Cinderella Smith (3 page)

Chapter 3
Slippery-soled Silver Sandals

O
n the first day of school every year my dad takes the morning off from work and walks me to school with my mom and Tess. He says he likes to meet my new teacher and see my new room. That way when he thinks about me during the day, he knows how to picture things.

When we headed out the door, Tess grabbed my mom and dad by the hands so they could swing her through the air. I felt a little left out, so I grabbed on to my dad's other hand to be part of the chain, and we started walking.

When we got to the end of our block, we walked right by Rosemary T. and one of her sisters getting into their mom's car.

“Hello, Taylors,” said my dad.

“Look!” Rosemary T. yelled through the closed window, pointing to her ears.

“They look great!” I yelled back.

Tess jumped up and down between my mom and dad trying to see Rosemary T.'s ears.

Rosemary T. looked at her and saw we were all holding hands. She whispered something to her big sister, and they both started giggling.

I thought about letting go of my dad's hand; but holding hands and walking to school together on the first day is something we always do, so who cares if they think it's funny?

“See you in class,” I said, and our chain of Smiths kept walking to school.

For the first time ever on the first day of school, we climbed up the huge stairway to the second floor. Second-floor kids were running up and down the stairs, and it felt kind of good to be one of them, but kind of worryish too. My new silver sandals felt slippery, and I did not want to fall on those stairs with all those big kids around. I held on to the handrail supertight with a capital
T
.

We got to my new classroom almost late because of walking so slowly and swinging Tess through the air. I quick met my teacher, Mr. Harrison, and then let my parents talk to him while I went to find my seat. It turned out there were no name tags on the desks. Either big kids don't have them or Mr. Harrison doesn't know that having your own desk on the first day is a lot of help.

I looked around the room and saw that Rosemary T. and Hannah and Abby were already sitting together. They were at a table for four people, but Rosemary W. was sitting in the last spot. That was the spot they would have saved for me last year. Abby was using a cootie catcher to tell Rosemary T. her fortune. They were giggling and didn't notice me at all.

My feelings started hurting like the dickens. I just stood in the middle of the room and didn't know what to do. My mom and dad left, and I just kept standing there.

Mr. Harrison said for us all to take a seat, which really just meant me because I was the only one still standing. I sat down super quick and stared right at the front of the room.

“Happy first day of school! I'm Mr. Harrison!” Our teacher bounced up and down a little on his toes. “Let's start with attendance so I can get to know all of you.”

My name wasn't for a while, so I looked around the classroom. Mr. Harrison didn't have any books on his shelves or things hanging on the walls. Every name he called said “Here” until the person sitting next to me yelled “Present!” I jumped on account of the loud voice and the different word.

“That's a refreshing change of pace,” said Mr. Harrison. “I was getting a little tired of only hearing ‘Here's.'”

Everyone laughed, especially Logan Dalton. He was the person sitting next to me and the person who'd said “Present.” Logan was in my class last year and was big into vocabulary words. I looked around my table for the first time and saw that I was sitting with the smart boys. That was a weird place for me to end up, but it could have been way worse.

If I had ended up with Charlie at the loud sports boys' table, he might have called me Tinder and thrown things at me and yelled “Think fast” all the time. Christopher Martin was across from me with his supplies out on his desk, ready to go. He had two rulers, maybe in case one broke in the middle of a math problem. Trevor Watson was across from me too and was already reading, because that's what he does. He had his book on his lap, so I couldn't tell what it was about.

“Erin Devlin?” said Mr. Harrison.

That was a name I'd never heard before.

“Here!” called a girl on the other side of the room. She had long, black hair with bangs straight across and was wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt.

“I believe we have something in common,” said Mr. Harrison.

“We do?”

“Yes,” said Mr. Harrison. “You're new here too, just like me. Where do you hail from?”

“Los Angeles,” Erin, the new girl, said.

“Hoo-ray for Hollywood,” said Mr. Harrison, except he sort of sang it.

“Have you ever seen a movie star?” asked Rosemary T. without raising her hand.

“Lots of times,” said Erin.

“How about a Laker or a Dodger?” asked Jack from the loud sports boys' table.

“Only when I went to a game,” said Erin.

“Awesome,” said Jack.

“Very awesome,” Mr. Harrison agreed.

He started back in on attendance and called Abby's name and then Hannah's. Both times I looked over at their table and we waved to each other.

“Josephine-Kathryn Smith?” said Mr. Harrison.

I started to raise my hand and answer, but Rosemary T. raised hers faster. I got very confused and pulled my hand back down.

Mr. Harrison said, “Josephine-Kathryn?” to Rosemary T.

