XII. Ella, September 21

Tuesday mornings were never good. Not as bad as Monday mornings, of course—everyone knows Monday mornings are the worst of all, especially when you're in high school, but Tuesday mornings were almost as bad. Cinderella—usually just Ella, as that was what she preferred—awoke early for a few minutes of peace. She sat up in bed and untangled her hair.

Her two step-sisters, she knew, would be up soon enough barking orders at her and commanding her to do things that they could certainly handle on their own. But the two of them needed their so-called "beauty rest," so they always slept for as long as they possibly could, which was probably why they needed Ella to do things for them in order to leave on time. Though she would never say it, Ella thought the two of them had a couple of the most repulsive personalities of anyone she had ever met, and that was saying nothing about the way they looked. Let's just say the ugliness in their hearts was reflected in their faces. Ella was happy with the knowledge that she was not actually genetically linked with either of them.

The two of them, however, were nothing in comparison to their mother, Lady Tremaine. The worst part about Mrs. Tremaine was probably the fact that Ella could never escape her, even at school, since she was the literature teacher at Walt Disney High School. Mrs. Tremaine had a different kind of meanness to her than her two daughters did. While Anastasia and Drizella were catty and lazy and liked to bully and boss people around, their mother was more subtle and quiet in her treachery. She would act like she had Ella's best interests in mind, even though it was perfectly clear that she didn't. That wasn't just Ella being a typical teenager, thinking that her parent must be trying to ruin her life. Mrs. Tremaine genuinely did not like Ella and found some sick pleasure in making her life miserable.

But Ella wasn't miserable. Even though her father had passed away some years ago and she had her step-family to contend with, she was optimistic. She knew that things would be better in the future, because they had to be. Though she knew there were people in the world in far worse situations than hers, she couldn't imagine her own life possibly getting any worse. In the meantime, she had her dreams. She liked to imagine moving away somewhere exciting and living a successful, happy life with a wonderful family. She couldn't think of any better revenge than being happy, because she knew the reason why her step-family was so awful to her was because they were miserable and they wanted her to be that way too.

As she picked out her outfit for the day, she thought about Charm and found herself smiling. It was silly, but Ella had liked Charming Charmeuse for as long as she could remember. They had met all the way back in elementary school, though they had never really been friends per se. They had spoken a few times throughout the years, always casually, but he had always been so sweet. Maybe that was just his personality, but Ella was a dreamer and she couldn't help herself. More than anything right now she wished she had the guts to just go up to Charm and talk to him—maybe ask him to hang out. He wasn't outside her circle of friends—in fact, Aurora was friends with him—so it wouldn't be an absurd thing to do.

The problem was, Ella had no experience in this area. Even as a junior in high school, she had never had a boyfriend before, never even gone on a date. She knew this wasn't completely uncommon, but she felt a bit embarrassed about the fact since her two best friends were on the opposite end of the spectrum. Aurora had dated so many guys, and Snow and Prince had been together for what seemed like forever. The other problem was that Ella had never told anyone about her feelings for Charm—not a single soul. She hadn't even told Aurora, and she told Aurora practically everything. Obviously if Aurora had known about Ella's feelings for Charm, she never would have gone on a date with him. Ella felt selfish for being secretly glad that the two were incompatible. Of course she wanted Aurora to be happy, but she hoped that would be with anyone other than Charm.

I have to do something, Ella thought.

Charm was a senior this year, so if Ella was going to do anything about it, this was her last chance. If she didn't at least befriend Charm, she would probably never see him again. And she knew if she didn't at least try she would always regret it. The first step, she decided, would be to tell someone—someone with more experience. Aurora or Snow? Though she had known Snow longer, Ella considered both of them to be her best friends. Aurora knew more about approaching guys and dating, but clearly Snow was the expert on long-term relationships, and also quite a matchmaker.

I can't tell only one of them, Ella shook her head at herself in the mirror. I'll just have to tell them both.

"Cinderella!" Drizella's shriek came from somewhere down the hall.

Ella sighed, glad she had gotten a head start on getting ready, since she was going to be pretty busy for the rest of the morning. She headed to her older step-sister's room.

"Yes, Drizella?" she said, standing in the doorway.

"Bring me breakfast," she commanded.

"What would you like?" Ella asked, not wanting to have to make breakfast twice.

"Bacon—no, sausage… Um, bacon and sausage… And pancakes… Chocolate-chip pancakes, with whipped cream," Drizella said.

"Bacon, sausage, and pancakes?" Ella raised her eyebrows. "Anything… else?"

"Hot coffee," Drizella said, then waved Ella away.

