Hey everyone, I managed to update earlier than I expected. Guess this story really strikes my fancy at the moment or perhaps I'm just reallu eager for A Cinderella Story to be released. It doesn't come out in Australia till Sept...sighz

twiggirl06: Thanks for reviewing. Unfortunately, as much as I would like to throw in the whole Sailor Moon thing, it doesn't really work with my story that well. However, I will try and make intertextual references to it or something of the sort. And the last chapter was only short because it was the prologue. This chapter was about 10 pages on a word document so enjoy!

::Chapter 1::

One day, Cinderella got an invitation to the ball...

Serena sat in one corner of the diner and watched in disgust as Galaxia touched up her blood red lipstick. The sudden addition to her bank account certainly hadn't brought the woman any style. In fact, badly matched designer outfits were more displeasing to the eye than just a cheap, badly matched wardrobe. Serena shuddered as she saw the massive pair of 36 double D's spill out of the top of Galaxia's undersized hot pink boob tube.

"I'm going to be out for the night," announced Galaxia "I expect you prepare dinner for Prisma and Birdie and then clean the house before returning here until closing. Is that understood?"

Serena was not in the mood to complain and simply gave a dismissive nod before walking off to serve some waiting customers. She left a preening, Galaxia who then zipped up her handbag and distastefully strutted out of the diner. Unfortunately, as one nightmare exited, another entered. Not that Darien was a nightmare, far from it, but it was the crew he had with him which had Serena muttering in annoyance. Glancing at a nearby clock, she realised it was 4:30, the exact time which Darien came in for a drink and a snack each day. It was yet another opportunity for Serena to marvel at what she couldn't have. Sometimes it would just be Darien and his close buddies, but at other times he would bring Beryl and her equally dull friends. To Serena's disdain, today was the latter. Miffed and disappointed by his company, Serena unwillingly hauled herself towards their table and displayed the most pleasant countenance she could muster.

"What would you like today?" Serena held her notepad and pen in hand ready to take the order.

Beryl frowned as she scanned the menu. "I'm on a diet, do you have anything here that has no sugar, no carbs and is low in fat?"

Serena could not believe what she just heard. Giving a smug laugh she sarcastically replied, "Try tofu? Oh sorry we're all out, guess you'll have to try the supermarket."

An enraged Beryl glared at Serena disbelievingly. Darien must have found the situation quite amusing, for he gave a hearty little laugh which melted Serena's heart but he caught himself when he noticed Beryl sending him death glares.

Adorning a false and sickly sweet smile, Beryl faced Serena and said, "I'll have a cup of water please."

Serena scribbled it onto her notepad and proceeded to take orders from everyone else, but not before sketching a quick caricature of Beryl as a devil next to her order. Serena managed to take the other orders without much of a fuss, and as she walked away she thought she saw a slight wink from Darien. Serena told herself that she was hallucinating but was then once again taken by surprise when he smiled at her. This was probably the highlight of her day and it made her feel giddy, almost causing her to trip over a chair.

It had been an awfully long day and Serena didn't know how much more of this she could take. As much as she would like to walk right up to Galaxia and punch her in the face, then leaving the household forever, Galaxia had control over all of Serena's money at the moment and consequently held her ticket to paying for Princeton fees. In addition, Serena still needed to take care of her dad's diner which Galaxia was clearly neglecting.

"SERENA WHERE DID YOU PUT MY CAMERA?????" yelled Birdie's loud voice.

"It's on your desk!!!" Serena screamed back. Those two idiot step-sisters never cleaned anything and Serena could probably locate their items better than they could. She reminded herself never to help tidy any of their things again since it was obviously unappreciated. Somehow though, Serena knew she would still cop the blame even if Birdie had misplaced things herself.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Serena was put out of her misery as the phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hey meatball head, it's me. So how was your afternoon?"

"Same as always I suppose."

Raye sighed with pity. "If I were you I'd give that woman those two pathetic excuses for 17-year-olds a piece of my mind."

"Raye, I have one word for you – Princeton."

"Yeah I know I know. You must have repeated that like a million times. But it still doesn't stop me from fantasizing about it."

Serena smile. "Nor I."

"So anyway, how is the situation with this cyber Prince Charming of yours?"

"It's not like there's anything going on, I'm still dreaming about Darien Shields, remember? Anyway, we've just been chatting for about a month and I think we've developed a really nice friendship. Although, it still kind of freaks me out that we know so much about each other without knowing who each other are."

