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2. The Beginning

Serene

Serene sighed, remembering her father's death. It was an awful day and one that she'll never forget. That was the day she lost the person she loved the most, and the day that her destiny started being decided by someone else.

The light that shone through the windows reminded her that time waited on no man. It was time for her to go. Serene closed the album and wrapped it can up in a worn brown cloth, then placed it back into its hiding place under the wooden floor.

Before putting back the piece of wood to cover the opening, she took one last look at the album, picturing the symbol on the book's cover. Gold outlined its shape and it seemed like an apple due to its roundness. There were three small spirals that at the center in the format of a triangle. The more you saw it, the more mesmerized you become by it. Even though the designed seemed so simple with just one color, the details placed into it makes it extraordinary and worth being remembered.

Using your imagination, the spirals could be berries and the leaves attached to them that disappear in the light make the entire thing resemble a mistletoe. Her mom has always had a thing for Christmas.

Well, not anymore.

"Serene, where the hell are you?! My shoelace needs to be tied!"

"Shelena, where's my bag?!"

Alarmed, Serene quickly sealed the floor and covered it with a rugged, old yellow carpet. She coughed when the dust flew in her face and left herself a mental note that she needed to do some spring cleaning soon. Now, Serene thought to herself, time to deal with those brats...

"Coming!" Serene yelled as she locked the attic door, placing the key in her pocket. She then raced down the stairs. If only her blue T-shirt was her sheets right now. Instead, she has to deal with THIS in the morning.

She ran until she came upon her step-sister, Gena's, room, on the second floor. The door was open and the girl was busy frowning and stomping her foot while sitting down on her bed, and in no way were her actions cute. Serene took a deep breath and knocked on the door to get her attention.

"Where were you?" Gena asked, still frowning. "I've been calling you for like--" she starts counting on her fingers. "--three minutes!"

"I think you mean three seconds," Serene replied, lips twitching to hide a smirk.

"Whatever." Gena looked at her nails. When she noticed that Serene was still standing there doing nothing she gave her a pointed look and motioned at her shoes.

"Oh, yeah, right." It was fun to play dumb. The fact that it got a rise out if her stepsisters without her being punished for it was a bonus. She made her way over to Gena, stooping down on one knee as she began to tie her shoelaces.

Teasing her step relatives was the only enjoyment she got from leaving in this love-forsaken house. Besides, she felt they deserved it. Gena wasn't so dumb that she didn't know how to tie a simple knot, she was just taking any opportunity that comes by to provoke Serene and treat her like some handmaiden. At least, that's what it felt like. Gazing at her through her lashes, Serene saw that Gena was still playing with her nails. Serene would never figure these two out.

Soon she was done, up on her feet and ready to leave.

"Oh, and I need you to do my homework today," Gena stated. She reached into her bag and brought out a book. Serene didn't take it but read the cover. "I may or may not have forgotten to give it to you last night."

'MATHS. aka Madness Attacking The Head Slowly.'

Serene smiled and stared at Gena who still had the book in hand, expecting her to take it.

"I'm sorry, Gena. Your personal maid is out of the house will be with you in just a bit. Please wait while she serves you with an extra helping of, well, common sense to your unsatisfiable soul."

"Excuse me, what?!" Gena yelled. The brunette shrugged. "I ain't doing that." And exited the room.

That toddler will probably have her head later. Now, for the other baby.

"Shelena, Sabrina or whatever your name is, come and find my bag!"

Mary. Tall, and dumb, well, dumb when it comes to remembering something as simple as Serene's name. Is it that hard to pronounce two syllables?

Her voice echoed from the living room. Serene walked down the stairs to meet her, watching every step. When she arrived Serene saw her second stepsister running from one place to another, her short, dyed blonde hair a mess. She leaned against the wall, waiting for Mary to acknowledge her, and visibly cringing when Mary threw the cushions out of the sofa. That witch was definitely gonna make her clean this mess up, since Mary's hands that created this disaster in the first place would magically disappear later.

Soon, Mary hit her leg on the side of the coffee table and landed on her rare.

Serene couldn't help it anymore, so she tilted her head back and started laughing.

"What the hell's so funny?!" Mary asked demandingly.

Serene let a couple more giggles slip then cleared her throat.

"Why nothing, Madam Mary, nothing at all." She performed a  curtsy. That's right, all of the ladies in the house liked to be treated like royalty. Her step mom likes to think that she's the queen of the house, which automatically makes these two princesses right?

In their wildest dreams maybe.

"Oh, whatever just find my damn bag!"

Serene didn't try to hide the pleasure on her face over Mary's discomfort. She walked over to the couch and lifted up a purple handbag with a cupcake paper sticking to the bottom.

"Well," says Mary, getting up and dusted off her bottoms. "How did that get there?!"

"I think its been here since last night," said Serene.

"No it wasn't! You hid it there!" Mary grabbed her bag out of Serene's hand and gave her a glare that said 'everything is your fault'.

"Why would I hide your bag where everyone can see it?!"

Mary shakes her head. "How am I supposed to know? You're the, 'evil genius' or something! Whatever, you did it on purpose".

Serene rolled her eyes. Never in all her sixteen years has she seen a girl this...

'I don't even have a word for it,' she thought to herself.

It was lucky for her that Jenifer wasn't home at the moment, so she could get ready for school and carry out her step-sisters' every wish (almost every) without the hassle of dealing with the dragon.

Serene was on her way back down from the attic when she gazed up at her grandfather's old clock, the only thing her new family let her have other than their used clothes. By the nuggets, was already eight o'clock!

'Crap, I'm gonna be late.'

She ran and left the house just when Mary and Gena were about to call her and tell her to drive them. The last time that Serene had to play the role of the driver the girls had dragged an unwilling guy into the car. She had to spend those ten minutes listening to them pampering him with questions about who he liked most and the boy didn't even get a chance to speak before they started talking again.

After he had been dropped off he practically ran out of the car and got as far away as possible. For some reason or another she felt like she had to call out to him:

"Hey, sorry 'bout that. Just so you know, I'm only the driver."

He got to the porch before he turned back to look at her. Something completely unexpected happened, he smiled. The short time he had spent with them made Serene think that he was only capable of nervous laughter.

"Well, it didn't suck all too bad, at least not to me," he replied.

He gave her a wink and then went inside. Even with the distance between them everyone heard when he was locking the door.

The situation as a whole made her giggle, ignoring the sisters in the back, and started the engine. Looking back in the review mirror she saw the two of them giving her a nasty look. Serene put on a smile and went back to her driving.

Serene rolled her eyes at the memory. Needless to say, she never saw Gena and Mary with that boy again, and that same night the girls made up some crappy story to get Jenifer to punish her. They were probably mad about the way he reacted badly to them or for some other reason, who knows?

It wasn't long before the school building came into view, along with the promise of a chair to rest her tired legs, and of a better day to come.

'It won't be long now, just a little while longer...'

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