Come Christmas, we managed a tiny little pine tree. It was depressing. Anastasia and Drizella received a ton of cash each, but that was it. Step-mother had no time for presents, and she certainly wouldn't trust me with that much money. I felt a little bad for them. We had no relatives, and they had no friends. Of course, I didn't get any presents. From step-mother that was.
In the spirit of Christmas, each of my friends have given me something nice-a cute hairband, earrings, tubes of makeup, and little candies. I hid each of the items under a floorboard. My first Christmas present ever from a friend was from Talan. It was so sweet of him. I had nothing to give him, unfortunately. I pecked him on the cheek and apologized. We both turned bright red.
As the year wound down, Anastasia and Drizella were getting more edgy. I knew that they were dying to have another party, but so far had no opportunity.
Until that chilly day in March when step-mother told Drizella that she could have a party to celebrate her and Anastasia's birthday. It was lame-their birthdays weren't anywhere in March-but Drizella and Anastasia were desperate for any party. They were a little disappointed that it would be supervised, however.
I shook my head at the very idea of a party. Not again.
In private, step-mother consulted me about the guest list. Jared Ghee, Mandy Best (of course), and... Talan! I gasped at the name of Talan. "What! What's wrong with him!" step-mother asked shrilly.
Great. I bet that the whole excuse of the party was for Drizella and Anastasia to smother up to their hopeful lovers. I always had a feeling that Drizella liked Jared, although she was extremely subtle about it. Drizella was obviously ashamed about the whole thing-after all, Jared wasn't exactly a suitable mate. Anastasia of course was madly in love with Talan. At one point I had finally gotten her to admit that she liked Talan. She broke down in tears and begged me to introduce her to him. I blatantly refused. As for Mandy, I knew that she was quite nasty, so of course she and Drizella were like two peas in a pod.
"Oh, nothing, I'm just surprised that they invited Talan," I said. Step-mother narrowed her eyes at me. Oops. I wanted Talan to come, then I could at least have some company. "Talan is very rich and extremely good looking, I'm just surprised that Drizella and Anastasia would be interested in such a perfect guy," I invented wildly, nearly gagging. I was so going to tell Becky about this later.
Step-mother glared at me and then shrugged. "Whatever," she said with a distracted sigh, and went to tell her daughters' that their guest list was A-Okay. I looked down at Lucifer stretching in the sun. He had been a lot more pleasant recently, and we had reached a point where I could pet him and he would purr, enjoying it. I'm not really sure what did it. I took him out into the hall and gave him a nice brushing.
Come the eve of the party, step-mother told us that we needed our rest before the party. And I mean our. Anastasia and Drizella didn't say anything but I could see them press their lips together in disapproval. So, we slept in and then had naps as well right before the party. Step-mother let me use her bed. I nearly fainted. She was being so nice to me lately, even if I still had to clean the entire household every day. The theme of the party was 'beach party' even though the air was still slightly chilly and we had no pool. I was positive that it was just an excuse for Anastasia and Drizella to wear their most revealing clothes-swimsuits. I of course didn't have any clothes like that.
I heard the doorbell ring, waking me up. I knew that Anastasia were heavy sleepers, so I sleepy trudged into their room to wake them up. Anastasia was still sleeping when I walked in, but Drizella had just gotten up, it appeared, and was already changed into her custard yellow swimsuit. It comprised of, basically, three triangles that, if formed together, would be about the size of a novel cover. And not a War and Peace cover, either, no, more like a pocket Bible.
I looked at her and then yelled in shock. Not a scream, but a cry of fear. I had never seen her before like this. I had never seen her without makeup on. It was horrifying.
"What's wrong, never seen sexy look this good before?" Drizella questioned, striking a pose.
Instead of dry retching, as I normally would have, I just laughed and crawled back into bed. I dozed off, but quickly woke to the sound of talking. I yawned sleepily and glanced out the window. Um, okay then. It was Kerry Kasmir, playing peek-a-boo with my mice. Weird.
I giggled and forced myself to get up. Oh, it was so nice to sleep in a bed. Winter had been horrible and frigid as I had no blankets to cover me up. Occasionally my little mice would come along and try to warm me up. I was too afraid of squashing them, though, so I just let myself freeze. Oh, the luxuries of having a bed.
