The Reluctant Cinderella

“I swear, Missy, it’s only been a few days and Sky’s already driving me insane!” Dawn yelled as she sat on the porch swing. Her feet were swinging as Missy, who was sitting next to her, made the swing move back and forth. It was hot out and both girls held a refreshing drink in their hands. “He’s trying to catch up too quickly,” she continued after taking a sip of her raspberry lemonade. “It’s like whenever I turn around he’s there.”

Missy had arrived earlier via a red bicycle. Her visiting was a nice surprise to Dawn since she desperately needed some company that wasn’t related to her.

“Like you said, he’s just trying to catch up,” Missy answered. “But think about how many years he’s missed. Give him a break.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “There you go again. Just because you have a crush on him doesn’t mean that you have to defend him all the time.”

Missy stopped the swing. “Crush? Oh yeah. That was over a long time ago.” She finished the rest of her tropical punch Kool-Aid. “I’m just seeing it from his point of view.”

A long sigh escaped Dawn as she leaned back against the swing. “I guess you’re right. But… I still wonder if I should have forgiven him so easily. Was it a mistake?” She looked at her best friend, hoping for some reassurance.

“I don’t know, Dawn. You’ll just have to see what happens.”

“That’s not what I wanted to here,” Dawn muttered.

Missy just smiled. “I know.”

They sat in silence for a while. That was disturbed by Missy’s cell phone going off. She checked the ID and playfully rolled her emerald green eyes before answering: “What do you want now, Connor?”

“Missy, I’m shocked that you would think that I only call when I want something from you,” Connor replied sounding hurt. Of course he wasn’t and Missy knew it, showing that by rolling her eyes once again. “Hand the phone to Dawn. She’s the one I want to talk to. DAWN! CAN YOU HERE ME!” he shouted causing Missy to move the phone away from her ears and cringe.

“God! You’re voice is so annoying! Wait, how did you know that I was with Dawn?”

“’Cause you have no other friends,” he replied like it was obvious.

“Hey!”

“Joking. I called your house and your brother told me. Now put her on.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Missy whispered to Dawn as she covered the phone with her hand. She put the phone on speaker and suppressed a laugh. Then she nodded to her best friend.

“Hey, Connor! What’s up?” Dawn said, giving a mischievous smile to Missy.

“Not much but…” Connor said. He sounded nervous over the phone, which immediately whipped the smile from Dawn’s face. The same couldn’t be said of Missy. “…Um, well you see… there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while. I wanted to do it sooner but didn’t have the courage.” He paused. “I guess you could say that I still don’t have courage since I’m not telling you this face-to-face. Dawn I-”

“Dawn! Missy!” Jason yelled as he walked towards Dawn’s house with a smile. Little did he know that he was interrupting an important confession.

“Missy, did you put me on speaker phone!” Connor yelled. It was very clear that he was furious. “Shit Missy! Why do you pull crap like this?!”

“Wait, Connor! We didn’t mean-” Missy said, but it was of no use. He had already hung up. She felt so bad for what she had done to him. Especially since I knew what he wanted to say, she thought. That made her feel even worse.

Dawn jumped at his sudden outburst but completely understood why he reacted that way. It sounded like he wanted to say something important and was having a hard time just saying it. What she and Missy did was totally uncalled for.

“We’re jerks,” Dawn said to Missy.

“Yeah,” Missy replied while nodding repeatedly. Sure she’s pulled stunts like this before but he never yelled at her for it. He sounded so pissed and she didn’t know how to make it up to him.

“Why are you guys jerks?” Jason asked.

They both jumped, having forgotten that he was coming their way.

“Oh, hey Jason,” Dawn said with a weak smile.

Missy muttered a “hello” before hitting the speed dial to Connor’s cell. She so badly wanted to apologize to him. But when it only rang twice and went directly to voicemail she frowned. Apparently he didn’t want to talk. That didn’t stop her and she tried again, leaving Dawn to talk to Jason.

“Hey, what’s wrong you two?” Jason asked with concern as he leaned against the porch railing.

“We did something horrible to a friend,” Dawn explained not wanting to give too many details. Her gaze never met his.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said reassuringly. “He or she won’t stay mad at you for long. I don’t think any one can.” That last sentence was muttered but he meant it with all of his heart.

“Really?” She looked up at him.

“Really, really.” He gave her a smile that she returned. A smile that he really loved. A smile that he wished she gave him every day. “Uh, anyway,” he said then cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you’re grounding is over. I would really like to hang out sometime. Soon actually. Before school for you starts.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“Well… I’m actually still grounded. Technically I shouldn’t have Missy or you over but no one’s here at the moment. I guess we can hang right now for a while. Before anyone is home.”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”

But as luck will have it someone did return home at that moment. A black car drove up and parked in front of the house. Dawn’s head snapped up and her eyes widened. But that fear didn’t last long when she recognized the car. It belonged to Sky and since the change she hoped that he would go easy on her.

Sky got out of the car, shut the door, and started up the pathway to the house. He stopped halfway when he saw two people with Dawn at the porch. His step quickened and as soon as one foot reached the porch he said to Dawn, “You know you’re still grounded, right? What if mom saw you? Or worse, Rose? Get inside now.”

Dawn stood, drink in hand and said, “Yeah, I know. Can’t they stay a little while longer? Mom will never find out.”

Sky shook his head. “We can’t risk that. Please get inside.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “Sure.” She turned to Missy, who was already standing. “Bye Missy.” They gave a quick hug. Then she faced Jason. “Later Jason.” He gave a wave before she turned and went inside.

Sky waited for the door to shut before turning to Jason with a glare. “You’re still here?”

Jason lifted his hands up. “Chill, I was just leaving.” He left without another word.

“Cold, much?” Missy said while grabbing her bicycle. She had given up trying to call her stubborn cousin. She just decided to try to apologize in person later.

“You’ve no doubt heard what he did to Rose. And now he wants to hang around with Dawn?” Sky folded his arms, never taking his gaze off Jason. “We’re finally getting along and connecting. I’m not going to let him swoop in here and carry her away.”

“And if he does?” Missy questioned.

“Goodbye Missy.” He looked at her with his arms folded.

She just smirked. “Goodbye Sky. Nice talking to ya.” Then she left.

Sighing, Sky turned and walked inside. He knew it would be a tough job trying to get back in Dawn’s life. He just never expected it to be this hard. The joys of being a big brother, he sarcastically thought before shutting the door.