Chapter 6 Thinking about a new name.
Hi. Today is kinda rainy...
Anyways, so my name is Narrie..! But that's not what my middle school ID is going to say!
(Picture of Narrie's photo ID "Cinderella Cinderella Alexander Middlecreek")
Something that's really hard for me to think about is my middle name, it's Cinderella.
SIGH...
My birth-mom named me that. Mom tells me that she wanted me to have an awful stepmother, so she... Named me it twice to make it into a powerful spell...
I proved her wrong though! Because I got to pick my own stepmother!
So there!
Still... I kinda wonder if I'll get to marry a prince. (Ben, you are kinda like a prince right?) I mean, anyone who would marry me had better be able to turn on that charm! He can not just be hot and handsome and fit and able to pick me up and fight off any bullies that come after me or my friends, but he also has to be really nice and romantic and give me all those feelings that some adults try and warn me about.
Well... I...
I don't like to think of my name very much, but I do, I really like it, I mean, I like Cinderella, I like the little mice and the magical slippers and I really like pretty dresses and Mom thinks that I should change my middle name sometime and I think that she might be right...
(Picture of Narrie and Lauri sitting at the living room. Comic balloon: "How about...")
"How about..." My absolutely not wicked stepmother is about to suggest a middle name for me..! "Trish."
Well...
Honestly, I don't "hate" it. But I don't know if it really fits, ya know? I'm a cute girly girl, and Trish sounds... Sassy and kinda tomboyish. So I was such a brat and asked her, "Why? Was the grammy that I'll meet in heaven named, "Trish"?"
"Honey..." Mom says that when I'm being a pain. Basically we worked out this system. You know that contract I talked about?
One of the clauses is, "Don't be a pain, and when I am, I get a court hearing." Or whatever you call a once a week "talk", or, "meeting"...
"Mom's name was Trisha." Lauri showed me a photograph of her family on her phone, "Always thought that if I got a kid I'd name them Trish, it's really stupid. And I don't mean to push it onto you. Sorry I mentioned it..."
(Picture of Lauri held out her phone to show Narrie a childhood family portrait.)
"Mom!" I shouted to Momma Kate, "Do that really annoying thing where you say my whole name except if my middle name was "Trish"!"
"Okay... Honey..." Mom started making her voice husky and trying to work herself into that really cool mood that I'm not supposed to like but... I really like hearing it!
"You have, gotta... Narrie..." She paused and breathed deeply and then blew out this HUSH that's actually super loud, "NERELLA TRISHA MIDDLECREEK..."
Well...
I guess it's not actually, THAT, loud, but when your mom drags you by the ear with her invisible hands... I learned to, NEVER, LET HER GET THAT FAR!!!
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I do though, OF COURSE I do, I'm still a kid, but I haven't for awhile... Really, been super good since she tacked on that, "Don't be a pain" clause onto my new phone contract.
"Ahh... What was my old name?" I asked Mom and... You know? The one I kinda really never want to remember why it bothers me so much...
"Narella Cinderella Middlecreek."
I... Started pouting and well... It just should not bother me as much as it does...
"Honey, there's some things you ought to know! A name change can help you get rid of these sad feelings, and if you ever want to keep the novelty of your old middle name, you can always tell people that, and if you want to, we can just add on another name. Yeah Honey, we can do that too."
"That one..." I... Need to hear it again... "With my old and new name."
"Narella, Cinderella, Trisha, Middlecreek."
... SIGH...
"Still have no clue." I felt like snapping. Like, why do we have to do this, like ever? Why can't I just pretend that the C on my library card means...
No, I don't want it to mean anything!!!
Chapter 6.5 I want to be mature.
(Picture of "PAUSED" on the tv set.)
Well, Narrie here and... I am still kinda looking upset, but... My own personal step mother made me feel a whole lot better!
"Hey, Trish Honey, you up for a game of pinball adventure?" That was Momma Lauri. Here's another thing about going to middle school... (And why we have to get these things settled this summer!) I have gotta find a better name for her and be mature because "Momma", sounds, so... Childish!
"Yeah..." I answered and I'm kinda really hoping that this new one (name) that I'm getting really will replace my old one soon because the person who gave me it is the person who proved that professy (misspelling of prophesy) wrong.
I looked directly into Momma Laurie's eyes and said, "I only want, YOU, to call me Trish though, I mean, Mom can do that "Narella Trisha" thing, but never Trish, no A'a, okay."
Lauri smiled.
"It's just that..." I wanted to tell her, I mean, I even hushingly shouted so that Mom could hear! "I never want to even remember what my old name was..."
"I love you Sweetheart." Mom just passed through and gave me a hug and, now Lauri is giving me a hug, and they both LOVE me, and everything is absolutely perfect from now on until...
I just remembered!!! "I have to tell BEN!"
"Why Hon?"
"Because... I told him my old name, and..."
I could see it just now, he will remember my old name for-EVER!
And when I tell people that, "I changed my middle name as a kid," and then when I try and get them to guess what it was, they will always guess correctly and it's all because BEN HAS NO FILTER!!! (That means he's going to whistle, "Once upon a dream...")
"So that's why I need to tell him my new middle name is TRISH!"
"Yeah..." Momma Lauri said, she does this thing that I think has to do with confidence, I don't know, a lot of step parents probably have that. "But what if you find out you don't like the name?"
I... Looked at the person who likes puppy's and who I am going to give her my puppy dog eyes to until she tells me not to and I... She's the only one I ever want to call me...
(Picture of puppydog eyes.)
"Trish, are you alright?"
Momma did! See, this is why I love Momma Lauri, I didn't just win, I won, BIG!
So I ran up to her and realized that's stupid! I mean... I'm practically a teenager! So basically, I shrugged my shoulders and muttered, "Yeah, just wanted to test you."
"Trisha," Momma Lauri snarled, "I do not like you testing me like that."
And then Mom walked back to join us and asked, "Who's Trisha?"
Like... WHAT??? We like literally talked about this 5 minutes ago!
Sometimes her memory scares me, I mean I hear all these kids saying their grand parents are getting dementia and I know Mom's old (Like over 40!) and Auntie Skyler told me she had a really bad concussion a long time ago and... "MOM! Are you playing or tired or..."
"Playing, I understand Hon, I just am kinda tired, but if you tell Ben, please only say that you're thinking of it? Let him know that it's just a maybe for now because... Well... There has gotta be some downside to calling you Trish right?"
"Yeah." Momma Lauri is... ON HER SIDE! Yeah, I totally tried to ignore what she said BEFORE Mom came back but, "It might not fit you."
But that is NOT all of this story, no!
Because when she picked up her game controller and threatened to push the UNPAUSE button, she asked, "What do you wanna be called anyways? We can change your first name at the same time Hon."
What? Yes... That's what I was thinking about while my character was waiting to spawn... Don't I like Cinderella (Narrie)? Or would I rather just officially write Narrie? Because... In middle school you got to start writing your official name and carry a student ID and, and...
Something that Lauri didn't give me but we share is that that flight/freeze/fight thing, I freeze, Mom becomes a quiet person who will take my hand and lead me to the exit, but Momma Laurie freezes. And so I think it's really cool that I freeze too!
So I looked around and smiled, licked my lips and shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know yet."