Belle paused again. “Sounds like he really played you then,” she said, anger replacing sadness in her voice. Then she hung up.
Cinderella sat staring at her phone for a while, her jaw unconsciously remained open. Then she slapped the phone shut and returned it to Dana.
“It wasn’t really an emergency,” she said, trying to hide the anger that threatened to spill out through her words. “Just Belle being dramatic.”
“So everything is okay then?” Dana asked.
“Yup,” Cinderella said. “Everything is just fine.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Wednesday, August 4th
“Where is it?”
“Where’s what?”
“Come on, I know you took it!”
“What did I take?!”
“Stop being such a brat and give it back to me!”
Rachel awoke the next morning to her daughters’ bickering voices in the next bedroom. She’d worked a late shift and had been hoping to sleep in. Their shouts grew louder as Rachel lay in bed, puzzled by the sudden argument. Her daughters almost never fought! She climbed out of bed and slid her robe from its hanger behind the door. Pulling it over her shoulders, she pushed the door open to the girls’ bedroom. Aurora was pulling things from Ariel’s drawers and tossing them over her shoulders, shouting at her sister as the clothes flew about the room. Ariel sat on her bed, screaming for Aurora to stop. Then she jumped off the bed and charged her sister, knocking the both of them to the ground. Rachel ran in the room and pulled the girls apart.
“What on earth is going on in here?”
“Ariel stole my bracelet!”
“Your bracelet? Why on earth would I steal your bracelet?!”
“I don’t know! Maybe you’re just jealous that Dave likes me and not you! Or maybe you took it because yours is gone! All I know is I had it last night, and now it’s gone!”
“Think about it genius,” Ariel shouted over Rachel’s slender frame that separated the two of them. “Why would I steal a bracelet with your name on it?!”
“I have no idea!” Aurora screamed back. “You’re the criminal mastermind, not me.”
“Don’t be so stupid!” Ariel yelled. “That doesn’t even make sense!”
Rachel put a hand up in front of each girl’s face. “That’s enough,” she said.
The twins stopped and looked at their mother, finally noticing her presence. “Ariel, did you take Aurora’s bracelet for any reason?” she asked calmly.
“No!”
“Liar!”
Rachel put her hands up again. “Aurora, is it possible you lost your bracelet on a ride yesterday?”
“No! I remember having it last night!”
“Well maybe it fell off without your noticing. Why don’t you put Ariel’s things back where they go and she can help you look for it.”
“But…” Ariel began.
“I’m not asking,” Rachel said. And there was a finality in her voice that stopped the twins from arguing any further. “Check Dave’s car too,” Rachel said as she pulled their door closed behind her.
Ariel plopped back on her bed and picked up a magazine that was laying on the nightstand. She rolled onto her stomach and began flipping through the pages. “If you think I’m going to help you, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“I don’t want your help anyway!” Aurora whisper-shouted so their mother wouldn’t come back in. “Besides, I’d rather go to Dave’s house myself.”
“Sure, you wouldn’t want anyone around to get in the way of your sluttiness,” Ariel mumbled under her breath.
“What did you say?” Aurora asked with venom in her voice. Ariel’s phone started ringing and she quickly answered it.
“Sorry, can’t talk,” Ariel mouthed. Then she frowned at the phone. “I don’t really want to talk about that, ask Aurora,” she said. Ariel tossed the phone in Aurora’s direction. “It’s Belle,” she said, going back to her magazine.
An hour later, showered and primped, Aurora stood on Dave’s front steps. She had to knock twice before Dave’s mom answered the door.
“Is Dave here?” she asked.
“Oh no, I’m sorry sweetie,” she said, shaking her head. “He had football practice this morning.”
“Oh okay,” Aurora replied. “Would you have him call me?”
“Sure thing. It’s Ariel, right?”
Aurora gritted her teeth. “No, it’s Aurora actually.”
“Oh, I’m sorry! I’ll have him give you a call.”
“Thanks,” Aurora said, and she turned and walked away.
