If the Shoe Fits
I'm your normal, everyday girl who went from having the best family to the worst family ever, to living happily ever after. Here's how it started:
Once upon a time, I had two parents who were both the bubbly, happy, and carefree type. We lived under the sun in Hawaii. Life was easy and simple. I like to think of it as the three S's, school, surf, and sun. My dad was a lifeguard with silky brown hair, tan skin, and huge muscles. His eyes were bright and blue. Plenty of girls faked drowning to have him "save" them. Then there was my gorgeous mom who had wavy blonde hair that always glistened in the sun. Her eyes were like green, sparkling gems and her slender body was very tan. She always wore a smile on her face. She was a surf instructor, and a lot of guys signed up just to be around her. Let's just say it's a good thing they were both taken.
Unfortunately, that is in the past. Both of them are pushing daises right now. Here's how my mom died. One day, just like any other, my mom was teaching some beginning surfers the basics of surfing. Little did they know, lurking on the sandy bottom of the ocean was a shark! It really wasn't too deep in the water, but deep enough that nobody saw it. My mom starting showing the beginning surfers how to paddle out to the waves and I'll bet she looked just like a tasty seal to that shark. It decided to go get lunch. As
soon as its top fin broke out of the surface of the water, everyone got out screaming. Neither the shark nor my mom noticed, they just continued what they were doing. The shark started to circle my mom, and she froze with fear. The shark saw its chance and took it.
"Mom, get away!" I screamed. She stayed still.
The only thing that my dad and I did is stare, wide-eyed at the shark. We both knew what was going to happen next. The shark would get lunch at my mom's expense.
The last thing that happened is my dad gasped, "No." It was all over. All that was left was a bright red cloud of blood in the water that soon vanished from the constant movement of the water and a broken surfboard.
There was no body left floating in the water, the shark took it, she was gone. I never believed someone like my mom could have died, until just then.
A lonely year passed and my dad thought I needed a mom to help me through high school. After all, school started back up in two weeks and I just graduated eighth grade. He decided to marry a rich woman named Kiowa who had two daughters. One was named Sutai, she was fourteen, and the other was named Pama, who was fifteen. Kiowa was pure evil, but always acted sweet around my dad. She absolutely hated me, and I have no idea why.Just when I thought life couldn't get any worse, I was proved wrong.
My dad and I went scuba diving. (At least we went without the steps. They didn't want to swim in some "icky, salty water" that was the ocean and they swam in their own private pool.) That was one of the worst choices ever. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful. All the fish swam around me with their vibrant colors shown off on their bodies. On the submerged rocks were coral, sea stars, barnacles, sea anemone, and etcetera. The best part was: no sharks; the worst part: one giant manta ray. Of course, I had no idea it was the bad part.
I swam over to my dad and pointed it out to him. He took a picture of it with his waterproof camera. That was the worst idea yet. The manta ray went crazy and started to whip around its tail. It knocked off my dad's air tank just as he was breathing in. He gulped up a bunch of water and started choking and gasping for air, but all he got was water. He soon took in too much water and died. That's the second time someone I loved died right in front of me. Ever since then, I've been afraid to go in the ocean. Now my only family is the wicked steps.
Right now time is ticking by and I've been stuck in the same routine ever since my dad died. I go to school, walk back home, do my homework, clean the house and obey the steps' every command. On weekends I do any
homework I have and then clean the entire house. Our house is really, really huge. Today is Sunday, so right now I'm scrubbing the floors. I think this is where simple chores ends and child abuse begins. All Kiowa ever wants me to do is work. She never makes Pama and Sutai work, just me.
"Kai, get me some water with lots of ice!" called Sutai.
"Get me some water too!" yelled Pama.
They were all the way on the second floor and were too lazy to get it themselves, or at least walk down the stairs a little and ask me. They were also very demanding and never even said "please" and "thank you". Where were their manors?
"Coming right up!" I yelled back cheerfully. If I sounded annoyed or didn't obey, I got Kiowa's evil eye, more work, and I got my ipod taken away, so I couldn't listen to music while I worked. I gave Pama the evil eye yesterday, so right now I have no music.
I got the waters and headed up the stairs to give them to Pama and Sutai. As I went into Pama's room, she was already in her pajamas: it was only seven o'clock. She took it from me and then put it on her nightstand.
"Get out of here! I won't be able to sleep with you standing around!" Pama yelled as she sat down on her bed. Not one thank you out of her. Maybe Sutai will thank me. She is sometimes nice to me at least. I walked
out of Pama's room and then straight into Sutai's room. She had covered her walls with pictures of people surfing. I saw at the corner of the room a lonely picture of my dad. I wonder where she got that. I handed her the water.
"Thank you Kai." she said then chugged down a bunch of water.
