Prince Charming is a Liar - Love Triangle

Dayna was parked outside the school, waiting for Clarissa to burst out of those front doors any second. She yawned briefly, having just woken up from a much needed nap. Finally, she could see Clarissa running towards the car with an ecstatic grin plastered on her face, dodging kids left and right. It was an amazing sight. Once those doors flung open, it was like a flood of children pouring out over the sidewalk. Clarissa managed to reach Dayna's car without being trampled. Once the duo arrived at the ice cream parlor, Clarissa viciously gorged down her hot fudge sundae with no pause to breathe in between bites.

"Slow down there, girly! What's your rush?"

"I just wanna go home and read over my lines. If I do really, really good, I'll get more parts and before you know it, you'll be checkin' me out on the big screen!"

Clarissa had received the good news earlier that day that she would be playing the lead role of Cinderella in the school's upcoming production of 'Prince Charming', an original little musical the kids put together about Prince Charming's conflicting love life. Clarissa had been talking about it ever since she got in the car and Dayna could already tell she wouldn't be done ranting on and on about it for a long while. She didn't mind, though. She loved kids and she sort of saw Clarissa as her own to share with Jasmine. She could be nothing but proud of her niece. After all, it is her job as the aunt to encourage nothing but the fun things in life. Fun and safe, of course. So she would make sure that Clarissa stayed on that high for as long as she could keep her there, full of confidence and drive.

"Ugh, the only downside to this whole thing is that Penny is playing Snow White. The script isn't finished, so no one knows who Prince Charming will end up with."

"Love triangle, huh?"

"Yeah...do you think I'll do good, Aunt Dayna?"

"Do I think? You could totally stink and it would all seem good to me. You can do no wrong, kid."

"Sheesh, can't I ever just get a straight answer from you?"

Dayna's eyes shot open and her jaw dropped slightly in mocking offense.

"Yes, I personally feel you will make a fabulous Cinderella."

The two shared many laughs, talked about nothing but the upcoming school play, and finally left the parlor with sticky fingers and full tummies. The rest of the day was spent mostly at home and when Jasmine came home from work, all three of them went out to Clarissa's favorite restaurant, The Pretty Pirate, for dinner. Dayna, not being a huge fan of sea food, saw it as bit of a sacrifice, but those are the things you do for family. Overall, they managed to make a Monday feel more like a Friday.

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"Order's up, Dayna!" Ronnie, the cashier at the diner called out. Since it was another day off and she couldn't think of anything else to do with her morning, Dayna decided to stick around a little longer than usual and eat a nice plate full of bacon, sausage, eggs, and biscuits along with her usual coffee.

"How's life treatin' ya, sweetie?" Ronnie had been on vacation with his wife for 3 weeks, sort of like a second honeymoon to congratulate his son graduating high school and moving out to go to college, so it was time he catch up on the happenings of the regulars.

"Oh, you know...same old, same old. Clarissa's going to play one of the lead roles in her school's musical."

"Really? That kid's on her way to being the next big thing, I tell ya."

"No argument there."

Dayna sat at a table by the window while Ronnie went back to work. She noticed the same man sitting on the bench reading his morning paper like he does every morning. Or at least every morning she stops by. Liza had said that he only reads his paper in that spot on the days she comes, but Dayna found that unlikely. Chances are, Liza is just over reacting or making radical assumptions, which would be quite true to her fiery personality. She quickly turned away and continued chewing on her bacon. She found herself strangely day dreaming about the possibility of a secret admirer and for a moment, convinced herself that Liza was right and that he had been building up the nerve to stand up, walk across the street, and talk to her for some time. She quickly swallowed that idea along with a fork full of scrambled eggs. Though she told herself to stop, curiosity got the best of her yet again and she glanced back at the man and just then, he threw down the paper from his face and stood up from his bench. She snapped her head back in the opposite direction. Much to her surprise, he was walking up to the diner. Not that that was anything odd, because he has every right to come in and buy himself breakfast. No, nothing strange about that. However, what came next was almost unbelievable.

"Hello." Dayna Slowly raised her head to see the man standing right over her.

"Hi..?"

"I don't mean to bother you, but I've seen you here before. You usually don't stay around long, though. So, I thought I'd take advantage of that."

"Oh, you're no bother! Really! My name's Dayna." She held out her hand for him to shake.

"Dayna, my name is Lucas." He shook her hand firmly and boldly kissed it, making her blush. Though she tried her best to conceal it, she couldn't hide the big, cheesy grin that accompanied it.

"I want to ask if you'd like to get coffee with me sometime, but I feel like that would be a bit dumb, considering that's what you're doing right now. So, how about dinner?"

Dayna was stunned at the sudden interest Lucas was showing in her. Liza was right, apparently. He had been watching her for a while.

"S-sure! Sounds great!"

"okay, meet me here tonight at 7?"

"Oh, well I was thinking more like exchanging phone numbers and planning a date, but that works too, I guess."

"Well I've sort of been waiting a while to catch you when you weren't busy, so waiting any longer just seems nonsensical to me. What do you say? Are you free tonight?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"Great. I'll see you tonight, Dayna."

And just like that, he was out the door. She didn't move for a while, she was completely speechless about everything that had just occurred. She had never seen a more straight forward approach from a man in her life, and she liked it. Finally, she smiled brightly, brushed her straight, dark hair behind her ears and finished up her last piece of bacon. It was going to be a good day, she would make certain of it.

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Author's notes:

Alright, it's starting to come together! You can probably already sense the subtle fairytale elements in there. That will continue throughout the story and eventually play an important part in tying in the moral at the end. It will be fabulous!

