Like a Fairytale

“Please,” I moaned as Kelsey, Sam, and I walked to class on Monday morning. “Please tell me that the rumors aren’t true.”

“I heard Justin announce it himself this morning,” Kels said sympathetically. “He’s looking for his Cinderella, and she’s you.”

“Well, how will he prove its her? There has to be another girl in school he’ll fall for. Namely, Rebecca.” I was desperate at this point; it never occurred to me that Justin would try and find Cinderella.

“They have to unlock the iPod with the four-digit code you programmed in,” Sam explained. “So, you’re out of luck.”

“No,” I groaned. “All those people touching my iPod! How the hell will I ever get it back?”

“Confess to him who you are,” Kelsey said simply.

“And have Rebecca destroy me?” I asked. “No way! God, I can’t believe this is happening!” I sat down heavily in my seat as Mrs. Goff cleaned the projector.

“Well, believe it,” Kelsey said darkly, watching Justin walk in.

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know a girl who came to the dance dressed as Cinderella, would you?” He asked us. “White dress, white mask, about the same color hair as you.” He nodded at me, the familiar smile on his face, but not as big as usual.

“Sorry,” Kelsey said. “I didn’t see her, and Ella didn’t go.”

I shook my head, faking sadness. “My step-mom wouldn’t let me. I wish I could help though.”

His smile deflated a little. “Its okay.”

See, now, this is why I shouldn’t make plans. They backfire horribly.



“One more chance!” A blonde girl screeched as one of Justin’s friends pulled her away from him and the iPod. “I just need one more.”

Justin shook his head, and since Sam, Kelsey, and I were sitting at the lunch table next to his center of operations, we heard him mumble, “This is crazy.”

“Someone’s going to get shot or something,” Sammy said in a hushed tone, looking at the hundreds of girls lined up to try and guess the combination to my iPod, and subsequently, Justin’s heart. “Ella, you can’t admit you’re the girl now anyway, or the one getting hurt would be you.

I sighed, looking at Justin’s defeated face as yet another girl tried to combination. “I know, and Rebecca would be the one with the gun.”

Suddenly, though, the cafeteria was filled with a shriek of glee. “I got it! I got the combination!”

My blood froze when I recognized the voice of Hannah Marie Jackson.

Justin smiled. “Okay, just as one more test - you dropped something else, too. What was it?”

“My glass slipper,” Hannah said triumphantly before grabbing Justin’s face and kissing him. Rebecca’s face crumbled.

“Oh my god! She outsmarted me!” I hissed, outraged. “Now, both of her little ‘plans’ are done! Rebecca will never keep her popularity if her second-in-command is dating the hottest guy in school!”

“How did she even know the combination? And about the slipper?” Sam asked, glancing at where Hannah was now sitting on Justin’s lap.

I shrugged. “We need to find out.”

“She could’ve been spying on you,” Kelsey offered. “At least, that would work for the slipper. But I don’t know how she would’ve known that someone was going to be Cinderella.”

“The only people I told were you and Sammy,” I told her. “And neither one of you blabbed.”

“If Kelsey is right about the spying thing, then we don’t know how long she was doing it,” Sam pointed out.

“But why would she spy on me if she was trying to hurt Rebecca? It just doesn’t make sense.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, a headache forming.

“No,” Sam sighed in agreement. “It doesn’t. But we’ll figure it out, Ella. Won’t Becca be nice to you know that she knows you were right?”

I snorted. “Nice? She’ll probably be more of a bitch than usual because she’s bitter.”

“I’m sorry, El,” Kelsey said sincerely.

“Its fine,” I said dejectedly, standing up. “I’m going to go see Mr. G.”

My friends knew me well enough to let me go.



“Miss Kinsley, Mr. Bieber, could you come up here for a minute?” Ms. Clayton asked about halfway through math class in December.

Dread filled my stomach as I walked up to her desk, Justin right in front to me. Any news Ms. Clayton had couldn’t be good - she was just too evil for all that.