I changed into some spare clothes I found-just a simple turquoise tank-top and gray shorts. I did a couple stretches before making the bed. I turned and noticed Lucifer in the room. He mewed and nudged me with my face. I smoothed down his fur and cooed soothingly, "What's wrong, widdle kitty? Kitty hungry?"
Lucifer licked me hand and then turned to his food dish. Luckily, the bag of food was kept on step-mother's dresser. I wasn't quite ready to go out into the party yet. I hadn't even washed my face. I ran my fingers through my pulled back hair. The top of my head was greasy, and the loose end was brittle and not exactly nice to the touch. I sighed, watching Lucifer greedily eat his food. "Bye, bye, kitty! Don't get into trouble," I whispered before marching into the bathroom and scrubbing my face. Maybe I could take a bath.
I peered into the bathroom. Ugh. No go there. The bath was just plain old nasty. With a sponge in one hand and a bottle of soap in the other, I began one of my least favourite chores. How did the bath get so dirty, anyway? I heard laughter erupt from the other room and felt a twinge of regret and annoyance. I finished up quickly, doing a poor job, and burst into the other room. Everyone was only just coming in. I saw Talan and lit up. "Hey Talan!" I said in a voice unlike my own.
"Hey Drizella," he responded, not even turning to me.
"What?" I said, shocked. Had he not heard me or did he think I was Drizella? I saw Drizella slightly turn to him, but she only gave him a head nod before returning to her conversation with Jared Ghee. Talan turned to me and brightened.
"Hey Cind! Glad to see you here," he said, smiling. I felt my heart lift a little at his words.
"Yeah, I'm definitively the life of the party!" I said, laughing. I walked over to him. He had apparently dressed for swimming, but not really. He wasn't wearing a shirt (swoon), but he was wearing plain old red shorts. I felt a little disappointing. I blushed just thinking about it, but I had wanted him to wear a tight speedo, although I would rather eat Drizella's revealing bikini than admit it to anyone.
I looked over at Jared. I didn't know him too well. He had short, braided back hair that suited him, arched eyebrows and lovely olive eyes. I really like his eyes. I noticed that he had fairly large ears and silver ear piercings in each. He was also shirtless, but in regular swimsuit bottoms that were greyish blue camo. He was currently flicking through the television channels while Drizella attempted to get his attention.
And then Mandy came. Great. "Hi guys!" she simpered, smiling her mega-watt smile with perfect white teeth. With her miniature nose, drawn-on eyebrows, high cheekbones, large green eyes and flawless hair and complexion, Mandy Best was envied and hated by many. It wasn't just that she was extremely pretty and rich and famous, but that she was also really nasty to girls and always able to get her way. All boys melted around her. In fact, that very moment I saw Talan's eyes grow wider and his mouth grow slack. He ran over to the couch Jared had just excavated and started flexing his muscles in front of Mandy. I snickered meanly. Talan didn't have any muscles, and how dare he try to impress Mandy.
To my relief, Mandy went over to talk to Anastasia, so Talan sat down and watched some TV. Drizella took the opportunity to converse with Jared.
"Get outta here, you're blocking the view," Talan complained.
I glanced back over to Talan and Anastasia. They shook hands, but Anastasia kept her hand on his for too long. I couldn't help but notice him check out her identical swimsuit to Drizella, only pink and spotted with hearts. Like Drizella, she hadn't put any makeup on. After checking in the washroom, it turned out that they didn't have any false eyelashes, lipstick, blush, eyeliner, mascara, or eyeshadow left. They had used most of it up on Valentine's Day.
To my utter disgust, Anastasia kept smiling at Talan. Her smiles looked like a horse whinnying.
I discreetly moved in closer to listen onto their conversation.
"Talan, I really like you," Anastasia whispered.
"I really like you, too," he said softly.
My heart broke like a dropped china doll.
They stared into each other's eyes like a pair of lovers. "Do you love me?" That was Anastasia.
"Do I love you?" Talan repeated, avoiding the question.
Anastasia sniffled. "Do you?"
"I haven't known you that long, Ana. I don't want to say I love you when I'm not sure yet," Talan said. They moved closer together. He was whispering into her ear, his lips brushing her head every so often. They embraced. His one hand on her upper back, the other further down.
