Thanks so much for all of the reviews for the first one-shot, they really mean a lot! I'm glad that you guys enjoyed the first one.
This one is set to the story of Cinderella. As last time, some things might have to be a little changed, but I'm doing my very best to stick to the story. Please bare with me here. Also, the stepmother might be OOC; she just had to be for the story to work. Another thing, for this to work, Annabeth lives in NYC. Thanks!
"Annabeth!" Her brother Bobby called, "We need you!"
Annabeth grumbled and got out of bed, where she was previously engrossed in a book of shining knights and flamboyant princesses. It was what she enjoyed most, reading about lives she could only dream of having; where unfairness was put to an end, the good were rewarded and the bad were punished. But life wasn't fair, and she of all people knew that.
"Annabeth!" Her stepmother snapped, "Where are you?" Annabeth could hear her pointy-toed shoes clinkering down the hall.
"I'm right here," Annabeth said, as she stepped right outside the door of her room. She was tired of being demanded to do things because she didn't fit in. She was the odd one out; she had a different mother and was therefore strange, which in her stepmother's eyes, made her their slave.
"Annabeth, could you please help me cook dinner? You're father is going to be home soon and dinner must be on the table," she said, while eyeing Annabeth carefully. It was as if waiting for her to do something wrong.
"I would, but I have some more homework to do," she lied. Of all of the tasks her stepmother demanded that she did, cooking was by far the one she detested the most. She wasn't gifted in anything culinary.
"Really?" He step mother asked with a sharp tone, "You can't do your role in the family because you have homework." She stared at her with piercing eyes, like she was waiting for Annabeth to break down and admit defeat.
Annabeth nodded mutely. She didn't want to speak; her step mom had gotten quite good at detecting her lies over the years. Ever since her father married her stepmother, she'd been torturing Annabeth by making her do practically every household chore there was to do. Everything from cooking to cleaning and sometimes babysitting, her mother would ask of her. She treated Annabeth as her own property, something that she inherited, not like she was someone.
"Fine then, but tomorrow you're going to not only cook but also do the laundry. You hear me? No funny business. Do your homework faster next time, because next time homework won't matter. Your responsibilities in this family are much too important to be passed off for such a thing." She turned around and walked over to the kitchen.
Annabeth walked back inside her room and closed the door behind her. She rested her back against the door of her room: her sanctuary and her oasis. That one was a close one, and she was tired of getting pushed around. She was fifteen and even though she'd be able to get out of this hellhole as soon as she was eighteen, three years seemed way like way too far into the future. She wasn't sure if she could wait that long.
***
"Pass the pasta please," Annabeth mumbled to her father at the dinner table. Whenever her father was there, things were a little better. While things were never perfect at the Chase household (one of the many reasons she preferred to be at school rather than home), when her father was there at least her stepmother was much nicer, and he gave her a little bit of respect, unlike everyone else.
"Here you go, Annabeth," Her father said, handing her a large bowl filled with penne in a pesto sauce. She took the bowl and served herself some of the pasta and began to pick at it with her fork. She wasn't that hungry, but she knew that she should eat. With her stepmother, she never knew when she was going to loose her temper and then end up getting no meals for a week.
"Thanks," Annabeth replied before she put another piece of the green pasta into her mouth.
"So Bobby, Matthew, how's school going?" Her father asked her twin younger brothers.
"Great! Josh beat up Chris today!" Bobby said in excitement while he slapped his brother 'high five'.
"Then Chris had to go to the nurse, it was so awesome!" Matthew finished with a large grin on his face.
"How is that good?" Her step mom asked, a concerned look on her face.
From there, the conversation spiraled into one about children's safety, one Annabeth instantly tuned out. She ended up not paying attention to many of the family conversations; her family couldn't interest her less.
"Oh, Annabeth, something came for you in the mail today." Her father said as he took away her plate
"Something did?" Annabeth said with disbelief, she never got mail.
