Cinderella's Sister

I manoeuvred myself off of the bed when I’d heard Edwardo call for us. Apparently, breakfast was ready. I didn’t delay - I didn’t bother to go to the bathroom and fix myself up. There was no need for that. Instead, I raked my hand through my hair, patted my clothing and headed for the door.

As I closed the door to the room, I unexpectedly - and awkwardly - bumped into Keegan’s chest. He patted my head, laughed and swooped down to kiss me on the cheek. I was surprised at the gesture, and maybe even a bit appalled, but the smile on his face told me that it was only regarded as a greeting - nothing more. I managed to smile at him and pushed past him eagerly to where the food was.
“Good morning, Eloise,” Edwardo said, sounding far too rehearsed. I was tempted to laugh after noticing his pink, floral printed apron that had ‘KISS THE COOK’ written over it in vivid. Instead, I greeted him.
“Good morning, Edwardo,” I said, taking my designated seat. Dante was already sitting in front of me. He didn’t even acknowledge my existence and to a certain degree I was thankful, and a bit offended. I was about to call out his name and capture this attention, but the look on his face immediately told me he wasn’t in the mood. He wasn’t necessarily looking at me - he was looking out the window. His eyes were almost lost somehow. His expression completely blank. It was as if he was here, but he wasn’t really. I was about to say something, but Keegan entered the room and took his seat next to Dante. No one said anything, and an eerie silence filled the room. Luckily, Edwardo was there to save the day.
“How do you like your eggs, Miss Eloise?” He asked, finally breaking the silence.
“Unfertilized,” I said without thinking. I don’t even know why I said it - a slip of the tongue, maybe? But it caused Keegan to laugh hysterically, and Dante looked as if he was trying to contain his. I covered it up with a couple of coughs, and finally replied. “Uh, scrambled would be fine.” Edwardo nodded. He took the other boy’s orders and began cooking the meals. It wasn’t long before he was finished, and the food was neatly presented on the table. We thanked the man, and he muttered something about going to get groceries. Keegan just gave a dismissive wave, and quickly began digging into his meal.

“Edwardo definitely knows how to cook,” Dante said in between bites. I sighed. At least he was talking.
“I know,” Keegan replied. “Which is why we hired him.” Dante nodded. Now it was my turn to feel like a third-wheel. The boys continued with their conversation while I ate quietly, hoping they would not notice I was still here. Sadly, there was no such luck.
“So, what do you think?” Keegan asked, looking at me. I shrugged.
“Think about what?” I asked.
“Oh, you know-” He was cut off by the sound of the door bell. “Just let me get that.” Keegan grabbed a napkin, wiped his mouth and walked towards the door leaving Dante and I by ourselves. I didn’t dare talk to him, I didn’t have the heart to. Luckily, it seemed as if he forgot I was here, and he began eating too. From the other side of the house, where the door was located, we heard Keegan scream. We didn’t race to his aid; instead, we tiptoed to the nearest wall to eavesdrop. If there was someone there: we were ready to pounce. If it was nothing, we could simply walk back to the table. Of course, there was no problem - only Keegan overreacting. The one who stood in the door way was a tall girl, the one with the ivory skin. The one with the thick blond curls. The one who was with Keegan the other day at the tree house. I scanned my mind in hopes that I could remember her name, but no such luck. Dante shook his head and laughed.
“Amanda,” he said. That’s right, that was her name! After Dante had concluded that she was no threat, we headed back to our seats to continue eating. However, their loud argument insisted we eavesdrop. I could hear patches of their conversation.
“...but I can’t,” she said.
“It’s not the time right ,” Dante said, his tone sounding rather urgent. “I have company.” He was referring to Dante and myself. There was a brief pause, and then she spoke.
“What difference does it make?” Keegan sighed and let her in. Casually, she stepped into the room and I almost did a double take at her outfit. She was wearing skimpy shorts, a skin-tight tank top, designer sunglasses and carried those huge purses. I wondered whether there would be a chihuahua inside. I then looked at myself, dressed in sweatpants and a jacket and shuddered. Not at myself, but at her. Wasn’t she cold? It was the middle of Autumn, nearing Winter and by the looks of it, she prances around frantically in skimpy clothing - basically naked. Despite this, she moved almost elegantly. She walked over to the couch and kicked off her expensive looking heels and lay down. Lucky for her, she wasn’t flashing. Keegan quickly caught up with her and pulled her arm. She winced and pulled another face. He immediately let go and she smiled.
“I said come in, not ‘make-yourself-at-home’,” he whispered far too loudly. Dante rolled his eyes and continued eating.
“I basically live here already, don’t I?” She replied. That comment almost made me choke, resulting in much coughing. She pin-pointed her attention to me and set her face on a grimace. Apparently, she recognized me. And apparently, according to the look on her face, my name was already etched inside her death book.
“Eloise, are you okay?” Keegan said, running to my aid and handing me a glass of water. I nodded, sipped the water, coughed again and finished eating. God, that was embarrassing. Dante smirked from the other side of the room, obviously amused. Amanda looked away moments later, as if I wasn’t worth her time.
“I’m fine,” I replied managing a nod. I gestured for him to continue his conversation. “I think I’m just going to take a shower and sleep.” Keegan and Dante nodded, whilst Amanda just looked at us as if something was off.
“Why is she going to take a shower at your house?!” She demanded. I wondered why she was overreacting. It was no big deal, really.
“She’s been crashing here for a while now,” Dante chimed in. He certainly was talking now - but not at the right time. I really wished I could pounce on him... and claw his eyes out. Amanda shot me a look, examined my outfit and spluttered a laugh.
“Are you kidding? She’s the girl you’ve been living with? If you’re here to tell me this cheap bimbo is you’re girlfriend, then you’ve got another thing coming Keegan-”

