Page 1 of Isabella and the Slipper

Chapter 1

The school gymnasium bustled with excitement. Isabella winced as a brawny guy crammed onto the bleacher, practically sitting on top of her. He smelled of locker-room sweat, and Isabella grunted as the air squished out of her lungs.

Her best friend, Savannah, turned to glare at him. “Hello? Someone’s sitting there.”

The guy cast Isabella a blank stare. “Sorry,” he mumbled, scooting over a millimeter.

“Maybe look next time before you sit?” Savannah said to him, rolling her eyes.

“Won’t do any good. I’m invisible, remember?” Isabella pulled her phone out of her pocket and sighed. That was the story of her life.

Savannah moved over to give her room and snatched the phone from Isabella’s grasp. “Let me see your new phone.”

The cheerleaders ran onto the gym floor, shouting and waving their pom-poms.

Ugh. There was so much to hate about mandatory pep rallies.

“You have no fun apps.” Savannah nudged her. She had her hair up in pigtails, and she looked like she had just stepped out of an ’80s magazine with her sparkly lips and denim jacket. “You haven’t even put your name in here.”

“I just got it last night.”

“You’d better put a password in, at least. What if someone steals your phone?”

“Who’d do that?” Isabella wanted to laugh but saw that Savannah was serious. “I’ll do it tonight.”

Savannah slapped it back into Isabella’s hand. “At least you have a cool case.”

“I know, right? The Beatles were legendary.” She pocketed her phone. The cheerleaders were forming a pyramid, and she didn’t want to miss it if one of them toppled off.

“I’m still surprised your stepmom let you get a phone.”

“I think it’s because she wants to be able to hound me even when I’m not home. She’s acting like I owe her big-time now. Never mind that Delilah and Ava have had phones since middle school.”

Savannah smirked. “If I were you, I’d have run away a long time ago. Your stepmom is the worst.”

Isabella didn’t want to get into it. She was holding out, waiting for graduation.

Just one more year and she’d be gone. Not even Savannah knew how horrible it was living there, in her father’s house, but not belonging. Unloved and unwanted.

She pushed her glasses up her nose. “You said it.”

A deep voice rang out over the speakers, and Isabella’s heart involuntarily sped up. Chase Hawkins. The most popular guy in school.Andan actor. Who could forget the roles he’d had in two major Hollywood movies? Not leading roles, smaller stuff, but still. He was a movie star, and the whole school treated him accordingly.

Chase was her stepsister’s dream man. Isabella had to hear about him every morning as Delilah rushed about, getting ready for school. It made her want to throw up. It might be because Isabella didn’t want to admit to herself that Chase affected her in much the same way as every other female in the school. Especially in physics—he sat right in front of her, and she had to smell his heavenly cologne all period long.

“Are we ready for the game tonight?” he shouted, and the crowd burst into a screaming frenzy. Chase walked to the center of the gym floor with a wireless microphone. “I can’t hear you!”

Isabella feigned boredom but couldn’t help staring at Chase. His dark hair was never perfectly styled, yet it fit his easygoing manner. His smile made her toes curl, and his blue eyes were sigh-worthy. He handled being in front of the crowd with ease. It was in his nature.

“All week we’ve been collecting change for our ‘Kiss the Pig’ contest.” Cheers rang out, and he waited for everyone to settle down again. “I’m sure you’ve seen the teachers’ jars all over the school.” More cheers. “It’s time to announce the teacher who collected the most change and has to kiss the pig.”

Screaming erupted, and Isabella held in a smile. Even though the pep rallies weren’t her thing, she couldn’t deny wanting to see a teacher kiss a pig.

Jason Scott, the quarterback, came out of the locker room wearing his football gear and carrying a squirming pig. It squealed its disapproval at being manhandled. The crowd went nuts, standing and stomping, making whatever noise it could.

Chase pulled an envelope from his pocket. “In this envelope is the name of the teacher who won.”

There was no settling the crowd down now. Even Savannah was screaming. Isabella stood, pulled her phone out, and turned on the camera.

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