From Chex: Deeply sorry for the long absence. I have a few...reservations about going forward with my other stories, but I knew an update was needed. So here's #11.
Anna stood, bleary-eyed, staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. After work the previous day, she'd spent a majority of her evening alternating between sleeping, staring at her only remaining worldly possessions, and moping about the current state of her life. She had figured she would soon die from the agony of being both poor and plain-looking if someone didn't come to her rescue pretty soon.
Krystal, for the most part, had ignored her until this morning when she woke her up by kicking her swiftly in the side. The wake-up call hardly compared her fancy French alarm clock/music box at her Dad's, which played soft classical tunes each morning at day break. Now, she hated classical music. (Even if the clock was a birthday present from the Prime Minister of France.) But that morning she yearned for anything the least bit comforting and familiar. Especially since she'd had to get up even earlier than she did for school. (Not that she ever made much of an effort to be on time for that.) Her uniform, if possible, looked even worse than it did yesterday. She'd been weary of using Krystal's make-up, even though she desperately needed it. Her face was pale and there were dark circles around her eyes.
And something that looked disturbingly like a zit stood out on her chin.
"For God's sakes," she grumbled. "I don't even have any lipgloss!" Relenting, she covered her face in Krystal's cheap concealer and foundation.
"Hurry it up in there," Krystal yelled from outside the door. "You are not making me late for work!"
The former-heiress had to work hard to suppress her irritation. She wasn't used to being ordered around, but she was in no position to challenge Krystal. So she exited the bathroom just as Krystal started to bang on the door. Once again, the older girl was dressed conservatively in a black pencil skirt and a melon-colored blouse. Princess briefly wondered why Krystal even bothered working at Up Joe's if she had another job that clearly allowed her to dress like a normal person rather than a fashion-challenged serving girl.
Beside her, the little boy whose name Anna couldn't recall was looking...bouncy. "Hi!"
She jumped slightly. "Um...hi?"
"I'm Bryan! Mommy says you're gonna sleep on the couch every night." He toyed with a piece of hair in front of his eyes, watching her expectantly.
"F-For a little while, yeah." She tried unsuccessfully to maneuver around him; he followed closely on her heels as she headed for the door. Krystal seemed to find Anna's discomfort around kids amusing. "Uh, don't you have to go to, um, where ever it was you went the other day?"
"I go to preschool! My mommy says I'm really smart and I'm gonna get to go to a bigger school next year. And Corey and Sandy and Andrew and Tommy are gonna go with me. They're my friends. Do you wanna go to school with me? Ms. Lane's really nice and we get recess every day, 'cept when it rains. I'll share my lunch with you. Mommy got me cookies!"
Anna stared, her mouth parted slightly. She was at a complete loss for words. She turned to Krystal for direction.
The blonde chuckled slightly. "Sorry, B. Anna's gonna be busy all day working downstairs."
He looked up at her, his wide blue eyes conveying something almost like sympathy. "Mommy says work is no fun. I don't think you're gonna like it."
"But," Krystal interrupted, ushering her son out the door, "she's gonna do it anyway. Now c'mon kids, I already said I don't have all day."
Sulking, Anna followed them both downstairs. She was more reluctant than she'd admit to leave the apartment. Once Krystal was gone, she'd be locked out without a key. It wasn't like she need anything from inside. (After all, what did she have?) But the idea of being trapped in the diner all day made her weary. She'd be forced to work and hang around Skippy and that other person Krystal had mentioned, for hours on end.
Unexpectedly, her stomach growled. After refusing all of the sugary cereals and toaster pastries Krystal had to offer, she had forewent breakfast. What she would've done for one of her fat-free 100% organic strawberry yogurts.
"Good morning, dears," a bright and loud voice greeted them inside the diner. A thick woman with fluffy, graying hair was wiping down the counter. She set down her rag when she spotted them and came to bend down in front of Bryan. "There's my handsome boy!"
Bryan rubbed at his nose, unresponsive. The older woman wiped his hair away from his forehead. "Have you been good? You haven't gotten into any trouble at school, have you?" He shook his head, biting his lip. "Good boy."
"Maddie," Krystal said with a smile, "this is the new girl I told you about. Anna, this is Maddie."
Shifting uneasily on her feet, Anna mutter a quick "hey" and attempted to rush off into the kitchen. But Maddie pulled her into a hug. "Nice to meet you, sugar!" The older woman squeezed tight, then pulled back. Placing both hands on Anna's waist she started to pinch. "Gracious! You're nothin' but skin and bones! When's the last time you ate, honey?"
