Not Quite Cinderella
Beca and her mother Emily lived in a state of shock after Beca's father passed away. They had both loved him very much and his death hit them both very hard.
Emily had always been a happy, outgoing person but when her husband died, it was like that when he left he took every ounce of happiness with him.
Beca had been a happy teenager too but the loss of her dad, it left of a hole that she thought that would never be filled. So she turned to the only thing that gave her some sort of happiness and that was music. She loved music but even that felt like it had lost some of it luster. But it gave her an out of reality, which she enjoyed. Music was something she new inside and out, she could work magic with it.
It didn't take long for both Beca and Emily to realize that they could not afford to live as they were. The farm that that live on was failing with her father not there to maintain it. And even though Emily didn't want too, she knew that she needed to go out and find a husband. The thought of another man touching her made her physically sick, but there was nothing she could do about it, so when she sat Beca down to talk about it, Beca cried and screamed.
After a week of having the same conversation, Beca's realization that things couldn't go on the way they were had started to sink in. She also knew her mother didn't want to do this as much as she didn't want her too, but she knew that Emily was doing it for both of them, so that they wouldn't lose their farm.
Emily was a beautiful woman so it didn't take long for her to find a new husband. His name was Bumper, and he was a jerk but he was rich, not really really rich, but rich enough that he would be able to hire help to work the farm. But the worst thing about Bumper was that he had two sons. Their names were Jesse and Donald, they were the same age as Beca, but they were both just so full of themselves.
Beca watched them move into her house and act like they owned it. They treated her like she was their slave. And every time they had to do something around the house, they order Beca to do it instead and when she told them where to stick it, Bumper would yell at her and tell her if she didn't do it, she would be kicked out.
Emily tried at first to defend Beca, but Beca could see the fear in her eyes when Bumper would start yelling. Raised voices were not something that had happened it this house before. And in the end Beca could see her mother dying on the inside, just like when her father died. So instead of arguing, she just started to do everything they asked her to do.
Then one day a letter arrived. There was to be a Ball at the castle. The Princess Chloe would be choosing a husband. Everyone in the kingdom was invited. Jesse and Donald were so excited, they were sure that one of them would be picked to marry Princess Chloe. Beca just shook her head, great if one of them got picked least she wouldn't have to live with them anymore.
The boys had picked out their outfits and admittedly, they didn't look half bad. Beca had bought a dress to wear because her mother had asked her too. Beca hadn't owned a dress since she was a little girl. Beca didn't like dresses and her mother and father had both encouraged her to be whoever she wanted to be, because no matter what, they loved her. But since this was a Ball at the castle, Bumper had said that she needed to dress like a lady, and she didn't want to cause trouble for her mother.
The morning of the Ball, Beca was in her room working on her music when there was a knock at her door. The door flew open and Beca was wrapped up into a big hug by her best friend Fat Amy.
"Hey short stuff." Fat Amy said as she let go of Beca.
"Hey yourself, I thought you would be at the castle helping set things up.?"
"I was but something happened, the DJ that was supposed to be playing tonight broke their leg, and they need somebody to replace him. So when I overheard that, I suggested you. I know, I know, you don't like to share your music, but it's really good and now that I have told them that I would get you to do it. You have too, because you know, I don't want to be beheaded."
"What?"
"You're Djing at the Ball tonight so your best friend Fat Amy doesn't get beheaded and because you love her sooooo much."
"Um"
"Good that's settled, see you there about two hours before the Ball and I will help you set up. Love you gotta go." And Fat Amy runs out the door.
Beca goes to tell Emily what had just happened. Emily smiled at her daughter for the first time in months. She was so happy that Beca was going to get to share her music with the kingdom. They would see how beautiful and talented her daughter was.
Beca headed over the Castle a couple of hours before the Ball to set up her station. And because Fat Amy came to help like she said she would, it didn't take long at all. She played some of her music to make sure that everything was working and it sounded great.
"Are you going home to get changed?" Asked Fat Amy
"What's wrong with what I am wearing?"
"Torn jeans and a tank top not really appropriate for a Ball, just saying."
"Well I did buy this nice dress."
"A dress really, ok . Well how about you go home and get changed but just make sure your back in time."
Beca gets home to an empty house, the others must have already left. She goes to her wardrobe and pulls out the dress, hang it up so she can look at it. She shakes her head and thinks to herself, this isn't me. She gets up and goes to the attic. She walks over to a box marked Dad. She opens it and goes through the clothes until she finds what she is looking for. She pulls out her father's tuxedo. This is what I want to wear. She takes it to her room and puts it on. It is too big for her.
She sits there and cries to herself, god she wished he was here.
"What's wrong dear?" a voice says
Beca looks up startled, she was sure she was home by herself. Standing in front of her a beautiful woman with brown hair, wearing something that looked like a fairy costume.
"Ah who are you? Beca asks
"I'm Stacey your fairy god mother."
"Who?"
"I get that a lot, I am Stacey, and I am your fairy god mother. I am here to help."
"I don't need help."
"You were crying, so what has made you unhappy?"
"I miss my dad and I wanted to wear his tuxedo tonight so I felt like he was with me, but it is too big."
