Hello! This is the introduction and first chapter to my story Not a Cinderella Story. Its told in alternating perspectives and switches ever two chapters. I hope you enjoy. Please review and leave feedback. I'd greatly appreciate it.
-faithforwingss
Preface
Ella
Before I start, I would just like to say I do not believe in fairy tales The whole idea of it is absurd as far as I'm concerned. I mean seriously, every fairy tale is the same. The same beginning, the same middle, the same end.
Some sad, depressed girl mopes about in her depressing life, waiting for something magical to change it. Boo hoo. Then one day she meets her amazing Prince Charming and he whisks her of her feet. He makes all her problems magically go away and they get married. The girl does absolutely nothing and she gets her wildest dreams to come true. It is all totally unfair.
For the record, that girl is not me. I would never stoop that low. It just isn't like me to rely on anyone. Being independent is in my nature and I am not one to let a guy run my life. After all, in the end anyone can have their own…
Happily
Ever
After
Nathan
Life is crazy. It can change in a matter of minutes, seconds even. I would like to put it out in the open that I wasn't exactly searching for a game-changing twist in reality, but fate often has another plan. Not that I'm complaining or anything.
Being thrown into the craziest, backwards fairy tale I had ever seen was definitely the best thing that ever happened to me. Though, the best things aren't always the easiest. It's hard to be the traditional prince when the princess doesn't want to be swept of her feet.
Not everything has to go by the book. Fairy tales aren't rule books, there not even general guidelines. They are simply what they are. They're not meant to be duplicated and when people try to things get messy. Instead of trying to follow the stories, we need to make our own. After all in the end anyone can have their own…
Happily
Ever
After.
Chapter One
Ella
I woke up to a loud banging noise coming from the other side of my bedroom door. I groaned to myself. Sometimes I wished I could just sleep in. Another cluster of heavy knocks filled the room. Like I would ever be able to sleep in.
I pushed my covers off my body and sat up. Just as I was about to get the door it came flying open, causing me to yelp in surprise. My stepmother Merissa came waltzing in my room. Her high heels made a clicking sound as she made her way to my bed.
"Why are you not up? It is six o'clock already and you have things to do this morning," her tone was demanding and she looked down at me waiting for some sort of response. Instead of actually saying anything I just stood up and went to my closet in search of something to wear to school. Looked like I wouldn't have time for a shower before I had to leave.
Merissa huffed, "Good. I am off to work. Make sure the twins are ready for school. They aren't up yet." Without another word she turned and click, click, clicked her little feet out of the room.
Great, I thought, it was going to be one of those days.
I searched my closet for something I wanted to wear. I didn't have very fashionable clothes but I did have my own quirky style. Most of the shirts that were hung up were plain T's and tanks that I could layer on top of each other. The pants I had consisted of leggings, fun puffy skirts, and the occasional pair of ripped jeans. To top of every outfit I would put on a cute leather mini jacket and loads of jewelry. My style was unique. My style was me.
Finally settling on a pair of skinny jeans and a purple shirt with my favorite jacket on top I skipped out of my closet and put on a bunch of bracelets and necklaces. After quickly combing my long, wavy black hair I glanced at the mirror once more before heading to the door.
Looking back at my bedroom I smiled. My room was my favorite place to be. It held so many great memories of my dad. When I was ten I voiced to my father that his music room was my favorite pace to be, so he converted it into a bedroom for me. The piano was still where it used to be in the room and it was still used often. Where my bed sat used to be where the drum set was. Even the back of my closet held traces of my father with his old records stacked up on top of each other.
I smiled thinking back to the days when I would sit on my father's lap and sing along to all the songs he would play on the piano. I loved everything back then. Back when it was just he and I. Back before Merissa and the twins. Back before cancer ruined my life.
When I got home from school the last day of tenth grade. I found Dad sitting in the living room crying. That alone was scary because I had never seen my father ever cry. I couldn't imagine what could be wrong. That was when he told me. He had life threatening cancer.
My mind melted. My father was Aaron Lucas he couldn't be sick. Everyone, including me, immortalized him. It was just something so far out of my realm of possibilities I didn't know what to think.
When my father was in high school he started a band, Motion, with three of his best friends. With my dad's great voice they instantly became popular in their school. Everyone wanted Motion to play at their birthday party or at school dances. When senior year came around Father and his friends had a pivotal decision, go to college and get normal jobs, or take a chance in L.A. at becoming famous.
After discussions with parents, band meetings and a ridiculous amount of arguing each of the band members had made a choice. My father was all for spontaneous decisions and taking risks so he voted for L.A. Along with my father drummer Tony Michaels wanted to go too. The other two members opted for the safe route.
With two suite cases, a van full of instruments and four- hundred dollars, the duo drove into the city looking for a new guitarist and bassist. After exactly thirty-six minutes of auditioning they had found what they were looking for, the musical talents of John Ricardo and Andy Lewis. With the new members came an improved name. Twisted Motion.
The band made numerous sample demos to give to every record company in the city. For some companies they were to hard core and for others they weren't hard-core enough. Rejection after rejection they persevered. After a year and a half of playing in dinky clubs a company, Spinner Records, finally agreed to represent them.
New Motion's first album came out that following summer. Within weeks their songs were topping charts everywhere. Everyone knew the lyrics to their songs, especially their hit song The Breaking Point. Even today you'll still here someone in the store humming the tune as they shop or singing it as they do their daily run. To sum it up, the song haunted me.
After New Motion's first tour they decided they really needed an assistant to help manage the band. They talked to Spinner Records and were sent an assistant the next week. That assistant was my mother.
