There was this boy at school named Prince. He came into my classroom all angry and started yelling. He said Anastasia had been crying a lot lately, then accused Alice and Fairy of being the bullies who kept abusing her.
I mean… he wasn't exactly wrong.
Throwing paper balls, scribbling on desks, stuffing trash into lockers. Alice and Fairy really did all those nasty things. But…
"We only did it to defend Ella, Prince."
"Ella gets abused by her stepsisters at home, so it's only fair if we get back at them."
They were lying. Again.
"Right, Ella?"
No. That wasn't true. I wasn't abused. My stepmother never forced me to sleep in the basement. Anastasia and Drizella never hit me, kicked me, or stole my dinner. No. It was all a lie.
Alice and Fairy were lying so Prince wouldn't get mad at them.
What was I supposed to do, Mom?
I didn't know.
Should I go along with the lie they made up? Or tell the truth and betray my two closest friends?
No, Mom. I was scared. I didn't want to lose Alice and Fairy. They were my only friends. There was no other choice. I had to lie for them too.
"Right, Ella?"
I looked back and forth between Alice and Fairy, trying to reassure myself. "Yeah," I answered, hoping Prince would believe it. "Anastasia and Drizella really did horrible things to me."
And just like that, everything started.
One tiny little lie turned into a huge rumor I never imagined would spread this far.
***
"What are we gonna do?" I asked Alice and Fairy while we sat at our usual cafeteria table. "What if we get caught? What if people find out it's all fake?"
Unlike me, who was already panicking, the two of them looked completely relaxed, like none of this mattered at all.
"Relax, Ella," Alice said with a laugh while stirring her drink. "Nobody's gonna find out."
Fairy nodded. "Yesterday I saw Drizella yelling about how the rumor was fake. Luckily, nobody believed her, hahaha!"
"People trust the gossip way more, so stop worrying."
"I bet your two idiot sisters won't even dare report this to the teachers."
"Yeah. Anastasia's such a crybaby anyway."
"And Drizella's too rude for anyone to believe her."
"But…" I hesitated. This didn't feel right anymore. Sure, Anastasia and Drizella were finally getting hated the way I wanted, but… this still felt wrong. It shouldn't have turned out like this.
Then, while I was still trapped in my own thoughts, Alice suddenly joked about something I really couldn't laugh at.
"Well, if we ever get caught, you'll definitely be the one blamed for it, Ella."
"Huh? Why me? You guys were the ones who started the lie first." I shook my head immediately. There was no way I wanted that to happen.
"Because this rumor is about you. About poor little Ella and her evil stepfamily." Alice smiled while explaining it. "Not about me. Not about Fairy. So if the truth comes out, obviously you'll get blamed the most."
No. No. This wasn't my fault. I didn't do anything wrong.
Fairy laughed beside me, wrapping her tiny arm around my shoulder. "Calm down. Alice is just joking."
It felt suffocating. Hot. Like the air around me had caught fire.
I tried taking a deep breath before slowly letting it out. Fairy was right. I couldn't panic. If I panicked, people might start suspecting me.
"Exactly." Alice placed her drink down on the table and looked straight into my eyes with a stare I'd never seen before. "This is a secret between the three of us. Don't let anyone else find out."
In other words… until somebody spills it.
***
"You have to go with Prince, Ella."
Can you believe it, Mom? Alice said that to me so casually. No guilt. No hesitation. Just a smile on her face.
A tiny smile that knew every single one of my secrets.
"What? Why?"
Alice crossed her arms and looked at me like I was stupid for asking something so obvious. "Because Prince likes you, Ella."
"You can tell from how much attention he's been giving you lately, right?" Fairy nudged my elbow, wiggling her brows meaningfully.
I knew what they wanted.
They just wanted to make Anastasia jealous.
They were using me.
"You'll do it, right, Ella?"
"You have to. If you don't, we'll expose everything. That huge lie of yours… can you imagine what'll happen if everyone finds out the truth?"
No. I didn't want to imagine that, Mom.
Nothing good would come from it.
The insults. The whispers. The sharp stares hiding behind people's smiles. I couldn't handle that. I couldn't.
The paper balls flying from every direction. Scribbles all over my desk. Trash stuffed into my locker. Everything Anastasia went through… I didn't want all of it turning against me instead.
What should I do, Mom?
