“I just decided I don’t need help after all,” Belle said, calmly. “I’ll do it myself.” She crossed her arms and looked out at the empty street in front of her. Dave leaned to one side, trying to peer around Belle to see her face. But she turned her body as he did, keeping her back to him.
“Are you waiting for someone?” Dave asked, holding his hand out to display the empty road.
“A car, a train, a bus, I don’t really care at this point.”
“To hitchhike?” Dave asked.
“No! I’m going to push you in front of it!”
“So you’re still mad then?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Dave wished he could take them back. Belle whipped around so fast, her hair flew up and slapped herself in the face. She glared hard at Dave. Dave took one look at her and knew if they were in a cartoon, there would be steam coming out of her ears!
“What do you mean still mad?” Belle spoke slowly and softly, but her words seethed with anger. “I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t still be mad at you when you’re fifty!”
“Fair enough.” Dave put his hands up to surrender. He waited a moment before daring to speak again. “So, should we go inside and get to work then?”
“Why should I work with you? I can just talk to the school and have them get me a new tutor.”
“Sorry, but I’m all you got. Everyone else has already been assigned.”
Belle’s arms dropped and she looked at Dave in disgust. “Seriously?”
Dave nodded. “I’m afraid so.” He tried to sound consoling.
“Maybe I can go through another service then. I don’t have to get a tutor with the school. My mom said to call her when I’m done.”
“Then why haven’t you called her yet?” Dave asked. Belle looked at Dave as though she were about to cry. “I know why you haven’t called her,” he said. “It’s because you’re not a quitter. You want to get better at reading so you can prove Cynthia is stupid.”
Belle’s jaw dropped slightly. She was surprised Dave would bring her up and she was even more surprised that he would call her stupid. Belle thought Dave was friends with Cynthia.
Dave continued. “I’m here now. And I’m offering to help you.” He held an open hand out to Belle.
She stood there, considering his offer for a moment. Then she slapped his hand away as she walked passed him, back toward the school. “Fine. But if you ever try and kiss me again, I swear I’ll punch you in the face.”
Dave smiled as he followed Belle back inside the building. At least she was talking to him!
Dave led her to their assigned classroom and set up two desks, side by side. Belle looked at him and turned one of the desks so they were facing each other instead. Dave grabbed the desk to turn it back again, but Belle held onto the corner so he couldn’t move it. Dave sighed. “We really can’t work well if we aren’t next to each other,” he explained.
“Why not?” Belle folded her arms and stuck out her bottom lip, daring him to argue.
“I can’t be of much help if I can’t see your book.”
“Then get your own book!” Belle said, taking a seat at the desk.
Dave slowly moved his desk back into place beside Belle. “I don’t have a copy of the book. You’re in regular English and I’m in Honors English, so we aren’t covering the same material.”
“Well isn’t that convenient for you,” Belle said, eyeing him.
Dave could hear a hint of humor in her voice, which gave him hope. “So what are you reading right now?” he asked.
“Romeo and Juliet,” Belle answered, pulling out her book.
Dave grinned. “Really?” he asked, smiling.
“Don’t,” Belle said, slamming her book down on the desk.
“What?” Dave asked.
“Just don’t.”
They began reading, their heads bent over the book together. Dave taught Belle to slow down and relax, taking it one word at a time. He had her read aloud, sounding out each syllable as she went
“I feel like a little kid again!” Belle said, sitting back in her chair. “This makes me feel stupid!”
“It’s just for practice,” Dave said. “It will get better; now let’s keep going.”
Belle rolled her eyes, but continued to read. Dave watched as she read. Her perfect, soft, pink lips moved with each word. Her beautiful, dark eyes darted back and forth as they scanned over the pages. She lifted her slender hand and pushed a strand of long, yellow hair behind her pixie ear. Dave leaned closer and sucked in a deep breath.
Belle turned abruptly and looked at Dave with fire in her eyes. “What are you doing?!”