“Listen, Justin?” She said softly. “I hate to tell you, but your scores in here are shockingly low lately. If you keep this up, you could fail this class - but, I’m going to start you on tutoring. Ella, that’s where you come in. Your grades are excellent. So, Ella, do you think you could tutor Justin?”

No way in hell could I be his tutor without pissing off Hannah and Rebecca. I couldn‘t do it. I wouldn‘t do it. “Sure, Ms. Clayton.” I smiled like a good girl, all while having a panic attack. Wonderful.

Justin nodded. “Anything to keep my grades up,” he said solemnly.

“Great,” Ms. Clayton said warmly. “You two can figure out the details on your own time, okay?”

“Okay,” I replied easily, still internally freaking out. Then, I walked back to my seat, trying to figure out how in the hell my luck sucked so bad and how in the hell I was going to pull this off.



If looks could kill, the glare Rebecca shot me when Justin knocked on the door that afternoon and asked for me would’ve had me six feet under. For such a pretty girl, she could look so scary.

I lead Justin into my room, and when he entered, I could tell he was impressed. My room is pretty snazzy, with a blue, white, and green striped comforter and curtain the match, the curtain filtering the afternoon sun so it came in a light green. My walls were ivory to match, with pictures and posters covering them. I loved the place.

“Nice,” Justin said softly. “It really suits you.”

I smiled, sitting on the bed. “Thanks. I’ve been working on this place for years. So, math?”

He laughed. “Guess so.”

We worked through the problems, and I found out most of his problems in the class and did my best to help correct them. At times, it was hard for me to focus because I knew what had happened between us, and knowing he didn’t was tearing me apart. No one had ever understood me the way he did that night, and I had a feeling the same was true for him as well. We should’ve been together and I knew it.

After we finished, he leaned back in my desk chair with his eyes closed. “Hey, did you even go to the Halloween dance?”

“Nope,” I lied flawlessly. “My step-mom is really strict.”

“Oh,” He sighed.

“Why? What’s wrong?” I tried to keep my tone as concerned as a friend, and not someone who was starting to fall for him.

“I just… Hannah doesn’t seem at all like the girl I was with that night did,” He admitted. “That girl… she was amazing. Prettiest smile I’ve ever seen, a great dancer… and she listened to me. Not because I’m famous or anything, just because she was nice. So far, Hannah just treats me like I’m the latest accessory or something.”

I frowned slightly. “I’m sorry. Have you thought about talking to her about it?” Okay, see, classic example of how fucked up and stupid I am: I’m giving the boy I like advice on how to save his relationship with a girl I hate. There is something very wrong with this picture.

“I wouldn’t know where to start,” He replied honestly.

“Just talk to her like you would talk to me or any other of your friends,” I said simply.

“Oh, so we’re friends now, huh?” He teased.

I playfully hit his forearm. “I’d assume we’re friends. I don’t let people I’m not friends with in my room. That would be skankish.”

He tilted his head back, laughing loudly. “Of course. All I’m saying is, beginning of the school year, it was like you hated me or something.”

I blushed. “Okay, I did not hate you. I just didn’t want to talk to you.”

“I’m hurt,” He joked, putting a hand over his heart. “Why didn’t you want to talk to me?”

“Because Rebecca has a crush on you,” I said matter-of-factly. “She would skin me alive.”

“Aren’t Hannah and Rebecca best friends?” Justin inquired, raising an eyebrow. I nodded, raising mine as well. “So, doesn’t that mean in like girl-code or something that Hannah should’ve stayed away?”

I nodded again, this time slowly. “Hannah… she isn’t the nicest, let’s leave it at that. I don’t want to diss your girlfriend.”

Justin’s gaze was scrutinizing. “You know, Ella, you’re exactly like the girl I spent the dance with.”

“Thanks, I think?” Despite my light tone, my heart was racing, remembering all the things he said about his Cinderella earlier in conversation.

He laughed before gathering his stuff. “See you at school, Ella.” He gave me a quick, tight, hug before walking out and leaving me blushing and confused.