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ღ Finding Cinderella- 39 ღ

-Kylie-

It only started on his confession that night that I came to get excited about wa king up early each day.

As I saw Lacey walked past my bedroom door from the bathroom, I pulled her in an d asked for her help in choosing my shirt.

"Lace, what do you think? The blue or the black one?" I held up two different sh irts for her to see.

"Wow, it's a miracle you've woke up early."

"Whatever. Just help me pick one of these two."

"Don't you have other options other than those? Some... better ones?"

I dropped my shoulders in dismay. The last time I had my new clothes was two mon ths ago, and they weren't even the chic type or anything. They were more like wh at a mobster would wear. I had picked them myself and now I admit I regretted it .

Lacey curled her lips as she eyed the clothes and added, "No offense, dear sis, but you really need to learn the art of shopping someday."

I sighed. "I know I suck, but you don't have to rub it in Lacey. Now come on, wh ich of these? Time's running out."

She tilted her head. "Hmm, the blue one?" I tossed the other away and was just a bout to take my bathrobe off before she said, "Actually no, go with the black in stead."

I frowned. "What really?"

"I guess the black one fits you better. I am being serious."

I grabbed the shirt from the bed and threw away the other. As I was getting dres sed, I noticed that her eyes were squinting as if she was studying me. Hunting f or the comb in my drawer and stepping in front of the mirror to brush my hair ca refully when she went, "Just one question, Kylie."

"Yeah?"

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" I kept on brushing my hair, hoping the wind outside wouldn't mess it up and make me look like Chewbacca.

"I mean, this whole shirt crisis, the panic state. Not to mention revamping your self for the first time ever. You're wearing skinny jeans and flats instead of y our usual ragged ones. It's like you've just raided Hayley Williams' closet! Has the world turned upside down or something?"

"Jeez, relax. Don't freak out," I said, grabbing some of my ancient bobby pins f rom the deepest of my drawer and inexpertly pushed them on the sides of my head in place.

"I'm not freaking out. I'm just-shocked, that's all. Just look what you're doing now." She leaned on the doorframe. Through the reflection on the mirror, I saw her smiled. "What's with you today, huh?"

"Nothing. Everything's fine, normal - just like always," I said with a snort and continued to check myself in the mirror.

"Yeah, right. Like you waking up early and debating about clothes is 'normal'," she said, drawing air quotes. "I can read your actions so I know something's up . You can't stop me from guessing."

Rolling my eyes, I turned to her with a smirk. "Save your little speeches for Un ion address. School is going to start within twenty minutes so get ready. Scoot now, chick!" I walked towards her and pushed her out of the door. "Thanks for th e help, by the way."

"Don't mention it. It's pretty cool to see the tables have turned now. That only means one thing."

"Oh yeah? What?"

She cackled as she hopped downstairs. "Oh, someone's in looove!" she sang.

"Oh shut up!" I shouted, completely embarrassed. But then it sent me butterflies and laughter bubbles up in my throat just at the thought of it.

***

I hummed happily, as I thought back over the days that had passed. It had been a great week so far. Not counting those instances where Ronnie would glare at me like some sort of assassin however.

Much to my surprise, Tristan was starting to do things I'd never thought he'd do . It marveled me several times a day when I saw him standing outside the room, w aiting for my class to be over so we could go home together. Memories floated th rough my mind. His grayish eyes beaming down at me as he inclined against my loc ker, or sat beside me on the front steps of the school and the brush of his hand against mine in the packed hallway.

Yup, it had been a great week.

Everything had come out unexpectedly, but I thought this was how it was supposed to be. It was so crazy. It was funny to think that he would be the one to give a silly smile on my face that would last all day.

He was like a dream- and a nightmare coming true.

It was already the end of the month, and every bulletin board in school must be updated for the upcoming activities of the next month. Out of all the people aro und here, Julianne was apparently the only one who was eager to do the job, and since it was our free time, I'd decided to help her. She had given me the weird look as we worked on the posters, but hadn't spoken a word. I knew that she alre ady knew why, so she stayed quiet, apparently amused because of the smile showin g on her face.

My eyes fell on a poster, which had glided out from the rest when I fumbled them . I kneeled down to pick it up. It was about the prom to be held in an exclusive hotel in the city on Friday night, just two weeks away. The words Once Upon A T ime were adorned with some cool blue and white design.