“Nothing,” Dave said, shifting uneasily in his seat.
“Did you just smell my hair?” she asked.
“Only a little,” Dave said, holding his index finger and thumb about an inch apart. He tried to joke his way out of the situation, but Belle wasn’t having it.
She shut her book and jumped to her feet, preparing to leave.
“Wait!” Dave said, holding up a hand. “I’m really sorry!”
“You know what I think?” Belle asked, shifting her weight to one foot and placing a hand on her hip. “I think you are a...a stupid donkey, who’s just out to get as much action as he can!”
“Donkey?” Dave asked, trying not to laugh. “Don’t you mean ass?”
“No!” Belle said, clapping her shoes together. “My mother taught me not to use words like that,” she added, haughtily.
“Your mom?”
“Alright, so it was my aunt Elizabeth. What’s it to you anyway?”
“Nothing,” Dave said, unable to hide his smirk. “So are you going to tell your cousins I’m your tutor?” he asked, once Belle had the classroom door open.
“Seriously?” Belle asked. She walked back over to where Dave was sitting and smacked him hard on the shoulder with her book. “I think I learned my lesson from that one! No thanks to you!” Belle stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Chapter Thirty
Tuesday, September 7th
Tuesday morning Cinderella took a deep breath and then entered the locker room. Belle wasn’t there yet, but she set down her bag and worked the combination on her locker. She could hear some other girls enter behind her, but she didn’t turn around. Once her locker was open and her backpack shoved inside, Cinderella sat down on the carpeted bench and slowly removed her sunflower yellow heels. They had small white flowers on top of the strap that stretched out over her foot.
“Cute shoes,” one of the girls said to Cinderella.
“Thanks,” she responded. She tried desperately to act casual and not seem over-excited about the compliment.
Cinderella continued to slowly get ready for gym and was completely dressed before Belle entered the locker room breathless.
“Sorry!” she said. “I was picking up some information on running for the sophomore class president.”
Cinderella raised her eyebrows.
“I’ll explain in a minute,” Belle responded. She got dressed in record time and the two girls raced into the gym as the first bell rang.
Luckily they were running for class that day, so Belle had plenty of time to reveal her plan to Cinderella. The girls walked side by side around the large, oval track. They would pick up the pace and jog every time they passed their teacher, and then resume walking as soon as they were out of his sight.
“I’m going to work really hard on my reading,” Belle explained. “And I’ll even keep working with Dave,” she said through gritted teeth.
Cinderella walked quietly and let Belle do all the talking. Belle had never talked so openly about her situation before! So Cinderella kept her mouth shut and just listened as they walked the track.
It was a warm day, especially for being so early in the morning; not ideal for running. But Cinderella loved the heat from the sun’s rays on her bare arms. Thank goodness for global warming! She rolled her short sleeves up and tucked them into
her shirt, revealing the skin on her shoulders. No way was she getting a tan line during gym! As Belle continued talking, Cinderella looked around over the lush football field. Another class was out doing stadiums, and she watched as a snake of students ran up and down the steps. Then up past the stadium she could hear the chinking of a dozen or so tennis balls against the surrounding chain link fence.
“So I figure giving a speech in front of the whole school is a pretty good way to prove what Cynthia said doesn’t bother me.” Belle turned her head and looked at Cinderella for acknowledgement.
“It’s true,” Cinderella said, nodding.
“I mean, I’d like to be able to give a big speech and not mess up any of my words to prove Cynthia wrong,” Belle continued. “But I know there’s no guarantee I won’t screw something up. So I figure if you can’t beat them, join them!” she said, panning over the other students on the track with her open palms.
“Join them?” Cinderella asked.
“Yeah, like what you said before, Cindy,” Belle said. “Act like we’re in on the joke. If I’m playing along, they won’t have anything to make fun of!”
Cinderella nodded her approval. “So what do you need help with?” she asked.
