Very Cinderella

Part One

Hey. So this is my first story, I'm hope you enjoy it. Please no nasty comments, creative critisizim welcome. Vote, comment, enjoy :D 

Sitting in a small diner in Chicago wondering why I even came here. This day hadn't gone as planned. I should have stayed in Michigan. I should have actually gone to my job and earned more money. I should have been there that morning..................

"Hey, you're gonna have to go, we're closing," said one of the workers. She was kinda short with dark skin and brown frizzy hair. She looked about 20.

"Come on, one more hour," I pleaded.

"I'd love to, but I really want to go home," she said, laughing. I sighed. "Something wrong?"

I looked down at my table. I dipped my finger in the remaining froth on my un-touched mocha. There was a lot of things wrong right now, but I wasn't going to tell a stranger.

"Nope, nothing," I said quietly.

"Oh come on, I know that face," she pushed.

"Basically, I have no where to go," I sighed again. At this rate I was going to be out of breath.

"Why not? Just moved here?" she asked. I nodded.

"Well, I tried to move here but there is nothing. All the apartments available are way too expensive for me. I should have just stayed with my best friend like I was supposed to. Curse me and my independence," I blabbed. The girl laughed.

"Bummer," was all she said, before she moved on to cleaning another table. I sighed for the billionth time that day.

There came an all too familiar noise from outside. It was a constant beeping. I'd heard it before. When Stark parked on the 'No Parking' zone by my school.  

I turned around quickly. Through the diner window I saw the tow truck pick up my car and start driving away. I shoved my chair back and sprinted out the door into the pouring rain. When did it start raining?

"Wait!!! That's my car!" I yelled after the truck, but there was no way in hell the driver heard me.

"Shit!" I cried, running my hands through my soaking, knotty hair and sat on a windowsill. "Shit, crap and all the other swear words." What the hell was I supposed to do now? My car had been towed away and I wouldn't be able to get it until tomorrow, but I had no where to stay that night and all my things were in the boot of my car. I was screwed.

The diner door opened and the girl ran out in her rain coat and holding a huge umbrella. "Hey, come with me," she shouted through the rain. "You can call the tow company from my place." She grabbed my hand and tugged me under her umbrella. Here was a complete stranger offering to give me a place for the night. I was touched. And cold. Freezing for that matter.

"Thanks," I whispered, letting her pull me to her car. I climbed in and sat back. The girl drove off. I didn't even know her name.

"What's your name?" she asked me. I looked at her puzzled. Does she read minds?

"Harlow. You?" I answered.

"Omigod! That's an awesome name. I'm Dana, plain and boring," she said excitedly, but when she got to the plain and boring part she dragged it out slowly, emphasizing that she really disliked her name.

"Ha, that's not plain or boring," I laughed.

"Oh come on. Anyway, how old are you?" she laughed back.

"Eighteen, nineteen in six months. You?"

"Hmm, I'm 20. Just turned it," she told me. And it went on like this until we got to her apartment. She asked me a question; I answered and asked her the same. I told her practically everything. Everything except the reason I was here. I couldn't talk about it. Not yet. Not to anyone. Not her, not my best friend and certainly not my college counsellor, who kept telling me 'Talking is good'. Well she could shove that up her ass as I was not talking to anyone about it, mainly because it was all my fault. It happened over three months ago now, but I still wasn't over it. I mean seriously, how could you get over the death of your own brother, your only family left?

Dana's apartment was small but roomy. I had to sleep on the couch and borrow PJ's off Dana but I'd have to make do. I arranged across the phone to pick my car up at twelve tomorrow, then I was going to go look for a job. Dana had agreed to let me live with her. I was so happy I actually smiled, properly, for the first time since Stark died. I persuaded her to let me pay half of the bills-if I got a job. She said I didn't need to. I was a damsel in distress and she was lonely and just glad to have company. Dana was sweet. I liked her.

I curled up on the sofa. The blanket was too small and it was a cold night. I shivered and pulled my knees closer to my face. How did I end up here? Why had I listened to myself? I should have listened to Leah. She always made sense. Well, most of the time. I missed her already. She might as well be a billion miles away. My knees started to get wet, and that's when I realized I was crying. So, like every night for the past three months, I cried myself to sleep.