Summary: Amy, a solemn maiden who has to obey to her stepmother's and stepbrother's every whim, seizes an opportunity to go to a ball that she had been "falsely" invited to. Being the eye of a handsome prince however, she gets more than she bargained for.

Rating: "K+"

Setting: AU, but still in Boston.

Warning: Cliché pairings, cliché storyline. 'Nuff said.

Pairing: Ian x Amy , Dan x Natalie

Disclaimer: I do not own the 39 Clues. Or Cinderella.

XXX

"Mother, please wait up!" Amy sighed, trying her hardest to balance the bags filled with food in her hands, along with her stepmother's purses. This was why she loathed Wednesdays, which was usually the day they ran errands, mainly because of all the new produce there was outside. The city was usually crammed with people digging into their purses and wallets, trying to get out all their cash. There weren't that many people here in the market today however, which turned out to be a bad thing. Her stepmother, Beatrice, decided to take advantage of the lack of customers to buy twice as much groceries than they usually did. Amy had been summoning the courage to tell her she disliked this, but it would be better to keep her mouth shut.

If I don't say anything about our groceries, maybe stepmother won't make me do my weekly errands to the market on early Sundays…

"Hurry up, Amy! I'm starving, I want you to use some of those vegetables to make me my favorite stew." Beatrice looked back at her, glaring. "And I won't wait, like I said before, I'm starving!" She turned back around, walking even faster.

Amy sighed, trying her best to pick up the pace. But being the klutz she was, she ultimately failed and fell on her rear. Dan, her brother, turned around and laughed at her, pointing. "Oh stepmother, look at Amy!" He pretended to wipe tears off his face, and soon Beatrice too was laughing, holding onto her chest for support.

"Oh Dan, that's hilarious…" She patted him on the head, "keep on walking boy." Dan nodded, smirking at Amy before continuing on home. Beatrice's smile disappeared as soon as he was out of earshot and she pulled Amy up, harshly I might add. "Listen, I don't need you acting like a clown for your brother's entertainment."

"But I was trying to walk faster like you told me to—"

"No excuses, young lady! I'm tired of dealing with your lazy butt! I don't think you're trying hard enough… Wait, are you even trying at all?"

"Yes! I am!" Amy said, trying her best to control her tone.

"Well try HARDER." Beatrice said, shoving Amy in front of her. Amy stumbled, trying her best to walk at a reasonable pace. Soon, Beatrice was in front of her again though, and her arms were seriously beginning to ache.

As soon as they got home, Amy dropped all the bags, walking over to the couch with a newspaper in her hand, getting ready to relax. She didn't even get a chance to sit down as Beatrice pulled her away from the couch, over to the kitchen, placing her in front of the stove. "Soup. NOW." Amy sighed but nodded, taking the vegetables out of the bags.

"Be sure to wash them!"

"Yes stepmother."

"Oh, and make me some coffee, nice and strong!"

"Yes stepmother."

"…Be sure to unload the rest of the groceries, also!"

"Got it."

Amy sighed again in annoyance, unloading the rest of the groceries. She carelessly stuffed all of the canned fruits in the cabinets, but immediately started sorting them out as she remembered her unpleasant encounter with Beatrice the last time she did that. When everything was in place, Amy started preparing the stew.

Beatrice picked up the newspaper Amy had left on the couch, skimming over it. "Hmmph, even the news this girl reads is trash…" She rolled her eyes, flipping through the pages. "Boring, boring bor—whoa!" Beatrice shook her head as if she'd seen a ghost. She stared at the paper for a second, reading that paragraph over and over.

Vikram, Isabel, Ian and Natalie Kabra [formerly known as the 'Ruthless Cobras'], have finally decided to use their money and utmost authority to throw a ball for Boston. The centric of this exciting event will take place in their dazzling manor, but the entirety of it extends all the way to the market. Rumor has it Prince Ian and Princess Natalie will be looking for that lucky guy/gal to dance with! And if you're lucky, you might be the next king/queen of Boston, if you play your cards right anyway.

Beatrice gasped, instantaneously looking over at Dan. "Daniel, come here."

Dan nearly ran over to his stepmother. He knew that whenever she called him Dan, the situation she was in was serious. "Look at this girl, do you know who she is?" Beatrice pointed at Natalie, an attractive dark-haired girl next to her brother, who looked at least three years older than her.

"Yeah, that's Princess Natalie. Why?"

"Read this paragraph," Beatrice pointed to the paragraph beneath the picture.