Ella stopped by Anastasia's room, knowing she would be wanting breakfast too and figuring she would save herself a trip. She knocked lightly on the door.

"Go away!" Anastasia shouted shrilly.

"I'm making breakfast," Ella said through the door anyway. "Bacon, sausage, and chocolate-chip pancakes. Would you like some?"

"Yes," Anastasia said. "Hash browns too, now leave me alone!"

Ella shrugged and headed down to the kitchen. This wasn't unusual. She was used to having to juggle complicated breakfast orders from her step-sisters, so she could handle bacon and sausage and pancakes and hash browns. She just hoped she'd be able to wash the bacon and sausage smell off before she went to school. If not, she could hopefully mask it with some perfume.

As usual, Ella met up with her best friends in the usual ladies' room. While Anastasia and Drizella rode to school with Mrs. Tremaine, there was some kind of unspoken agreement that Ella would always ride the bus—so she would have to leave the house earlier, and would always wind up getting to school later. The whole way to school she was trying to mentally prepare herself for the conversation. It was normal, she told herself. She knew this. Girls always told their friends about who they liked. Ella listened to Aurora gush about this guy and that guy since before even middle school, and she had even had girls she wasn't that close friends with tell her which guys they were crushing on.

"It's completely normal," she whispered to herself as she pushed the door to the ladies' room open.

"What's normal?" Aurora asked, without looking up from the mirror.

"Uh—did I say that out loud? Nothing," Ella shook her head. "I have to talk to you guys about something."

"Yeah, what's up?" Aurora said, still focused on applying her eyeliner with precision.

"Can you, like… pay attention?" Ella asked. "It's kind of serious."

Aurora and Snow both looked to her now with their full attention.

"Is everything okay?" Snow asked.

"Yeah, are you alright?" Aurora asked. "It's not Drizella or Anastasia, is it? 'Cause I'll—"

"No, it's not them," Ella interrupted. "And everything is fine. I just… want to tell you guys something that I've never told anyone before and I'm kind of nervous about it."

"Aw, El, you know, if you're a lesbian, that's totally fine with—"

"No, Aurora, I'm not a lesbian," Ella said somewhat testily. "Can you please stop interrupting me so that I don't lose my nerve?"

"I'm sorry, I just—you never talk about guys, so I thought maybe…" Aurora trailed off, seeing that Snow was giving her a cautionary look. "Right."

"Well, it's… sort of about that," Ella said, glad to have something to ease her into the conversation. "I never talk about guys because there's sort of only one guy… One guy who I've sort of liked for a really long time, and I never wanted to say anything because it seemed kind of ridiculous to like a guy I barely know for so long, so… I guess I should just say it. It's Charm."

Aurora gasped a little bit.

"Charm?" she asked. "Charming Charmeuse? As in the guy I just went on a date with?"

Ella nodded, blushing a little bit.

"Oh, Ella, I never would have gone on a date with him if I had known—if I'd had any kind of clue!"

"I know you wouldn't have," Ella said. "I wasn't mad. I knew it was my own fault. And it's silly anyway, I mean, I don't even really know him."

"Well, I know him, and I think the two of you would make a great pair, personally," Aurora said.

"Completely," Snow agreed, looking a little bit dreamy as though she were imagining the two as a couple. "Oh, we need to make this happen."

"Agreed," Aurora nodded enthusiastically.

"So you'll help me?" Ella's face lit up.

"Of course we'll help you," Snow said, smiling. "We're your best friends—we're here for you. And you deserve it."

"Oh, thank you so much," Ella said, hugging both of her friends individually. "I was afraid you'd think I was silly."

"I do think you're silly," Aurora said. "I think it was very silly of you not to tell me about this before! How long has it been?"

Ella shrugged, "Forever, I guess."

"This needs to happen," Snow said. "Give me a couple days, I'll come up with something."

"You're the expert," Ella smiled, and the bell rang. "I'll see you guys at lunch!"

The three went in their separate directions. Ella couldn't stop smiling. She might have stopped, however, if she had waited for a minute. Then she might have seen Anastasia stepping out of the same bathroom she had just left.

Ella sat in her eighth block pre-calculus classroom, waiting for the teacher, Mrs. Hearts, to arrive. This was the last class of the day, and then she could go to Aurora's house with Snow so they could talk some more about what they'd discussed in the bathroom this morning and whispered about at lunch. Of course, at lunch they had only referred to Charm with codenames just in case anyone overheard. Ella found herself mindlessly doodling hearts and ribbons and squiggles in the corner of her notebook while she waited.

"What're you writing—Mrs. Cinderella Charmeuse?"