"Yeah, it's like a card of something. A large envelope." He said, and walked over to the foyer and when he returned he was carrying a largish creamy white envelope with her name and address on the front.
She took it from him and ripped if up with care and precision. She was savoring the moment, this type of thing never happened. She pulled out the lard card, it read:
You have been invited to Cassie Branch's Halloween Ball
October 31st, 8 PM
Central Park
Dress in Costume
Annabeth stared at the card incredulously. She was never invited to anything, let alone someone of high social status at her school's party. Cassie must have invited her entire grade or something, because she never would have been at the top of her list.
"Something interesting, Honey?" Her father asked.
"Yeah, I've been invited to a party," Annabeth said in shock, not realizing exactly was in the room.
"Whose?" her stepmother asked bitterly. She walked over to Annabeth, who was sitting at the table, and took the card right out of her hands, "I don't think you'll be able to go."
"Why not?" Annabeth asked, as she stood up. She could make her do all these things, but she had to let her go to the party. It just wasn't fair to not let her. She never went out on weekends; she never went out after school. The only place she ever went was school, the library, or home.
"Because I said so," she said simply, like it was the best answer ever.
"That's not a good answer! I'm going, and you can't tell me not to. You're not my mother!" Annabeth said, as she tried to get the card back from her stepmother's clutches.
"Unfortunately, you are my child by law, and I say you can't go. And that's final," she said, and ripped the card into shreds.
"No!" Annabeth cried as she looked at the pieces of the invitation spread across the floor. She stared at the pieces on the floor for a few minutes before she ran to her room and slammed the door to the room shut.
It just never was fair. Her stepmother treated her terribly and her father never did a single thing about it. He just watched her do terrible things to Annabeth, and never did a single thing about it. It was almost just as bad.
***
Soon enough, it was Friday October 31st, and everyone at Annabeth's school was talking about the party. Apparently, it was going to be huge and kids from other schools were going. It was 'the event of the year', but to Annabeth it was just a reminder of how much her life sucked.
While her friends were out at the party, Annabeth was sitting in her room reading another book about those same Princes and Princesses, the ones that had the happy ever after endings; the endings she could only fantasize about having.
BANG!
It came from the closet, and Annabeth looked in that direction. Suddenly, the door of the closet opened and out came beautiful women with long cascading blonde hair. It was hard to tell what color eyes she had, because if it was possible, they kept on changing.
"Nothing will do," the woman said, shaking her head in frustration.
"Excuse me?" Annabeth said, jumping out of her bed, "What are you doing in my closet?"
"Looking for a dress for you to wear to the Halloween Ball of course," she said, while looking up and down Annabeth, checking out what size she was.
"I can't go." Annabeth said sadly, "How do you even know about it anyway? Who are you?"
"Oops! I forgot! I'm Aphrodite, your fairy goddess aunt!" She said cheerfully, providing a warm and friendly smile. Something Annabeth didn't have given to her all that often.
"You're my… what?" Annabeth asked in disbelief. Such things couldn't exist; they were against laws of science and probability. Not only that, stuff like this never happened to her. It was too good to be true.
"I already told you, please don't make me repeat myself. I'm your fairy goddess aunt, and I'm here to help you get to that Halloween Ball!" Aphrodite said, twirling in a small circle.
"Okay," Annabeth said, trying to get this straight, "So you're here to help me get to a party that I'm forbidden to go to. That's just great." Even if the 'aunt' of hers was able to get her a dress, there was still the huge problem of not only getting there but also being able to get back before her family did.
"Yes! Have more faith, Annabeth, I just know you'll find true love." Aphrodite said. She gave up looking in Annabeth's closet and resigned to sitting on her bed.
"Now that won't happen." Annabeth said more to herself than anyone else, "Fine. So what should I do?"
"You don't have to do a thing, but be back before midnight, because that's when your family will be back and the magic will wear off." Aphrodite said, as if Annabeth exactly what that meant.