***
Cinderella sat by her bedroom window, watching Aurora walk away from Dave’s house. She shook her head but couldn’t help a little smile from creeping across her face. It serves Belle right for being such a jerk last night. Then almost immediately she felt bad for having such thoughts about her cousin. Cinderella was about to close the curtains when she saw a white sneaker fly through the air and land on the balcony in front of her. She slid open the glass door and stepped out into the sunlight, looking around. Snow White stood on her balcony next door, another shoe in hand, prepared to launch.
“Whoa,” Cinderella said, putting her hands up. “I surrender!” But it quickly became apparent to Cinderella that Snow White was not in a joking mood.
“Why didn’t you tell us you kissed Dave?” Then quickly correcting herself, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Who…?” But Cinderella knew who before she could even get the rest of the question out. “When did Belle tell you?” she asked.
“She called me this morning,” Snow White said, her eyes refusing to make contact with Cinderella’s. “Why am I always the last to know everything?” she asked.
“Belle only found out last night and I didn’t tell Ariel or Aurora either,” Cinderella defended herself.
“Well, Aurora called me about ten minutes after Belle did to see if it was true, so I guess she got to them too.”
Cinderella clenched her fists. “It really wasn’t that big a deal,” she said.
“I just can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me something like that. Especially after I ditched them to spend all day here with you.” Snow White looked like she was about to cry.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Snow! Honest! I just didn’t think it was that big a deal. I only kissed him for that stupid ‘True Aggie’ thing. It doesn’t even matter now; I like Scott anyway.”
“Well it matters to me,” Snow White said. “I would have been more prepared when he kissed me, if you had warned us,” she barely spoke above a whisper.
“Wait! He what?!” But it was too late. Snow White had already turned and gone back inside. “Snow wait! Snow?”
Cinderella turned and stepped back into her own bedroom, slamming the glass door behind her. Or at least slamming the sliding glass door as best as one can. She paced around her room in a huff before throwing herself down on the bed. Cinderella screamed into her pillow, but it didn’t seem to relieve all her frustrations. That brat! I can’t believe she told on me! Then she sat up on the edge of her bed and paused for a moment. “Let’s see how she likes it,” Cinderella whispered to herself. Then, ever so quietly, Cinderella opened her bedroom door and tiptoed into her mom’s bedroom. She could hear Dana downstairs in the kitchen. She glanced around for a moment before noticing the pink cell phone sitting on her mom’s dresser. Grabbing the contraband item, Cinderella punched a familiar number on her speed dial and listened to the rings.
“Hello?”
“Hi Aunt Mary, it’s Cinderella.”
“Hey sweetie, I thought you weren’t allowed to talk on the phone. Did the warden let up on you already?”
“No, but this is important,” Cinderella began. “I’ve been holding a secret in and I just can’t lie to you anymore.”
“What’s going on?”
“Belle got her belly-button pierced about a month ago and I’m not trying to be a tattle-tale, but I think you deserve
to know the truth.” The other line was silent for a moment; exactly the reaction Cinderella had been hoping for.
“Thanks for calling,” Mary said in a tight voice and she hung up the phone.
Cinderella snapped her own phone shut and returned it to the exact spot on her mom’s dresser. Then she skipped down the stairs, taking two at a time, to join Dana in the kitchen for breakfast.
Chapter Twenty-Four
After her encounter with Dave’s mom, Aurora began walking. She wasn’t willing to go home and see her sister again, so she kept moving forward. She didn’t know where she was headed, just that she needed to get away for awhile. After following her feet for a good twenty minutes, Aurora looked up and noticed she was heading toward a little shopping center. She skimmed the sign; there was a grocery store, a nail salon, a Blockbuster, a gym, a Chinese restaurant, a chiropractor, then Aurora paused on the last one. That gave her an idea! She picked up the pace and walked straight for the small shop. Aurora pushed open the glass door, as a bell tinkled overhead.
“I’ll be with you in just one second,” the lady told her.
Aurora nodded and took a seat. She began flipping through a magazine, looking over pictures of celebrities, but not really reading any of the articles. The bell tinkled again and a mother with two small children walked in and found seats beside Aurora. Then an older man came in and sat on the opposite side of the door.