Ella felt her face go white. She turned to see an unfamiliar face—she'd never even spoken to this girl in her life before, and couldn't even remember ever seeing her. The tone she used as she said it was snide and mocking, and when Ella looked at her, the girl laughed.

"What did you—why did you say that?" Ella asked, her voice small.

"Well it's true, isn't it?" the girl said, then walked away, laughing.

"Where did you—?" Ella began, but the girl wasn't paying attention.

She felt herself beginning to panic. If this girl, whose name she didn't even know, knew about Ella's feelings for Charm, then who else knew? And how had they found out? She felt a pang of betrayal for a moment, thinking that Aurora or Snow must have told someone. But that was not in Snow's nature at all, and Aurora… Ella trusted Aurora with anything, and she knew Aurora would never do anything to hurt her.

"Ella!" Aurora ran into the classroom and took the desk next to Ella, where she usually sat. "Everyone knows—I don't know what happened."

Aurora looked genuinely distressed, and she had clearly run to class based on her wild hair and heavy breathing. She was looking to Ella for a reaction, and for a moment Ella could do nothing but sit there with her mouth hanging open.

"How… How is this even possible?" she was on the verge of tears.

"I don't know—I don't—oh, please don't cry, we'll fix this," Aurora said, trying to sound reassuring.

"I'm not… I'm not crying," Ella said, taking a deep breath and composing herself. "Does… does he know?"

"I don't know," Aurora said, shaking her head. "I don't understand how this could happen… I can't figure out who it's all coming from… Everyone seems to have heard from someone different. And you didn't tell anyone but us?"

"No, I only told you… and Snow," Ella said.

"Oh El, you don't think—"

"No, no, of course not," Ella said. "Snow wouldn't do that to anyone, especially not me."

"Of course," Aurora nodded in agreement. "Well—try not to think about it. We'll figure it out tonight. And in the meantime, I'm sure most people will just think it's a rumor. Don't let it get to you. Everything will be okay."

Ella nodded, trying to believe it. Yes. It was true. Everything would be okay. In the grand scheme of things, a little high school gossip was not the end of the world. Even if it did get back to Charm, so what? Either he would think it was a rumor and not care, or he would know that Ella liked him. And if he didn't like her or thought it was ridiculous, well then… Oh well. That would be that. It would be fine. It was not a big deal. Really.

Except right now, nothing seemed more important. Ella had never felt more humiliated, and that was saying something, since she went through a variety of different humiliating acts every day at home. When Mrs. Hearts came in and started shrieking at the students, Ella tried to concentrate on what she was saying. Tried to focus on functions and domains and x-and-y-intercepts and whatever. But pretty soon it was just blah-blah-blah and Ella was more focused on scribbling out the hearts she had doodled before.

She looked up at Aurora and saw Aurora looking worriedly at the scribbles in her notebook, then giving her a sympathetic look. A piteous look. Ella couldn't take it anymore. She stood up, snatched the bathroom pass off the board and exited the room before Mrs. Hearts could even react and start shouting at her to sit back down and pay attention. She hurried to the bathroom and locked herself in the handicapped stall before she started sobbing. Luckily the stall had a practically unlimited supply of toilet paper. There was a light knock on the door.

"Are you okay?"

Ella didn't recognize the voice.

"Yeah, I'm—I'm fine," Ella said, sniffling.

"You don't sound fine," the girl said softly.

"Okay, I'm not fine," Ella said. "What difference is it to you?"

It was a bit more confrontational than she usually was but she was hurt and she couldn't help it. She didn't feel like she was in control of anything right now, and that included her words.

"I just want to help," the girl said. "Are you sure you don't want to talk?"

"I guess… I could use someone to talk to," Ella said, convinced by the kindness in the girl's voice.

She opened the door and let the girl into the stall. The girl had long blonde hair that reached down her back—it was the longest Ella could ever remember seeing.

"Oh," the girl said when she saw Ella.

"Oh?" Ella asked, honestly a little put off by the greeting.

"I'm sorry—you're Ella, aren't you?" she asked. "Ella Miroir?"

"Yeah, I am," Ella said. "I'm guessing you heard, too?"

"Sorry," the girl said. "That really sucks. I'm Rapunzel."

"Nice to meet you," Ella said, though she realized she wasn't sounding too sincere. "I just… I don't know how this happened. Only two people in the world knew about it, and neither of them would have told anyone. It just… doesn't make sense."

"I think I know what happened," Rapunzel said.

"You do?"

Rapunzel nodded, "A girl in one of my classes—algebra—she was telling everyone. She said she overheard you talking about it in the bathrooms this morning—she was in one of the stalls and you didn't know or something. Personally I thought it was a horrible thing to do, telling all those people… Literally, she was telling anyone who would listen, and no one really likes her, either. But I guess no one can resist a good rumor."