My dad once told me that the first time he saw my mom was one of the best moments of his life. He told me it was love at first sight. When I was young I was foolish enough to believe that, but when I got older I realized that love at first sight was just a fantasy. Regardless of the fact that their first meeting was romanticized they still did truly love each other.
Three years after his album my parents married and year after that I was born. During labor my mom got extremely sick and only made it long enough to hold me in her arms just once before she died.
My father, heartbroken with an infant, took a year off of music to raise me. After the year he pulled himself out of his slump and returned to Twisted Motion. He gave himself two priorities when he got back to the band, the music and me. I grew up seeing my dad as this strong figure that could withstand any obstacle that was thrown at him. That's why his announcement of having cancer struck me to the core and put me in a state of disbelief.
From that point on he was spontaneous about everything he did. He bought me anything and everything. After a few weeks I had a piano, a new wardrobe, a new cellphone, and tickets to three different concerts. Although this could be perceived as a good thing it also meant my father was spontaneous about his choice in women.
He met Merissa the summer after the cancer announcement. She was a talent scout for Spinner and they ran into each other at the recording studio. It took her exactly three weeks and four days to convince Dad they were in love. They ran off to Vegas and didn't even tell me. Imagine my surprise when he came home with a wife and two more daughters.
The three girls moved into our house that same week. Well, when I say house I really mean the four story, seven bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion I called home. I was so used to being an only child I was terrified of having two girls my age waltzing into my life.
When I first met May and April (yes, like the months) I was actually very relived. My father had knocked on my bedroom door informing me that they had arrived. Gulping I walked down the stairs as if I was on my way to an execution. In the drive way was a huge moving truck with the doors open. Spilling out of it was everything from boxes marked with names to bags with various shades of pink clothing spilling out from the top. That was when I saw them.
They were practically identical. Platinum blond hair fell down their tanned shoulders. They wore pink sweat suits unzipped to show off there form fitting white tank tops. The only way I was able to tell them apart was by the mole that was conveniently located on May's forehead. I shuddered. I was so different from them. My fair complexion contrasted with their California tans and my dark hair was the polar opposite of theirs. I had just felt so small standing there in front of them.
All of my fear instantly vanished when April extended her hand to me and smiled encouragingly, "Hi I'm April and this is my sister May. We are just so excited to meet you. When our mom told us she was marrying," she paused for dramatic affect, "Aaron Lucas we nearly died."
"We really almost did," May added happily.
They had seemed so friendly at the time I couldn't help but return their enthusiasm, "I'm Ella. It's nice to meet you too."
Just as I said this a women who was an older version of the twins stepped out from behind the truck. She tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled down her sunglasses. She looked around the front of the house and smiled seeing my father lurking behind listening in on the exchange going on between the girls and I.
"Aaron! This place is great!" she pranced over to him wrapping both her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss on the lips. "This is going to be perfect!" that is when she noticed me. "Oh my goodness you must be Ella. I am so excited to finally meet you!"
Her arms enveloped me in a tight hug nearly cutting off my circulation. Once I wriggled out of her grasp I took the chance to glance at my father to see his reaction. He wore a content look on his face. It was the first time in along time I had seen his face so relaxed, so full of happiness. I decided for his sake I would suck it up and pretend to be happy for him.
That summer went pretty smoothly. The twins were so nice to me I couldn't help but have fun. I discovered April was the more talkative of the two. May would just repeat or add to whatever her sister said. They taught me a lot about things that I wouldn't have thought of, like make up and hairstyles. I was out of my element with them but was kind of enjoying having girls to hang out with.
Merissa didn't talk much to me and I didn't really care. I was fine with her as long as she made my father happy. His condition had been slowly declining. He barely even looked like himself anymore. His hair was nonexistent and he was unnaturally thin. Despite it all, my father was always smiling and happy. I was content with the way things were going, that was until I overheard a conversation that made me change my perception of everything.
My father had a fundraiser he was going to and the twins and I made plans to head to the beach. It seemed my body had other plans. When I woke up that morning my head was pounding and I was a sweaty mess. There was no doubting that I was sick. I told May and April to leave without me and went to the kitchen to get myself a nice cup of chicken noodle soup.
On my way back to my room I hear Merissa talking loudly into her phone in the living room. Letting my curiosity get the best of me I listened in for a second. My curiosity peaked when I heard both my name and my father's name mentioned.
"Yeah. Aaron is totally oblivious to everything. It won't be long." There was a pause before she started talking again, "Oh, the girl. Well Ella won't be too bad. It will only be a few more years till she's eighteen."
I gasped. I couldn't hear the full conversation, but I got the message plain and clear. Merissa didn't love my father. She was just using him for the money.
My life from that point on was drastically changed. I spent most days glaring at Merissa or trying to tell my father about the plan with no success. I couldn't figure out whether or not the twins were in on it or not. They were always so nice to me, but were they acting?
The next week was the week it happened. Everything went by me in a whirlwind. My father kissed me goodnight and the next morning just didn't wake up. He had been getting so much worse but didn't want to loose himself in treatment after treatment, so instead he kept quiet and slowly withered away.
I cried for days on end. My heart was sore and I didn't know what was to become of me. I refused to talk to anyone and shut out the outside world. I needed a few days to just recuperate.
Merissa came into my room the day before the funeral to inform me about my fathers will. I remember the chill that went through my body as I was about to hear my father's last wishes. I was worried and afraid of the power that a piece of paper held over me.
"Your father left everything to me, sweetie. I am also your primary guardian until you turn eighteen," with that Merissa stomped out of the room without another word.
My life would never be the same was an understatement to say the least.