It had started out as something innocent, just to see what it would be like. What love might actually feel like. But to be in love, you had to open up to someone, to let your feelings show. Something I rarely did, often putting false ones that people wanted to see in place of my true feelings. I shoved them down; refusing to let them see what would only shock them.
I had always been quiet as a child, always the one to stick close to my parents, clutching and hiding behind their legs as I was introduced to someone. Soon, I grew, and began to venture out from behind them, mumbling my name and asking for theirs. I had met my match one day, as I felt I was always destined to:
It was the first day of kindergarten, and everyone was staring. I had never felt comfortable with how I looked- just a little pudgy, a hint of baby fat lingering, dark hair and piercing green eyes. I clutched my book to my chest as the teacher dismissed us for recess, running towards the swings.
A small herd of girls walked up, hands on their hips, staring at me. I kept my eyes down on the pages, looking through the book absent-mindly.
Finally, one girl, obviously the leader, marched up so that her shadow fell onto the picture. Compared to me, she was painfully confident, and I shrank down in my swing as she peered down at me.
"What are you doing?" She said with a nasty look on her face.
"R-reading," I replied quietly, still looking down at the book in my hands.
"Reading?" She sneered, as if she didn't know the meaning of the word. "Why would you want to do that when you're outside?" The other girls laughed, pointing at me with accusing fingers.
I didn't reply, scared that I would start to cry. She stood there for a moment, relishing her small victory, and turned to leave, knocking the book out of my hands and into the dirt. They laughed again, and walked away, complimenting her the whole time. I bent down on shaky legs, sniffling, reaching for the scuffed book.
A hand gently picked it up, and handed it to me, tennis shoes coming into view.
"Why are you crying?" A curious voice asked, wiping away the tear and smearing the dust.
I sniffled again, wiping my nose on the back of my hand. "I'll never fit in," I mumbled, lip trembling and voice wavering. "I'm not pretty like the other girls. I don't even look like them."
The hand tapped my arm, and I looked up at the boy standing in front of me. He had jet black hair, like most of the others, but sparkling blue eyes, clear as the summer sky above us, not at all cruel like the other girl's.
"You look pretty to me," he said, roostering his head to the side. "Even though you have cooties," He scrunched up his nose at the thought.
"I'm still not like them," I insisted, "They like to jump rope and braid their hair. All I like to do is read." I dug my heels into the dirt, swaying back and forth slightly.
"You can read?" He asked, shocked. I nodded, pig tails brushing my ears and shoulders. He sat down on the swing beside me, rocking back and forth with me. "I've never met anyone who's my age that can read." He confided, peering over at the picture. "What's this story about?" I hesitated before jumping to explain.
"There's this girl named Cinderella, and she works for her nasty step mother and sisters. They're not very nice to her. They make her do all the work, and one day the King throws a ball in honor of his son the Prince. He's looking for a bride to help him run the Kingdom. Cinderella doesn't get to go because she has chores to do, but the rest of her family does."
"But that's not fair!" The boy protested, his eyebrows scrunching together.
I nodded in agreement, continuing on. "Then her fairy godmother appears, and turns her into a beautiful princess. She goes to the ball, but she has to be back before midnight before the spell wears off. As she's leaving, one of her glass slippers falls off, and the Prince finds it. He starts searching the whole kingdom to see which girl the slipper fits. He finally goes to her house, and she tries it on. They get married and live happily ever after."
He paused, as if taking it all in before he nodded slowly, as if deeming it acceptable. "That's a good story. Will you read it to me tomorrow during recess, or will you be playing with your friends?"
I blushed, digging my toes into the dirt. "I don't have any friends."
"Everyone's got to have friends," he said, pushing his hair out of his eyes.
"Not me," I muttered, flipping to the next page to avoid looking at him. Cinderella had just been transformed into a beautiful princess, and was being warned about the spell.
"I'll be your friend." He said suddenly, holding out his hand. "I'm Merit."
I looked at it before I took it, shaking it gently. "I'm Annabelle." He smiled at me as the bell rang, and clutched my hand tight in his, tugging me up. We walked back to the classroom, hand in hand, already on our way to becoming friends. And just like that, I had been transformed into a princess. It was just a matter of time before the clock struck midnight.
ok so i just finished this after working on it for like a week and a half and it's ok
Poll