The Reluctant Cinderella

Dinner at the O'Brien's house was a lot different from Dawn's. Instead of silence -until Rose opened her mouth- and the usual argument there was laughter and talk of cheerful events. It was like she was on a different planet; one that she wished to stay on forever. But she knew that was impossible. At the end of the week she was going to return to her home. She was going back to being tormented by Rose and ignored by Sky.

As she watched the siblings joke around with each other she wondered if the relationship with her siblings will eventually go back to that. Unfortunately, only time will tell. At this thought Dawn’s mood dropped and she lowered her fork and placed it onto the plate. The smile that was on her face slowly faded.

Missy quickly noticed the change in her best friend and stopped the fork full of spaghetti midway to her mouth. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Oh… nothing’s wrong. Just thinking. I’m fine,” Dawn replied before finishing the last of her dinner.

“You don’t look fine,” Aidan chipped in.

“Aidan!” Missy scolded.

“No, no, it’s fine Missy,” Dawn said. “The dinner was delicious.” She stood up then grabbed her plate, silverware, and cup.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Missy asked while standing.

“I’m cleaning up,” Dawn answered like it was obvious.

“Not while you’re a guest in my house.”

“Our house,” Aidan injected.

“My house. While mom and dad are away I’m in charge, so that makes it mine,” Missy said then turned back to Dawn. “Now give me those,” she said while walking over and taking the plate and cup, “And go into the living and watch some TV.”

“Are you sure? I can help.” Dawn said.

“I’m positive. You’re here to relax. Now, shoo.” Missy smiled as Dawn walked out of the dinning room.

“Maybe she should help.” Aidan said while grabbing his stuff. “We’re not running a bed and breakfast here.”

“Congratulations! You just earned yourself dishes duty.” Miss smirked as she placed the rest of the dirty plates and cups on top of his.

“What?!” He groaned as he tried balancing everything.

“Be careful with them. And if you do a great job then tomorrow we'll go out for dinner and you get to pick the restaurant."

"Yeah!" He turned and hurried to the kitchen now in a much better mood. The swinging door moved back and forth until it finally closed. "Whoa!"

Missy laughed and shook her head as she made her way into the living room. Aidan was really something; she just didn't know what.

Later that night everybody had finished getting ready for bed and the house was quiet. All the lights on the lower level were off and the front and back doors were locked.

Missy walked towards her brother’s room and opened the door. She spotted him in front of his computer playing some game. She rolled her eyes.

“You better be asleep in ten minutes,” she told him then closed the door.

She then made her way over to the guest room where Dawn was staying. The door was partially opened and she looked inside. She saw Dawn at the vanity table brushing her long hair. While lightly knocking twice she opened the door a bit. As Dawn’s head turned, Missy smiled.

“Hey,” she said as she walked in.

The guest room was smaller than the other rooms but still big enough to hold a queen sized bed, a dresser drawer, a small bedside table with a digital clock and lamp, and a small vanity with a mirror. The walls were painted a soft yellow while the ceiling remained white. A few pictures and paintings hung on the walls.

Dawn put the brush down and stood up. She walked over to the bed and sat on it with her legs crossed. “What’s up?” she asked.

“I jut wanted to know what was going through your mind at dinner,” Missy said while walking to the bed then sitting down near Dawn, “because, honestly, you didn’t look happy.”

“I told you that I was fine. There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Dawn, I’m your best friend. I know when something is bothering you. Just tell me.”

Dawn was starting to get a little angry with the red-head. She knew her best friend just wanted to make sure that everything was okay but that didn’t mean she could pry. “Look, it’s not important. Just drop it.”

“It seemed important to you. I’m your best friend-”

“I know you’re my best friend,” Dawn interrupted, “but I don’t have to tell you everything! Believe it or not, I do like to keep some things personal.”

“And I just want to help. Just tell me.”

“Fine! At dinner I watched you and your brother actually having fun and felt sad because I may never get to experience that with my siblings.”

Missy was frustrated because Dawn seemed to always bring up her problems but never did anything about them. “Well, why don’t you actually try to do something about it?”

“It’s not that easy, okay?” Dawn stood up and looked down at Missy. “It’s not like I can click my heels together and wish for everything to be better. Do you know how hard it is to try to talk to my siblings? Or try to get my parents to understand my side?”

Missy stood as well, looking Dawn right in the eyes. “Oh boo-hoo. Poor me! I can’t talk to anybody. Nobody listens to me! Well you know what? Make them listen! Don’t be scared to talk back to Rose.”

“What’s with the sudden change of attitude?” Missy raised an eyebrow at this comment. “I remember you saying, ‘Things will get better. I promise.’ Now you’re telling me to start talking back?”

“That’s what I meant! Things will get better once you start doing something about it!”

Dawn turned her back towards Missy and crossed her arms. Her anger stopped her from admitting that Missy was right. But Missy just didn’t understand. Sure, it was easy to say to go do something but actually going out to do it was much harder. Especially with a sister like Rose. She knew that of she did try it would surely come back to her double fold. Rose was very good at that.

Missy was shocked that Dawn had chosen to ignore her. She was only trying to help. Well, if she was going to get the silent treatment, then fine. Without another word she marched out of the room and slammed the door. Dawn jumped at the sudden noise and glared at the closed door.

After turning off the light she went to bed and decided that the moment she woke up she was going back home.

The hours passed slowly to Dawn and on top of that she couldn't sleep. The fight with Missy was still on her mind; causing her to get a headache. Sighing, she sat up and reached for the lamp. She turned it on and reached for her cup of water but it wasn't there. For a moment she was puzzled but soon remembered that she had left it on the counter in the kitchen. Yawning, she got off the bed then made her way out of the room.

The trip to the kitchen was short and as she opened the door noticed that the light was on. The sound of crunching drew her attention to the right where she spotted Missy leaning against the counter with a bowl of cereal. She also noticed her cup of water right next to Missy's elbow. Without making eye contact she walked towards her cup and grabbed it. She began taking sips as she slowly walked away. She was on the other side of the room when she stopped and looked down at the cup.

Silence.

"I'm so sorry!" they suddenly said in unison. They both put their things down and walked to each other.

"I shouldn't have gotten mad. You were just trying to help," Dawn said.

"No, no, you were right to be mad. I shouldn't have made you tell me," Missy said as she gave Dawn a hug. "You don't need to tell me everything."

Dawn hugged her back. "No, you were right to be concerned. You're such a good friend!"

The two didn't break the embrace for a while and they continued to apologize to each other. These two were so close that one silly fight couldn't tear many years of friendship apart.

"Ew!"

They broke apart and laughed as they watched Aidan cringe and walk out of the kitchen.