Chasing Cinderella (Book one of the Cinderella Series) (Completed)

Chapter 20 (Edited)

"You can't go to school tomorrow," Delilah said, spying me when I came in the door, carrying my skateboard and her freshly, dry cleaned clothes. She folded her arms across her chest, as if she was waiting for me to argue with her.

I sighed, softly, annoyed. "And, why is that?" I asked, keeping the annoyance out of my voice. "I have told you and left you a note, saying that I had a test tomorrow."

"You don't need to take any tests," she replied, waving dismissively. "You are not going to be an important figure as your sisters will be. You will just be a maid." She looked me up and down. "An unattractive one at that."

I took a deep breath, knowing that it was useless to argue with her. Her words did sting, but I made sure that my emotions were covered up. She didn't need to know that her words still hurt me. "What will I have to do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "And, why can't it wait til the weekend or the day after tomorrow?"

"You will be cleaning the house. We will be having guests over tomorrow, so that is why you can't do it the day after tomorrow. You, also, need to paint the fences white, mow the lawn and make food for them, with Anne."

"And the others can't do this... why?"

"Because, you are the one that is doing this list," she replied. "Now, are you going to do it or are we going to have problems?" She gave me a look, letting me know that I better choose the first one. "I don't want to hurt you someone, Dear."

"What time are the guests coming?" I asked, gritting my teeth together. I knew that she was lying about hurting me. She would still do it, even if she said that she didn't like it.

Delilah grinned and patted my head, as if I was a dog. "Oh, I knew that you would learn quickly," she said, making it sound like that she was talking to a baby. "And, they will be coming at 5:00 sharp. That means that you need to wear your outfit and make everything shine."

"Does that include the bedrooms?"

"Yes, and the bathrooms." She grabbed the clothes and then started to walk away, going wherever she goes to do something. "You might want to get started, now. Don't forget to do the stalls and groom the horses. I want everything to look perfect."

"Yes, Delilah," I replied. I stuck my tongue at her retreating back before going to the barn. "And, now I have to spend the whole day with the Devil tomorrow," I muttered under my breath. "Oh the fun in that."

***

I started mucking out the stalls, muttering every curse word under my breath. I knew that she was trying to make my life miserable, but couldn't she have done it when when I didn't have any tests? She might not care about my grades, but I did.

"Someone is pissed," I heard a voice say while I was mucking out the stall. "Now, what happened this time?"

I glanced up to see that it was Anna leaning against the stall door. "Your mother is making me skip school tomorrow to clean the whole house, groom the horses and do stalls," I replied. "She has a guest coming tomorrow, and she wants to impress them with the way everything looks."

"Well, my room doesn't need to be messed with. I'm taking care of that."

"I do need to change out the sheets," I said. "She wants me to clean the bathroom, also."

"Do you need help?"

"You can do stalls, but remember, your mother can not know that you are doing it. I will getting a beating if she finds out."

Anna winced, knowing how bad the beatings could get. "Why don't you run away?"

"The land is supposed to be mine, I'm not leaving the group nor the animals, and who will prank Derek?"

Anna snorted. "True." She walked away but then came back with a pitchfork. She started to do the stall on the other side of the one that I was doing. "So, I heard that someone bit Dean Andrews today." She glanced at me. "A certain female with blonde hair and blue eyes..?" She gave me a look, letting me know that she knew it was me.

I scoffed. "He manhandled me and covered my mouth. What else was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, wait until he let you go?"

"I didn't know when he was going to let me go," I replied. "Now, how do you know this?"

"Someone asked him what he was doing in the music room, and he said that he heard someone singing and went in there to listen. He had grabbed someone and covered their mouth, thinking that they were going to alert the mob of where he was. The girl didn't, but she did bite him."

I snorted. "How did you figure it was me?"

"Two reasons," Anna replied. "One, you don't know who Dean Andrews is and what he looked like until today-"

"Saturday," I interrupted. "His father bought Blue, and he was with him."

Anna gave me an apologetic look before sighing. "Two, he said the music room. I placed that piece into the puzzle that only you would be playing something, in the music room, at that time."

I shrugged my shoulder. "Does Clarice know?"

"No. She isn't that smart to figure that out."

I snorted. "You got that right." I sighed and shook my head. "You gonna tell her?"

"And risk you hating me forever? No. Sure, I do like Dean a little, since he is hot. However, I would rather have a true sister over than falling for someone, even though I got someone else."

"Yes, you better realize that you are mine," someone said. That someone was Colt.

"Says the boy who was trying to get me," I shot back, lifting my head to look at him. "And, she can look, but she can't touch. Also, Anna is not an object, so you can't own her."

Colt glared at me before looking at Anna. "I don't like this Dean Andrews. You can't-"

"You are not going to be that overprotective stalker boyfriend, Colt," I interrupted him. "Anna is a big girl. She can take care of herself. 'Sides, I'll be making sure that he doesn't try anything to her." I rolled my eyes. "Doesn't help that I had seemed to catch his interest," I muttered under my breath.

Colt sighed, probably realizing what I said was true. "I'm sorry, I just..."

I heard them kissing and couldn't help but smile a little. I was glad that even though it was the second day, they seemed to be doing well with each other. "Anna, I can take care of the stalls here. Go have fun."

"But-"

"No buts. Go. I do need to think about some things. Also, take the pitchfork back to the tack room, will ya?" I didn't look at them, not wanting to see their pity glances. They knew that I just needed some time for myself, because they knew that I would probably never find something as good as their relationship.

"I'll get another barn done with Colt. Thanks, Ella." With that, Anna and Colt walked away, hand in hand.

I sighed and shook my head, not really knowing what Anna had thanked me for. I knew that she would be fine with Colt, but I wasn't sure if they would last or something of that nature. I hoped they did last, for Colt's sake. I wasn't going to let him break her heart, even if something bad would happen between us, Anna and I, that is.

I, also, knew that I was probably not going to find a relationship, so I was a little jealous that they were like that. However, I knew that I did not need someone, and that I would be fine with animals...

Wasn't I?

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A/N: Awww. :/ Ella is insecure, like me, about relationships. But that is a question, will you be fine without someone? That question nags me almost everyday.

Peace,

Rissa.