it didn't since I probably would still be dragging it through the woods, I don't think I could have survived the hike dragging it when just carrying it for an hour was a pain.

The house looks bigger on the inside than the outside. A large room takes up most of the space, with an area in the back corner blocked off by a wall. I can hear my mother banging around, the house is warm so I take off my dad's sweater.

A door opens upstairs and a set of footsteps are heard walking down the wooden stairs. A boy who looks a little younger than me, appears.

"Mother?" He calls out.

I stare blankly at him, it was like a dream not only did I have a mother I never knew I had a brother. He stops when he sees me and sinks back on the stairs, his hand going to cover his face. His eyes going wide, I touch my face, looking to see if I had anything on my face. What the hell? Why was everyone looking at me like a freak?

The screen door bangs open behind me, and I jump at the sound and turn around, this time I'm the one whose mouth drops open, standing there in front of me is me.

I stand there in shock, I'm so speechless all I can do is stare. I have to blink a few times to make sure I was awake and not dreaming. In front of me is a heart shaped face, a small nose, high cheekbones, and wide set eyes.

The girl gasps, her bow-shaped pink lips parting and her golden eyes widening, she makes the same sign one of the tall guys did outside ---- a circle over her chest with her palm.

"That's enough," my mother says, as she stomped out of the kitchen. "You knew she was coming. Victoria this is Rowan and Owen your brother and sister."

I lift my hand and wave with my fingers "hi," I say shly, this was awkward. I knew nothing about them or what they liked.

"Hi," Rowan says, she wasn't just my sister she was my twin my identical twin. We had the same hair cut side bangs cut a little past the shoulders.

I look at Owen I wondered if Rowan and I had a stepfather or if we all had the same father but I doubt it since Owen doesn't look like us. He had dark hair and ruddy, acne-strewn complexion. I knew her expression all too well everywhere I looked someone was wearing the same shock, disgust or wariness look.

I wondered if they looked at Rowan that way since she looked like me, probably not since she's lived here her whole life. I shuffle my feet, unable to stand the looks of the hostiles anymore.

I look at my feet, noticing that I had some type of red dirt on the tips of my shoes. "Let's get you up to your room, you must be tired from the days traveling." My mother says.

She didn't say it to be welcoming she almost says it as if she were a robot, reading lines of a script. It's a relief to get away.

Owen jumps up and retreats away from me as I move to follow our mother up the stairs. "It isn't much," Mother says when I'm behind her. "It's all we have, I wasn't expecting another person to live here."

I nod but she doesn't look at me. "You might want to clean it up a bit to make yourself comfortable seeing as this will be your home for now on."

"Okay," I say. I could tell she was trying to be nice, I understood I was a stranger to her, even if we share the same blood. She didn't know anything about me.

"There are a few things you'll have to do," she says pretending not to hear me. "One is to keep your room clean at all times, and two you'll have to do your share in chores."

Owen steps back into the doorway of the room on the right. I caught a glimpse of a neatly made bed with a dark blue quilt with what looked like soccer balls over the top of it. I wish he'd stop acting like I just kicked his puppy, I didn't blame him just like mother I was a stranger to him moving into his home, his life. I didn't expect a welcome party I didn't expect to be happy with me suddenly out of nowhere moving into someone else's life.

I sighed and I just hope that I can make friends with them.

My mother reached into her pocket looking for a key since the door didn't open when she tried turning the knob left and it didn't open. She mutters something under her breath and pulls out a key ring.

She finds the right key and unlocks the rusted, loose knob. When she pushed the door open I stand there gasping.