Better Believe It

Part 4

After that day, I figured out that love was completely out of the question for me. My very own parents hated the fact that I existed, and then the school's bad boy picked me to be his victim. I was done with life at that point, but I had to get out of that place well and alive, so I could maybe have a fresh start away from all those people. I decided on acing all my subjects, making sure to never come into contact with Tony again, and then I applied to all out-of-state colleges, where I knew no one was clever enough to get in. I also swore to never cry again; I had wasted enough tears on those that didn't deserve it.

So many thoughts swirling in my head made me forget that I was still standing outside my room this whole time. I unlocked the door and as I opened it, I was blinded by a white light. I stepped in wondering who was throwing a party in my room using spotlights, but was held in my tracks when my eyes adjusted to my surroundings.

"What happened to my room?" I asked, not anyone in particular. It was more of a self-question.

"I wouldn't say this is your room." Of course I wasn't expecting to get an answer, so I jumped a foot or two in the air when I did get one. I turned around and couldn't believe my eyes. I blinked a couple times to make her go away, but she didn't. So I turned around, shut my eyes, dragged in a deep breath, and turned back around. When I opened my eyes, I fully expected to see my room once again as I was clearly hallucinating. But instead of seeing my bed and computer desk, I saw a flight of stairs and her. She was looking stunning with her blonde hair that were neatly tied up into a bun, her bright blue eyes that accented the beautiful blue ball gown she was wearing, but something was missing. As she made her way down the stairs, I saw those spectacular glass slippers. That's what was missing, I thought to myself.

I couldn't even remember the last time I watched the movie. I was probably 7 or 8 years old maybe when I loved all that fairytale crap. But after going through everything, I learned that it was just a waste of time. There was really no point in believing or dreaming about things that were never going to happen. Then why was Cinderella standing in front of me?

"Where did you come from?" I asked bewildered. "And where the hell am I?"

"I know you don't believe in fairytales, so it might be really astonishing that I just come up out of the blue in front of you like that, but I couldn't stand the thought of it." She said it all so fast that it gave me a whiplash.

"I'm dreaming aren't I?" I asked completely and utterly confused and to be honest a bit angry as well. "No wait; I'm being pranked aren't I?"

The thought of someone pranking me had my blood boiling. The first person that came to mind was Chase, as he was here just some time ago, though I didn't know exactly where here was.

"Chase, if this is your way of getting back at me then I swear I will..."

"I am still here you know," I was interrupted as Cinderella finally descended down the stairs and was now standing directly in front of me. "And to be honest, he's one of the reasons why I'm here to talk to you."

"So he put you up to this?" I asked a bit frustrated. "He told you to dress up like Cinderella and come and make me believe in fairytales and dreams?"

"I'm the real deal sweetie." She said with a smile.

I had no idea what to do or say. I could stand there and argue with her the whole time but it wouldn't get either of us anywhere, because I wasn't one to back down and she looked quite persistent herself. And I also couldn't run away and hide because I had no idea where I was or if this was even real.

"Are you a figment of my imagination?" This could be the only explanation. I mean I had to have had her stuck in my head from since I was little. I was slightly obsessed with Cinderella when I was little, so I watched the movie like dozens of times till the point of knowing each and every dialogue by heart.

"Well I wouldn't say exactly that," she started saying with her face scrunched up in thought, but then she saw my pale face and added hurriedly, "but if it makes you feel better then you can call it that."

"So you're here to make me feel better?"

"In a way, yes."

I desperately wanted to get out of whatever hellhole I was in, but it seemed the only way I could do that was by talking things through with Cinderella. So that's exactly what I was going to do.

"So what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"What do you think of Chase?" Wow, she gets straight to the point.

"I think he's annoying. Next." I couldn't wait to get out of this place and get to bed and sleep for all eternity.

"I don't think that's true. You secretly like him, but you won't ever admit it to anyone, not even yourself."

"What gave you that idea?" I asked a bit uncomfortable with the topic.

"The way your face lit up when I said you like him."

"I definitely don't like him, or anyone for that matter."

"That's what you keep telling yourself. You're afraid to let others into your life because of how you've been treated all your life." She was on point. Score 1 for Cinderella.

"You have no clue what I've been through," I said trying my best to fight back tears that weren't supposed to be there.

"Oh, but I do," she said softly, reaching out to touch my cheek. "I know all that you've been through. How your parents didn't love you or want you around, and also how you became a victim to a notorious playboy."

"Almost," I said my voice cracking. I hadn't realised that I had started crying until Cinderella wiped away my tears with her delicate doll-like hands. I never cried in front of anyone, but for some reason, I just couldn't stop the water works. The tears kept spilling out of my eyes, while I tried to take deep breaths to stop them.

"I was always tortured as well," Cinderella spoke after I had gained some composure. I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just let her continue. "My stepmother and stepsisters never liked me. They could have kicked me out of my own house right after my father died, but they chose to make me suffer even more by making me do everything. I did the laundry, cleaned the entire house, prepared and served all three meals of the day, fed and took care of the animals, and basically had to do anything that they would throw my way. And I had to do this all by myself."