"Well I can fix that."
"Really?"
"Yes just stand up?"
Beca stands up. She eyes Stacey as Stacey flicks the stick she has in her hand. Beca and feel the clothes adjusting on her body, the sleeves and cuffs move to the right height, the waist pulls in and the top she was wearing under the tux disappears. It fits her perfectly. Black shiny boots appear on her feet and she feels her messy bun hair fall down around her shoulders.
"Um what happened to my shirt?
"Trust me honey, you don't need one."
Beca walks over to the mirror to look at herself. The tuxedo looks fantastic, her hair is down and falls perfectly around her shoulders and her makeup in done in a dark smoldering way. And Stacey is right, she doesn't need a shirt.
"I look hot." Says Beca in a surprised voice
"I know." Replies Stacey. "Well only one thing left to do it get you to that Ball. So hold on I am just going to zap you there so that your there on time. And tonight dear, have the time of your life because you never know what can happen." She adds with a wink
And before Beca gets the chance to thank Stacey she's at the Ball and standing at her station. This day could not get any weirder if it tried, she thinks to herself. People are just starting to arrive for the Ball so Beca lines up her music so that it is soft and low so that the people arriving could still hear each other over it.
There are hundreds of people milling about below her, she manages to spot her mother Emily. She looked beautiful. She smiled and talked to everyone she greeted. But Beca knew her mum, the smile didn't reach her eyes. Emily finally got a minute to herself and looked up at Beca. Their eyes met, and for the first time in a very long time, Emily's eyes shine. You look beautiful mouthed Emily. So do you Beca mouths back. Beca throws her mum a kiss and Emily catches it, then Emily turns back to the people she is standing with.
There are horns blowing in the back ground so Beca stop the music. The horns are to announce the arrival of Princess Chloe. The princess is standing at the top of the stairs waiting to make her descent. Beca is a few feet away from the Princess but on the same level. She had never seen the Princess before but she had heard stories of how pretty she was. As Beca stood there looking at her, she realized all of those stories were an understatement.
Princess Chloe was the most gorges woman she had ever seen. She had the brightest red hair that Beca had ever seen and the biggest brightest blue eyes that Beca couldn't believe were real. She wore her hair up in a bun with a diamond necklace and a deep blue satin dress that fit to her curves perfectly.
Beca was sure she had stopped breathing. She couldn't take her eyes off the Princess like everyone else but what surprised her was that when the Princess started to walk down the stair case she looked over at Beca a winked. Beca's heart raced. The Princess didn't just wink at her did she? No thought Beca as she shook her head.
When the Princess reached the bottom of the stairs Beca began to play her music again. She spent her time watching mother making sure that she was alright but her eyes would always find themselves searching out someone else. And there were even a few times that's she found herself looking at the Princess, that she found those blue eyes looking back at her. Every time this happened Beca's heart would beat faster that the music she was playing.
After everyone had eaten dinner, Beca raised the volume of the music and upped the beat. People were getting up to dance. The Princess was being asked to dance by all the young men in the kingdom. Every time a new man danced with the Princess, Beca felt herself getting a little jealous. She knew she wanted to dance with the Princess but couldn't, the Princess was here to find a husband.
The only thing that made Beca happy during her little bit of jealousy was seeing what an ass Jesse and Donald were making of themselves to get the Princess attention. The Princess was of course being polite and dancing with them but as she did, she danced around so that she was facing Beca and looked up at her instead.
It went on like this the whole night, and as things were starting to wind down, Beca started to feel a little bit sad. She had had one of the best nights she could remember since her father died. Everybody seemed to really enjoy her music but she wished that somehow even for just one second, she could have danced with the Princes herself.
As the Princess left the Ball, she thanked everyone for coming and left. There was no glance at Beca which Beca had been hoping for but really what had she expected, she was just a part of the servants that worked at the ball. After the last guest left Beca started packing up her gear.
"Can I have this dance?"
Beca turned to see where the voice had come from and was stunned to see Princess Chloe standing in front of her. "There is no music." Beca managed to mutter out
"Well you can fix that can't you?" glancing at Beca's stuff
Beca turns and looks at the gear and cues up a few slow songs. Princess Chloe who is still in her dress from the Ball grabs Beca's hand and leads her down the stairs and on to the dance floor. She takes Beca's hand and puts the other on Beca's shoulder waiting for Beca to take the lead. Beca takes a second to realize what she is suppose to be doing and then finally puts her hand on Princess Chloe's waist. And starts dancing.
Beca is almost too afraid to look up because she believes that she is dreaming. It is not until Princess Chloe speaks that she is game enough to look into those blue eyes. "I really enjoyed your music tonight. It made this party so much more bearable than what it was going to be."
"Thank you Princess."
"Don't call me Princess, call me Chloe."
"Princess Chloe, I am really glad you like my music, it was a pleasure to be able to play it for you."
"If you call me princess again, I will stop dancing with you?"
"But you asked me to dance." Beca replies feeling a little bit braver
Chloe giggles "Yes I did, so I suppose that would defeat the purpose. But please just call me Chloe?"
"Sure Prin… Chloe"
"Good now that that's settled, I have been told that your name is Beca?"
