Just Like Cinderella

Just Like Cinderella [1]

All the activity around her was hard to ignore, but that was exactly what Josephina Morales did as she stepped into the hallway of Cary High. Mostly because this had been the constant state, ever since school got in. The past few weeks had been nothing but talk and chatter about the long-awaited dance happening that Friday night. 

As she maneuvered the bustling hallway to get to her locker, she felt herself getting annoyed. One girl in particular whizzed by in a flurry of blonde, almost knocking her down. Josi was barely able to sidestep in time, but the blonde, holding a pot of chrysanthemums in her hands, never once broke her stride, like she hadn't noticed Josi at all. Just like everyone else, too focused on planning for Friday to care about anything else, much less innocent bystanders in the hallway. It seemed only Josi had missed the excitement going round.

She paid more attention to her surroundings as she made her way to her locker safely, but her mood worsened when she remembered what day tomorrow was. In less than twenty-four hours, she would be giving this up. All seniors were being reassigned new lockers, and after being with hers since sophomore year, she hated the exchange already.

Since the school almost never switched out their lockers, it had become more than a space for books and school supplies. All the reminders of her mom which she wasn't allowed to keep with her at her dad's place were safely tucked in a corner. She had also decorated the locker a little when she heard she wouldn't have to give it up at the end of each school year. She had put her craft skills to good use, she thought to herself now, then grew nostalgic remembering how she had roped Simon, her stepbrother, into hunting for materials with her. Even though that lasted all of five minutes before he concluded art wasn't his forte and ran off.

Now, she was going to have to take down all her hard work and give up her perfect locker, for someone undeserving. Someone who wouldn't appreciate how well-kept it had been through the years, or the scent of vanilla and spice permanently attached. It'd probably be a meathead jock who wouldn't know the meaning of personal hygiene even if it slapped him across the face.

She admittedly wasn't being very nice. Her anger should be directed at the main cause-the stream of new students who kept enrolling. They even had to construct a new set of lockers this past summer to keep up with the increasing population. Perks of being one of the best high schools in the whole county.

Frankly, giving up her locker wasn't the real reason for her annoyance and she knew it. It was the change she didn't like. Her and change... they had never done so well together.

Josi took out her AP Calculus textbook, the only book still left in the locker, and shoved it angrily into her backpack. She was zipping her bag shut when a hand materialized from seemingly nowhere to close her locker for her. She looked up, startled, and settled for a frown when she saw her best friend, Megan Kurt.

Megan's curly red hair was pulled away from her round face and into a high ponytail, pulling more attention to emerald green eyes that smiled at Josi with warmth. She wore a black floral dress and denim jacket, and it was so like Megan to always look beautiful no matter how casual she was. Unlike Josi who looked average as usual in first thing her hands reached for that morning—baggy jeans paired with a blue OBEY sweatshirt and worn-out Nike sneakers. Megan's choice of shoes were black open-toe stilettos that added a couple more inches to her 5'4 frame.

As always, her beauty was a quick shock, like an electric jolt.

She tapped a long, freshly manicured finger against her chin, looking like she was trying to guess something. "You're sulking," she finally said. There was a faint twang in her voice, a result of having moved down from Austin to Cary, North Carolina a few years ago. "Let me guess, someone almost ran you over. And you're still upset about having to give up your locker."