“No,” said Rosemary T. “My name is Rosemary Taylor, but nobody calls Josephine-Kathryn that name. She's called Cinderella.”

Mr. Harrison laughed, and I was so surprised my mouth popped open. No one had ever laughed at my name before, except maybe Charlie. Then Rosemary T. laughed, and Rosemary W. laughed to be just like her. A few other people joined in. Now I was very, extremely confused. I'd never thought that my name was funny before.

“Are you trying to give the new guy a hard time?” asked Mr. Harrison.

“No, really, that's her name,” Rosemary T. said.

“Truly?” asked Mr. Harrison. “A princess in our midst? Should I bow?”

Everyone laughed, and I shrank down in my chair.

“She's not a real princess,” said Rosemary T., forgetting to raise her hand.

“She just has a lot in common with the real Cinderella,” said Rosemary W.

“This sounds like a very interesting story,” said Mr. Harrison.

“It's not really,” said Rosemary T.

Kids started looking at me, and I shrank down a little bit more.

“But now I'm curious,” said Mr. Harrison. “Someone fill me in! Once upon a time . . .”

Everyone laughed very loud and my cheeks got hot and I sank down more. Then all of a sudden I had had enough. I sat up very straight. “Excuse me!”

Mr. Harrison looked at me quite surprised.

“I think we should get back to attendance,” I said. “Mrs. Bentley, the school secretary, does not like it when attendance gets to her late.”

“I see,” said Mr. Harrison. “Thank you for the heads-up.”

“You're welcome,” I said.

“And who are you?” he asked.

“I'm Josephine-Kathryn Smith,” I said.

“Ah,” he said, “the infamous Cinderella. Or do you prefer Josephine-Kathryn?”

I thought for a minute, wondering which I preferred.

“Cinderella has a nice ring to it,” said Mr. Harrison. “And it's quite unique.”

I nodded, but kept thinking. Maybe now that I was a big kid upstairs it was time for a more regular name.

“You'd likely never meet another Cinderella,” he said. “Unlike the Rosemarys, for instance, that we have two of in our classroom alone.”

I nodded again, but still wasn't sure. Maybe my nickname was funny. Maybe people would start laughing at me, like today.

“Who wants to be ordinary and have a name like everyone else?” he asked. “When you can be extra ordinary?”

That extra ordinary thing did it. “I'll stay being Cinderella,” I said.

“Hoo-ray!” said Mr. Harrison. “I'm very glad. Now let's finish taking attendance before Mrs. Bentley fires me.”

The class laughed and I did too, liking my name again and feeling a little bit not-ordinary.

Chapter 4
Gladiator Sandals

W
hen the bell for recess rang, everyone jumped out of their seats and lined up by the door. I had to be super careful on the stairs again on account of my slippery shoes and all the big kids racing to get outside. I started sliding over to the four-square game that the Rosemarys had started, trying to scuff up my soles even more.

“Cinderella! Cinderella!” my neighbor Louie called from the kindergarten play area.

I slid over to the fence that keeps the little kids safe from the big kids. “How's school so far?”

“It's great!” he yelled. “See you later, alligator.”

“Bye for now, dairy cow!” I yelled back.

I slid over to the four-square game where Hannah and Abby had joined the Rosemarys.

“What are you doing, Cinderella?” Rosemary T. stared at my sliding feet.

“I'm getting my shoes less slippery,” I said. “Can I play?”

“Wouldn't you rather play with the kindergartners?” asked Rosemary T.

“I bet they'd all slide around the playground with you,” said Rosemary W.

The two of them giggled. I stopped sliding.

“What do you guys think about the new teacher?” Abby asked.

“He's annoying,” said Rosemary T.

“He thinks he's sooooo funny,” said Rosemary W., “and he's not.”

“He sure likes your name, Cinderella,” said Hannah.

“So what does he know?” Rosemary T. said. Then she saw the new girl across the playground and started waving. “Erin! Over here, Erin!”

The new girl walked toward us slowly.

“Hi!” said Rosemary T. “Do you want to play four-square?”

“Maybe,” she said.

“I love your gladiator sandals,” said Rosemary T.

“Thanks,” said Erin.

“Did you get those around here or back home in Hollywood?” asked Rosemary T.

“Back home.”

“Too bad,” said Rosemary T. “I would love to have shoes like that.”

“Do you have pierced ears?” Rosemary W. asked.

“Yes,” said Erin.

“So do I!” Rosemary W. tucked her hair behind her ears so the red sparkly stones showed.

“Me too.” Rosemary T. turned her head right and left so her blue ones twinkled.

“I like your earrings,” Abby told the Rosemarys.

“We both got our birthstones,” said Rosemary W.