"Your welcome!" I responded.
I then unwillingly left. It's time to continue scrubbing the floor. After I finish I can go to bed. I've got school tomorrow so I need to finish my homework. It shouldn't take more than an hour, all I have is math. I should have started it on Saturday.
I finished both scrubbing and my homework at around ten o' clock. I had a nightmare. The ocean was black and the waves were huge. I was caught in the riptide and was being sucked under. When I was completely underwater, there was a manta ray and a shark. Just when they were about to attack I woke up. My whole body was sweating and my pajamas were soaked.
Pama came in and yelled in my ear, "Get me and Sutai some breakfast, now!"
Ouch! That was loud. She didn't have to scream in my ear.
"I'll get it soon, just stop yelling!" I complained.
"Fine!" she yelled sourly and stomped out of the room.
I took some clothes to the bathroom and put them by the sink. I then took a shower to get off all the stinky, salty sweat. It seemed to relax me a little. When I got out I dried off and put on my clothes. My dirty pajamas were already in the laundry hamper, so I went down the stairs to the kitchen. I decided to make scrambled eggs.
"I like my eggs fried only!" complained Pama as I gave her and Sutai some scrambled eggs. I then gave myself what was left which wasn't very much.
"Deal with it!" Sutai yelled at Pama.
Pama glared at her and then started eating. I ate my eggs too. They were still nice and hot because I didn't need to cook another breakfast for Pama. I always needed to cook her a second breakfast, because she always rejected the first.
When we finished eating we grabbed our backpacks and started to walk to school. The sun blinded me at first until my eyes adjusted. Since we lived near the beach, we could walk to Beachfront High School. A lot of our classes were outside. Sometimes they let us take a swim. I sat out since I was
now afraid of the ocean, afraid of getting mauled by a shark, and afraid of manta rays drowning me. Sometimes Sutai sat out with me.
When we arrived at the school, I saw a poster advertising a luau party on Friday. I knew that I would never be allowed to go. All I was allowed to do was housework and school. Of course Pama and Sutai would be able to go. She always lets them do whatever they want.
"Come on, I don't want to be late because you want to walk at your own leisurely pace." Pama yelled. We were in the same homeroom along with Sutai.
"Yeah, try to speed up a bit Kai." Sutai agreed.
"Sorry. I didn't realize how late we were." I apologized.
I didn't pay any attention in homeroom. Instead I was planning how I would convince Kiowa to let me go to the luau. I had thought of a few ways, but I highly doubted they would work. Maybe I should just happen to mention it and, if the answer was no, start begging. It probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a try.
It was break time. I normally sit down somewhere and do my homework, but today I was still hungry, so I went into the cafeteria. It must have been because of my little breakfast. When I finally got to order my bagel, the bell rang. I took a few large bites and then threw it into the trash.
I half ran to math and I fortunately got there just before the bell rang. I'm always late for all my classes. The teachers all hate me because of it. I also don't get the best grades; I'm lucky to get at least a D. I think I'm failing three of my classes right now. Summer school is definitely in my future.
"Today we will be dissecting a frog." Ms. Elsmere, our science teacher, announced.
During the entire dissection I was gagging. It was absolutely disgusting. Why do they make us murder an innocent frog anyway? The whole idea was sickening and cruel in my opinion.
When class was over it was time for math. It seemed to pass very quickly, most likely because I didn't want it to end. Now it was time to walk home and start begging. I really hadn't planned this out very well.
"Let's go already!" Sutai complained.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" I retorted.
"Which isn't very fast at all!" Pama teased.
When we got home I started my chores right away. I didn't have any homework and I wanted to get ahead of schedule so I would have time to go to the luau if I was allowed. It was on Friday after all.
"I see that you have started your chores right away. Don't you have any homework?" asked Kiowa.
"No, but I was wondering, could I go to the luau on Friday?" I asked."Maybe, but you don't have anything fitting to wear. You also haven't finished your weekly chores." Kiowa answered.
"But I never am allowed to go to anything." I whined.
"You may go if you finish your chores, find something suitable to wear, and do any other things your sisters and I ask." Kiowa replied.
"Thank you!" I shouted.
I did today's chores as quickly as I could and then started my weekly chores. I had four more days to do them. I normally finish them on the weekend, but I couldn't this week. If I did, I couldn't go to the luau. It would be lots of fun!
As soon as I fell asleep, I woke up. No scary nightmares tonight. I got dressed in a hurry and served Pama's favorite breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes. No complaining today. I left the house early so I would be the first one to arrive at school. I heard that they were selling tickets to the luau buffet today and they always sell out fast. If I got here early, I would have a better chance of getting the tickets. I needed to get two of them for Sutai and Pama. They told me to get them yesterday. I didn't want one. I was hoping
to have some fun for once in my life. This was one of the rare occasions where I finally can escape the steps.