Was there really no other choice except listening to Alice and Fairy?
Did I really have to dance with Prince? Just so they wouldn't expose my lies? Just so Alice and Fairy would still stay by my side and protect me like they always had?
I didn't know.
Dancing with Prince… maybe it wouldn't be that hard. We just had to do what dance partners normally do. Nothing more.
"Just for one night." Alice stared directly at me. "Until the dance party's over."
I didn't want to go with Prince, Mom.
But whether I liked it or not… I had to do it.
***
Lady Tremaine, my stepmother, forced me to wear the dress she gave me to the dance.
I didn't want to.
I didn't want to wear something from that woman who called herself my mother. No. Never, ever.
But she kept forcing me.
She even threatened to take all of your photos and lock them away in the storage room. Mom's precious photos. The only place where I could still see her smile every day. Our memories together. I couldn't let her take those away from me.
So in the end, I accepted Lady Tremaine's offer.
The dress was huge and heavy, like carrying extra weight all over my body. The shoes she gave me were weird too. Thick glass slippers that were slippery and hard to walk in. I lost my balance several times the first time I tried them on. I couldn't even imagine how I was supposed to dance smoothly wearing all of that.
Mom, please help me.
A few hours before the dance started, I went to Alice's house.
Her house was huge and fancy. The yard was wide, the front door made of black wood carved with complicated patterns. Even the living room looked classy, with expensive sofas, branded furniture, and ceramic vases that looked more like antiques.
But none of that compared to Alice's bedroom.
Honestly, her room felt like heaven for teenage girls.
There was a giant TV, celebrity posters all over the walls, a fluffy-looking bed, glass shelves packed with dolls, and the thing that stole my attention the most… a vanity table overflowing with makeup, colorful nail polish bottles, lined-up perfumes, and a shiny mirror reflecting my smile perfectly.
"Welcome," Fairy greeted me while I was still frozen by the doorway.
Alice, standing behind me, lightly pushed my back so I'd step farther inside.
"Ready to dance with Prince tonight?" she asked.
A question that didn't really mean anything.
"Is this the dress you're wearing?" From the mirror, I saw Fairy curiously opening the paper bag I brought. "Holy crap, this is gorgeous!" She turned toward me. "Where'd you even get something like this?"
Alice walked closer and snatched the bag from Fairy, opening it wider. In the middle of her lavender-scented room, she held my dress up dramatically.
"You…" Alice shook her head slowly. "No way. You didn't steal all this, right?"
"No." There was no way I'd steal something.
"Then where did you get the dress and shoes?"
"The dress…" I hesitated, glancing away to hide my expression. "My stepmother gave them to me."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Just the three of us staring at each other.
"Quit lying, Ella." Alice let out a dry laugh. "You still hate your stepmother, don't you? There's no way you'd accept gifts from her."
"I…"
"Seriously. Tell the truth. Where'd you get those shoes and dress?"
"I already told you. They're from my stepmother." Without realizing it, my voice got louder. "I'm not lying!"
Suddenly, Alice and Fairy's expressions darkened. Their smiles disappeared. And the way they looked at me… it wasn't friendly anymore.
"Listen, Ella." Alice shoved the bag back into my hands. "You really shouldn't be doing this."
"What do you mean?" I still didn't understand.
Fairy sat beside me on the edge of the bed, wrapping an arm around me. "Ella, you're not planning to betray us, right? We're your friends, you know."
I looked at Fairy, but she gave me no answer.
So I turned to Alice instead.
"Right now, you're accepting gifts from your stepmother. Then what? Tomorrow? The next day? Are you gonna start eating lunch with Drizella too? Become some lonely bookworm spending all your time in the library?" Alice shook her head dramatically. "Don't be stupid, Ella. Did you forget who they are? They stole your home. Don't let their fake kindness fool you."
Was that true, Mom?
Had I really started falling into the fake family they wanted me to become part of?
I didn't know.
But there was one thing I absolutely couldn't allow.
"Remember this. Your secret is in our hands. If you don't want your lies exposed, then stay away from your stepfamily."
Nobody could find out about my secret.
Nobody.
***
Prince.
What would you think of him if you saw him, Mom?
Prince was smart. Talented. Kind. Perfect.
Everyone at school had heard those rumors before.
Way too exaggerated, honestly.
