Chapter 8. It All Comes Crashing Down

Happy Friday, my readers!  Let’s kick off the weekend with a new chapter!  It is not the longest chapter in the world, but it is a game changer for our Cindy.  I hope you enjoy. 

 

Cindy’s heart was all-a-flutter as she kissed Ryan under the stars.  Never could she have imagined that her first kiss would be so magical. She thought that this moment, that this joy, would last forever.  But, she thought wrong.

Bob Newbie has always been jealous of Ryan Charming.  Ryan is smart, charming, popular, and athletic.  Bob is none of those things.  And when Ryan won the race, Bob’s jealously turned in to anger, which quickly turned in to a need for revenge.  He followed Ryan outside the arena.  Bob’s intention was to just threaten Ryan, maybe push him around a bit.  But what he found was so much better.  Ryan had a secret girlfriend.  And, Bob found his means for revenge.

Bob didn’t want anyone to know about his involvement, so he had to be sneaky about this plan.  So, he did what any other teenager would do.  He told the biggest gossip at Riverview High School, then let the rumor spread like wildfire.  Bob told Betty Simovitch, who told her boyfriend Dallas Shallow.  Dallas told his sister MaryKay, and then she told her neighbor Laurel Grisby.  Laurel immediately called her best friend Drusella Evil.

Drusella, in order to gain her mother’s favor, quickly shared her news.  Missy was flooded with anger.  She was angry at Cindy, of course, but not for the reason you might think.

Missy is enjoying spending her dead husband’s money.  But she knows that the money won’t last forever.  Her only hope to continue her lavish lifestyle lays with her daughters.  And between the two Evils, Anastasis is the best bet to find a rich husband.  Ryan Charming would have been the perfect money pit.  His dad is the Leader of the Free World, his family lives in a giant mansion, and they are swimming in cash. Missy encouraged the high school teachers to give Anastasis a tutor, which would be Ryan.  Missy planed on marring Anastasis to Ryan, and then Missy could live in the giant palace with them.  To Missy it was fool proof. But she did not expect her little stepdaughter to put a wrench in those plans.

Missy stormed out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where Cindy was cooking dinner.

“You have ruined everything!” Missy cursed and pointed her fake nails in Cindy’s face.  “You little Jezebel slut!  How could you do this to me?”

Missy’s yelling caught the attention of Anastasis.

“What is going on?” Anastasis asked as she emerged from the game room.

Anastasis was totally oblivious to the rumor that, by now, was all over Riverview.  After Missy filled her in, Anastasis went insane with rage.   She had never felt more angry, jealous, or humiliated.  This whole time Anastasis had been under a delusional fantasy that she and Ryan were meant to be together, he was just playing hard to get.  But with three little words, “Cindy kissed Ryan”, those delusions were shattered.

With hate in her heart and fire in her eyes Anastasis marched her way down to Cindy’s basement.  First she went to the bookcase and started ripping the books from the shelves.  Then she knocked over the bird cage.  Next, Anastasis kicked the radio and broke the speakers.  She smashed Cindy’s only set of dishes into a thousand tiny glass pieces.  After all that Anastasis look a breather.  That’s when she saw it.  A small photo poking out from under the chair.

Cindy saw it too.  So did Missy, who grabbed Cindy by the shoulder as Drusella blocked her path.

It was one of the photos of her mother and her father at University.  Cindy kept it as a bookmarker, because it was one of her favorites.

“How could I be so careless?” Cindy thought as she helplessly watched Anastasis.

It all moved in slow motion.  Anastasis got a sick, evil sort of enjoyment from tearing the picture into a million pieces.  She reveled in the pain that she was causing Cindy.

Every rip and shred of the picture was another reminder for Cindy of who was really in charge.  As the picture tore so did Cindy’s hopes.  Hopes of a better life.  Of freedom away from her evil stepfamily.  Of the potential of finding her Prince Charming in Ryan.  It all crumbled down around her as the pieces of her mother’s picture fell to the floor.

As the picture laid on the ground in a million little pieces, and after Anastasis felt vindicated, the Evils left Cindy all alone to clean up the mess.  And the mess in her room didn’t compare to the mess in her life.   One minute Cindy was kissing her Prince Charming then the next minute she was sweeping up broken dishes and the pieces of her mother’s photo.

After her room was finally put back into order Cindy pulled out the old shoebox of mementos that Fay gave her.  Cindy thanked her lucky stars that Anastasis didn’t find the box.

“I can’t let this happen again.” Cindy said out loud.  “I was stupid to think that my life would get better.  Good things just don’t happen to Cindy Rella.”