How could they?! Well, not as much Anastasia as Talan. I knew that Anastasia was a desperate, skanky idiot who has breath like a gorilla and about as much cleavage as one too. She wasn't remotely attractive, not her body, not her face. Her hair cut was weird and she was just an idiot person. But Talan? Why? It burned my heart, and I felt tears stinging my eyes. Why would he descend to such a level? He knew that I hated my step-sisters. He knew that they were horrible creatures. Maybe he knew that I liked him, and this was his way of reacting. He wanted to separate himself from me, make it obvious he didn't want me. Rejection. The word was depressing.
I turned away from the two so that neither would see my tears. Drizella was whispering into Mandy's attentive and beautiful ear. The only thing Mandy didn't have going for her was her lack of boobs.
Talan flashed his pearly whites at Anastasia. I noticed Drizella watching. She turned, again, to Mandy and whispered in her ear. I noticed how similar their eyebrows were. They must have watched the same eyebrow drawing YouTube video. I also noticed that Drizella had managed to find some fake eyelashes after all, as well as mascara. Likewise for Anastasia. It was just their other face slut tools they were missing.
Anastasia and Talan hugged again. At first it just seemed friendly-Talan kept his hands above her neck. She kept her hand above his waist. But then her hands slipped down, and his slipped around. He fiddled with her bikini strap and then planted his hand over her butt.
"Talan," Anastasia groaned. "You naughty boy."
I watched this all from afar, tears leaking down my face. They were cold and heartless, and there weren't many. My stomach fell apart, and I bit my quivering lip. No blubbering like a baby, Cinderella. I told myself sternly. It was enough.
Then I went over what I had heard. Not Anastasia and Talan's conversation, but Drizella and Mandy's. What a dirty ho, Drizella had said. She's yours to take care of, not mine, Mandy had responded. I had assumed they were talking about me, naturally. Slut, whore, prostitute, ho, skank, and tramp were among the nicknames I had on addition to the maid and servent girl ones. But now that I thought of it, it wouldn't have made sense since Drizella had said, Split them up, you're sexy enough to do so. Mandy had laughed and said, You're such a lesbian. Drizella had raised her eyebrows, tossed her head in Jared's direction and licked her lips. Mandy had laughed and said, loudly, "I made out with him once!"
I decided I had better things to do than watch three people I hated converse and manipulate. I strolled outside, but not before I caught Anastasia making the move. She leaned in, her lips spread apart like a hooker's legs, puckering, her eyes closed shut. I smiled selfishly as Talan leaned away, pushed her back with his hand, a sad smile on his attractive lips.
"We're not there yet, Ana, hon," he said.
"I know... but... do you love me?" she fired at him again wildly. What a turn-off. I snorted.
Talan smiled. "No, sweetiepie." A sour taste quelled in my mouth. Sweetiepie?
"Oh, I was just testing you, I don't either!" she lied. I could see the amusement in his eyes and the hurt in hers. I snorted as I walked outside. What an idiot.
"Do you want me to massage your sexy back?" Anastasia offered, hands out.
"Seriously Anastasia, stop it. No, I do not want a back massage," Talan said, and this time I could here annoyance in his voice, his tone brimming with anger. Through the window, I saw his face of disgust as he turned away from Anastasia. I noticed Mandy move closer to the two. I thought the whole affair was funny, but it hurt a lot, too. I scrubbed Pino's cage ferociously, trying hard to wipe away the image of Anastasia and Talan.
"I'll be right back, lover," Anastasia cooed and rushed off to her room. She came back with red roses held behind her back. "Surprise!"
"Wow! Thanks!" Talan said, taking the flowers. He actually looked smug. He inhaled the flowers like they were a drug. "God, these are so nice! I should be the one getting flowers for you," he said.
I should be the one getting flowers for you. Wow. That made it pretty much official that they were dating. What. Why. I should be the one getting flowers for you. Sweetiepie. Hon. It didn't make any sense. I was so confused. Why, oh why, Talan, would you descend to this level?
I peered in through the window, examining their faces. Again, they were staring at each like they were the only two people in the world. I turned away, running to my mice, and scrubbed their tanks.