Prince wasn't that perfect. I knew him. He was just a weird boy obsessed with superheroes and stupid fantasies. Linda annoying. I was forced to eat vegetables several times while trying to get closer to him.
But maybe those rumors weren't completely wrong either.
"So your stepmother really gave you that dress and those shoes, huh, Ella?"
Prince knew.
He knew.
Again, because of that stupid dress my stepmother gave me. I got caught. Prince found out about my lies. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!
What was I supposed to do now, Mom?
Everything was really going to fall apart this time. Prince loved Anastasia. Of course he'd tell everyone the truth.
No. He couldn't.
I didn't want people calling me a liar, Mom. I didn't want to get bullied every single day, stared at, whispered about behind my back.
I didn't want that.
I had to run.
No matter how tightly Prince grabbed my arm… I had to run.
***
"I'm sorry."
I'm really, really sorry.
I ran into Drizella near the back lobby area.
Honestly, I didn't even know who I was apologizing to.
Maybe to everyone I lied to.
Maybe to Drizella and Anastasia, who got bullied because of me.
Or maybe to myself.
To you, Mom.
I was sorry because maybe… I'd disappointed you.
"You think I'd believe your apology?" Drizella narrowed her eyes at me.
Of course she wouldn't forgive me. Somehow, I'd already expected that. Drizella was way too stubborn.
When I said I wanted to see Anastasia and apologize, she blocked my way instead.
We fought.
Drizella shoved me, hit me, yanked my hair. Frustration and hatred made me want to hit back. Again. Again. Again. We rolled across the floor, pinning each other down.
Then….
Drizella pushed me.
I fell down the stairs. My hands and legs slammed painfully against them. Luckily, I didn't hit my head.
From the bottom of the staircase, I heard footsteps running toward me.
After what happened, Drizella ran away and left me there.
***
My ankle got twisted. It hurt just to stand.
So for a while, I sat there quietly, massaging my ankle until it felt a little better. I didn't do anything else.
I wasn't causing trouble.
I just sat there silently, thinking about all the worst possibilities that could happen after this.
I swear, I didn't do anything wrong back then, Mom.
Then why did a flower pot suddenly fall right behind me?
A huge ceramic pot, heavy and filled with dirt, shattered into pieces with a loud crash.
Startled, I immediately looked upstairs. At first I thought Drizella was trying to hurt me again.
But it wasn't her.
It was Anastasia.
I recognized her from the thin shadow I saw… and the sound of her footsteps. There was no mistake.
It was definitely her.
Did Anastasia want to hurt me too, Mom?
Just like Drizella pushed me, did Anastasia have her own way of attacking me… by dropping a flower pot on me?
Did they hate me that much now?
I wanted to leave this place already, Mom.
I wanted to go home.
But it still wasn't over.
***
Lady Tremaine, my stepmother, appeared right when I was trying to get up and leave.
That old woman told me to confess everything. To expose all my lies right there and then.
There was no way I could do that.
I didn't want to.
Even when she started choking me from behind. Even when my chest tightened and I could barely breathe anymore....
I still refused to admit my lies.
It wasn't my fault.
I didn't want people calling me a liar. No. I didn't want that.
Even after collapsing unconscious onto the cold lobby floor… I still refused.
I want to stay with you forever, Mom.
Do you remember your last words to me before you left?
You were lying weakly in bed that day. I held your hand tightly. Your pale skin. The warmth between your fingers. Your sad eyes. Your voice….
"Don't cry," you said. "Mom will always stay by your side."
Do you still remember saying that?
Are you beside me right now, watching me lying here on the cold floor of the school lobby? Can you see me crying?
I miss you, Mom.
You were the person who loved me more than anyone else.
Nobody in this world likes me anymore, Mom.
You can see it yourself, right?
A stepmother who choked me.
Stepsisters who pushed me and threw flower pots at me.
Even Alice and Fairy, the friends I trusted the most… they were only using me.
Nobody truly loves me in this world, Mom.
Everyone hates me.
I don't want to stay here anymore.
I want to be with you.
Something was stuck to my dress.
Back when I fought with Drizella, the cake stains from her dress got smeared onto mine. Chocolate and strawberry cake stains. Whipped cream. And now gathered on my fingertips…
Peanut butter.
Just like you always stayed beside me, Mom…
I want to stay by your side too.
Forever.
***