“Making posters and stuff,” Belle said. “I’m a little behind since I signed up so late, but I think with some help, I could still win.”
They began closing in on where the instructor was standing, so they began jogging again. Then when he turned his back to speak to another student, the girls slowed back down and Belle continued.
“After all,” she said, smiling, “People know who I am!”
“That’s for sure,” Cinderella said, smiling back. “And just think, you could thank Cynthia in your acceptance speech!”
“Oh man! Can you imagine?!” Belle asked and the two broke into a fit of laughter.
***
That afternoon the Princess sisters sat around Belle’s bedroom, posterboard and markers scattering the floor. Belle held up her finished project for the others to see. She had drawn dark blue and silver flowers around the edge of her light, powdery blue posterboard. Along the top in bold black letters it read: Dyslexics are teople poo. Then at the bottom in slightly smaller writing it said Vote Princess Belle – Sophomore Class President.
“Awesome!” Ariel said.
“We should get matching shirts like that for your campaign!” Aurora added.
Belle grinned and looked back down to begin work on the next poster. The others turned toward Cinderella with surprised looks, but she could only shrug back. They had always known about Belle’s struggles, but never in their lives had any of the girls ever heard or seen Belle use the “D” word before. Usually she beat around the bush without fully admitting to her problem. The cousins shrugged back and continued their work.
“We need music!” Ariel said a moment later.
“Do you have anything new?” Snow White asked, scrolling through her selection.
“Already on it,” Ariel replied, holding a case up.
“Who’s that?” Cinderella asked, crinkling her nose.
“Give it a chance,” Ariel sighed. Once the breathy voice entered the room, the girls seemed to relax. Ariel had such a varied musical collection, the cousins never knew what they were going to get.
“Who is this again?” Snow White asked.
Ariel replied and Snow White nodded, forgetting the name almost instantly.
“I like him!”
“This isn’t bad!”
“Where’d you find this?”
The other three replied in staggered unison. They grinned at each other, and then went back to working on their advertisements.
“What do you think?” Aurora asked, holding up her own poster. The girls all looked up and laughed.
“Love it!” Belle said. And she gave her cousin an air high-five.
The poster was bright yellow with a large picture of a cartoon Belle holding up a magic mirror. The mirror was displaying Belle’s real school picture and the poster read: You don’t need a magic mirror to tell you who would be the best sophomore class president!
“That is so perfect, Rora!” Cinderella said, admiring her artwork.
Aurora turned the poster around and held it up for herself, smiling. She proudly looked over it one more time before placing it on top of Belle’s finished poster. Then she picked up another posterboard and placed it on the rug in front of her crossed legs. She tapped a pencil against her chin while her eyes wandered around the room as she waited for more inspiration to come.
Chapter Thirty-One
Wednesday, September 8th
Wednesday morning, Snow White sat watching the clock slowly tick each second of her first period away. She wasn’t paying attention to the teacher at all, and wasn’t even sure what subject they were covering today. Her left hand was busily twirling a strand of red hair around her index finger while her right fingers tapped out a rhythm on her desk. Snow White stiffened when she saw where the minute hand was headed. Three…two…one…even though she was expecting it, Snow White still jumped when the bell rang. She got to her feet, heart pounding, and quickly made her way to the lockers. Her stomach felt as if it were working on a merit badge for knot-tying! She and Cinderella had gotten to school really early to set everything up. But now as the moment of truth was approaching, her hands shook involuntarily. Snow White reached up and turned the combination on the lock, then yanked open her locker door. A dozen or so apples came falling out at her feet and Snow White jumped back to avoid collision with her toes. Several students had stopped in the hallway and watched, waiting for Snow White’s reaction. A few boys nudged each other, grinning, and several other girls had to stifle giggles. Taking a deep breath, she bent down and picked up one of the apples. Snow White brought it to her lips and took a big bite, crunching loudly.
