Day one of my life in hell; My stepmom decided to send me to the S.S.R.K.; a school that rich parents send their rich kids to so they won’t be in the way, where they live like the princes and princesses that they are. My stepmom decided to send me so I can be on call for my spoiled stepsisters. My Father remarried when I was ten and it’s never been the same. My stepsisters Anastasia and Drazilla have been driving me nuts for years always beating me up and making me do their chores. A sigh escapes my mouth. Things were good for a few years until Dad’s death, I was fourteen when he died in a car accident. I miss him so much, I like to think things would be different if he were still around…

I have been here for five hours and all I have done is moved Anastasia and Drazilla’s things to their room. Then I had to organize it and rearrange it five different times only for it to end up the way it was from the beginning. Now it’s six o'clock at night and I’m just getting to my room. A slight surprise fills my mind as I open my new door. The room was much larger than I expected it would be, with white walls, two large beds, and two large dressers. One of the beds is covered in red and purple, pillows, blankets, and bags. I bet the plain white bed is mine so I set my things down on it. I really don’t have much in the way of things. A few school dresses, a couple pairs of pants and a hand full of comfortable shirts. I brought photos of my best friend and of my father from before he died. When I was finished unpacking I headed down to the office. I wanted to ask about getting a job at the school so I can make some money while I’m here. I walked down the hall and down three flights of stairs until I found the office I was looking for. It’s a large room with big windows that divided it from the hallway. A young looking man was sitting behind the desk, he couldn’t be much older than me. He was skinny with brown hair that was short on the sides and longer on top. His eyes are dark brown and his lips are big and soft looking. He looked up from the paperwork he was looking at and frowned at me.

“Well don’t just keep standing in the doorway come take a seat.” I walked over to a chair that sat in front of the desk and took a seat. He shuffled some papers put them in a folder and then turned to look at me. He wasn’t dressed in nice pants and a dress shirt like the other male teachers but was wearing jeans and a tight black t-shirt with Grumpy from “Snow White” the Disney movie, on it.

“What can I help you with?” he asked in an irritated voice. That made me smile, I couldn’t help it, and it was just so funny.

“I wanted to see if I could get a job working in the school,” he nodded and turned to his computer. It took only a moment of typing on the keyboard before he turned back to me.

“How does kitchen duty sound?”

“That sounds fine.” He handed me some paperwork to fill out and sign. After I finished the paperwork he told me to head down to the kitchen for my schedule. I stood up from my chair and grinned at him.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s just ironic that’s all.”

“What is?”

“You are. Well, your shirt. It says a lot about you. You’re kind of grumpy.” I actually got the guy to smile and boy he was handsome.

“Yeah, that’s what my sister says too.” I thanked him for his time and headed to the kitchen.

What do you think when I say school kitchen? Do you think of an old gym with a counter area that old lunch ladies stand behind and serve you icky food on plastic trays? Yeah well, that is not this school kitchen. What I walked into was a huge dining room with red carpet, wallpaper that was a mixture of gold and white swirls. Heavy wood tables that seated four to six people were placed all around the room. It seemed like every table was filled and like every school, you could spot out the cliques. I walked passed them all not interested in any of them. What I was looking for was the big set of swinging double doors in the back. Waiters were going from table to table delivering plates full of food. The whole thing reminded me of the dining scene in the movie Titanic. What have I walked into? I pushed through the double doors and into the kitchen. The place was huge with large range ovens and long wide metal counters. Chefs were sautéing, chopping, baking, and dressing all sorts of food. The place smelled heavenly. I stood there watching everyone moving around me just taking it all in

A short, plump, gray-haired lady dressed in a white and purple pantsuit walked up to me. Her smile was kind and I could see laughter in her eyes.

“Hello dear. You must be CInderella. I’m so happy to have you here to help us. You can call me Mrs. Potts.”

“I’m happy to be here, but uh how did you know who I was?”

“Oh, honey I know every one of the students that work in my kitchen.”

“Oh,” I was surprised any other students worked around the school at all. She showed me around the kitchen and told me about my duties.

“You’ll start out as a waitress. You have your own section of tables. You will be expected to keep your area clean and your customers happy. You’ll get paid every two weeks, your meals are free. You’ll eat when you arrive. You’ll work breakfast, lunch, and dinner five days a week. You can pick which two days a week you want off.” She walked me back to a small room. It was cozy with a fridge, two small couches, and a coffee table, the walls were painted a soft blue with a white trim. “Make yourself comfortable I’ll send Aurora in with dinner.”

“Okay… Who’s Aurora?”

“She’s a student here, works around the school doing odd jobs. Today’s she’s doing some waitressing.” Mrs. Potts left closing the door behind her. I sat in the room by myself for a short while. I took the time alone to relax and take some time for myself. It wasn’t long before a girl about my age walked into the room. She’s a beautiful girl, with long golden blonde hair and violet eyes. She wore a white button down dress shirt with a black skirt that was belted at her waist and came down to her knees. The shoes she wore were killer black heels that covered her foot like an ankle boot but was open at the toe.

“Hi, you must be Cinderella. I’m Aurora,” she took a seat across from me and set plates down on the table. The food was mouthwatering. A large steak with a baked potato loaded with butter and sour cream covered the plate.

“This looks amazing.” I dug into my food not wasting a single bite. Aurora laughed and dug in with just as much flair. We talked for a while. She told me what it was like working in the dining hall and how depending on the table it’s usually easy to keep all the orders memorized.

“You’ll get five tables to yourself to work with. I know it’s going to be hard at first but once you figure them out you’ll get used to it,” time passed and Aurora had to head back to work so I headed back to my room.