Disney's School For Girls

1

Cinderella

  "Hurry, Cindy!" Drizella called, waving her hand help me style on the porch of the old mansion. "I'm coming!" I called, running up the steps. "Ani, you know Cindy's beating you!" Drizella sang out to Anastasia. "No fairrr." Anastasia cracked up. "I'm in flats."
   We hurried up the steps and received our cream colored letters from Drizella with a golden bow and ribbon wrapped around them. "Open them on the count of three," I said, bouncing on the toes of my light blue sneakers.
"One," Anastasia said.
"Two," I said.
"Three!" Drizella shouted.
We tore into the envelopes and my heart stopped when my big, blue eyes scanned the paper. "Cinderella of Maidensville," I read. "You have been accepted into Disney's School for Girls! Congratulations! Pack your bags by 8 am on Saturday and we will send a carriage. Your schedule will be sent soon! Sincerely, Principal Clarissa Godmother." I danced around. "Can you believe it? I'm in!"
  I can already picture it; Drizzy, Ani and I sharing a dorm room that we've always imagined, sharing a table together at lunch, joining clubs, even joking about our old school where the English teacher rambled on about his 3 bald cats...
  Drizella and Anastasia stared at me, with no emotion. "We're not." Drizella murmured. I stopped. My heart shattered. "What? Why?"
  "We don't know." Anastasia snapped. They headed inside, leaving me out.

***

"So, when are you packing for DSFG?" Lady Tremaine asked. Anastasia said nothing. Drizella pushed around a half eaten strawberry around a plate. "Cinderella made it in. We didn't." She sneered, leaking jealousy and sadness in every word. I sank into my seat.
  Lady Tremaine looked slightly angered. "Oh really? How... fortunate for you, Cinderella." I mustered up a small smile, not big or smug enough to make her think I've grown a big head. Too late!
"Oh, and Cinderella, do be aware that if you do not keep up good grades all year, then I will pull you from that school. Am I clear?" She was shaking her long, bony index finger in my face.
I ignored the finger. "Crystal." I answer.

***

It is Saturday morning and I was waiting outside the stone mansion with all my things packed. "If you meet any handsome princes, tell them about us," Anastasia requests, her eyes sparkling. "Or any princesses!" Drizella adds. "You're going to have so much fun." Anastasia says, dripping sadness and a tinge of jealousy. "Of course." I say, smiling. I wrap my stepsisters in a warm hug. I am about to hug my stepmother, but that is as likely as smiling to some random kids, baking cookies for them and reading a bedtime story. So, I shake her hand. "Remember," she warns. "Keep up the good grades or you will be pulled from that school." I nodded. "I know, Stepmother." Suddenly, a gust of holographic glitter falls from the sky.
Pixie Dust! They're here!
Butterflies form in my stomach and I pull my bag off the ground. "Lady Cinderella of Maidensville?" A little man with a top hat asks. I smiled. "Hello! That's me." He nods. He gestures to the open door. I step into the carriage. The outside is a pretty iridescent white, but the inside is a silky, bright pink. I waved to my stepsisters and stepmother. "Bye, Stepmother! Bye, Drizzy and Ani!"
Drizzy and Ani wave. "Bye!" They called.

And we took off.