Life sucks, Cinderella Tremaine thought to herself as she waited at the dry cleaners.
She sighed and gave herself a little shake. No, cant afford to think like that, she told herself firmly.
The door opened, anouncing the visitor the a cheerful tinkle of bells. Cinderella glanced over her shoulder, surprised to see the short, slight form of a freshman, Snow White.
She nodded at Cinderella, her deep red lips pursed in a straight line, before approaching the desk.
Cinderella didn't know Snow White too well. She was one of those girls who always had something positive to say, and was well known around school despite only being 14. Cinderella didn't know her to well, as she was two grades above Snow and kept to herself in the first place. She didn't have time for friends.
Cinderella yawned and glanced at her phone, rolling her eyes at the time. Six o'clock. Her stepmother was epecting her to be home in 20 minutes. Cinderella shuddered a bit as she thought about how much extra chores she was going to get for being late, again.
Cinderella sighed and added yet another thing to her to-do list, find a new dry cleaner.
Snow White was nervous. She tapped her foot expactantly as she waited for her stepmother's dry cleaning. The sharp sound of patent flats slapping the ground filled the tiny room.
Snow glanced over her shoulder at the darkening sky, refusing the urge to run out and forget all about Grimhilde's fancy power suits that just couldn't be thrown in the wash.
Snow pinched the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb, trying to ignore the oncoming darkness. Snow had a terrible fear of the dark that Grimhilde always forgot about when it was time for errands. The closer they got into winter the worse it got.
Snow pulled her pale yellow sweater tight around her body, feeling the cool chill of fall blow through the open window. She glanced around the room, desperately trying to forget about the dark.
Her eyes fell on the one other person in the room. Cinderella Tremaine.
Snow didn't know much about Cinderella. She knew everyone liked Cinderella, she was patient and kind and really smart. But she didn't get out much, so no one really knew anything about her.
She was leaning against the wall, glaring at her cellphone. Her soft, strawberry blonde curls were pulled back in a tight ponytail, her eyes narrowed as she stared at her phone. She wore a simple, brown tweed jacket and a pair of old, lace up boots. She looked a little rundown, tired, like she hadn't slept good in a long time.
Cinderella glanced up from her phone, and their eyes locked for a second. For a moment, Snow saw something in Cinderella's sad, blue eyes. She saw a kindred spirit, someone who was going through the same thing she was.
Then she quickly looked away and the connection was lost.
Snow looked down, my pale cheeks felt warm. Snow was naturally good with people, almost everyone liked her, but she had trouble finding people she could talk to.
Think positive, she told herself, and pulled her headphones out of her pocket. She smiled, all I need is a smile and a song.