“Who was next?” A second worker asked, stepping out from the back room.
Aurora jumped up from her seat and followed the worker further into the shop. She climbed into the black spinning chair, and held her hair up so the stylist could clip a cape around her neck. Then the stylist spun Aurora around, so she was looking straight at her own reflection in the mirror. All she could see was Ariel looking back at her.
“What are we doing for you today?” she asked, playing with Aurora’s long, blonde hair.
“Chop it,” Aurora said. “I want to look completely different.”
***
Ariel sat on her bed reading. It was a popular book in a series and she had read it multiple times before. The books had gone on to the big screen, Aurora even had two of the movie posters hanging above her bed. Even though the two posters took up most of Aurora’s half of the wall, it seemed empty in comparison. Behind Ariel’s bed was a massive collage of pictures ripped from magazines and printed offline from her favorite movies and albums. Just as Ariel turned her focus back to her book, the door downstairs opened and shut. Ariel sighed; she was enjoying the quiet of being home alone. But with Aurora returning, she knew it was about to get loud again. She could hear Aurora making her way up the steps, rather slowly. When Aurora finally walked into the room, Ariel’s jaw hit the bed. Aurora grinned, but said nothing. Instead, she walked over to their shared desk, pulled out her own book, and began reading.
“What...?” was all Ariel managed to get out.
“I’m sorry, did you say something?” Aurora asked, turning to look at Ariel.
“What did you do?” she finally said.
“Do you like it?” Aurora asked. She moved her head side to side, allowing the short A-line to bounce off her cheeks. Her once blonde hair, now highlighted with red streaks.
“Why?” Ariel asked, getting up from the bed and moving toward Aurora for a closer look.
“I thought it was time I had a more mature look,” she said. “Besides, I didn’t want to look like you for the rest of my life.” Aurora spewed the word ‘you’ at her sister, as though it were poison.
“Well it looks stupid!” Ariel retorted. She scooped her book off the bed and stormed out of the room.
Aurora smiled. She had gotten exactly the reaction she was looking for.
***
Monday, August 9th
Cinderella sat in her room, looking out the window. She seemed to look out the window a lot these days. Snow White was mad at her. She never actually heard what happened with Belle, but she assumed Belle was mad at her too. Dana had come into her room one night and said, “If you ever pierce something without telling me, I’ll kill you.” So she assumed Belle had been punished because of her phone call. Cinderella hadn’t spoken to anyone other than her mom in five days, and she was starting to go crazy! She needed some kind of outside contact! She found herself looking forward to the mailman coming that day, just so she could have someone to say hi to.
Cinderella glanced down at the parking lot and had to do a double take. Then she pushed open her door and rushed outside. “Aurora?” she asked. Aurora looked up. Sure enough, that was her!
“Hey Cindy! How’s imprisonment?” she asked.
“Oh my gosh, your hair!” Cinderella responded, without answering her question.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it! It just surprised me!”
“Thanks.” Aurora smiled up at her. Neither of them knew what to say. They weren’t sure how much the other knew through Belle. Aurora shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. “Well, I gotta go,” she said.
“See ya.” Cinderella waved.
This is stupid! she thought, plopping down on her bed again. I hate that Dave did this to us!
***
Saturday, August 14th
Snow White sat across the table from Ariel and Aurora. The three of them were playing Phase 10, but they kept having to remind each other when their turn came.
“It’s your turn!” Ariel shouted at Aurora.
“I just went stupid!” she yelled back.
“No, you didn’t! It went around the circle, and now it’s back to you again!”
“Fine, I’ll go again, but you can’t get mad when I win,” Aurora remarked.
“Like that would ever happen,” Ariel said quietly, but still loud enough for her sister to hear.
“What is your problem?!” Aurora shouted.
“Well, I better be going,” Snow White said, jumping to her feet.
“Tell Ariel she’s being really immature,” Aurora said to Snow White.
“Tell Aurora she sucks!” Ariel said, looking straight at Aurora.
“See ya guys,” Snow White said. She hurried out the door before they could suck her into their fight even more.