"What magic?" Annabeth asked. She must be nuts. "Magic doesn't exist."
"What do you mean, 'what magic'? Look at what you're wearing! Plus, how do you think I got into your closet?" She did have a point with the closet, but Annabeth couldn't believe magic could exist.
But when she looked down, her opinion on magic changed. She was no longer wearing her jeans and green 'Save The Planet' shirt; she was wearing a large white dress that seemed to just sparkle. When she looked into the mirror she noticed that her hair was done and completed with a tiara, and she was wearing a mask over her grey eyes. For once, she thought she looked beautiful.
"But… how?" Annabeth asked incredulously. Nothing in the world pointed to the existence of magic besides these very moments, when she miraculously changed into clothing that she couldn't recall owning.
"Once again," Aphrodite said, patting her shoulder, "It's all magic. Now hurry up! You don't want to be late!" She pushed against Annabeth and forced her outside of the door. She led Annabeth out of her apartment and outside, where there was one of the horse carriages that you find near Central Park waiting outside for her, but it was decorated to look like a pumpkin.
"Is… Is this for me?" Annabeth couldn't believe what she was seeing. This was a dream come true. Although the night was just beginning, it was the best night of her life.
"Yes sweetie! Your life isn't that bad, you know." Aphrodite said, smiling, "Now get in! You have to be back by midnight, don't forget, because my magic can only work for so long you know."
"Oh course, thanks... Aphrodite?" Annabeth said unsurely, not wanting to mispronounce her gift giver's name.
"Don't mention it! Goodnight Annabeth, have fun with Prince Charming!" She said, while waving as the carriage departed. Prince Charming, yeah right.
***
In only about 20 minutes time, Annabeth was at the party. Music could be heard from afar, and it quickly made her excited and eager to see what was going on and say 'hi' to all of her friends.
She found most of her friends instantly, but lots of them were either dancing with guys or hunting for guys, neither of which Annabeth wanted to or take part in.
She found her excitement and energy running dry by the millisecond, and soon found a bench to the side of the party. There she could sit and still hear the music.
"Bored too?" A male voice said from next to her.
She glanced next to her; sitting beside her was guy who looked about her age. He had onyx hair and what looked like bright green eyes, but it was hard to tell in the dark. He must have sat down next to her while she was off thinking, because she hadn't noticed his presence before he spoke.
"Kinda," she replied sadly.
"Well, were you dragged here?" He asked, leaning back on the bench and running a hand through his hair.
"More like pushed," she said, laughing a little bit while remembering Aphrodite pushing her out the door.
"Friends too?" He asked, flashing her a cocky smile.
"Nah, more like unknown relatives," she replied truthfully.
They sat in silence for a while, before Annabeth got the courage to speak, "So… who are you dressed up as?"
"Me? Prince Charming, a choice made for me by my mom," he said, "What about you? A princess of some sort?"
"Cinderella, I suppose. A choice made for me by someone quite odd." Annabeth said, grinning ear to ear. Maybe Aphrodite was right; Prince Charming was here, and maybe just for her.
She could see him raise an eyebrow at her through the dark, like her answer was unexpected yet exciting.
"So Cinderella, how do you know the host?" He asked.
"She goes to my school, we're not quite friends though," she said, hoping this wouldn't turn him away.
"I don't know the host that well myself. My cousin Bianca is a friend of hers. She met me once at Bianca's house and you could say we 'hung out a little' and before I knew it I got the invitation," Prince Charming said.
"Oh, no wonder so many people are here. She invited every person she ever met." Annabeth laughed as she said it, it seemed too much like Cassie for words.
"Well, she'll get a lot of presents I guess," he said, a large joking smile on his face.
"True." She said, grinning. "So… what now?"
"Want to… dance? I mean, what else is there to do besides dance, sit, and eat." He said, quickly giving an explanation for his asking. He was clearly nervous to ask.
