Chapter 1

It was just a typical day in the life of a rich debutante heiress’ life�"getting ready for the upcoming debutante ball.  Matilda, or Mattie, as she preferred, but her parents demanded she call herself Matilda. 

Mattie’s mother knocked on her daughter’s bedroom door to wake her for a busy day ball gown shopping.  Mrs. Vandergon was meticulous and her daughter just had to have the right gown for the ball.  Matilda had to impress the right gentlemen so she could get married to the proper gentleman.

But Mattie had other plans for her life, and marriage wasn’t one of them�"a constant battle between Mattie and her mother since Mattie was 2-years-old, or at least, it seemed like it.

“I’m awake.” Mattie hollered through the door to let her mother know she was getting up.  But instead, Mattie threw back the blankets and snoozed for 5 more minutes.

But 5 minutes turned to an hour and Mattie’s mother knocked once more, “Matilda, what are you doing?!”

Mattie woke to the sound of her mother’s voice and realized she’d snoozed longer than 5 minutes.  Rushing to get dressed in the proper blue skirt, beige blouse and blue jacket that was picked out by her mother the night before, Mattie rushed down to join her father, mother and younger sister, Hannah, for breakfast.

As Mattie sat down to eat, Mattie could see the scowl on her mother’s face, “Sorry, mother.”

“I called you an hour ago and you said you were awake?” Mrs. Vandergon said, irritated with Mattie.  “We have a busy day!”

“I know.” Mattie said, not looking forward to shopping for gowns.

As Mattie’s father finished his breakfast and kissed his wife and two daughters as well wished them a good day, he rushed off to work as Hannah grabbed her books and joined her father, who was driving her to school.

“Chop, chop, Matilda.” Mrs. Vandergon told her daughter.  “We need to get going!”

Mattie finished her last bite of omelet and gulped down her milk and joined her mother in the car to head out shopping.  Mattie couldn’t go to school today with the shopping she and her mother had to do.

Mattie couldn’t wait to join her friends at school the next day.

Meanwhile, in the ghetto side of town, Bret Mason was being initiated into his neighborhood gang, The Cripplers, because they were notorious for crippling those who messed with them.  Bret didn’t want to join, but his older brother, Jimmy, had pushed him into it.