A Modern Cinderella Story (On Hold Because School Is Time-Consuming)

Chapter 7

"Cinderella dressed in yellow went upstairs to kiss a fellow. Made a mistake and kissed a snake. How many doctors did it take?"

I cover my ears and run away from the jump ropers. I stop at my tree at the edge of the school playground and sit down criss-cross applesauce. I put my hand over my heart and take deeps breathes trying to slow down my heartbeat.

I've never understood that rhyme. What are they even talking about? I would never ever kiss a snake, and I don't even like yellow! I'm pretty sure the Disney Cinderella hasn't kissed a snake either, but then again the rats turned into those carriage people. I guess snakes can turn into princes.

"Ella!!!" I whip my head towards the sound of the voice that I would know anywhere.

I quickly stand up, "Alex!!!"

I don't know whether she meant to tackle me or hug me, but either way, we fell down to the ground laughing. Alex scrambled off of me and stood up. She stretched out her hand, and I took it and brushed the dirt off my clothes.

"Ella! I thought I was going to be stuck inside forever. I don't understand, I didn't even do anything wrong."

I laugh knowing full well that when Alex is in trouble, there is a reason.

"Alex, half of the time you were asleep in class, and the other half you wouldn't stop talking."

Alex pouts and plops on the ground leaning back against the tree, "It's not my fault! They are the ones who took naptime away. Second graders need our sleep, too."

I sit down across from Alex and pull out a Hershey's Kiss chocolate, "I snuck two from home. Want one?"

Alex firmly shakes her head no and crosses her arms, "No way, I told you already that I'm not going to eat or drink anything dark."

I raise an eyebrow and stuff both chocolates into my mouth, "You were serious? Why?"

"Look at my eyes! What would you even call this color?" Alex holds her right eye open with one hand and points at it with the other.

"Umm... dark brown?"

Alex sighs dramatically, "Exactly! They're poop brown, and I don't want poop for eyes!"

I make a face at the weird imagery that her comment made me think of, "What does that have to do with not eating chocolate?"

Alex makes a duh face, "Remember what our teachers always say? You are what you eat. If I only eat light colored food then my eyes will become a lighter color."

I doubt that will work, but hey don't knock it until you try it.

I nod slowly, "Okay, then what color are your eyes going to end up being?"

Alex shrugs, "I don't know. I'm just...just...spear-minting?"

I grab a blade of grass and start to make knots in it, "Experimenting?"

"Yeah, that word! See. I do pay attention in school sometimes."

"So what can you eat?"

Alex thinks for a minute, "Oooh I know, my mom's favorite thing to drink is coffee. She let me try it once and put a lot of sugar and this white creamy stuff in it so it would taste good. She has it every day, and she also likes this one candy that rhymes with coffee..."

I take a guess, "Toffee?"

Alex's eyes brighten, "Yeah! I'm going to eat mainly toffee and light colored coffee. Then, I'll have the best eyes ever!"

I snap my fingers, "Alright! Operation Toffee-bean!"

When the bell rang, we raced each other, lined up, and headed back inside. After school, Alex and I walked to her house. I've been to Alex's house many times before, but I've never felt comfortable in her neighborhood. I'm thankful that there aren't many people out because when there are they all say hi and stop to talk to us. They seem like really nice people, and I feel awful that I feel uncomfortable with them. It's just that I'm not really good around people in general. My teachers and parents say that I'm shy, but I like to say that I chose carefully who I make friends with. It's even worse because of my name, and kids aren't the only ones who think my name is funny.

We get to Alex's one-story house, and we walk around back to find her mom watering her garden. When she sees us she stands up straight, smiles, and waves at both of us. We walk over to her with big smiles on our faces.

"Hello, girls! How was school? " Alex's mom asks us with the kindest smile on her face.

One of the few people that I'm comfortable around is Alex's mom. She's very nice, and she makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever!

"Good." Alex and I say in unison.

"Do you girls want to help me make some chocolate chip cookies."

I'm dancing on the inside at the thought of the amazing chocolate chip cookies.

Alex shakes her head, "Sorry, I can't eat chocolate anymore."

Alex's mom wipes some sweat off of her forehead, "And why not?"

"I want to make my eyes lighter by going mainly eating toffee and sugary coffee."

I chime in, "Operation Toffee-bean!"

Alex's mom gives a hardy laugh, "Oh my, is that so? Why toffee and coffee?"

"Because you love toffee and coffee."

Alex's mom crouches so we are eye level with her, "I like toffee and coffee, but I love you girls. You girls are my little toffee-beans."

Alex puts her hand on her hip, "But I don't want poop colored eyes!"

Alex's mom looks at both of us amusingly, "Alex, are my eyes poop colored?"

Alex shakes her head, "No, I like your eyes."

"Good because you got your eyes from me. I'm also sorry to tell you that eating light colored things aren't going to make your eyes any lighter. In fact, a toffee and coffee diet might make you have cavities. That means if you plan on going continuing operation toffee-bean then you're going to have to make friends with the dentist."

Alex's eyes grow as big as saucers, "No! No, I'm good! I like my eyes just the way they are, and I don't have to go to the dentist."

Alex's mom ruffles our heads, "Good, now let's go inside and bake chocolate chip cookies."

"But won't that also cause cavities?"

Alex's mom leads us towards the back door, "Don't worry. We can all have one cookie each, and then we can have a brushing our teeth and flossing party."