I loved the fact that I could slip out of any situation unnoticed. I was really thankful for that particular ‘talent’ right now, as while Keegan was arguing to Amanda who kept complaining, I slid out of the room. I made a mad dash for the room and closed the door so their booming voices were nothing more than a mere murmur. I locked the door and collapsed down beside the bed panting. I wasn’t scared, I just knew that if I opened my mouth, I’d make the situation worse. Apparently, according to Mother, that was all I was good for. Ruining moments. I regained my breath not too long later and walked over to the en-suite. As I began stripping, there was a knock on the door. Feeling skeptical at first, I quickly re-dressed and walked towards the door. I opened it the smallest crack, big enough so I could see who it was, but small enough so Amanda couldn’t pull another one of her little ‘magic tricks’ and get into the room. To my surprise, the one standing outside was Dante. He stood outside, arms crossed, dilated pupils, looking no where. He noticed the door was open, and like last night, invited himself in without a word.
“Felt like a third wheel,” he announced, sitting on the bed without invitation. I sighed, but didn’t insist he go. For once, it felt nice to have his company. I could learn a thing or two from this guy. His optimistic personality in contrast with my pessimistic personality could possibly change me. If I wanted to change. The conversation changed from being third wheels to our families and friends to movies and favorite places. I couldn’t really participate in the conversation though, I couldn’t relate to anything. Dante mumbled something under his breath comparing me to a brick wall or something.
“You don’t get out much, do you?” Dante finally said. Well, obviously if he was listening to a word I was saying, then he wouldn’t be asking his. I sighed and nodded.
“I’m the anti-social reject who no-one likes.” I finally said.
“Hey, if people actually look the time to hang out with you, they’d find that you’re pretty cool,” Dante said, punching my arm playfully. I was actually touched at the comment that I almost started blushing. But I didn’t. “You know what, I should take you out.” I looked up at him and glared.
“Take me where?”
“Anywhere but here,” he started. “As big as Keegan’s house is, it feels hot and stuffy and small.” I nodded in agreement. He was absolutely right. “I’ll meet you in ten minutes, and we’ll go to the mall or something?” I just nodded. He smiled, closed the door and walked out.

