Cinderfella

Chapter Two

Ethan set his duffle bag higher on his shoulder and opened the door to his new room. It was an old linen closeted, barely big enough to hold his bed and a small desk, which were already set up inside.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Ethan asked, turning to his mother, who was moving boxes into the master room. "You're going to shove me in a closet?"

Marissa stood up and dusted off her knees. "You are a girl, so you can't sleep in Corey's room, but if you sweat you're really a boy, then I can't let you sleep in Ariana's room. And since there's no more rooms, we had to improvise."

Ethan threw his duffle bag onto his bed. "This is just great," he muttered to himself. "Stuck in a cruddy, homophobic town, with homophobic parents, and forced to literally live in the closet."

Ethan slammed the door and sat on his bed, head in his hands. He ignored his mother's complaining about slamming the door and spaced out, staring at the desk a foot away from him as if he could burn holes in it.

Someone knocked on the door, and without asking, Hank opened it. "Cheer up kiddo," he said. "We're going out to eat tonight, and they have an old school fifties diner, maybe we can check that out?"

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Ah yes, the fifties. Nothing like old cars and racism to kick off a new house."

Hank retreated from the doorway. "At least come and unpack your things from the car so you can sleep in your bed tonight, alright kiddo?"

He shut the door, leaving Ethan alone. He kicked the desk, curing as he stubbed his toe. "Stupid house, stupid closet, stupid parents," he listed, falling back on his bed and closing his eyes. "I hate this stupid town."

There was a softer knock on his door, but no one opened it. Ethan kicked the door, pushing it open. Ariana stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"Mom said we don't get to share a room anymore," she said. "I don't see why, since this isn't much of an upgrade."

Ethan sat up. "You're seriously wondering why mom won't let us share a room?"

Ariana looked down to her lap. "I know she doesn't approve of your choices. I just never thought she'd be so mean to you."

Ethan shrugged. "Could be worst. Some places kill us, and they could always kick me out. I'll deal with their hate if it means I've got a place to stay."

Ariana laid down next to him, wrapping her arms around him. "I don't hate you. You know that, right?"

Ethan tucked a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear. "I know, but don't do anything that'll make mom and dad mad at you. Can you promise me that?"

Ariana nodded and sat up. "Can you still help me put up my butterfly lights?"

Ethan pushed himself off the bed and followed her to her room. Boxes sat around, holding the decorations that used to hang around their room and her clothes. One sat on the bed, empty with its contents sitting around it.

Ariana pointed to the ceiling above her head. "Can we hang them up around this?" she asked.

Ethan smiled and hopped up, grabbing a staple gun from another box and stapling the end of the lights to the ceiling. Ariana giggled as Ethan worked, doing her own job of unwrapping her crammed pictures and setting them out on the pattern she wanted them in.

Marissa stopped by, looking in and doubling back as she saw Ethan stapling the lights to the ceiling. "What are you doing?" she shrieked, startling Ethan and Ariana.

"She asked me to help put these up," Ethan replied.

Ariana stood up. "I did! Please don't get mad at him because of me!"

Marissa turned to Ariana. "She is a girl! And I did not want anyone putting staples in the ceiling! Take those down now!"

Ethan stepped off the bed as Marissa went to rip them down. Ariana grabbed her leg, begging her to leave the lights up. Marissa let go and turned to her daughter. "You can finish with tape, and leave these up. But I don't want anymore holes put in these walls."

Ariana pointed to her spread out pictures. "What about those? Can we put them up?"

Marissa hopped off the bed, looking over the pictures. "I suppose we could find something to hang these up." She took the staple gun from Ethan's hands and set it in a box. "But no more holes in the walls."

With that, Marissa left and went back to moving her own boxes. Ariana looked at the ground silently, sitting down and gathering up her pictures.

"Hey, why so blue?" Ethan asked, moving around the bed to set a hand on her shoulder.

Ariana looked up, absolutely terrified. "I don't want her to make you leave because of me," she whispered.

Ethan wrapped his arms around her, gently brushing her hair. "She won't do that," he said. Truth be told, he didn't know if she would or wouldn't. He was sixteen, and that had been the age his bisexual friend had been forced to move out at. No one had heard from Katie in over a year.

Ariana wiped her eyes on her pale blue sweater. "You're my favorite sibling, and I don't want you to leave."

Ethan pulled her up. "I'm not going anywhere for a long time. Now," he rummaged through a box of art supplies until he found a roll of tape, "how about we finish hanging those lights?"

Ariana hopped onto the bed with Ethan, trying to reach up and help hang the lights. Ethan finished, and handed the remote to his sister. "Care to do the honors?"

She pressed the button and squeezed when the butterflies lit up and changed colors. She hugged Ethan's legs, burying her face in his stomach.

"Thank you Ethan!"

Ethan smiled. "It was no problem."

•••••

How did you guys like it? I feel like a boss getting this up before 8 am. And I always love when little kids are accepting and their parents freak out. I think it really shows the difference in generations. Most older people I've met (keep in mind, I live in the Bible Belt) cling to the past and those beliefs, which is why they tend to not accept other sexualities or genders. Meanwhile, younger generations aren't as afraid to make their own decisions and form their own opinions, making younger generations more accepting. Sure, there are still young people who treat their parents beliefs as gospel, turning them into homophobic copies of their parents. Trust me, I've been forced to share dorms with these people.

What do you think of Ariana? Marissa? Hank? Do you think they'd kick out their kid? And if they did, what do you think Ariana would do? Let me know what you guys think. Don't be afraid to leave a vote or comment if you enjoyed it. Cheers!