"Yeah, sure." Annabeth replied; trying her best not to make him think that she was desperate, but dancing was with this guy was the one thing she really wanted to do since she met him earlier that evening.
They got up and walked over to the dance floor, and he grabbed her hand and began to lead her across the dance floor. He clearly wasn't good at dancing or had never danced before because he kept looking at his feet, to reassure that he didn't step on hers. She liked better though, they could be inexperienced dancers together.
"Are you… okay?" He asked after they had danced to two songs.
"Couldn't be better," she replied quietly, looking down at the floor in embarrassment. He then stopped dancing, and she looked up at him. He was staring at her, green eyes sparkling, "What?"
"You're… you really are-" Prince Charming stumbled, she didn't know quite what he wanted to say or what she wanted to say, so she did what she felt, and for once, didn't think about it first. She leaned in and kissed him.
His lips were soft and warm, and at first they weren't reacting, like he was in shock from her kiss. But soon enough she felt him kissing back, and it was at first a bit of a relief. That he must like her, and it wasn't just a one sided feeling.
They continued to kiss for a while, and it felt like they were one. Not two separate people kissing, but one. It felt magical, and Annabeth felt every bone in her body grow warm and soft, she almost felt like she could melt.
She didn't know how long they were there kissing, but it didn't matter. It felt like forever. Suddenly, she felt something against her leg shake, "Oops, that's my phone. My mom must be calling. She said she'd call at 11:45 to make sure everything was going well." He said, fishing through his pocket.
"It's 11:45?" She said, "No!"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" He asked, flipping open his phone to answer it.
"I have to go… It's been really great!" She said and sprinted off towards the exit. She was cutting it really, really close.
She jumped into the cart and told them to speed back to her apartment. She felt bad leaving so abruptly on Prince Charming, but she didn't quite have any other options.
***
Annabeth had made it back to her house just in time, with only seconds to spare. As promised, the spell broke the second the clock struck midnight, and her family came back minutes later.
The next days at school seemed normal, with the exception that people kept coming up to her asking her who that guy she was kissing was. It was weird, because she didn't know. She never found out his name, to her, he was Prince Charming, a sweet guy that she met at the party.
It was a week later that something truly weird happened, "Annabeth, did you hear?" Her friend Thalia asked her after Math class.
"No, what?" Annabeth asked as she spun the lock on her locker.
"So a guy that was at Cassie's party is looking for the girl he kissed to return her shoe!" Thalia said.
"What?" Annabeth was in shock; she had lost her shoe at the party. Could it be her Prince Charming, coming back for her? It seemed too much like a fairytale for it to be true, but she still hoped regardless.
"Yeah, he knows that the girl goes to this school." Thalia said.
"Oh really." Annabeth replied.
"Yeah, and he's going to stop by here after school to try to find her, and hopes that she'll stay after school to meet him." Thalia said.
"Lucky girl." Annabeth said, but she was smiling on the inside. He was looking for her. Her, the one nobody ever really cared about.
"Oh please, Annabeth, I know that was you! He's going to be outside. Go and meet him!" Thalia pleated.
"Fine, but for you." Annabeth said.
"Sure." Thalia replied, rolling her eyes.
Annabeth grabbed her books out of her locker and shoved them into her bag and ran out the building. Sure enough, he was there, smiling and all. He was holding the shoe that had fallen off when she ran off.
She walked over to him cautiously, making sure that she didn't seem to eager to meet her Prince.
"Cinderella?" He asked as she approached.
"It's Annabeth," she said, smiling.
"Ah, I see," he said, "So, Annabeth, uh, want to go out sometime?"
"Sure…" she said, and then she realized that she didn't know his name.
"Percy," he replied.
"Than I'd love too," she answered, "But we're going to have to sneak around my parents. They're kinda… strict."
"Then it'll be more fun," he laughed. Then they kissed. It was their happily ever after.
THE END
Thanks so much for reading! Reviews = Love.