#TheRealCinderella Read online

  #TheRealCinderella

  Book 1 of the #BestFriendsForever Series

  Yesenia Vargas

  Copyright © 2018 by Yesenia Vargas

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  For Andrea, Celeste, and Vicencio.

  * * *

  And for Kelsie, for helping me tell the best version of this story.

  Contents

  Book Description

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  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  A Sneak Peek of the Next Book!

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Yesenia Vargas

  Book Description

  A modern-day teenage Cinderella. An all-star varsity basketball player. Will the chemistry disappear when they go from anonymous to face-to-face?

  * * *

  Geeky Ella Reyes is at the bottom of the totem pole at Westwood High. Her ultra-popular stepsisters refuse to be seen with her at school, and every day she comes home to a mountain of chores.

  Ella’s only friend (and maybe crush) lives on the other side of her phone’s screen. She and Baller929 know everything about each other, except their real names.

  When they have a chance to meet at her school’s Halloween ball, Ella must figure out a way to get there without her stepmom or stepsisters finding out.

  Is revealing her identity to Baller929 worth risking the one good thing left in her life? Or is he too good to be true?

  Fans of Cinder & Ella by Kelly Oram and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books will fall in love with this new coming-of-age series. Start the first book now.

  This is a clean young adult contemporary romance.

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  Prologue

  “Promise you’ll be here in time for my birthday?” I asked my dad over the phone. That was as much as I could say without breaking down. Not seeing him the whole week was more than I could bear.

  “I promise,” he said. “I’ll be there, Ella. When have I ever missed one of your birthdays?”

  I exhaled, knowing he would never break a promise.

  My stepmom, Sophia, walked away with a roll of her eyes, and I clenched the phone tighter to my ear. She sat down in the living room with Lindsay and Courtney, who were watching TV.

  My dad had married Sophia last year, making her and her twin daughters a permanent part of our life. Unfortunately. And now he was traveling more and more for work because I had them to stay home with.

  At first, I had been excited to have a new mom and two sisters my age, but now I missed when it was just the two of us. Sometimes, it felt like Sophia didn’t really like me, especially if my dad was away, and my stepsisters acted the same way. There were days I wanted to tell my dad about it, but I didn’t want to upset him. He seemed happy, so I tried to be happy too.

  “I miss you, Dad,” I said.

  “I miss you too, mi amor,” he replied. “I promise I’ll be there soon. I’ll rest up a few hours, and then it’s just you and me. Wherever you want. Todo el día.”

  The whole day together? A smile lit up my face. “And I can finally get my ears pierced?”

  “Veremos,” he replied, but I jumped up and down because “we’ll see” usually meant yes.

  Lindsay and Courtney turned around for a second before going back to their TV show.

  This was going to be the best birthday ever. It would be just like old times.

  “Like I said, I’ll see you soon, okay? I can’t wait. Te quiero mucho.”

  I could almost see the smile on his face, the way his eyes lit up. “Good night, papá. I love you too.”

  Sophia snatched the phone back without a word and started talking to Dad.

  But even her usual attitude couldn’t put a damper on my excitement. Sleep would make the time go faster, so I headed upstairs before Sophia could tell me it was time for bed. I brushed my teeth, changed into my favorite pajamas, and curled up into a ball under the covers. My mind buzzed with joy at the thought of tomorrow, but I closed my eyes anyway. Plus, I would be eleven years old when I opened them again.

  The next thing I knew, though, my stepmom was turning on the light and telling me to get up, now. We got in the car and drove for a while until we got to a hospital. My eyes burned under the bright waiting room lights, and I shivered in my flimsy pajamas. My stepsisters and I hadn’t had time to change, and I had forgotten to grab my jacket.

  What were we were doing here? Did something happen to Dad?

  Sophia told us to sit in the waiting room and walked right over to the front desk. I sat down so I was facing her. Lindsay and Courtney tuned into the television on the wall, but I strained my ears to listen as my stepmom talked to the nurse. She sounded upset, but I couldn’t hear why. The nurse said something else, and my stepmom finally came and sat in the first chair she found. She stared at the seat in front of her. I turned to the television. I knew better than to ask questions when she was like this.

  After several commercials, I yawned, but I kept my eyes from closing. Something felt wrong. The way my heart was pounding told me so. A new TV show came on as two police officers and a doctor walked over to us.

