Reincarnated as an Ugly Step Sister

Chapter 7

The days grew shorter and cooler as September arrived. Suddenly our house no longer seemed old and boring. Instead it was filled with a frantic excitement. Mother had countless tailors and makeup artists come by to dress me and Poppy up from the ball. Mother promised to buy us whatever extravagant dresses we wanted, so that we could be noticed by the prince. The house was a mess, frilly dresses and fancy wigs all over the bedrooms.

The ball's nearing caused Poppy to be a thousand times worse than when I just met her. She was more spoiled than ever and she rarely spoke to me, which was a relief. When she did address me it was only to brag about how she would marry the prince and how much prettier she was than I. With all the appointments Mother had made, Poppy had little time to play with her paper dolls. When she did, the games seemed more intense. She would make this prince marry her the moment he saw her and she always had me die, from food poisoning, heartache, or even getting lost in the palace's maid and starving to death. I was starting to get slightly concerned.

There was little time to spend with Cinderella. I was unable to help her with chores anymore and it made me feel terrible. I was glad I got her the broom for her birthday to help. Sometimes at night I would sneak down to work on my dresses with Cinderella. I had gotten very good at sewing and my dresses were all beautiful, much better than any of the one's my Mother wanted me to wear. I would often feel bad that we didn't have time to work on Cinderella's dresses, for I had promised to get her to the ball, but I reminded myself that her fairy godmother would come along with a happily ever after.

Mother did not seem stressed by all of the preparations for the ball. She directed people around with her sharp, cold voice and smiled as they did what she wanted. He eyes gleamed every time someone obeyed her. It was clear that the little sense of power she gained from this was pleasing to her.

As the ball approached I saw Chase less and less. I missed our long walks together but I couldn't find the time. I longed to complain about Poppy to him, and he once accused me of making her up after I mentioned that she carved a knife out of a stone from the back yard to give the Prince during the ball, and especially now that she's been worse than usual. I loved Cinderella like a sister, which I guess we are kind of sisters, but she was too sweet to ever want to complain about anyone.

Finally the 18th arrived. The ball wouldn't begin until after sundown but Poppy and I were woken up at the first light of day to begin getting ready. Cinderella had huge bags under her eyes, for she had woken up an hour before I did. Mother fed us more controlled portions so that we would fit into our gowns and my stomach let out an angry gurgle in response.

The first half of the day was dedicated to our final dance lessons. In my last life I had enjoyed dancing, however, as Violet I was extremely clumsy. I had never tried dancing in this body and couldn't stop tripping over my own feet. A horse on stilts would look more graceful than I did.Poppy wasn't any better but she didn't seem to realize.

After spending hours stepping on my instructor's toes as he tried to teach me the steps to common ballroom dances, it was time to get ready. Assistants stuffed me into a corset and an underskirt that made it practically impossible for anyone to come within three feet of me. The orange dress made me look like a pumpkin and I legitimately thought about what it would feel like to be transformed into a carriage.

"You have got to be kidding me." I muttered to myself as I was presented with the most uncomfortable looking shoes I had ever seen. The heavy wooden soles combined with my floofy skirt would limit my mobility to an astonishing extent.

I quietly shoved the shoes underneath my bed while nobody was looking and switched them out for more modest slip-ons. None of the hired assistants seemed to notice.

"I... I'm going to the bathroom real quick!" I lied, rushing out of the room and down the stairs. I stopped at the door to Cinderella's room. Earlier that morning, step mother had banned me from visiting Cinderella but I wanted to see her before the ball. Today was supposed to be the the first step to her happily ever after. Who knew if I would even run into her at the ball.

I opened the door cautiously and peeked into the room. Cinderella was sitting on a worn out stool, staring out the window daydreaming. She sighed dreamily.

"Hey there..." I said softly, accidentally startling her out of her trance nonetheless.

"Violet!" She exclaimed, her pale cheeks flushing a lovely rosy color. "Are you even allowed to be down here?"

"Probably not..." I glanced to the side awkwardly. I was suddenly very self conscious of my fancy attire.

"You should leave quickly, Stepmother may be back any moment. She's been calling me to do extra chores today." Cinderella looked behind me, panicked.

As soon as the words left her lips I felt a cold shiver running down my spine. I turned around to find two, menacing and furious eyes looking back at me.

"Violet." Mothers' words were spat out sharply and coldly. "I thought I had told you not to go down here, did I not?"

I could barely speak but I felt that if I didn't that would only make things worse. "Yes M-mother... you did."

"So tell me, why did you decide to ignore my order and come down here in your gown for the ball to visit scum." Mother's face burned with rage and it seemed as if she would explode at any moment.

"She's not scum!" I spat back instinctively. I hadn't meant to say it but it was too late. The words had been spoken.

Mother fumed. "Well, I guess only one of my daughters will be participating in the ball now." She pulled out an entry ticket from her pocket. "No matter, I only need one, I'm guaranteed to win anyways."

I watched as she tore the paper to shreds, the same way she had done to Cinderella. I couldn't speak back, my throat refused to let out a sound without a sob following and crying would only further my embarrassment. Instead I glared at mother as she shut the door to Cinderella's room calmly and coldly. Breathing slow breaths I felt the knot in my throat subside and my ability to speak without tears returned.

"Well, I guess we're in it together now." I muttered meekly. "I guess this is what I get for letting my temper get to me."

"What are we going to do?" Cinderella cried as tears fell from her face. "This is all my fault!"

"Woah! Woah, hey!" I pat her back as I guided her to her bed. "This isn't your fault. I got myself into this mess!"

"But if you hadn't had to stand up for me then none of this would've happened." She wept.

"No no! This is great!" I tried to assure her. "I didn't want to go to that stupid ball anyways." It wasn't completely a lie. I'm no good in social situations with so much pressure and judgement. I tend to freeze up, not to mention I'm now saved from my embarrassing dancing skills. I won't lie though, watching her tear up the ticket stung quite a bit. I had squandered any chances I may have had to watch Cinderella dance with the prince due to my little outburst. "I know you'll get your happily ever after. You'll be okay." I had turned to comforting Cinderella about her situation. "One day you'll be living with someone who loves you, and you won't have to even lift a finger for the rest of your life."

"What?" Cinderella sniffled.

"What I mean is that you'll be very happy soon. You'll be surrounded by people who love you and care for you." I explained frantically.

"You really think so?" Cinderella's crystal eyes had dried up a little and her red nose stopped sniffling. "You'll be there right alongside me, right?"

"I... sure." I said awkwardly. I really didn't want to third wheel for Cinderella and her prince but it was better than having my eyes pecked out by birds.

I heard a loud neigh and plenty of yelling outside signifying that the carriage was here. The sound of footsteps and scurrying could be heard overhead as dust fell from the ceiling with every stomp. Finally the sound of the front doors opening and shutting ceremoniously revealed that mother and sister had finally left and all that was left was for the hired assistants to pack up and leave. Cinderella and I stayed in her room until we heard the lock of the front door.

Everyone had left for the ball.