Cinderella

"But mother," I heard Drizella whine from the other side of the door. "If we allow Prince Charming to put the slipper on Cinderella, it will fit!"

"Cinderella cannot marry Prince Charming, mother," Anastasia whined.

Each time either one said my name they held disgust and shame in their voice. If it hadn't been for my stepmother, Lady Tremaine, slipping poison into my father's food, they wouldn't even have the riches they do now. Though, I'm sure that they wouldn't care to know the details of how they gained their fortune.

"If she marries him, she gains the respect of the kingdom," Anastasia continued. "She doesn't deserve that, I do!"

"No, I do!" Drizella raised her voice over the sounds of something falling and crashing against the floor. Jumping back, I quietly dropped to my hands and knees, grabbing the rag out of the bucket and squeezing the excess water out before placing it on the floor.

"Girls," Lady Tremaine called out over the commotion going on behind the closed double doors. "That's enough! It wouldn't be such an awful thing if Cinderella married Prince Charming."

I stopped moving the bucket forward slightly as my eyes widened and I was frozen in place while I listened in to their conversation. How did they know I went to the ball? How did they know that the glass slipper Prince Charming has is mine? Why would my stepmother be okay with me marrying the prince of our kingdom?

"Mother!" Drizella and Anastasia yelled in unison, disgusts coloring their voices.

"We will finally be rid of her if she does," Lady Tremaine responded to them. "And then, us girls will have all of this to ourselves."

I heard one of my two stepsisters cough, and the sounds of Lady Tremaine's heels clicking against the floor made me snap back into reality. Picking the bucket up, I quickly moved down the hall a few more steps to make it look as though I wasn't right outside the dressing room door.

"Cinderella!" Lady Tremaine called as both doors opened, causing me to jump slightly as my heart began to race.

"Yes, Stepmother?" I asked, standing up as she turned to face me.

"Ah," she replied, tilting her nose up at me as she did. "Prince Charming is on his way. Get into the dressing room now, you have to look at least slightly presentable before you're married off."

"Married off?" I asked, bending over to pick the bucket and rag up from the floor. "Why would you want me to marry him over Drizella or Anastasia?"

"Yeah, mother," Drizella scoffed as she leaned against the door frame, her dress sticking further out in front of her. She crossed her arms over her chest as she rolled her eyes. "It doesn't make any sense, I mean look at her. She doesn't even get called by her actual name. She's a joke."

"Do as I say." Without another word, Lady Tremaine turned around and began walking down the hall.

...

"It doesn't quite fit her, Your Majesty," the short older man said as he turned his head to look back towards Prince Charming.

"It does!" Anastasia yelled, a hint of sadness in her voice as she took the shoe from his hands and began trying to fit her foot into the glass slipper that was two sizes too small.

"I do have one more daughter that you have yet to try the slipper on," Lady Tremaine said as she tightened her grip on my arm, hiding her grasp behind her.

"Bring her forward, Madam," he said as he turned towards her, Anastasia doing her best to keep the shoe in her grasp as he grabbed it from her.

"Anastasia, get up," Lady Tremaine said, her voice cold and monotone. "It doesn't fit." Pushing me forward by my arm, Prince Charming gave me a smile as Anastasia screamed and got up from the chair, storming off down the hallway as I sat down.

As he slid the glass slipper onto my foot, I smiled. Soon enough, all of my problems were going to melt away. Last night at the ball seemed to be nothing but a dream, and something I thought I would never experience again. I'm going to be able to finally live my life, and not work every second of it.

I could feel Lady Tremaine's and Drizella's eyes on me as I watched the smile form on Prince Charming's face. "It fits!" Prince Charming seemed to light up with joy as he looked up from my foot to meet my eyes.

"Mother," I heard Drizella poorly whisper behind me. "He's going to ask for her hand in marriage. Offer me instead."

"No, Drizella," Lady Tremaine responded, keeping her voice low. "Cinderella is going to marry Prince Charming, him and I are closer than you may think."

"If you're so close, offer me instead," Drizella whined, her voice beginning to gain volume in the room. "I deserve that happiness."

"She's going to be anything but happy," Lady Tremaine responded, a slight chuckle in her voice as she did. My heart began to race as I listened into the not-so-quiet conversation going on behind me. How could I be anything but happy when I'm going to be far away from the three of them? "Prince Charming is my ex-husband's son with his mistress, how we treated her is going to seem like paradise compared to what he has in store for her."