“I like yours too, Erin,” said Hannah.

“Those are awesome,” said Rosemary T. “I'll get some like that when I can change mine.”

I looked over at Erin's ears. She was wearing dangly peace signs. “I have a T-shirt kind of like your earrings,” I said.

“You do?” She stared at me very serious. I got a little nervous thinking maybe she didn't like the idea that I had something the same as her.

“Take Hannah's square.” Rosemary T. bounced the ball to Erin.

Erin let the ball bounce by her. “No thanks.” She looked at me very serious again.

“Cinderella, right?”

I swallowed. “Yes.”

“I need to talk to you,” she said.

“Okay.” Now I really was worried about my earring comment, which didn't seem bad to me at all the more I thought about it.

Everyone looked at Erin. She didn't say anything for a minute. “In private.”

I kind of gulped a little bit again. “Okay.”

She started walking away from us, toward the benches by the basketball nets. I followed after her, and we both sat down.

“Are you for some reason mad that I have a T-shirt like your earrings?” I asked.

“Why would I be mad about that?” she asked.

“I don't know,” I said. “It just seemed like maybe you were.”

“I don't care about my earrings,” she said.

“I would if I had earrings,” I said. “But probably mainly because I can't have any yet.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“It's a long story,” I said.

“Once upon a time?” Erin smiled.

I smiled back. “So what did you want to talk about in private?” I felt a little more brave now that I knew she wasn't mad at me.

She looked at me very serious again, and I got back to being worried.

“I need advice,” she said.

“I've never been the new kid before,” I said.

“I have, tons of times,” she said. “I don't need advice on that.”

“Oh,” I said. Then I got very, extremely excited, because I was just dying to give some advice. My favorite TV show is
It's Me or the Dog,
which stars Victoria, who is always giving people advice about their dogs. I also like it when me and my Grandmother Smith read Dear Abby letters from the newspaper. We try to figure out what we would tell the person before we see what Abby has to say. But before I could find out more, the bell rang and recess was over.

By the time lunch finally came I could barely wait to talk to Erin. When we were washing our hands, Rosemary T. told Erin that she should sit with us at lunch, which was pretty nice. Rosemary T. isn't the best at including everybody. It might mean I'd have to wait a little longer to hear about the advice Erin needed, but maybe she wasn't feeling so private about it anymore. She might talk about it in front of other people now.

The line for milk moved very slow. When I finally headed to our table, there was a chair saved for me next to Rosemary T. At least I thought it was saved for me, but when I got there Rosemary T. said: “Sorry, Cinderella. We promised to save a place for Erin.”

“Oh. Okay.” I walked over to the other table. “Is this seat saved?” I asked Hilary. We were best friends in kindergarten, but we hadn't been in the same classroom since.

“No,” she said. “Go ahead.”

“Thanks.” I sat down and tried to listen to Hilary and Katie talk about a video with two dogs and a cat in it. Usually I would have loved to hear all about it, but my insides were hurting like the dickens, so much that I couldn't pay attention. The lunchroom was noisy, but even though I was in the middle of a super crowded table and a super crowded room, I felt alone. I chewed and tried to swallow and blink-blink-blinked my eyes. There was no way I was going to cry right then and there. No way with a capital
N
.

“Erin! Erin!” Rosemary T. yelled, and waved to her. Erin had just made it through the lunch line. She headed over to Rosemary T.'s table and was about to sit down; but then she looked around, saw where I was sitting, and headed over.

She sat right down next to me and didn't ask if any places were saved or anything.

The alone feeling started to go away, and I could swallow again.

“What's for lunch?” I hardly ever got to buy lunch, so I was very interested.

“Cheese pizza and pears and green beans,” she said.

“Yum and yum and yuck,” I said.

“What?” she asked, and then she got it. “Oh yeah. Yum and yum and yuck.”

“So what do you need advice on?” I whispered, in case she was still feeling private.

“On wicked stepsisters,” she whispered back.

“Hmm,” I said, very surprised.

“You know about them, right,” she whispered, “because of your name.”

“Hmm,” I said one more time.

“Because I'm about to get two of them, and I really need some expert help.”

I knew I should tell her that I didn't know anything about wicked stepsisters and that I really got my name because of my shoe trouble. The thing was, I didn't want her to get up and go sit with the Rosemarys or anywhere else. I also really liked the idea of giving someone advice, like I mentioned before. I just sat there and thought and thought. I guess I thought a little bit too long though, because Erin got tired of waiting.

“If you don't want to help me, just say so,” she said.

That kind of woke me up. “I want to help you,” I said.

“Good,” she said very loud and final, and there was no getting out of it now.