  My stepmom stood up to meet them.

  Courtney and Lindsay were asleep next to me, snoring softly, but I could hear what the adults were saying.

  “Mrs. Reyes?”

  My stepmom nodded, her hands clasped in front of her.

  The doctor took a deep breath and shook his head. “We’re very sorry. Your husband didn’t make it. The paramedics tried to restart his heart several times. We did everything we could here, but he suffered too much internal damage in the car accident.”

  Sophia collapsed onto her knees, sobs wracking her chest. Tears streamed down my face as I understood the doctor’s words, but I stayed silent, unable to turn away from what wa
s happening. My hands wrapped around my arms at the sinking feeling in my stomach. I just wanted to go back to my warm bed.

  One of the police officers, a woman, spoke next. “We think he fell asleep while driving.”

  I wasn’t sure what else they said after that. I could only focus on the fact that my dad, the one person I had, my best friend, was gone forever.

  Everything was a blur after that.

  We had a funeral for him. The coffin was closed, making it hard to accept that he was really in there. I only got to touch the smooth green metal of the lid, then his coffin was being lowered into the ground. I never got to see him again or kiss him goodbye.

  And I was still trying to understand the fact that my dad was gone forever.

  Why?

  Hadn’t it been enough that I’d lost my mom?

  After the funeral, after everyone left and we were the only ones still there, Sophia turned to me. It was the first time she had looked at me since she told me to get up that night and put on some shoes.

  She stood there for what felt like forever, just looking at me. There was sadness in her eyes but something else too. Then she walked away, Courtney and Lindsay in tow.

  I had never felt more alone in my life.

  And every year, on my birthday, I remembered how perfect our life had been before, just my dad and me. But my life had twisted into some backward fairy tale. And my happily ever after had already come and gone forever.

  One

  5 Years Later…

  “Morning, Cinderella,” Courtney said, a smirk on her face as she walked into the kitchen, phone in hand.

  “It’s Ella, and good morning,” I replied without looking up from my notebook.

  She continued making her way to one of the chairs at the breakfast table.

  I kept my head down, jotting down notes for the layout. The idea for my app had lived inside my head for months, and the school counselor, Ms. Moreau, had convinced me to present it at the upcoming state technology and science competition.

  Lindsay trailed behind Courtney, also too busy to look up from her phone. “If your name is Daniela, why does everyone call you Ella? That doesn’t even make sense.”

  No one called me Daniela. Except for Sophia.

  My dad had given me the nickname, but I didn’t want to talk about that with them.

  I exhaled and put the notebook away. My app needed to win, if only to get me out of here. I had been ready to skip the competition, but when Ms. Moreau mentioned the big college scholarships up for grabs, I said yes. Maybe other students had parents who’d been saving for their college education since they were in diapers, but that definitely wasn’t my situation. While my stepmom and stepsisters loved to go on last-minute shopping spree, the clothing budget I received was minimal.

  I glanced down at my jeans, hoodie, and sneakers. Plain, but affordable. All I had done to my boring brunette hair was brush it. Forget about makeup. Plus, I had my dad’s sun-kissed Puerto Rican skin and dark eyes behind my glasses. My stepsisters and I couldn’t be more different, in looks or personality. Just like every other day, my stepsisters could have stepped out of a teen fashion magazine with their picture-perfect outfits, mascara-covered lashes, and styled blonde hair.

  I pasted a smile on my face. “I’m going to get started on breakfast.”

  I walked over to the fridge and got out ingredients for veggie omelets and turkey bacon.

  A couple minutes later, high heels click-clacked closer and closer, and I hurried to finish chopping the vegetables.

  “Daniela, it’s 7:15, and you’re just starting breakfast?” Sophia said. She donned black dress pants with a matching jacket, her hair in a weird hive-looking bun and her face covered in the usual multiple layers of makeup. “We’re going to be late.”

  “Good morning, Sophia,” I said, hoping she’d have something nice to say just this once.

  She grabbed a thermos and went over to the coffee maker. “Make sure you don’t put cheese on mine like you did yesterday. You know I can’t tolerate dairy.”

  No such luck, then.

  She took the mail from the small metal holder she kept on the counter and sorted through it while I fixed her breakfast a couple feet away.

  Her hand paused on a letter, and my eyes landed on the envelope she was holding. I froze when I saw my name.