"Since you know he goes to our school, why don't you just ask him who he is?"

"That defeats the whole purpose of it. We both agreed not to reveal our identities so that we can build our friendship from scratch. I mean we were bound to have heard rumours about each other or have developed misconceptions. You know what I mean. Basically we didn't want our judgment to be clouded by what we've heard."

"That is the strangest thing I have ever heard. You guys sms each other during the day and chat for hours during the night yet you don't even know each other. Normally the first thing I'd do would be finding out who he is. Well as long as you're happy with it."

"Yeah, I'll see how it goes. Anyway, I think I should go 'cause he's going to come online soon. I'll talk to you at school tomorrow."

"Being ditched for a guy. I'm hurt Sere," joked Raye.

Serena laughed. "Bye Raye."

"Goodnight."

Placing the phone back where it belonged, Serena went to turn on her computer. It was strange how she could talk to a complete stranger for hours. It was nonetheless the portion of her day which she enjoyed considerably more than her afternoons.

As expected, her 'cyber Prince Charming', as Raye called him, was already online waiting for her. Serena smiled and replied to the greeting which just arrived in her chat box. Time always seemed to fly by when she was talking to him, and that was how she spent her next few hours.

Tuxboi: It's so hard to be what every1 expects u to b. I mean, u wanna plz em but its not always what u want for urself.

Pinkbunny: Yeah I kno what u mean, but what can u do 'bout it. Still, its our last year of school so better make the most of it. Besides, I'm hoping to c u in Princeton

Tuxboi: That's if I make it. With my entire family expecting so much from me, it's a miracle I dun crack from the pressure.

Pinkbunny: Maybe comfort yourself with the thought that there are always ppl worse off than u who would b dying to have ur life. If u think about it, ur pretty privileged to have what u have. I kno its easier sed than done but u wont make ur life any easier by hating everything.

Tuxboi: Lol, its strange being lectured by u, knowing that I prolly bump into u in the corridors each day.

Pinkbunny: Haha, well if you put it that way. Anyway, it's 2am already, we've been at it for 5hrs. Think I'll turn in for the night.

Tuxboi: Yeah but before u go...I kno its breaking the rules and all but...well could I meet u at the homecoming dance next week?

Pinkbunny: I don't kno if I can make it...

Tuxboi: Try ur best, coz I really wanna kno who u r

Pinkbunny: K, I'll c what I can do

Tuxboi: I'll b waiting for you at the centre of the dance floor at 11pm

Pinkbunny: K, g'nite then.

Tuxboi: Nite

Switching off her computer, Serena started to question whether or not it was a good idea to agree. Well, she shall cross that bridge when it comes since she didn't even know if Galaxia would allow her to go. Her good mood was ruined by that last thought. There wasn't anything she could do about it anyway so she decided to go to sleep and ask about it in the next day.
Darien switched off his computer but remained on his chair in deep procrastination. A month was not a very long time, yet a month was all it took for him to practically spill his entire life story to this mysterious girl he met online. She knew him inside out and it made vulnerable, yet he felt like he could trust her. She always seemed to give him appropriate advice and he had started to depend on her, probably slightly more than he should.

Talking to this girl seems to have become Darien's form of escape into a world where no-one was judging him. At school, all the girls would croon over him and the teachers would expect him to excel in sport and academics. At home, there was an even greater expectancy for him to succeed due the pressure of their family's Princeton history. He felt like people refused to see him as anything less than perfect and it became tiring for him to keep up with it all the time. But this girl, despite knowing him for a month, she understood what he was going through and perhaps even understood him more than he did.

Darien wished so desperately that she would be able to go to the dance; he wanted to meet her so badly. Strangely enough he might see his online princess at the homecoming which was coincidentally themed 'Fairytale'. Perhaps he may have his own fairytale after all this.
"SERENA!" a loud annoying voice boomed.

Disturbed from her deep slumber, Serena unwillingly forced herself out of bed to face the source of the yelling. Peering downstairs she found a very angry Galaxia and two very frightened girls beside her. Serena stifled a giggle. As horrible as they were, even Prisma and Birdie feared the almighty Galaxia.

"SERENA, WHERE THE HELL IS OUR BREAKFAST? YOU BETTER NOT BE TRYING TO WEASEL YOUR WAY OUT OF DOING YOUR CHORES."

