-Tristan-
"Ex-girlfriend alert, dead ahead," Clark warned me, barely above a whisper.
I nudged him in the side, making him hiss with pain. His words were only causing me more apprehension, so if he knew what was good for him, he'd stay as silent as possible.
I shot an alarmed look at the other guys, noticing their faces had gone slack, t heir mouths slightly open in shock. But their expressions were nothing compared to mine-I'd gone so frozen that I couldn't even tell if I was breathing or not.
Finally, I took a sharp intake of air and hissed to the guys, "Abort mission, no w!"
After a second, they nodded, and Grey was the first one to step forward. Waving his hands in the air, he yelled in a shaky voice, "Sorry for the inconvenience, folks, but there's been a little, uh, misunderstanding. So I guess we should jus t stop here..."
"...and forget about everything we just said," Justin finished for him. "Have a good lunch, and thank you!"
As luck would have it, everyone started to clear the way, returning to their sea ts without too much trouble. I noticed that shoulders were slumped and faces wer e frowning as complaints and murmurs floated all over the place, but I didn't ha ve time to address them further, much less apologize to them...
Especially when Fiona was charging towards me like a voracious leopard.
She had her hands on her hips, her russet eyes gleaming with anger. As my friend s began to back away step by step, all I did was stare at her, making my express ion much colder.
"Explain yourself, Tristan," Fiona demanded, managing to control her tone. "What 's this 'challenge' I'm hearing about?"
As I sucked my breath in, I tried to say, "It's nothi-"
"Don't you dare say it's nothing!" she shrieked, dropping all pretenses of sanit y in an instant. "I've heard this has something to do with-"
Her yelling was gaining much attention from the crowd, so I grabbed her arm befo re she could continue and dragged her out of the cafeteria.
"Tristan, let me go! Let me go!" she complained as she tried to break free, thou gh my grip on her arm was too firm. "Nobody does this kind of thing to me, not m y best friends, not my ex-boyfriends, and not even my parents, so if you-"
"You'd better stop whining this instant, Fiona," I demanded. We'd stopped in a c lear, noiseless hallway, and I'd turned to face her, allowing me to observe how agitated she really was.
"What the fu- fine! Okay! Whatever!" Fiona took a deep breath and began to rub h er temples. "Tristan, why don't we just get back to my question, 'cause seriousl y, this... this drama is giving me a huge headache already."
"Ah, so you hate the drama?" Laughing dully, I placed my hand on the wall and of fered her a half shrug. "Actually, Fiona, there wouldn't be any drama if you jus t quit starting it."
Fiona just crossed her arms. "Who's this 'girl' I heard you mention, like, ten m inutes ago?" she asked with gritted teeth, completely ignoring what I'd just sai d.
"What girl-"
"Don't even try to deny it. I heard you very clearly, T."
Crap, she'd actually heard the announcement. Her bionic hearing must have been r esponsible.
My jaw grew rigid. "So what about it?" I said. "Why would l you care if I'm sear ching for a girl? It's supposed to be none of your business."
"Because I'm your ex-girlfriend."
So dumb. She was really dumb. For real.
"Classic, Fiona, that's a classic. Where the hell did you get that kind of logic ?" I shook my head and continued: "Can't you understand anything, or are you jus t playing dumb? You're my former girlfriend, meaning you're my ex, and Fiona, ou r time has ex-pired. I no longer owe you any answer."
Vanity was radiating from her in waves, and with her head held high, she declare d, "Just because you broke up with me doesn't mean I broke up with you."
I practically slapped both of my hands to my face. Seriously, I didn't know what exactly she was trying to imply because, as a guy, I never knew what was going on in a female's mind. Whether Fiona was faking it or just being stupid, this si tuation was getting complicated.
"Oh, give me a fat break. The heck does that even mean?"
"Just sayin'. Duh."
I rolled my eyes. "Look, just face the fact that we're not getting back together ," I exclaimed, then sighed. She was just like the previous ones. "Move on, jeez ."
Holding up her hand, she offhandedly said, "Oh, you don't need to repeat that. I 've heard that line over and over again from you."
"Yes, because that's it! That's what I wanted you to do. Find another guy alread y since I'm done. I'm seriously done. You know what, sometimes I wish we were be tter strangers."
She tilted her head to the side. "Is that supposed to be a challenge for me, Tri stan?" She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. But remember; don't go running aft er me when this is over, T."
I snorted. "Yeah, whatever you say. I think I'll just do that when pigs fly. But remember this as well, Fiona, don't ever dare mess with my plans again just lik e what you did a while ago," I said gravely.
"Plans? Like having the entire school search for the 'Queen' of the ball just fo r you? Are you really that desperate?" Scornful laughter rang out from her lips, and she said, "Oh, poor you. Come to think of it, I can even help you with the search, because you're just that special."
My eyes widened in surprise, and I exclaimed, "Wait, you mean, you don't-" but t hen bit my tongue before continuing.
Fiona Ryder, one of the main sources of all campus gossip, didn't know who that girl was? That was impossible! What kind of magic was operating in this place?