School seemed to go by slowly until Friday. On Friday, school seemed to go at the speed of snail. When it was finally over, I sprinted to the beach shop that was near the school. I bought a gorgeous blue bikini that shimmered in the light. Next I bought flip-flops with little sea stars on the sides. It's a good thing I've been saving up my money.
When I got home I swiftly finished up all my chores and put on the bikini and flip-flops. I looked stunning. Maybe now I could finally get a date.
"I'm ready to go!" I called.
"What! Who said she could go!" grumbled Pama.
"Kiowa did!" I snapped back.
"I did, if you finished your chores that is." Kiowa replied.
"I finished them!" I happily responded. I had her and she knew it. There was nothing she could do to stop me from going.
"Fine! You may go." She agreed irritably "Just be home by midnight or else you will find out how mean I can truly be!"
As I triumphantly walked down the soft sand, I set the alarm so it would go off a little earlier than midnight. I thought of sitting on the sand and getting a tan, and wading in the water. Obviously I wouldn't actually
swim in it, just wade in the water to cool off a bit. It was really hot out. I couldn't wait to get in the nice cold water.
First off, I walked until I found the area with the huge feasting table and the crowd. Then I went over to a good sunning spot and laid down the towel I brought to claim the spot. The beach was crammed with many colorful beach towels. I was lucky to get the spot I did.
Next, I went over to the water to wade in it for awhile. The water felt cool against my hot skin. I wanted to go in deeper, but I was too scared. I didn't want to die from some sea creature, especially this early in life.
"What's up?! I don't think I've ever seen you around before." I heard a voice call from behind me. As I turned around to look back though, I tripped and fell into his arms.
His hair was a shining brown color and went down to his shoulders. Right now it was blowing in the wind. His eyes were like emeralds as they stared into my eyes. I felt a rush of emotion come over me, but I couldn't even try to explain it. It was love at first sight and that I was positive about.
I got up and looked back in his eyes. They were beyond any gem I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of gems since I live with a bunch of rich snobs. I couldn't look away.
"My name's Toki. Want to go for a swim?" he asked. I couldn't tell him my name, I was still in shock. I hope he wouldn't take it as an insult. I really like him.
"No. I haven't gone swimming since… a really long time." I answered.
"So you're too chicken to go in water past your knees?" Toki teased.
"No." I snapped.
"So then, just go in." he replied.
He started slowly shoving me in. Gradually, I went in deeper and deeper without fear. I eventually got to the point where I was swimming.
"See? You could do it all along." Toki said with a grin.
"Thank you." I said with appreciation.
We began swimming and talking. We weren't talking about anything specific, just talking. I completely lost track of the time, because the next thing I heard was a quiet beeping coming from my watch.
"I've got to go!" I yelled as I swam with speed out of the water. When I came to the shore, I snatched my towel and put on my flip-flops and ran to my house. I made it just in time. That was close. Sadly, I would probably never see Toki again. As I sighed and looked down at my feet and realized I was missing a flip-flop. Can this day get any worse?
I ran up to my room and cried. I thought my life would never change and I would be doomed to be a slave for the evil step the rest of my life. That night I even cried myself to sleep. This was my one chance and I blew it. When I woke up I knew that it was the weekend. I had already finished my chores so I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't because of constant yelling from downstairs. Pama was especially loud.
"It fits! Don't argue with me, I'm always right!" I heard Pama yell.
"No it doesn't, your heel is hanging over the end of the flip-flop." said a voice that I would never forget. It was Toki.
"Well mine wasn't that far off the end. How do you know it wasn't me?!" I heard Sutai cry out.
"It has to fit perfectly." Toki confirmed.
"No it doesn't." murmured Pama.
"I don't get it, in the book my mom read to me as a kid this worked for the prince." Toki complained.
I ran down the steps, taking two at a time. I couldn't wait to see him again. In my rush, I accidentally bumped into him and knocked him down. I fell right on top of him.
"Oops." I said quietly. His eyes brightened.
"Try on the flip-flop!" Toki exclaimed excitedly.
I did as I was told and it was, naturally, a perfect fit. As soon as Toki saw that he ran up to me and hugged me. I thought that my life was perfect, but I was wrong. The best was still to come.
Since I was not allowed to leave, Toki came over to my house day after day and helped me with my chores. That's how my life was until I graduated high school.
Toki and I were still together when graduation day came around. We had gotten to the point where we were not just hugging, but kissing too. I also had to privilege to go over to his house once in a while.
After the graduation ceremony was over and we were at Toki's house, he proposed to me. I said yes and soon we were married. It was like I was living in a dream, but for real. We got our own house and lived happily ever after.