"A fairy tale-themed prom?" I snorted as I showed the poster to Julianne. "This is so overdone."

 

She shrugged and tucked pin on the board. "I think it really fits for spring and is way better than the other ideas that were suggested to the student council."

"What ideas?"

"Crap-tastic ones. Children's party theme, a zombie apocalypse, or even a chemic al warfare, like gas masks and radiation suits are the best accessories. Who on earth came up with those?"

"Hoo boy. I wish they had thought of something creative. Something like this sch ool hasn't done before. Say, Alice in Wonderland theme?" I paused. "Or it'd be c ooler if it is a Great Gatsby type. Lots of white tables, flashy clothes, stylis h decor. Classy but not too tacky..."

"Ooh, how about an I-Prom? And we could dress up an Apple costume or some awesom e gadgets made from cardboard boxes," she teased, laughing. "That's unique, okay ?"

I laughed as well. "Right. Like we haven't had enough I-Things already."

"Anyhow, why do you seem so interested about the prom? Been thinking about wheth er to go or not?" She picked another poster from the box. "You look definitely r eflective these days."

"Huh, must be the result of global warming," I said sheepishly. Things that happ ened recently were taking me over, and I didn't know they would have this kind o f effect on me.

"Oh, please."

"Okay, well, I actually am being kind of bipolar in that question." I groaned. " But I'm more on the no side. I'm too lazy about the effort I'll have to put into getting ready, you know."

"Of course, your famous inspirational words." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Wha t if someone ask you out? Will you go?"

At the second she said that, an image of Tristan flashed before me and my perspe ctive shifted. When a boy sees a girl every day, hangs out often with her, and t reats her extra nicely than before, was there a greater chance that he would ask her to go to the prom? Darn. I wasn't so good when it came to this. Tristan and I weren't like together-together or anything, considering that I couldn't make up my mind for the realization was still ironically incomprehensible, plus I nee ded to settle something to this one other guy, so...

I opened my mouth to say, but was abruptly stopped by someone saying, "You girls must have put a lot of effort to get all these posters up, yeah?"

I spun around and almost tripped myself.

Ack-it's him! Right on cue!

"Um, yeah, but we're not the only ones doing the job," I said, trying to act cas ual. "There are lots of people helping for this thing up, since there are only t wo weeks left for, you know..." I shrugged. "The big night and all."

Tristan scoffed, still eyeing the poster. "Yeah, it is where the food tastes lik e crap, girls will go crying in the bathroom, and the DJ plays the Hokey Pokey s ong. Cool."

"Nice description you have made there, Hartford," Julianne said sarcastically as she put a hand on her hip.

He shrugged. "They said last year's prom sucked, which apparently made sense bec ause it's prom. And prom really sucks. I bet the game night would kick ass bette r than that."

Boys...

"Hey, how can you say that? Just because it sucked last year doesn't mean it'll still be the same for this year. I think the current committee is much better th an the last one. Remember the Valentine ball? It was a blast!"

"It sure was." Tristan grinned at me-so teasingly attractive that made my inside s did somersaults. "Anyway, I have to go and pick up a reserved book in the libr ary before my next class starts. Later, Ky!" He brushed my hair playfully before made his way through the crowd, seemingly in a rush.

 

Julianne put a hand on her lips and crooned, "My, oh my."

"What?"

"I can sense a huge development here," Julianne said as she turned to the board. "And I was like two seconds away from incinerating you because you were frozen up so bad."

How could I not? I had been hanging on every word he had said, waiting for him t o ask something-anything-to me about the dance. But it turned out completely dis appointing. Had he been even thinking of what he had said earlier?

Okay, so maybe I was being bipolar to this issue once again-I didn't want to go, but I honestly wanted to. Still...

That afternoon on the way home from Crest, I waited for Tristan to mention the p rom. He was strangely talkative and told me mostly about school and some other s tuff.

"Wanna hear a story, Kyles?" he said after a minute of silence.

"Yeah, sure. As long as it won't disturb the crap out of me," I said sarcastical ly.

"This is not a creepy campfire tale, Kylie. You really are watching way too much late-night horror shows." He laughed. "I think you'll find this cute. So anyway , there was this fourth-grader in the library," he began. "While she was drawing stuff on her paper, a boy came to her and asked if he could borrow a pencil. Th ey became best friends because of that, but then the boy moved away when they en tered the seventh grade."

"The end," I filled in and laughed.