Glancing back at the hanging clock in her room, she realised that it was already 8 o'clock. Great, she must have slept in due to her late night. 6 hours of sleep was not enough for a teenage girl. Now she just earned herself a whole morning of screaming.

As much as Serena hated obeying that woman, she was smart and knew that if she didn't act quickly, Princeton would be going down the drain. She was in and out of the bathroom in 3 minutes flat and raced downstairs to start sizzling the bacon and eggs. Despite being still terribly annoyed, Galaxia was satisfied with the speed at which breakfast came. Serena silently thanked the cook who occasionally let her play around in the kitchen at the diner. She knew her bacon and eggs skills would come in handy.

Serena was finally afforded a moment's peace when Galaxia and her two daughters left the house. However, she didn't have long to rejoice in having an empty household when she realised that she had only 15 minutes to get ready and get to school.

As expected, Serena arrived late at school due to this morning's dramas. She rushed into her English class only to find her teacher giving her a disapproving look as she entered the room.

"You are 20 minutes late Miss Tsukino," she scolded, "and you too Mr. Shields."

Serena turned around to find a huffing Darien behind her. Guess he must have ran to school as well.

The teacher sighed, "You're both lucky I'm in a good mood today or you'll be serving detention for the rest of the week. You may take your seats now."

Steering their way towards the only two empty seats left, Serena realised they were conveniently right next to each other. She chose the one behind Mina.

As they sat down and started unpacking, Darien turned to her and questioned, "Late night?"

Serena nodded dumbly.

"Yeah, me too."

"I can tell. The bags under your eyes give it away." Serena was so tired that she forgot to blush and be embarrassed around him.

Darien laughed. "Speak for yourself."

Suddenly, a voice from the front intruded into their conversation, "If you two don't be quiet, I might have to change my mind about that detention."

Serena and Darien quickly did as they were told and not another word was spoken. Scribbling some notes down, Serena noticed a small piece of paper being subtly slid onto her desk. Initially confused, she realised it was from Mina.

Late night, eh. Bet you were talking to that cyber Prince Charming of yours; he probably kept you up all night long. giggles

Serena gave a hard kick to the chair in front of her to show that the comment was unappreciated. Mina only replied with a girlish giggle which could only mean 'we will talk about this after class'. Fortunately, Serena was able to sneak out at the end of that period without Mina's notice but she knew that there was no escape once the lunch bell sounded.
Being extremely trained from working at the diner, Serena balanced her lunch tray in one hand with ease while clutching her maths book with the other. Not surprisingly, the rest of her friends were already gathered at their usual lunch table, and ready to interrogate her, she suspected. With the eager looks on their faces, Serena guessed that Mina had already told the gang about Serena's late arrival as well adding a few exaggerated details of her own.

"So tell us Sere, what happened last night? This is so insanely romantic." Mina practically had hearts in her eyes and proudly displayed the expression of a hopeless romantic.

"Well meatball head here ditched me on the phone last night so that she could have her nightly rendezvous with cyber Prince Charming." Three guesses as to who made that comment.

Amy looked somewhat trouble and felt it necessary to contribute her two cents, "I hate to burst your bubble Sere, but there's just been a horrifically large amount of cases about young girls meeting stalkers online. I really think you should be careful."

"Relax Amy. This guy goes to our school, I'm sure of it. In fact, he wants to meet me at our homecoming dance next week."

Mina sighed wistfully. "This really is a fairytale, how appropriate for the theme."

"You know, this could be your chance to get over Darien Shields since you and I both know Beryl ain't willing to remove her claws from him. He's fuelling her status like crazy. Anyway, with any luck, he could turn out to look like my old boyfriend." Lita seemed to have an uncanny ability to spot look-alikes to her old boyfriends everywhere.

"What if I'm a complete disappointment though? I mean what if he meets me and I'm not what he expects."

"You've never been insecure before so I don't see why now. Besides lack of self-confidence is unattractive. In fact it makes you ugly." Mina was trying to reason with Serena.

"Oh she will be ugly no matter what," joked Raye.

"But never as ugly as you are," Serena countered then continued, "Anyway, as exciting as this all sounds, I don't even know if I'm allowed to go. Galaxia likes to make my life miserable, remember?"

Raye was fuming on Serena's behalf at this point. "Well that bitch can go spray her poison elsewhere because there is no way the wicked step-mother will stop this Cinderella from going to her ball."