"It ain't fair, Gus-Gus," I said sadly, wiping a tear away. "What have I done, Jack? What did I do wrong?"
I cried noiselessly.
Reluctantly, I traveled back inside with my head down, to my step-sisters' room. I made Drizella's bed and walked out to find Anastasia with her hands clasped together. "Please, oh please, Talan, won't you be my boyfriend? You're everything I could ever want, anything and everything I could ever want." Had she no pride? I glanced at her, looking even more piggish than usual with her abnormally large nose flared and her eyebrows furrowed.
I looked away, wanting and not wanting to know the answer. I'd find out eventually anyway. Drizella was hissing something else to Mandy. Mandy seemed really attentive, biting her lip and raising a perfect eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, Ana, but I really don't think we're right for each other," Talan said, snuggled close to Anastasia in a comforting embrace.
"B-b-b-but why! Am I not good enough for you?" Anastasia wailed, sobbing into Talan's shoulder.
No, you're not, I thought.
"Ana," Talan sighed, sounded very adult. "It's not like that. I just don't know you well enough. Maybe we can eat lunch together a few times and get to know each other."
What? No. Talan and I ate lunch together. Talan and I knew each other. I knew his favourite colour was blue, his favourite food was peanut butter and jelly, and his favourite music genre was Latin. I knew this, so why didn't he like me? Life wasn't fair.
"I love you," Anastasia croaked, contradicting her earlier statement. She looked deeply into Talan's eyes, and he looked back wordlessly. "One parting kiss?" she said hopefully, dramatically.
"One parting kiss," Talan said, leaning in.
"Talan, darling, how are you!" Mandy said, cutting in. She hip-checked Anastasia away. Why had I ever thought that Mandy was mean? I had just been stereotyping because she was beautiful. She was a beautiful, kind, rich girl who deserved the world. I beamed. On closer inspection, Mandy appeared to have some visible abs. Wow. That is a girl who cared about her body. I wonder why I had once suggested that she was anorexic. That was mean and way out of line of me. What a bad thing to say.
Anastasia ran to her bedroom sobbing.
"What the hell, Mandy," Talan said. I was caught on whose side to take.
I compromised to take out the trash.
"What's wrong, babe?" Mandy said.
"What the hell do think's wrong? I was about to kiss her!"
"Yeah, I know. You can thank me now."
"What the hell! Why the hell would I thank you!"
"Talan sweetie, there is no way you actually wanted to kiss that... thing. Did you see her face? Obviously not, because then you would have run home."
"That's enough, Mandy. You don't need to be such a bi-"
"Now, now, no time for rudeness, honey! You didn't think I was so bad when you got down on your knees and read me a poem that you wrote before giving me a five hundred dollar necklace!"
"That was before I found out you were a-" Talan muttered, using five different swear words to end his sentence. I was appalled.
"Talan, don't pretend you don't still want me," Mandy purred, and suddenly her voice became throaty and seductive. I remembered earlier when Mandy came in.
Talan looked awkward, and I knew it was working. Mandy stuck her nonexistent breasts forward and licked her lips. She stepped forward to Talan, and stroked his leg dangerously close to his crotch. Talan didn't do anything. He put his hand on his forehead and looked down at Mandy stroking his leg.
It wasn't much better than Anastasia.
While Mandy worked her magic on Talan, I glanced over at Drizella, who I was sure was smug for getting Anastasia away from Talan. To my utter amazement, Drizella was making the move on Jared. He noticed and turned to her, making her jump.
"The hell, Drizzy!" Jared cried lifting his hands in the air. Drizzy? I chortled. Ana at least made sense, but Drizzy? It suited Jared's punk attitude though. Drizella started laughing as well, probably both at the silliness of getting caught and the fact that he called her Drizzy. She caught my eye and we smiled at each other, then quickly looked away. To stop myself from giggling, I walked into the nearest room-Anastasia and Drizella's.
I stopped laughing. Anastasia was sobbing into her pillow, shuddering, horrible sobs. She didn't notice me as she pulled the covers over her, her face wet from tears, her mascara horribly smeared. She didn't notice me as she quickly fell asleep, whispering, "Talan..."
I couldn't help but feel guilty, and a little bad for her. I realized that we were alike. I, too, loved Talan Sagar.
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