The Wrong Cinderella

"May what the hell are you wearing?!"

I winced, folding my arms around my chest. I knew that she would have a problem with my simple choice of attire but not so much to actually yell at me.

"It's my favourite t-shirt." I replied.

Rachel stared at me, her eyes wide. "You can't go to the interview dressed like that!"

I shrugged. "Well I can't change now so let's get this over and done with."

I ignored her protests and walked off onto the brightly lit stage. Jason and Jet were already seated — clad in sleek, black tuxedos.

"Hey boys." I greeted them, my smile wide.

Saying they were shocked would be an understatement. Before they could comment, however, a wide-smiled woman strutted towards us, a stack of cue cards in her hands. I took my seat between the boys and turned to the interviewer whose name I honestly didn't care enough to find out. If Luke and Andrea wanted to force me to do an interview then they would have to deal with whatever I decided to throw into the interviewer's face.

I noticed the way her smile slipped as soon as her eyes landed on me.

"May Holden?" she asked as if she didn't recognise me.

I grinned back. "Nice to meet you."

She frowned and just as she was about to reply, a man dressed in black walked onto the stage and announced that we would be live in 30 seconds.

The lights were adjusted, the cameras were ready and everyone sat up just a little in their seats.

20 seconds.

I looked over at Jet on my left. He caught my look and gave me a wink. I winked back.

15 seconds. 

I turned to Jason. He stuck his tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the cameras in front of us.

10 seconds.

I took in a deep breath and painted on my brightest smile.

Before I knew it, the theme song started playing and the interview had started. I found myself losing focus as soon as it began.

I looked around and everyone was smiling.

But they weren't happy.

They were smiling for the cameras.

To please fans that didn't know how much their words affected us. How discouraging a single dislike was or how thrilling a simple "Well done" could be.

"May, first question is for you. I noticed the gorgeous t-shirt you're wearing. Is there a story behind it?"

I blinked.

Honestly, the story was too long for me to try and explain to the annoyingly beautiful woman but I did so anyway.

"Yes there is. I'm pretty sure you've heard it before but this time it's different. Cinderella isn't running from the prince, instead she is running towards him and in the process, she loses not a shoe but herself. This t-shirt symbolises how I stopped running and decided that no prince was worth losing myself over."

As I talked, my mind took me back to the beginning of my very own fairy-tale and how my dreams managed to turn themselves into a reality. Unfortunately, something went wrong along the way and the dreams that I once adored turned into an unbelievable nightmare.

👑

It all began one boring Wednesday evening as I helped my mom set the table for dinner. I had just graduated high school and summer was stretching out in front of me, reminding me that I still had to choose which of three colleges I wanted to attend.

I still wasn't even sure what I wanted to do, much less where I was going to do it. So, like any teenager faced with a life-changing decision, I decided to ignore it and distract myself.

Emeli Sande was screaming freakishly high notes into my ears when my mom barked at me to "remove that crap from your ears!". I pretended not to hear as the song changed to one of my favourite Prettymuch songs.

Dinner eventually started and well, let's just say I was bored out of my mind. My mom was going on about how I should be thinking very hard about university and, even better, how I would act when I eventually got there.

I suppressed the urge to tell her that I still had three months before I actually left. And, if we were being technical, I could take a gap year just like my best friend June was doing because we were a year ahead of everyone else our age anyway.

Getting an early start to education had its perks.

Somewhere between her warnings of pregnancy and my suppressed yawns, I heard something that caused me to jump out of my seat and race towards the TV room.

There was a news reporter on the TV screen, standing behind what looked like the line to enter a Shawn Mendes concert: girls of all different sizes, shapes and colours were camping outside a building, excitement all over their faces.

"As you can see, Tom, hundreds of girls in New York have been waiting to audition for the role of Sapphire in The Wrong Cinderella all night!"

The screen changed back to a man in a blue suit, who I assumed was Tom.

"That's insane! Who knew they were this many teenagers who still read!" Tom laughed.

"Yes, yes, I was surprised too." The woman answered, forcing a laugh.

"In case you have just tuned in, we've been discussing the craze that has swept through half of America: the open auditions for the new movie The Wrong Cinderella. Now, apparently, the author of the book, Ms Andrea Romes, has insisted that her lead be a normal teenage girl instead of an older, more experienced actress in order to maintain the relatable storyline. So, if there are any Andrea Romes fans here who think they're good enough to play Sapphire then be at the audition in Chatler's Peak next weekend!" Tom exclaimed.

I couldn't speak. I don't even think I could breathe.

All my wildest fangirl dreams were coming true. My favourite book was being turned into a movie! And I could audition!

It took a few minutes to settle in but when it did, I couldn't hold back the excited screams. I dashed for my room, ignoring my mom's protests.

I was still screaming when I grabbed my phone and hit speed dial. When June answered, I was still screaming.

"May what the hell?!" She answered.

"June guess what?" I squealed.

"You got your first kiss?" She asked, her voice void of any emotion.

My excitement momentarily vanished. "You've been asking that for years and the answer has always been no."

I could almost hear her shrug. "Can't blame me for trying."

"Shut up. But really, guess what!" I exclaimed, my excitement returning in full force.

"Just tell me because I—"

"The Wrong Cinderella is getting turned into a movie!" I screamed.

At first, June was silent. I checked the phone to see if she had dropped the call but then suddenly she screamed. I screamed too.

I only stopped screaming when my mom barged in and threatened to kick me out of the house if I didn't shut up.

"Ugh, sorry. That was my mom. Where were we?"

"No way! The Wrong Cinderella?! As in our favourite book in like the universe! Like are you joking? Because this is not funny. At all. Like I will have your head if this is a prank. I swear—"

"I'm being serious! Look it up! I just saw it on the news now." I interrupted.

"Fine." I heard shuffling then the clicking of keys.

She was probably looking it up on her laptop.

"You owe me a donut if I'm right." I said.

I heard her grunt. Then, a gasp. "You little itch!"

"I'll be collecting that donut tomorrow." I laughed.

"We can audition?!"

"Make that two donuts."

"Shut up! This is serious dude! I'm signing us up right now." She said.

My eyes widened. "What? No! I mean it's great that I can audition but I don't want to! My mom will kill me and besides, I'm a terrible actress. You're the drama queen, you should do it."

"You're right."

I sighed in relief. "Thank good-"

"I'll sign you up. You are clearly the better actress." June interrupted, clicking the keys of her keyboard in the background.

"Didn't you just hear what I said?!"

She laughed her evil laugh. The one that sounded like a choking clown on helium. "Oh I know. You just did a good job of convincing me that you don't want to audition even though you really want to. I've known you for seventeen years, May, and I know that you really want to do this."

I hated that she was right. "Yeah but I can't. I'm still seventeen and it's not like I'll get it. Even if I do, there's so many reasons why I can't: I have school and my mom to deal with."

"Oh you think too much. Think of this as a fun experience. We'll go in there, make complete fools of ourselves then leave and wait for the movie to come out so we can love slash hate the girl who plays Sapphire. It will be fun, I promise."

I smiled. "Fine. But if it sucks I'll disown you."

"Oh shut up. I dated your crush and you still haven't disowned me."

I laughed, remembering my stupid (and disgusting in hindsight) crush on a skinny kid named Damon in fourth grade. "Oh I'm grateful, actually. You showed me why I didn't want a relationship any time soon."

"I'm happy that my pre-teen heartbreak taught you something."

"MAY!" I heard my mom yell.

"I have to go." I sighed.

I ended the call and headed downstairs for dinner. Little did I know how insane my life was about to get.