"Speechless already? Oh, I must've surprised you. You're welcome, Tristan. It'll be my pleasure to help you, you know. Once I find her, however..." She paused, as a small, sly smile crept onto her face.
I swallowed and reined in most of my surprise. "What are you going to do to her? "
"Oh, why would you care to know? It's supposed to be none of your business," she mimicked me.
I opened my mouth to argue, but instead took a deep breath to put out the flames rising in my chest. Finally, I was calm enough to say, "Yeah, like you'll be th e first one of us to find her. Good luck with that."
"Trying to test me?" Fiona said with a smirk. "You have no idea what I can do, T ristan."
I put my hands in my pockets and shrugged. "Oh, well, that's cool. Don't worry, no one gives a shit about what you can do, anyway."
At that, Fiona took a step back, her mouth dropping. Her wide eyes were now glis tening, almost as if she were close to tears. Waving her hands in front of her, Fiona faltered, "Oh, my God. Take that back, Tristan."
"They said that words cannot be taken back once they're spoken."
"Gosh, you're despicable!"
I smiled cockily. "I'll take that as a compliment."
She balled up her fists and whined, stomping her heels away before finally disap pearing from the view. Alone at last, I pressed the bridge of my nose, feeling s omewhat light-headed. The plan that the team had formulated four hours ago would have been flowing smoothly if only Fiona hadn't shown up.
I honestly didn't know what I was supposed to do next. After listening to her th reatening words, I couldn't just continue with the plan, since having the entire student body search for the girl- Cinderella, as we six had decided to call her-would be an easy way for Fiona to scout her out.
Speaking of being a witch, Fiona certainly knew how to play the part. The longer she stayed a thorn in my side, the more difficulties she created for me, and my regret for having a past with her was growing every second.
She'd been gorgeous, confident, and witty, and that might have been the main rea son why I'd dated her. She'd been so great, but it had only been a matter of tim e until I discovered her real self.
After first realizing I hadn't liked her anymore, I'd dealt with her in a nice m anner, telling her I was no longer interested in the simplest ways I could think of. Now I was downright rude to her, but still she wouldn't bug off.
Damn, does this mean the search is over?
***
"So how was your talk with Fiona?" Grey asked.
We guys were hanging out in our usual hangout spot, which were at the front step s outside the school entrance. Thankfully, it was our vacant time for our teache r wasn't around, so it gave me more time to think.
A groan left my lips, and I said, "It didn't turn out right. It was tragic."
"Of course, she's Little Miss Drama Queen, like she has more issues than Times. What did she do, anyway?"
"Bitching around, of course. She'd probably inhaled like ten helium balloons or something that's why she was like that. She even threatened to do something to t he girl once she knew her name," I muttered, then raised my hands in surrender. "Guys, I think including everyone in the school in this game won't be such a bri lliant idea. You know Fiona. She has connections with everyone."
Clark faced me, his forehead creased. "Say what?"
"So does that mean the plan's over?" Justin asked me.
"Aw, that's too bad!" Ryo said as his face fell. "I was kinda excited for that, y'know."
"Over? C'mon, guys, we can't say it's over unless we quit," Grey said, resting h is elbow on the tiger statue, frequently referred to as "Tom," at the top of the newel post.
"Yeah! It's just like playing video games," Ryo chimed in, like the geek he alwa ys was. "If the first game plan isn't working, we'll just switch to another one. "
Will gave him a fist bump and said, "I was about to say 'burn', but you have a p oint there. Attaboy, Ryo, you're a genius!"
"I'm Asian," was the dude's response, and the rest of us rolled our eyes.
Then Grey directed his attention to me, saying, "Just stay cool, T. No need to b e stressed out by the Queen Bitch."
Clark nodded. "Yup, I've already got a secret weapon to get rid of her."
"Oh, my God, dude! Are you going to shoot her?" Ryo exclaimed.
"Relax, Ryo, quit spazzing. I just got something up my sleeve that'll surely wor k out." Clark rubbed his hands furtively, and when he noticed all of us were sta ring at him, he added, "Of course, I can't spill it to, guys."
Grey shrugged. "Okay, whatever that is. You'll surely have your girl before too long, Tristan." He patted the statue. "That's what Tom here says so."
My girl, huh...
A wide grin spread across my face, my eyes lighting up with confidence. These id iots might have seemed insane, but at least they were trying to help me.
Why did I sound like such a quitter? I was the unbeatable prince of this school! I lived by that title. I always had, and I always would.
Grey was right. I simply couldn't let myself be susceptible to Fiona's intimidat ion. She wouldn't be able to twirl me between her fingers, not like all the othe r guys she'd tangled with.
A girl from a distance caught my attention. She was passing across the entrance, struggling with books and papers in her hands. She was probably trying to take a last-minute review of her Calculus lessons.
When she caught me staring at her, she tripped over herself.
I cracked up. "Way to go, Kyles! Can you do that again?"
She stuck her tongue out and dashed away.
A smirk snuck on my lips, as my eyes followed her.
I was going to make sure no one blocked my way in the search for Cinderella. And once I thought about it, maybe this wasn't a 'game over' after all.
This was merely the start of the chase.