“Mmmm, that’s pretty good!” she said, and she closed her locker and walked away, leaving her audience behind in stunned silence.
Snow White met up with Cinderella in the girls’ bathroom at the far end of the hall. She walked in and, after making sure no one else was in sight, she made a face and threw the remainder of the apple in the trash.
“So?” Cinderella asked.
“Nobody laughed this time,” Snow White said, still a little shakily.
“I’m proud of you Snow!” Cinderella said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
Snow White said nothing, but gave her cousin a weak smile in return.
“We better hurry or we’re gonna be late for choir,” Cinderella said, reaching for the door.
“You go ahead, I’ll catch up in a sec,” Snow White responded.
After she was gone, Snow White heaved into the trash can and then followed after Cinderella to their next class.
***
After school, the Princess sisters walked across the street over to the Surf N’ Swim to help Ariel practice.
“Oh man, I wish I could have been there to see their faces!” Aurora said.
“It was pretty great!” Snow White admitted. “Although, for a little while there, I almost didn’t think I could do it.”
“I knew you could!” Cinderella said. Then turning to Ariel she asked, “You’re being awfully quiet, everything okay?”
But Ariel didn’t hear anything. It was her turn now for her stomach to join the boy scouts, as it twisted and turned into knots.
“Ari?” Aurora asked, touching her sister’s arm.
Ariel jerked out of her trance. “Huh?” she asked, looking up.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes,” she said, after taking a deep breath. “I can do this.”
Aurora put her arm around Ariel’s shoulder as they walked inside the building and paid their $3 to enter the pool. The girls changed into their swimming suits and shoved everything, including backpacks, into the small lockers that were provided. Aurora locked arms with Ariel, to prevent any attempts at escape, and guided her out the heavy door from the
girls’ locker room. They felt the rush of cool air as they momentarily stood outside, between the building and the bubble. Now that summer was over, the pool had a giant hot-air bubble over it so people could still swim in the fall and winter months. Then they pushed their way through the rotating doorway and felt the burst of hot moisture against their bare skin.
“So this is what humidity feels like,” Belle said, waving a hand in front of her face like a fan. “I think I’ll pass.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Cinderella said, playfully shoving the drama queen forward.
Ariel stood still, keeping the exit within reach, as the other four moved forward and into the water.
“Come on Ari!” Snow White called. “If I can eat an apple and put on a show for 30 students, you can definitely do this!”
Ariel smiled. “Just give me a minute,” she said.
Belle leaned in to Aurora and whispered something in her ear. Aurora grinned and nodded. Then the two of them emerged from the water and went to stand on either side of Ariel. They linked arms with her and slowly started forward towards the shallowest part of the water. Ariel immediately went rigid and tried to dig her heels into the concrete. Belle and Aurora stopped.
“We aren’t going to force you in,” Aurora said.
“We are just here to help you get there,” Belle added. “And to make sure you don’t back out,” she said, after a short pause.
Ariel still didn’t budge.
“Think of a fish,” Aurora said.
Ariel gave her a funny look.
“Fish can’t be out of the water, or they’ll die. So just channel a fish.”
“Be one with the fish,” the others chanted.
This made Ariel smile. Then she sighed and squeezed her eyes shut, allowing the two girls to guide her forward again. Ariel gasped when the water rushed around her ankles, but she kept her eyes shut tight. Her arms tightened, holding on to her cousins for support, when the water splashed around her knees. Then she began to feel light-headed when the semi-warm water made contact with her swimsuit and the waves moved up to her waist. Belle and Aurora felt Ariel go limp and they put their other hands under her arms to keep her from collapsing. They also stopped moving forward and stood still in the pool, allowing the water to swirl and splash past them. Very slowly, Ariel opened her eyes. First she saw Snow White and Cinderella standing directly in front of her, encouraging smiles lit up their faces. Then she made the mistake of looking down.
The Princess Sisters (The Princess Sisters Series) Page 17