NEVER CINDERELLA
Summary: At the end of the night, Chloe just simply isn't Cinderella. This isn't her fairytale, not be a long shot.
Rating: K
Disclaimer: I don't own.
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In a strange way, it's like she's almost like Cinderella. Almost, but not quite. Chloe has the dress and everything that might qualify her for Cinderella-status but she's lacking two essential things. The fairy godmother and Prince Charming.
The fairy godmother was at Lana's house, Chloe's sure, which is why Lana gets to be Cinderella and why Clark is Lana's Prince Charming and not Chloe's.
Not that she's bitter or anything like that.
It's fitting that Lana got the fairy godmother because everyone would probably agree that Lana has had the harder life. She lost her parents at three, will forever be the little girl on the cover of Time in a fairy costume. Nell raised Lana but Nell lied to Lana some many times. Lana's biological father wasn't Mr. Lang and instead she got a man whose wife was too jealous. Lana gave up her father for a stepmother. Lana got handed the cup of shit and so she completely deserves the fairy godmother.
Chloe's life isn't perfect but she supposes in comparison to Lana's that her life seems perfectly fine. So of course she doesn't get the fairy godmother or Prince Charming. She gets the crown but none of the trimmings. She'd prefer the trimmings but sometimes life just doesn't work that way.
It'd be a lie to say that it doesn't hurt that Lana got the fairy godmother but Chloe's an expert at lying to herself. She tells herself she can't turn away from Clark and Lana because there's something magical about them coming together like they are right now. It's another lie but who's counting?
If there's any consolation it's that this is only one moment. One moment where Lana gets the fairytale and Prince Charming. But it's only one moment.
The ending isn't written in stone yet. The fairytale ending is still in the process of being written. Perhaps this is only a temporary setback. Perhaps she'll become the star of the fairytale at some point in the future.
Chloe doesn't hold out much hope. Even if she wished upon a shooting star, she still in all likelihood wouldn't get the fairytale ending. Lana already has the fairy godmother and the fairy looks and Prince Charming. What does Chloe have but a dress that isn't as pretty as Lana's and a crown that's plastic? Not exactly the stuff fairytales are made up off.
Clark, afterall, isn't exactly normal. He's a meteor freak and Chloe's sure that Prince Charming can't be meteor-infected. Not that she'd care if Clark was but for the fairytale, Prince Charming is supposed to be perfect.
Or maybe Clark's special status makes him even more like Prince Charming. Prince Charming overcomes all odds. Meteor freaks all seem to go insane but Clark's not insane, far from it. He's taken it upon himself to be Smallville's protector and that may be the reason why he truly is Prince Charming.
Still, that doesn't mean Lana is the princess. Right now she is but things change. Some catastrophe could arise and then Clark would be gone, leaving Lana behind like he left Chloe behind at the Spring Formal all those years ago. That would ruin the fairytale.
But nothing like that happens. Chalk it up to fate but nothing tears Clark away from Lana as Lighthouse plays their last song. The couple, lost in their own little world, only leave the dance floor when Mr. Kent clears his throat right next to the couple. The loud applause from the Senior Class hadn't even managed to drive the two from each other's arms.
Chloe keeps watching the couple long after they've stopped dance. She knows she should stop, doesn't have any excuses to watch them, but she can't stop. It's horrible that she can't look away. The fairytale continues before her eyes and it's become clear that this is indeed the fairytale she'll never get. Lana is the Princess and Clark is Prince Charming and nothing is going to disturb their perfect night.
Her classmates begin to leave, Clark and Lana leave, and at last Chloe leaves. She's one of the last few to exit the gym. She walks out into the brisk night air and catches sight of Clark and Lana staring into each other's eyes. It's romantic and her throat feels thick as she forces herself to continue to her car, alone, as she's been all night really.
It's only later, when the makeup is off and the dress neatly hung up in her closet, that Chloe finally lets the tears fall.
All alone in her bedroom, she cries for the fairytale ending she never got and never deserved because, in this story, she's just Chloe and that's not enough to be like Cinderella.
Only girls named Lana get to be Cinderella.
A/N: Technically, this hasn't really little to do with the above story but I'm doing a research paper on online fandoms and fanfiction and I was wondering if anyone would be interested in being interviewed. If yes, then leave a comment or send me an email. You can find my email on my profile page.