"What's her name?" Ella asked, her sadness turning into bitterness and anger, feelings that were somewhat foreign to her even with her many years at the mercy of her step-family.

"Anastasia Tremaine," Rapunzel said. "I think she might be related to the English teacher, you know the one who—what?"

Ella could feel her whole body heating up with anger, and knew it must be showing on her face. This was a completely new feeling.

"She's my step-sister," she said through gritted teeth. "I should have known—I should have—"

"Well, how could you have?" Rapunzel said.

"I don't know, I just—if I could think of any person who would do something like this to another person, it would be one of my step-sisters," Ella said, wiping away the last of her tears with a piece of toilet paper. "Thank you, Rapunzel. You've been a big help."

"You're welcome," Rapunzel said. "But wait—don't let this stop you."

"Stop me?" Ella said.

"With Charm," Rapunzel said. "I don't know either of you, but… I say go for it. If that's your dream, don't let this stop you. And if it doesn't work out… you can find another dream. Things may seem bad now, but they'll get better. I promise."

Ella smiled because that was what she was always telling herself. It will get better. It will. It has to. The girl seemed surprised when Ella gave her a quick hug before leaving the bathroom and heading back to class. Mrs. Hearts glared at Ella when she came back in the room, but didn't let it interrupt her lesson. Aurora looked at Ella curiously but didn't say anything. Ella ripped out a piece of paper quietly and wrote a note to Aurora on it:

It was Anastasia.

Aurora unfolded the note, read the three words, then looked over at Ella, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. Ella nodded her head slowly.

Are you sure? How did she find out? …How did you find out?

Ella made a gesture at the clock indicating that she would tell Aurora everything once class was over. When class finally ended, Aurora was full of questions. Ella began to tell Aurora about her encounter with Rapunzel in the bathroom. They were headed toward the parking lot to meet up with Snow. Ella was midway through her story when she saw Charm walking down the hallway in the opposite direction, and she felt her face pale and it was as though the words had literally fallen out of her mouth. And then she realized that he wasn't just walking down the hallway, he was walking right toward her. She stopped walking because she couldn't walk anymore. She felt like she was suddenly frozen into place.

"Hi," he said, approaching the two girls and standing right in front of them; he turned to Aurora. "Can you give us a minute?"

"Um… sure," Aurora said, looking at Ella nervously. "I'll meet you in the parking lot?"

Ella nodded, unable to speak, and Aurora skipped off.

"Can I talk to you?" Charm asked.

"Ah… uh-huh," Ella said quietly, nodding—those sounds were the closest she could make to actual words right now.

Charm basically steered Ella into a hallway that was less crowded than the one they were in, not filled with the steady stream of students trying to escape to the parking lot.

"So I guess you know what this is about," Charm said.

"Mm… mm-hmm," Ella said, not even sure what she would say if she could say something.

"Well, I just wanted to say… I don't know you that well," he began. "But… I think you're really sweet. I know we haven't talked much, but you've always been really nice and… I think you're kind of cute. Really… cute."

Ella had a feeling her mouth was hanging open a little bit, but she couldn't really control that, either. Was he actually saying these things or had she just completely disappeared into her own imagination? This could not be real.

"So I want to get to know you better," Charm said. "Would you like to be my date for Homecoming?"

"What?" Ella finally felt the word tumble out of her mouth. "I mean—yes! Of course!"

She couldn't even control her enthusiasm, and wasn't even thinking—until later—about how uncool this outburst probably seemed. It didn't matter just then. Just then, the impossible had happened and she could hardly believe it.

"Great," Charm smiled. "I look forward to it. I know you've got to go catch up with Aurora so… I'll just get your number from her, and we can plan things from there. Sound good?"

"Yes—yes!" Ella said, practically bouncing up and down as she left to catch up with Aurora and tell her the fantastic, impossible news.

"What could you possibly be smiling about?" Ella heard as she was about to walk out the front doors.

She turned to see her older sister, Drizella. Surely Drizella had heard about what Anastasia had done. Anastasia probably bragged to Drizella about how perfectly she had ruined Ella's life this time. Ella sometimes thought that maybe they kept scorecards and competed on who could be the most awful. But seeing Drizella now only made Ella smile wider.

"What?" Drizella snapped—clearly Ella's happiness made her uncomfortable.

"You're looking at Charming Charmeuse's date for Homecoming!" Ella smiled, did a little curtsey, then skipped out the door.

She heard Drizella shouting after her, calling her a liar and saying she was just making it up. Well, she would just have to wait and see for herself then, wouldn't she?