As soon as Snow White got outside, she sighed loudly. Things had not been good between the cousins since their Lagoon fiasco. Ariel and Aurora were constantly fighting, she and Cinderella were still not speaking, and Belle had been grounded indefinitely since Mary found out about the piercing. With both Cinderella and Belle grounded, her only option was hanging out with the twins and it always ended the same way. They would fight and force her to choose sides and Snow White always ended up going home with one or both of them mad at her. She found herself actually looking forward to school starting!
She walked down the street, back to her own house, staring down at her shoes with her hands in her pockets. Snow White looked up just in time to see Dave getting out of his car across the street. He waved, but Snow White quickly turned her head away and ran inside. Almost immediately there was a knock on the door. Snow White froze. She peered through the peephole and saw Dave’s tall frame standing on her porch. She slowly pulled the door open.
“What’s going on?” Dave asked. “I know you saw me.”
Snow White blushed; she wasn’t sure what to say to him.
“I’m not mad or anything,” he said more softly. “I’m seriously just wondering what’s going on. Everyone has been acting so weird lately! I can’t get a hold of Belle, the twins are always screaming at each other, and then tonight you blew me off.”
“Well…you,” Snow White replied, amazed with herself for being so blunt.
“Me?” Dave asked. He tried to sound confused, but she could tell he seemed a little pleased with himself.
“Oh come on!” Snow White said. “You know my cousins all like you and now they seem to be fighting over which of us you like best.”
“And what do you think?” he asked.
Snow White knew exact
ly what she wanted to say to him, but the words wouldn’t form. Be brave, she tried to coach herself. Think Belle. If I were Belle I’d tell him exactly what was on my mind.
“I think you’re a jerk!” she finally blurted.
Dave took a step back, stunned. “I...I don’t know what to say,” he stammered.
“I’m sorry,” Snow White whispered. She thought telling him off would feel good, but she just felt guilty instead. “Things have been...not good lately,” she said.
“I know,” Dave responded. “And I really am sorry for anything I did to mess things up with you guys.”
Snow White looked hard at him. She wasn’t sure what to think, but he actually seemed sincere.
“I’ll go and leave you alone now,” he said, turning to leave. Then he whipped back around. “You know, I think this is the most you and I have talked all summer. You were always so quiet.”
Snow White could feel her cheeks turning a little pink. “I have an easier time talking to people when I’m one on one with them,” she said. “It’s hard to talk when I’ve got Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, and Ariel to compete with.”
Dave laughed. “It’s true,” he said. “Your cousins can be quite…”
“Loud?” Snow White filled in the blank.
Dave laughed again. “I would have chosen a nicer word but yeah, loud works.”
“Good night, Dave,” Snow White said, closing the door.
“Night.”
Snow White leaned against the back of the door and smiled. Then, after realizing what she was doing, she shook her head. “No!” Snow White had to remind herself. “He’s a jerk who is just using us. You can’t like him!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sunday, August 22nd
Belle stood in the center of her small room as she looked around. Her new tan capris were draped across the back of her desk chair, along with her new light pink T-shirt. She picked out this outfit specifically because the light colors contrasted nicely against her dark tan skin, showing off her greatest summer achievement. Her sandals with the little white and pink flowers rested under the desk chair. Belle silently checked off ‘outfit’ from her mental list. She then walked over to the dresser, where her new and old school supplies lay spread out over the surface. She again mentally checked each item off as she placed them in her school bag: three pens, a pencil for the anal teachers, notebooks for each period, calculator, magazine, I-pod, pictures for her new locker. Belle glanced in her bag one last time and then threw in a pack of gum and an extra rubberband for her hair ‘just in case’. Belle closed the clasp on her shoulder bag and set it next to her shoes. She then crossed the room and plopped down on her bed. Reaching across her pillow, she grabbed a bottle of hot pink nail polish from her nightstand. Then, with one foot stretched out straight along the bed and her other knee pulled up to her chest, she began painting her toes with smooth, even strokes.
The Princess Sisters (The Princess Sisters Series) Page 14
