Not Another Cinderella Story

Chapter 3 - Making our own choices

~ All the beautiful young girls in the land were invited, so that his son could select a bride for himself. ~

Peyton sighed as he sat at the head of the table. His advisors were rambling nonstop. Most were appointed by his father, which meant that they were mindless fifty year olds who knew nothing of how it felt to be young.

Having a group of advisors that don't really understand how the entertainment system works comes into conflict much more often than you'd think.

Being an international pop star also came into conflict with his schooling. Peyton had to beg his father for the chance of going to school the last half of senior year. Peyton's father thought that he didn't need a full high school education if he wanted to make it big. What his father chose to ignore was that he was already big. He'd been on two world tours and released two platinum albums since the night he became a breakout star almost three years ago.

Peyton thought that he should at least have the high school experience. He didn't want to end up as one of those washed out stars in their fifties who still attempt to make music because they have nothing else going for them.

Peyton never wanted to be famous, but with a good voice, good looks, and music producers as parents, he was bound to become something someday.

It was also the afternoon of his second to last day of his first week of high school. And, if he did say so himself, it went pretty smoothly.

Peyton never had the problem of becoming popular when he first went to the high school and he didn't have a problem with it now. He found that now that he was a famous pop star, people crowded him even more.

Peyton was sure that being in a class with a pop star wouldn't affect the student body for much longer. They'd eventually get used to it and he'd just be another student, right?

But Peyton did realize something since he's come back to school. His friends that he used to have are fake. They crowd around him at every possible moment, hoping that his being a celebrity will rub off on them.

He'd been invited to multitudes of parties since he's been here, but he's declined all the invitations. The last thing he needed was an underage drinking scandal.

Even his own party planned for Saturday was starting to feel forced. It was his father's idea to have the competition. The last thing that Peyton actually wanted was to have a 'win a date with Peyton Charming' competition, but his father insisted that it was a necessity. The more publicity he got while off tour and in between albums, the better.

The only problem with that philosophy was that Peyton Charming didn't care whether he was a rock star or not. He just wanted to have a normal life for once.

Peyton liked that at least he'd get to pick out the girl from the party himself. It would be a freedom that he never normally got.

(He bet that he could count the number of decisions his father let him make himself on one hand.)

"Peyton!" Andrew Charming, his father, snapped at him. "Pay attention to your advisors."

He mumbled an unapologetic apology and tried to actually listen to the fools.

"So," started a particularly older one in the corner, "as I was saying before, I feel like the girl he chooses at his party thing on Saturday should be-"

"Wait," Peyton interrupted, "I thought that I was picking out the girl myself."

The advisors looked a little choosy, "In theory, yes, but we feel that it would be better for us to choose the girl ahead of time. And since it's a masquerade dance, you wouldn't be able to see any faces to start off with."