Chapter 2

It was no surprise that Ella was up late on the first night of school. Ella spent the whole afternoon and evening cleaning, unable to even start on the small bits of homework required. She woke up early and worked while she readied breakfast for her stepfamily. She nearly missed the bus again when she finished her morning chores.

She was rushed causing her normally clean look to slip to the sloppy side. She brushed some of her ginger hair back as she rushed to her locker to collect her books.

"Cinderella!" Belle's enthusiastic voice came from behind her.

"Good morning, Belle." Ella turned towards the taller girl. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress with a white belt slung across her waist. Belle looked beautiful. How did she do it? Ella was tired and haggard after one day of school. Though, maybe Belle didn't do as much as Ella did.

"I was thinking we'll talk to Mrs. Krunklehorn today during lunch. You were later than I expected."

"Yeah sorry I had to-."

"It's okay," Belle quickly waved Ella off. "I can sit through another class. I was just in a bad mood yesterday."

"Oh yeah, why?" Ella asked walking beside Belle to class.

"That boy was just following me around." They entered the classroom and took their usual seats. "You know that he's a senior retaking biology?"

"So?" Ella knew that Drizella had to take a class again over the summer once because she failed it the first time. Her stepmother blamed it on the teacher rather than Drizella's natural incompetence.

"I just don't know why you would retake biology and not pay attention on the first day." Belle shrugged as the first bell rang.

"Maybe he's still on summer vacation or something? Sometimes the mind doesn't always click over. It wasn't like we were learning anything anyways." Ella offered unsure why she was defending someone she didn't know. She was a little worried that he would ruin her grades by being her partner, but she knew she could handle the most of the work if she had to. Not that she really wanted to, but Ella was determined to pass biology.

"Maybe." Belle just shrugged causing Ella to face forward. She got all of her books out ready to start the day just as the bell rang again. Just as he did the day before, Gaston stepped right through the door and made his way to Belle's table. Somehow, the seat next to Ella's was still empty. Another day and no partner, but she really didn't mind.

"Hello, Belle." She heard the deep voice of Gaston behind her.

"Gaston," Belle greeted in monotone. She really wasn't buying whatever he was trying to sell.

"Class." Mrs. Krunklehorn began the lesson, taking roll and diving right into their first chapter.

"… and cells are the fundamental-."

"UGH STOP IT!" A shout came from behind Ella. The whole class turned to look. Belle shot up from her seat with many little paper footballs stacked next to her. Ella couldn't help but laugh a little bit.

"Is everything alright Miss Larose?"

Through gritted teeth, Belle replied, "Just fine."

"Well if you'd like me to stop talking about cell theory-."

"No, Mrs. Krunklehorn, I apologize. Though, perhaps I could talk to you during lunch about my thoughts on cell theory?" It was a nice save on Belle's part.

"Why of course!" After that, Mrs. Krunklehorn got very excited launching into the depths of cell theory. Ella took notes like she usually did, but most of the other students looked absolutely bored. During Mrs. Krunklehorns structured pauses, Ella heard the flicking noise she assumed to be Gaston's paper footballs. It appeared he hadn't stopped, despite Belle's outburst.

As soon as the bell rang for the transition between first and second, Ella jumped out of her seat quickly putting her things away though she attempted to make it neat. She felt an arm hook around her elbow.

"Come on, Cindy, let's walk to second period." Belle forcefully tugged her towards the door. "Sorry, Gaston, Cinderella's walking me." Ella struggled to get her backpack on her shoulders.

"Sorry," Finally when they were farther from the classroom, Belle let up on the forceful tugging. "Gaston just wouldn't stop passing me notes in class. Normally, I can dodge them pretty well." She brushed a loose bang away from her face, "But he started whispering in class too."

Ella had wondered what that noise was. It was deep, but she couldn't figure out if it was her stomach rumbling or something else. Apparently Gaston had done more than play with paper football disguised notes.

"Anyways, I'll meet you at Mrs. Krunklehorns classroom at lunch time, okay? Then we can fix this whole mess." Belle pulled away from Ella's body. "See you later?"

"Yeah, of course." Ella was slightly confused on how quickly the exchange had happened. As soon as Belle turned away, she had a book in her hand and was maneuvering again through the hallway. Ella wandered to her English class. She was kind of glad that they were meeting at Mrs. Krunklehorns for lunch. She needed to go there to help feed the animals that the science department kept. Mrs. Krunklehorn and Ella made a deal. Mrs. Krunklehorn would write a recommendation for Ella's college if she helped out with the animals. It would be nice to get into a veterinarian program.

At lunch, Ella only stopped by her locker to exchange books and grab her lunch. She made her way to the end of the hall and knocked on Mrs. Krunklehorn's classroom.

"Ah, Ella!" The woman was feverishly writing something on a clipboard with she opened the door. "Come in. I was expecting Belle."

"Right," Ella reminded herself. Belle told Mrs. Krunklehorn she would visit to talk about cell theory. "Well, I'm just going to sneak in and feed the animals, if you don't mind." Ella opened her lunch bag taking out a baggie full of dried fruits and nuts.

"Of course, I have the door unlocked, you can go back there." Mrs. Krunklehorn stepped away towards her desk. Ella made her way to the back hallway. It was full of animals that science classes used for projects. There was a whole shelf of rats that Ella always started with. She was halfway through when she heard a voice in the classroom.

"Hello, Mrs. Krunklehorn!"

"Belle, I'm glad you could make it. I'm excited to discuss the wonders of cell theory with you."

"Well Mrs. Krunklehorn," Belle began with an uneasy voice. "I actually wanted to talk to you about a student in your class." There was a pause and Ella made her way to the door with her sack lunch. "Is Cinderella here? She was supposed to talk with me about it."

"I'm here." Ella peaked out of the small hallway before approaching the desk. Belle was taller than Mrs. Krunklehorn who had stood from her desk.

"Oh dear, I hope this isn't a terrible problem." The older woman seemed concerned.

"No, it's just I've had an issue with Gaston, my partner." Belle began to explain. She was diplomatic about things. Ella wished she could be like that. "Well, you see, he's a little bit forward with me. It's distracting during class and Ella was willing to switch partners with me."

"Well, I normally don't switch partners. I find that in science you need a stable relationship to understand the material better." Mrs. Krunklehorn shook her head. Ella felt a little hopeful that she might keep her missing partner. She felt bad for Belle, but it wasn't easy for her with people. She would rather work alone if she had to do all the work.

"However," Ella felt her heart stop when Mrs. Krunklehorn continued, "I can make an exception if you aren't feeling comfortable, Belle."

"Yes, I'm extremely uncomfortable with the situation. Thank you, Mrs. Krunklehorn." Belle gave her a sweet smile

"Yes, well it was no problem. Ella you don't mind, do you?" The teacher turned to Ella.

"No," She shook her head. "It's alright." Even though it really wasn't okay, but she would live.

"Well then it's settled." Mrs. Krunklehorn sat back at her desk without another word and went back to working on her clipboard.

Belle turned to Ella, "Thank you so much, Cindy."

"It's no problem."

"Did you want to join me in the library?" Belle offered. Then looked at the lunch bag in Ella's hand, "But they don't let you have food in there."

"No, I'm going to stay here, but thanks for the offer."

Shrugging Belle smile, "Alright, I'll see you later!" She waved and left while Ella disappeared into the back room to finish feeding the animals.