"Yes but how did you know?"
"I have this friend, well she is a servant but I consider her more of a friend and I believe that you have the same friend her name is Fat Amy."
Beca laughs out loud, of course Fat Amy would be a friend to the Princess."Yes it does seem that we do have the same friend."
"You know, I love Fat Amy" says Chloe "But sometimes she scares me. It is like she seems to know what I need before I do. And today somehow the DJ we were supposed to have playing suddenly brakes a leg mysteriously and there was Fat Amy suggesting you could take his spot."
Beca shakes her head, it would not surprise her, what Fat Amy would do for a friend. "She can be a bit um loyal, is the best way I can put it."
"Well she was hell bent on making sure you were here. I am very glad to see that she was right again" says Chloe
"Thank you"
"I don't mean to be forward but you look very hot I that tux."
Beca blushes "Thank you it was my father's."
"Your father was short too? Chloe teases.
"No, it was taken in, and I am not that short."
"Yeah you are but it's cute."
Beca doesn't say anything and they dance a little bit closer than before.
"So did you find your future husband tonight? Beca asks boldly
"No, but I wasn't expecting too."
"Why is that?"
"Well did you see the idiots that were here tonight, I mean there were these two guys, I think one was called Jesse and the other called Donald. I mean could they have been any more stupid looking if they tried. I think one even tries to tweark me. I mean really."
Beca laughed, she had seen that move while she was watching the Princess and almost choked on the drink she was having. "So no one else?"
"Well there was someone but I didn't get to spend any time with them."
Beca hearts sinks a little. "No, well that's a shame."
"It was, but it is better now"
"Why?"
"Well I am getting to spend time with her now."
Princess Chloe leans in and gives Beca a soft kiss.
"Oh" Beca says when Chloe pulls away from the kiss.
"Oh, is that all you have to say."
Beca tries to recover but it comes out in a rush "No I didn't mean it like that, I didn't, I don't, I …"
"Shut up and kiss me" Chloe says
"Yes Princess." Beca leans in
But Chloe pulls back "If you really don't want to kiss me then you don't have too?"
"Oh no I want too."
"Then don't call me Princess"
"Shut up and kiss me Chloe"
They meet each other half way and pull each other closer. The kiss was soft warm and everything each other had hoped for. They only pulled apart when the need for air got to great. They continued dancing with their foreheads touching and looking into each other's eyes. They only pulled apart when the music finally stopped.
"So will I see you again? Asks Chloe
"Aren't you supposed to find a husband?"
"No, I was supposed to find someone I wanted to spend my life with and I think I have."
"I am no one special Chloe, I can't give you the things that you deserve and you deserve so much. You deserve to be treated like a Princess, and have gifts showered upon you every day. I can't give you that."
"Well if you haven't noticed, I am already a Princess and I can buy anything I want. The one thing I can't buy is love. And I know that we have only just met, but I feel love towards you Beca, I fell in love with you this afternoon, while you were here setting up. I listened to your music, you didn't know I was there watching you. But I was and I couldn't take me eyes off you. I could feel you inside me, like my heart hadn't started beating until I saw you. So no you can't give me gifts and stuff like that. But you can give me so much more than money could buy. Are you willing to give me your heart Beca?"
"I would be willing to give you my heart until the last beat of it." Answers Beca truthfully
Chloe smiles and it lights up the whole Ballroom. She leans in and kisses Beca again, who meets her lips willingly.
"One thing though, there is my mum." Beca says after they pull away from another kiss.
"Oh you mean the lovely lady I spent a lot of time with tonight because she was talking about her beautiful and talented daughter who was the DJ tonight."
"Yeah that's the one." Beca replies looking embarrassed
"Don't you think she would approve of me?"
"Of course she would."
"Well I hope she doesn't mind that the Princess is in love with her daughter as much as she is?"
"So now you are back to Princess?"
"If it helps me keep you, then yes."
Beca half laughs "No it is not that, she is married to this jerk and I can't leave her to have to deal with him and his sons by herself. I want to be with you but I can't leave her."
"No problem, him and his sons with be banished and your mum can come and live here. I really liked her anyway. I just hope she thinks I am good enough for her daughter?"
"Well I don't know" Beca jokes
Chloe pushes Beca back a little, and then grabs her to her and kisses again. "I could get use to this?"
"I hope so because I really like kissing you too."
In the shadows of the Ballroom, Stacey and Fat Amy are standing together watching this all unfold. And they give each other a high five. "Told you they were perfect for each other" says Stacey
"No I told you" argues Fat Amy
"Doesn't matter." Says Stacey
"Nah, it doesn't we were both right." Replies Fat Amy
Emily couldn't be happier for her daughter. Beca is the happiest she has seen her since her father died, and Chloe was the best daughter-in-law that she could have hoped for. Emily had met Princess Chloe's father, King Benji, and they had hit it off. It soon apparent that King Benji and Emily had found love for a second time and no one could have been happier for them than their daughters.
The four of them lived happily ever after in their castle. And it wasn't until the sudden cry from a little red headed child in the early hours of one morning that they knew, their lives were about to change forever.
The end