Broken Glass Slipper

Once Upon a Time...

Isn't that how every fairytale starts?

What if this isn't an ordinary fairytale?

Because, this fairytale has no magic, no fairy godmother, or so it seems, and the prince is more famous than you could possibly know.

But, since we're at the beginning, we might as well begin.

~~~

Her eyes fluttered open to the dark morning. Groaning to herself, she tumbled out of bed, and landed on the cold, hard floor. Cringing at the noise, she silently rose and tiptoed to the window. Glancing around the large neighborhood street, she saw the bright lights of morning preparation.

She logged on the tiny computer monitor her stepmother allowed her to use for college. Online college, of course. There was no chance she would be allowed to actually go to the campus; too many opportunities for her freedom. The only time she got out of the house was to go to her work, at the day care center nearby. There, she had her only friend.

Her dream was to leave the house and finally become an English teacher. Her brain automatically analyzed articles, songs, books, you name it, and she knew exactly what it meant. She was very articulate and her hunger for new words and reading materials often ate away at her very being.

As she began her class for the day, she couldn't shake the feeling that something important was going to happen.

Her online professor assigned her a new article to read, and as she scanned the screen over and over, her mind was picking apart the sentence structure. She quickly typed her report and saved it to the computer, and mentally reminded herself to come back by ten that morning, before it was automatically deleted. One of the many perks of an old, crappy computer.

Quickly, she logged off, and ran down the ladder, connecting her chilly, undersized attic room to the rest of the warm, enormous mansion. She sprinted to the kitchen and rolled her eyes when she saw the breakfast order. The normal "special occasion" breakfast.

But, as soon as she rolled her eyes, it hit her. Today was that big iTunes festival, with that big after-party. Of course, she wasn't invited, but she should have remembered sooner. She had to help her stepsisters get ready. They had to look amazing if they were going to get One Direction to notice them.

She groaned in disgust. One Direction. Not that she'd ever heard them... Or seen them... Or even learned their names. They were probably the kind of boys that usually hung around the stepsisters. Jerks who didn't care about anything but when their next blow job will be. With the limited media she was exposed to through accidental eavesdropping and co-workers, she had heard a whole lot of things about One Direction being so good, you could take them home for tea. They were heroes to many, and their biggest fans were twelve year old girls. To her, it sounded like a load of crap. There were many stories of celebrities that appeared good, but were pitch black beneath. It was that way with her stepfamily.

Her stepmother appeared to be so caring, and generous, when in reality, she was quite the opposite. She never made anything easy, and never would. The same went with her ridiculously spoiled daughters.

She made the breakfast as quickly as she could, and then jogged silently back upstairs to get dressed in something other than pajamas.

Notes

Okay, people. Lemme explain how this all works.

If you like to listen to music while you read, the chapter title is the song I listened to while writing the chapter.

Thank you for reading; please let me know how I did by commenting, rating, voting, and subscribing!