Mortified, Anna wrenched herself from Maddie's grasp and hurried into the kitchen. The kitchen was empty, but the stool she'd used yesterday was still by the sink. She sat down without hesitation and placed her hands on her knees, trying to get a grip. These people are so backwards! No one had ever commented on Princess being too skinny. Especially not anyone with rolls like that, she thought vehemently. Having made up her mind about Maddie, she resolved not to leave the kitchen and hope to God that the woman didn't come in too often.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.
Attempting hospitality, Maddie spent every spare minute relentlessly questioning Anna about her personal life. Brooding looks and hostile frowns didn't seem to ward her off either. "What's her deal?" Anna muttered, wiping furiously at the dishes. "Doesn't she know when to fuck off?"
Beside her, Skippy winced at her word choice. He continued to wash the dishes and she continued to dry them, an unspoken agreement between the two. After his first couple of failed attempts at conversation, he'd learned pretty quickly that it was best only to talk to her when she spoke to him first. "S-She doesn't mean any harm. That's just the way she is."
"Well, she's working my nerves." Maddie wanted to know about everything she didn't want to talk about; her family, school, how she met Krystal, why she was working at Up Joe's.
And she was constantly pestering her to eat something.
When it came time for Anna to go on her lunch break, she refused, to spite Maddie more than anything. Not that she would've eaten anything anyway. The only thing she'd even consider eating was the plain white rice from Krystal's Chinese take-out. But that was upstairs and she was downstairs. So lunch was out of the question.
"But dear, you have to eat something," Maddie insisted. "You're going to whither away."
Even Skippy seemed concerned about her dietary habits. "I can make you something, if you don't have anything. Anything on the menu."
It wasn't long before her temper got the better of her. "Look you cow," she growled at Maddie, "I'll eat what I want when I want and I don't need you're approval! So why don't you mind your own damn business and leave me alone!" Then she spun on Skippy. "And I'd starve before I ate any of the disgusting, calorie-filled, fattening, crap made in this kitchen, so don't you waste your time either!"
Both of her coworkers seemed to have gotten the hint. As Maddie hastily left the kitchen, Anna thought she saw tears in her eyes. Skippy, no doubt in an attempt to get far, far away from her, left the diner on his break. Alone in the kitchen, she didn't think twice about either of them.
Her mind was really on school. Or rather, her friends at school. She couldn't imagine what people must be saying about her. And looking the way she did now, she could never go back and correct the rumors. Princess's reputation was at stake. Even as Anna, she couldn't manage to detach herself from her previous life. Her last appearance at school was much less than the ideal way to disappear from the face of the Earth. One of her oldest mottoes was to always make an exit more fabulous than an entrance. It kept people talking after you were gone.
And while it was too late for 'fabulous', she couldn't help but think that there must be some way she could save face.
Then it came to her. Duh! Why didn't I think of it sooner?Her plan was fairly simple, unextravagant, but hopefully it would put to rest any rumors.
All she needed was a computer.
She spent her break staring off into space, thinking about exactly what she would say and to who. She barely noticed when Skippy returned, his ears burning red. He didn't say anything, but he placed a plastic bag on the counter in front of her.
"What's this?" she asked flatly, flicking the bag with unbridled disdain.
"I-I-I-It's a, um, s-salad."
She blinked. Opening the bag, she pulled out a small plastic container full of garden salad. She stared at him.
Tugging on his collar nervously. "Y-You said you didn't want anything, um, in the k-kitchen. So I bought it from the, uh, the Italian place down the street." He shrugged and turned away from her. Putting his apron back on, he returned to his cooking. "It's not fattening or anything, so I, um, I thought you might want it. I asked them to put the dressing on the side."
Anna stared at the container in front of her, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She'd been outright rude to him, made no attempt to hide the fact that she was insulting his cooking, and he...bought her lunch? Narrowing her eyes at him, she tried to make sense of it. Of course, it wasn't unusual for people to be nice to Princess, even when she was at her meanest. What choice did they have? But she was Anna now. And Anna didn't have money and riches to offer. Even so, she found herself thinking, He must want something...but what does he think I have? He doesn't know about my Daddy. And unless he's desperate it can't be me - I'm not even pretty anymore. She couldn't wrap her mind around it. Nevertheless, she'd keep her guard up.
"Whatever," she muttered. She found a plastic fork, knife, and napkins in the bag as well. Forgoing any dressing, she dug in, keeping an eye on her 'kitchen buddy' as she did so.
From Chex: As you all can see, the old Princess still resides in the new Anna. Rude, careless, ungrateful...I can tell this story is just getting started. Feedback, if you all will. And Happy Holidays!