  “Is that for me?” I blurted without thinking.

  Sophia shoved the letter and envelope in with the rest of the mail in her hands. “It’s about you, but it’s for me. Nothing for you to worry about. Just meaningless guardianship paperwork I need to take care of.”

  It wasn’t the first letter she’d gotten about me, but it had been a while. She walked off, taking the mail with her. I went back to cooking her breakfast.

  I packed it for her and set it aside, checked the clock on the stove, and realized I was running late.

  Sophia grabbed her breakfast and coffee to go without a thank you. “Have a good day, girls!” The front door slammed shut behind her as she left for work. Courtney and Lindsay got up from the table without another look at me. Like every other morning, they didn’t bother taking their dirty plates to the sink.

  Lindsay grabbed her bag. “We’re leaving. We’re not going to risk getting a tardy because of you.”

  They flounced out of the kitchen together, and I raced to finish rinsing the frying pan and cutting board, not to mention get the soap off my hands.

  “Wait! I’m right behind you,” I shouted, but I was greeted with the sound of the closing door.

  I grabbed their plates and put them in the sink, resisting the urge to throw them instead. Sophia would pitch a fit if I didn’t load the dishwasher before we left, but Courtney and Lindsay were my ride to school.

  I ran outside to catch them, but their car was already leaving the driveway and turning onto the road. That’s when I noticed I didn’t even have my backpack on.

  Seriously? They were probably laughing right about now.

  I took another deep breath, went back inside, dried my hands, and got my backpack from the kitchen table.

  I went the other way to the garage for my bike. I was probably going to be late again—my second time this month. I pushed my glasses up my nose and wheeled my bike onto the driveway. If I pedaled really hard, I could make it.

  I’d be gross sweaty girl all morning, but I’d make it.

  Maybe.

  I pushed the button on the keypad next to the garage and heard the garage door close behind me. I pushed off with my right leg and rode toward the street.

  Just another day in my Cinderella life.

  Two

  The tardy bell rang just as I parked my bike at the rack next to the Westwood High School sign. I knelt down to lock my bike in place, letting out a sigh of frustration.

  I rolled my eyes and marched into the front office. The double door entrance to the rest of campus was now closed.

  “Good morning,” I said to the secretary.

  She hardly looked up. “Name?”

  “Daniela Reyes.”

  Her nails clicked at her keyboard. “Reason for being tardy this morning?”

  “Uh,” I began. What was I supposed to say? “I missed my ride.”

  “Overslept. Okay, here you go.” She passed me a tardy slip over the tall counter separating us.

  I stared at her for a second, shocked, but she was already back staring at her computer screen.

  A small part of me wanted to say something, but I settled for pursing my lips before leaving through the door that led to the main hallway.

  Slept in? I wish.

  I took my sweet time getting to my locker. I was already late anyway. No need to rush through grabbing my books.

  The lesson had already started when I walked into math class.

  “Good of you to join us, Ms. Reyes,” Mr. Nguyen said, hardly glancing my way as he worked out a problem on the board.

  A few people turned to look at me before they went back to taking not
es or sleeping.

  For the second time this month, I left the tardy slip on his desk and made my way to my seat in the back of the classroom. Avoiding the stares of other students, I bent over my backpack and turned my phone to silent, then pulled out my math notebook. I flipped to a blank page and started copying examples from the whiteboard.

  Halfway through the third one, Mr. Nguyen began erasing everything.

  Great. I scanned the rows of desks but didn’t know who to ask for notes. None of the few friends I had were in this class. Courtney sat across the room, but I wasn’t about to ask her now. She got so annoyed if I spoke to her in school. If it were up to her, nobody would know we were stepsisters.

  Maybe she’d let me borrow her notes at home if I caught her in the right mood.

  “Please complete the worksheet by the end of class.” Mr. Nguyen went to each row, passing back a stack of papers. “This will count as a quiz grade.”

  Groans and sighs filled the air.

  A pop quiz on something we just learned? Mr. Nguyen was the worst. And he was the kind of teacher who would laugh in my face if I asked him to give me the quiz tomorrow since I missed the lesson.

  I scanned the room. Everyone was already head down, pencil to paper. Mr. Nguyen said we could use our notes, but I was missing about half of them. The examples were always the most helpful part, and I hadn’t had a chance to write more than a couple down.