Serena was about to argue when the group of girls were interrupted by a most pleasant sound to Serena's ears. Her cell phone started to sound the reception of a new sms. There was no mystery as to who the message was from.

Hey, hope you didn't sleep in this morning. How has your day been so far?

With four nosy females peering over her shoulders, Serena quickly tapped in a reply.

I was so late for school this morning and almost scored myself a detention this morning. I didn't exactly get off to a great start at home either. Hopefully the day can only get better.

Locating the number from her phonebook, Serena sent off the message.

Amy was once again concerned when a thought struck her, "Serena you don't even know the guy's name; he's nameless in your phonebook at the moment."

Serena smiled sheepishly. "Hopefully that problem will be resolved next week."

"So meatball brains has finally decided she wants to go to the dance."

"You know I want to go Raye, it's just that I might not be allowed."

Lita and Mina had a similar spark of intelligence and simultaneously added, "If you want something bad enough, you will find a way around it."

"I suppose so..."
"Dare, who is this mystery girl of yours?" Andrew was extremely curious.

"I don't know, but hopefully I'll get to meet her next week. I invited her to the homecoming dance."

"She goes to this school, idiot. She doesn't need to be invited."

"Shut up, you know what I mean."

"Yeah. So, what if she's not all that she's cracked up to be? Chances are, she'll probably look like one of those crazy witches with ugly green warts on their noses."

"Drew, be serious, do you see anyone in this school like that?"

Andrew laughed openly, "No I suppose not."

"I feel like this girl knows me better than anyone else does, even myself. Call me crazy, but it's like I'm depending on her for my life to run smoothly. It just feels so good to be able to tell someone my problems."

"Hey Dare I'm hurt. I've been your best friend since kindergarten." Andrew feigned offence.

"Girls are better listener and problem solvers. I bet if I spouted all my problems to you, you'd be snoring within a minute," Darien stated as a- matter-of-factly.

"True. But if this girl is so great, why don't you just trade her in with Beryl. Then your life would just be one big happy fairytale."

"Come on Drew, you and I both know that Beryl wants to be Prom Queen and going out with me has just increased her chances by 100%. She isn't going to let her crown slide away that easily. Maybe I will have more of a chance of getting rid of her after the homecoming."

"Just talking about that girl makes me shudder. I only put up with her because of my many years of friendship with you."

"Yeah I know. Thanks buddy."

"Stop getting all mushy on me. Hm...here comes your Prom Queen now."

Sure enough, Beryl was walking towards them with her swaying buttocks, attracting a trail of ogling males.

"Hey Dare, hey Drew," she purred saucily.

Leaning down to reveal a generous view of her cleavage to all who cared to look, she gave Darien a big kiss on the mouth. That initiated a spark of thought in Darien. Kissing Beryl has all of a sudden become quite unappealing, especially over these last few days. Perhaps it was the knowledge that there were in fact greener pastures, for example, in the form of a mysterious online princess.

Sensing the indifference as she kissed him, Beryl plastered a look of concern on her face, "What's wrong sweetie? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine, probably just tired from the lack of sleep." Darien smacked himself mentally for not noticing her fakeness before.

Little did he know that this time Beryl was quite genuine. She was concerned alright, concerned about how long before that little crown of hers would be knocked off her head and onto another Prom Queen.
"Absolutely not!"

"But I always do the chores you ask, I'm a straight A student and I have never asked you for anything. Please just let me go to this homecoming dance. Prisma and Birdie are going."

"Don't use your step-sisters to argue. I'm going out that night and I won't be home until midnight. Who else is going to watch over the diner?" Serena silently cursed. It's not like Galaxia cared about the diner anyway; she just wanted to make sure Serena was miserable.

"Serena, dear. I know I may seem a little harsh but I do care. I'm going to be honest with you because it's for your own good. You're just not that pretty and not very bright. There's no point going to that dance since you won't attract any boys anyway. Why don't you just be and good girl, stay at the diner and make yourself useful."

Well that was a bit of a blow. That comment outshone every other nasty comment Galaxia has ever made to Serena. Not pretty, not bright and not loved. All the reasons why Serena should not be attending that dance. She didn't even know why she bothered asking since she knew the outcome anyway. At least she would have saved herself the embarrassment.

Serena went upstairs to her room and carefully closed the door. Collapsing onto her bed, she released all the pain and sadness she withheld. A single tear trickled down her face.
Thats all from me now, hope you liked it. Tell me what you think and notify me if any mistakes are found.