My Telenovela Summer

I didn’t realize my summer was so similar to the classic Cinderella story seen in telenovelas until I began this class. Even though I would not describe myself as the purest and goodest heroine, I will have to classify myself as such to be the Cinderella of the story. Classically, the heroine comes from the countryside, exactly where I am from. It is a small town full of chicken farms and rednecks. It’s not the most ideal of places, and certainly not the most financially wealthy. This is where the story begins. Where I come from, competitive sports are not available to the masses, and the few who can drive to the city in order to play. This past year I was finally able to play on a travel team so I would have to drive to the city multiple times a week to practice. Here I met friends who lived a very different life from me. It was different from anything I had ever experienced in my small town. Parties, clubs, bars- this was everything I was against growing up that my big city friends were participating in every weekend. I finally caved and went out to one of these parties. I was extremely out of my comfort zone and I hated it. Each weekend I would travel to the city to be with these friends and each weekend I would go out to party. One weekend at one of these get-togethers I met a boy. The classic city boy from the telenovela Cinderella story. He was raised in a very wealthy neighborhood of the city and went to the nicest private school. We were truly opposites, just like the archetype. Every day for the months to come I talked to this boy on the phone every night. We talked about our dreams and aspirations and how we wanted to be with each other. The distance was difficult though. I had to work every day and never had the time or money to drive to the city to see him. He didn’t understand the need to work, he never had to. We came from two different worlds but we continued to talk on the phone every night. Eventually, we were able to see each other in person at his prom! That day I got to meet his mother. She seemed nice at first, but ended up being very conniving and controlling of her only child. This woman was the evil mother in law! It sounds dramatic to say this, but she would not let her son ever come to the countryside where I lived. She saw me as a low life and inferior to her perfect son. I tried everything I could to win her approval but I failed miserably every time. The idea of her son having another girl in his life taking the attention away from her drove her mad. The times we would sneak away to see each other were always absolutely magical. From laying out, watching the stars and a shooting star went by to sharing our first kiss in the ocean. All was ideal, but it was shamed upon by his mother. This continued for our whole summer until he rebelled against his mother and told her that nothing she could say or do would keep him away from me. The happily ever after came. I do not like corny talk but this truly was straight from a book, or even better, a telenovela.