"Okay…" Dan said reluctantly, turning his attention to the paragraph. Although it took him basically four seconds to read the entire paragraph, he kept rereading the last two sentences.

"So, what do you think?"

Dan remained silent before his cheeks were stained with crimson. Slowly, he turned over to Beatrice, "What exactly are you trying to… imply?"

"Well, you read it for yourself. Princess Natalie is single and ready to mingle!" Beatrice nudged him while Dan just looked back down at the paper. He had to admit, she was cute, and there WAS a possibility they could like each other, yet he was unsure.

"She's not bad to look at, but what if she isn't my type…?"

"Nonsense! She'll love you!"

"Yes, but what if she falls for someone else?"

"Like who?"

"Like—" Dan frowned, "I don't know! Maybe somebody better-looking than me." He shrugged.

"Dan, Dan, Dan… You obviously haven't been looking at yourself in the mirror enough! I think – no, I KNOW that Natalie will absolutely—"

"Stew's ready." Amy called from the kitchen.

Beatrice closed her mouth, smiling at Dan as they both walked over to the kitchen. "Bon appétit." Amy said expressionlessly, and a bit sourly. Beatrice sniffed the stew, nodded, and grabbed her bowl. She and Dan took large amounts of soup, pouring it into their bowls.

Amy stood there awkwardly, watching them eat greedily. Sometimes she questioned why her stepmother, a full-grown woman, had absolutely NO table manners. "Umm… St-Stepmother?"

"What?" she asked, wiping the soup dripping from her chin and shaking it onto the floor. She glanced down at it in disgust, "clean that up later. Now, what were you saying?"

Amy grimaced, but put a pleasant smile on her face quickly. "I was just wondering… If I could have some." She looked down at her feet, "Some stew, I mean."

"Well," Beatrice started.

"Only if that's okay with you, I wouldn't want to be rude." Amy added quickly.

Beatrice rolled her eyes, "No. But Dan, go get the keys to the cellar." She smiled as a look of horror flashed across Amy's face.

"Stepmother…"

"Dan and I have to talk about some very serious matters. We wouldn't like for anybody to 'overhear' them."

Dan smirked at Amy, grabbing her arm and the keys to the cellar. They walked downstairs, making a few twists and turns until they got to their destination. "Dan, please. You don't have to do this."

"I know I don't, but I want to. Don't worry, stepmother will bring you out when she wants you to clean up after our mess." He unlocked the door, shoving her inside of the dark and filthy basement. He sniffed it disdainfully, "maybe stepmother will get you to clean this room up too."

She sighed, "Dan… What on earth happened? We used to be close, basically inseparable, and then mom and dad died… Now you hate me. Why?"

Dan opened his mouth, then closed it. He didn't say anything, silently closing the door and leaving Amy there in the dark. He locked the door carefully before running back upstairs.

Beatrice smiled at him as he came up, "So Dan. Are you SURE you don't want to meet the dazzling Princess Natalie?"

"It would be nice, I guess. But I mean, let's be completely logical. They might choose Ian and his date instead of me and Natalie… If she ever fell for me."

Beatrice, who had been nibbling on a mushy carrot from her stew, paused. The kid HAD a point, and if this was so, then Dan wouldn't be king. All of a sudden, she threw her hands in the air. "BUT," she said, smiling excitedly, "if we could find another girl who could live with us and make Ian fall for her, then SHE could be queen and we could all be livin' large!" Beatrice grinned triumphantly.

Dan laughed nervously, "Um, yeah… We already have a girl that could do that."

"We do?" Beatrice asked, puzzled yet excited.

"Yep. But there's a problem."

"What is it?"

"That girl is Amy."

(PLEASE READ):

Hmm… So what did you think? I think this is more of a prologue than a "first chapter," but I GUESS it's an okay beginning to this story. I really think this is a more proper and IC version of my old story "Once Upon a Time, the End!"

The actual story begins in the next chapter, but right now, I want to clear a few things up. I don't want this to be a direct copy of the actual story "Cinderella" itself, so I changed a few things and made it into a version appropriate for the 39 Clues. So no stepsisters, just Dan and Aunt Beatrice. I think it'll be better than adding two of Amy's cousins because that would make NO SENSE, well to me it wouldn't anyways. The next chapter will be focused with the story beginning to REALLY unfold [as in you'll start to see the "Cinderella" elements of it], and hopefully I can give out glimpses into Natalie and Ian's life.

Oh, and one more thing: The main couple is SUPPOSED to be Ian/Amy, but there will be a lot of Dan/Natalie. Hopefully you'll be able to see what I'm trying to pull of here.

Review, please!