It wasn’t because I liked Dante that I agreed to go out with him. It was mostly because I agreed with the fact that the house was getting hot and stuffy. I searched my bag for anything suitable to wear, and found myself laughing. Why would I need to dress up for someone like him? I shrugged, rolled my eyes but still found myself changing clothes. I slipped out of the sweat-pants and jumper and slipped into a less comfortable, but more casual jeans and top. Although the jeans were stained with grass, the fact that they were black hid the stains - but it didn’t hide the smell. I quickly looked through Keegan’s bathroom cupboard and found myself an opened bottle of perfume. The smell was over powering, but sweet. I sprayed the perfume once over the jeans and took a quick whiff. It smelt of pine and pinacalda. I looked at myself in the mirror and huffed into my hands. I tried to smile, but what came out looked more of a strange lip seizure or spasm, rather than a smile. I sighed again and fastened the shirt around my body properly. I thought about Amanda, who I could still hear vaguely talking to Keegan in the lounge.
“There’s nothing wrong with dressing modestly,” I commented beneath my breath as I laced my Converse chucks. I walked to the room, slipped my wallet into my pocket and walked out. Outside, Dante was already waiting for me, tapping his foot impaitently.
“Shall we?” He said, gesturing to the hallway. I shrugged. “Aw, come on, you can do better than that.” He commented.
“Fine. We shall,” I said, walking in front of him. We both walked into the hallway, and to our surprise, Amanda and Keegan were sitting quietly, their backs to each other.
“Did they fight?” I whispered to Dante. He simply shrugged. Keegan noticed our ‘casual’ attire and questioned where we were going. When he found we were going out, he went hysterical - joking about how we were going out on a date. Amanda still sat quietly.
“We’re gonna go now,” I announced. Keegan nodded.
“Be back soon?” Keegan asked. It was my turn to nod.

We exited the room and walked off into the driveway, where Dante’s car was parked. It was the exact same one I dented, and I was beginning to feel nostalgic.
“Ah-ha,” I said, examining the car and walking to the passenger’s door, “I remember this.” I tapped the hood of the car.
“Don’t! You’ll chip the paint!” Dante said, before banging his head on the car’s roof trying to make his way inside. I giggled and followed him inside.
“Oh, the memories,” I said as I buckled myself in. “Where to?”
“The mall,” he said, starting the car. The familiar roar of the engine made me squirm in my seat. The drive wasn’t long, but it felt like it. The conversation began to drop until no one was talking. Dante turned on the radio and began jamming out to some tunes. I laughed hysterically, he looked so stupid.
“So this is what it feels like to have friends,” I said gasping. I was almost dying from laughter.
“Yeah, bro! I bet in your seventeen years, you’ve had at least one friend,” he said, not taking his eyes off of the road. I shook my head no.
“I suppose if you counted Keegan,” I said quickly. “And the countless people who only came to me for my sister...” my voice drifted off, and as did my mind. I found myself staring blankly outside the window - a glazed expression on my face. The car came to an abrupt halt, and we were at the mall. The mall was jam-packed of people; teenagers and their dates, but mostly thirteen year old girls hanging out with their friends. Dante stepped outside and opened the door for me, and some girls nearby commented on his appearance. They waved at him, obviously flirting, but he was too worked up on opening the door that he was oblivious. We stepped into the mall where, to my surprise, the door man greeted him.
“Your friend?” I asked.
“You can say that,” he replied blankly. “Hey, why do you always wear the same clothes?” I was almost offended at the comment.
“Hello, teenage runaway here,” I reminded him. “I’m supposed to only carry a couple pairs of clothes.” He nodded and escorted me to an expensive looking clothing store.

“What?” I asked as he literally dragged me in.
“I can’t have my date looking like... that,” he said, gesturing to me. I flipped him off, and he poked his tongue. He clapped his hands, and two women appeared.
“Yes, Master Dante,” they said, bowing.
“Fix her up for me, will you?” He said. The two women then looked at me from strange angles and nodded. “Pronto,” he quickly added, “make it snappy.” Although I was tired to being dragged around, I was strangely exhausted and allowed the ladies to escort me into an empty changing room.
“We’ll be back with clothes,” one woman said. “You stay here.” I nodded. They came back several minutes later carrying a handful of dresses and shoes.
“Here, change into these,” the other woman said quickly placing the clothes into my hands. They closed the changing room’s curtain and left without a word. I came out several times and the women where sitting on leather chairs, talking amongst themselves whether the dress was any good or not. Countless times I’d come out, but they’d make me go and change. I put on a white, ruffled cocktail dress that reached my knees, and apparently, we’d struck our winner. Instead of letting me go out and see Dante, they insisited on putting make up on me. Of course, I couldn’t refuse. Mostly because they’d pinned me down and applied it by force. After several painstaking minutes, they’d finished.
“Bravo,” the younger of the women said, patting the older one on the back. I didn’t know what was going on until they handed me a mirror. My eyes bulged and I touched the mirror, and then my face. My blond hair was curled and reached my shoulders, the make up made me look flawless. The gladiator heels added a little of my flair into the the outfit.
“Master Dante,” the older girl said in a sing-song voice. “We’re done.”

He appeared in the room moments later to see the progress. His jaw dropped about six inches and he began laughing.
“I look bad?” I asked.
“No,” he replied. “You look stunning.”