The Princess Pages: A Girl Like Cinderella

Song Thirty Nine

THERE USED TO BE A MUCH SIMPLER TIME TO MEET PEOPLE.. WHEN WAS THAT?

What Really Happened:

Two hours earlier...

"I can't believe you're doing this," Carter Jackson snickered, "No. Actually, I can."

Lucy Heartwood glared at him annoyingly from behind a tall, thick oak tree near Lance's Diner.

"Shut up and keep a lookout!" she scolded him, then wore the soft blond wig over her wig cap.

A half hour ago, the 17-year old girl had begged her brown-eyed,brown-haired best friend to sneak inside her bedroom---Yes, he broke inside the mansion. It wasn't hard; there were no cameras nor crazy stepsister and stepmom lurking around--and grab her contacts and wig and some of her biological mother's old but stylish and well-cared-for clothes. 

Afterwards, she'd ridden a bus to reach Benton Hotel. Lucy made sure to take a bus with uncrowded schedules. She was able to avoid any reporters and nosy onlookers, to her relief.

Once she arrived at Green Day High School, she introduced herself to one of the delivery men as Cara Wall, worked some of her old charisma on him, and managed to stay placid as she convinced the men in blue to consign the twenty flower arrangements to the first place that popped in her mind: Oak Lodge Homes, where her grandparents had lived and died together.

Next, she and Carter rode yet another isolated bus, this time, heading to Benton Hotel. They entered the building through a back door left unattended, and sneaking past the security cameras, bodyguards, and room service crew wheeling trays of food and towels was labeled Mission Impossible But It Was Done.

The entire scheme was incredulous, and they both knew it, but still, they resumed the misadventure.

Fast forward to the present:

Her heart thumping wildly, Cara Wall impressively dodged any obstacles as she reached her destination, which was the farthest fire exit on the top floor.

On the other side of the big window, Carter's sandy brown hair swayed to and fro while his hands lifted open the wide glass pane.

"How'd it go?" The male teen sporting a Batman shirt asked, holding his hand out to Cara.

The blonde grunted, accepting his hand, maneuvering her lithe body out of the window and stepping onto the dull gray platform connected to matching gray staircases.

"Could have been better. Could have been worse," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone, bringing her fingers to her eyes, sliding off the dark green contact lenses.

"How did he react when you said you sent the flowers somewhere else?" Carter inquired, bending down to unzip his navy duffel bag, pulling out a baggy blue hoodie with blue and purple striped sleeves and a pocket in the middle.

Cara gave her childhood friend a grateful smile, then she stripped off the blonde wig, and at that moment, she was Lucy again;  Lucy with the stressed bluebell eyes, thick black glasses, and dark blue hoodie hiding her slender figure. She discarded the wig cap and shook her long rebellious black hair, combing the unruly raven waterfall with her fingers.

"Not too well," Lucy said flatly, recollecting Trent Morgan's upset expression and mad outburst.

As Carter pulled the zipper closed, he slung the handle over his shoulder and extended his arm.

"May I have the honor of escorting the Princess in Disguise to the 2nd avenue bus?" he asked with exaggerated formality.

The bespectacled brunette laughed. She did a playful curtsy before linking her arm through Carter's. "Absolutely."