I reached home and began to work once again, pushing all thoughts of Anthony and his stalking tendencies to the back of my mind. Luckily, all the work I had left was an easy way to distract myself from my rather creepy afternoon and my psychotic friend.

I eventually finished everything before dinner. This hardly ever happened. I wanted to celebrate, but if my stepmother came in and saw me dancing, she would give me more work and tell me to stop wasting my time. I stirred the soup I was making and mentally did a small dance. Now I'd be able to visit the lake once everyone was asleep. I carefully put all the food onto three plates and this time, I carried the first two to the dining room and went back for the third.

I held back my sigh of relief when I put the third plate down. I would be able to eat dinner today too. Aside from the work and the invasion of privacy, today had been good. My stepmother hadn't even gotten mad at me yet. However, I wouldn't be fully in the clear until my stepmother and stepsisters were finally asleep.

I exited the dinning room and held the door open as my stepfamily entered into it. They didn't say anything as they passed by me. I watched as they settled down and started to eat. I finally closed the door and ran back to the kitchen.

I had already scarfed down my food and now I had nothing to do. Even though I wanted to make a cake, I wasn't allowed to cook or bake unless my stepmother ordered me to.

Due to that, I sat and waited for them to finish eating, so that I could clear their plates. Without the work that my stepmother always gave me I had nothing to do. I knew that not everyone worked all the time, but what they did in their free time was a mystery to me. My stepsisters and stepmother never worked, but I was always too busy to see how they spent their time.

I once sang whenever I could. One day I asked my stepmother 'May I sing for you?' She laughed and replied 'Let me hear this so called angelic voice of yours'. I started to sing and her laughter immediately stopped. She then banned me from singing forever. I obeyed and now I can barely remember the lyrics I used to have running through my head.

I used to dance. My stepmother saw me dancing one day with a smile on my face. Her own daughters had been stumbling and tripling over themselves. I had been gliding over the flood as if it were made of glass. I no longer danced.

I used to ride horses. I would always ride fast and I never cared for riding cautiously. I didn't care if the wind messed up my hair or if my clothes got dirty. My stepmother sold my horse.

I used to make cakes and food to give to the beggars in the town. My stepmother saw me once. I was then banned from baking or cooking unless I was ordered to do so.

I used to read in my spare time. One day, I corrected my stepmother having read about what she spoke of in a book. She thought I was too smart for my own good. My books got taken away from me.

I once took care of a stray cat. My stepmother found out about it. I never found out if she let the cat live or if she simply threw it out onto the streets. I stopped taking in stray animals.

I once had friends. We would laugh and play together. They were always there for me. One day, my stepmother saw me having fun with my friends even after I had to work till I was exhausted. She pulled me away from my friends and I watched as they all went home. As they faded into the distance leaving me all alone to face my stepmother's anger. I was there when she used more then words to scold me. As I cried in pain and sadness. As she showed her twisted grin. I no longer have friends.

I no longer knew what to do in my spare time. I had nothing I could do and nothing I wanted to do. I glanced at the clock and realized that my stepfamily should have finished eating a long time ago. I stood up and begun to walk to the dining room.

When I reached the dining room, it was empty of people and full of plates. I grabbed the dishes and begun my trek back to the kitchen. I had to make a few trips before I finally had everything in the kitchen. I then started to wash the dishes and I soon finished.

I decided to check on my stepfamily and after carefully peeking into each of their rooms, I discovered they were all asleep. I glanced at a clock and saw it was almost midnight. I had sat there thinking for a long time. I finally started to head to the lake again.

I soon reached the lake right as the town's clock struck midnight. The sound was so loud that it could be heard even from my stepmother's house that sat on the outskirts of the town. I jumped when I heard rustling and realized a person was here. I approached them and soon saw that it was Anthony. He was asleep and must have almost woken up at the sound of the clock. I gently shook his shoulder and his eyes popped open.

"Hello" I said.

"Cinderella?" He asked blinking a few times. I let out a small laugh.

"Yes, it's me. Why are you here?" I asked him.

"I just found myself walking here for no reason" he admitted.

"Really?" I asked.

"No. I've been here since you left. I must have fallen asleep" he truthfully said.

"You should head back soon. It's midnight now" I said.

"It's been that long? Everyone at the castle must be going mad trying to find me" he said. I sat down and nodded in agreement.

"But I've wanted to see you since you left earlier" Anthony argued.

"How about this, everyday we can meet here at midnight. Does that sound good?" I asked.

"Tomorrow at midnight it is. Farewell until then" Anthony said standing up.

"Goodbye" I called and watched as he disappeared from my view heading back towards the castle. He was a very odd prince, but spending time with him almost always made me happy.

Hey everyone! I'm really tired right now, which is weird because it's not that late. I keep making typos and then I have to go back and fix them and everything. It's a lot of work. I even went to type the part title and wrote Tim instead of Time. Luckily I fixed it. Anyways, I'm too tired to be clever with this, so here goes. Blah, blah, blah, , Blah....blah bitty blah blah. Vote and comment. Blah butty blah blah blab....So tired...ummm, where was I?....Oh right....Vote and comment....wait....Oh great I already typed that....umm....Thanks for reading this author's note!

P.S. something about pandas