Prince Charming is a Liar - Heroes and Villains

Everyone has a story to tell. Every step you take is a sentence, every moment a paragraph, and every day a new chapter. Some stories last longer than others, but the ending is always unique. The best stories are the ones that keep you guessing - a twist ending that no one ever sees coming. Yes, everybody has one.

"Dayna! Dayna, you left your purse!" There came running Liza, the waitress from the diner she had just finished her early morning coffee at.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm so scatter brained, not a great way to start the day, right?" She laughed half heartedly at her mistake and took the purse from out of Liza's hands.

"Sure you weren't just distracted, honey?" The middle aged waitress gestured in the direction of a man sitting on a bench across from the diner who was pretending to read the morning newspaper.

"That man's been watching you, Dayna. You can act like you haven't noticed, but I know you've been checking him out yourself."

"Come on, he is not watching me. Look, he's just reading the paper and minding his own business."

"I see things you don't, sweetie. Every time you look away, he's peeking up at you. It ain't just a coincidence that you only find him sitting on that bench reading his morning paper on the days you come around for a cup of coffee. You should go say something to him, girl!"

"Not happening...at least not today. I gotta run my niece to school, but maybe I'll have the guts Thursday morning after you come by the salon and let me get my hands on that hair of yours!"

"We'll see who cracks first!"

Dayna's painted red lips formed a wide grin as she hopped into her car and headed off to meet her niece. She lived only about seven blocks away from her sister's place and drove her niece, Clarissa, to school every Monday morning. She was half way up the stairs of the apartment complex when Jasmine and Clarissa came rushing down to meet her half way.

"Ima be late!" Jasmine spouted out dramatically as she pushed her daughter forward, gripping the girl's arms tightly so she wouldn't trip over her own feet.

"Well good morning to you too, Jazzy!"

"Thank the ever lovin' heavens you're here. I gotta stop by the store and buy mascara. I forgot I was all out." Jasmine bent down and gave her daughter a kiss on both cheeks, exaggerating the loud smacking sound on each one.

"I love you, baby, have a good day at school."

Dayna rolled her eyes playfully.

"You know, you don't need mascara."

Jasmine leaned in closer to her sister as if she didn't want Clarissa to hear what she was about to say.

"I do if I want to catch myself a man. God knows I could use someone around here to help me out with Crissy, since her real dad wasn't up for the job. She's going to be a teenager soon. If you remember the amount of stress I put mom through when I was that age, you should understand why I'm so desperate at this point."

"Hey, you know I'm always here."

Jasmine tilted her head slightly, her face formed into a mocking pout.

"Aww, so sweet. But you know what I mean.."

"I know, I know. I just think you're super beautiful with or without mascara."

Jasmine just shook her head, flashing a bright, genuine smile.

"I really gotta go. Love you."

She stood up to give her sister a thankful hug before waddling off to her car in a pair of red, 4 inch heels.

"Alright, you ready for school?"

"As ready as I'll ever be..."

The two headed back towards Dayna's car parked across the street.

"Mondays used to be my least favorite day when I was your age, so how about we get some ice cream when I pick you up later? You know, give us both something to look forward to."

"Hell yes!"

"Whoa, check you out using big girl words!"

The two shared a laugh together as the car slowly edged through traffic. Clarissa was quite a sharp 12-year-old with a gift for comedy. She always brought a smile to Dayna's face when her day was otherwise lacking anything to be happy about. After about 15 minutes, they reached their destination. As Dayna pulled up to the school, Clarissa sighed heavily.

"Come on, it's not that bad."

"It is when you have to deal with a dumb blonde named Penny who thinks she's some kind of goddess all pretty in pink every single day."

"Ah, I get it. Ya know, now is probably the time where I should give you some big lecture about being kind to everybody and turning the other cheek..."

Clarissa started to slam her head against the back of the car seat repeatedly, bored of hearing that same old spiel.

"she's just soooo annoying!"

"Hey, calm down. I was going to tell you that your grandmother used to tell your mom and I that life was like a great big story. She said every person in our lives was a character that played an important part."

"Yeah, well she'd be the villain."

"Yeah, for now. Trust me, you'll have plenty more and much worse villains introduced in your story, but you know what the rule always is with the bad guys?"

The middle schooler thought on the question for a moment before answering.

"They never win..?"

"Exactly."

Clarissa smiled wide and reached over to give her aunt a loving hug before hopping out of the car.

"Love you, girly. I'll see you after school!"

"Love you, too, aunt D.! Don't forget the ice cream!" The girl waved as she walked up the steps to the school, a large green backpack weighing her down. She was a bit small for her age, but then again, kids these days seem to come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. Dayna paused for a moment, contemplating what she would do with the rest of her morning. She didn't have to be at the salon until Wednesday and she couldn't think of any other responsibilities she had for another 6 hours or so. It was such a beautiful, sunny Monday morning. The birds were chirping, the sound of echoing car horns were floating through the air as impatient business men and women forced their way through traffic. Yes, she decided to go home and do what she always does on her days off of all priorities...

...sleep.

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Author's note:

This is just the first chapter to what was originally meant to be a single short story. However, upon plotting the entire story out in my head, I realized that it needed to be lengthened a bit in order to really work as an interesting tale. All that you have just read above probably seems very ordinary and quite possibly on the verge of boring. I'm warning you, it will seem that way for a while. BUT if things go as planned and the story flows the way I imagine it all unfolding in my brain, you'll want to keep on trudging through the chapters. If the opposite occurs, well, I've already put this out there, so there's no turning back now.