"Nope. This is where the story gets interesting." He cleared his throat and cont inued, "Fast forward, a couple of years later. The girl was finally in college. While she was studying in the library, a guy came to her and said, 'Hey, can I b orrow a pencil?'"

"Then the girl looked up and saw the boy in her childhood, and they'd been datin g ever since," I continued and smiled at him. "I knew from the start they're gon na end up together."

"Well, the story doesn't end there," he said, swiveling the wheel. "Scratch the dating part because it never happened. They remained friends, actually. The girl didn't admit that she loved the boy because of the fear of ruining their friend ship."

I kept quiet.

"Years later, while the guy was on his way to deliver a soup and medicine for th e girl's cold, he unfortunately met a car accident and died," he carried on; his voice was beginning to lower down and it slowly made my heart sink. "Found in h is car was also a bouquet of roses and a card that read: you're my best friend f or the last seven years. Now, I want to make you as my wife for the next fifty."

I waited for him to add something, but when he didn't, I mumbled, "Th-that's... it?"

"Yeah. The end." He shrugged as if he wasn't moved by that.

"What! Come on! That's-that was disheartening to hear!" I cried. "Change the end ing, T."

"I didn't know you can be a sucker for happy endings," he said amusedly.

"But that's just... ugh." I sighed. "I just can't accept it. I've watched Titani c and The Notebook, but that one was really tragic. Wait... was that a real-life story?"

"I was just writing fiction with my mouth, Kyles." He smirked. "But hey, it's cl ose to reality. It can happen in real life. It even might have happened in some part of the world."

"Aw..."

"If I would change its ending, the moral lesson of the story would lose its mean ing."

"What moral lesson?"

"When you love a person, don't be hesitant to tell and show your true feelings," he said. "Because no one knows what will happen next."

I snapped my mouth shut as his words knocked my chest.

A few minutes later in deafening silence, he parked his car in front of the hous e and turned to me, arm resting on the steering wheel. "Hey, can I ask you somet hing?" he said.

Oh, my goat. Maybe he was going to say it. The heaviness in his gaze and the set of his jaw sent me into seizures.

I gulped. "Sure. Ask away!"

"I've been meaning to tell you this earlier, but I seem to forget..."

"It's okay."

"So anyway, would you-"

I mentally danced on the spot. Don't look too eager, I told myself. Don't get ex cited. Don't accept it right away. Don't-

"Really? Yes! Oh, yes! You bet!" I cried.

He looked puzzled. "Uh, about what?"

I stopped and blinked several times. "Eh...? I-I thought... What were you going to ask?"

"Well, would you mind if I couldn't pick you up tomorrow after school? See, we'v e got something important to do after class and must wrap everything up before d eadline."

My smile froze open. He must have many things to do right now, seeing that he se emed to be occupied with something these days; so, of course, he wasn't thinking about the prom. And I couldn't press that to him either.

Yay, Kylie, way to look like an idiot.

"Oh?" I tried to hide the disappointed tone. "Yeah. It's fine. I know you couldn 't get away from it so I really don't mind." Then I forced a laugh, sounding lik e a retarded donkey.

Relief crossed his face and the smile returned. "Thanks. I thought you would. An yway, what were you getting so excited about? Wait... Are you up to something?"

Crap. I couldn't just tell him because that would be embarrassing.

"Uh-it's nothing! Nothing. Just forget it," I quickly said and unbuckled the sea tbelt.

Before I could get out, he took my hand and I shivered. He hastily pulled me wit hout notice and leaned closer at the second I turned to him. His lips crashed at the corner my lips, and my heartbeat stopped. I quickly pulled away, hands flyi ng on my mouth, eyes widening in surprise.

"I love you, Kylie."

His wicked grin made my blush darken. I suddenly felt light-headed.

"I-Idiot!" I blurted out and stumbled my all way out of the car until I reached my bedroom.

I should be mad at him for stealing a kiss-the second freaking kiss-from me, but in the end, I couldn't do anything but bounced on my bed and squealed on my pil lows. My heart was beating abnormally once again.

He got me right there!

I'd never been so happy to see him every single day. We were having a great time with each other, and each time, I felt another piece of me falling for him. Hel l, I was completely unaware that those crazy pranks we'd done would turn out lik e this! And it's like I was falling... I was falling in love...

But I was not.

Well, not entirely.

My emotions were volatile and indecisive. I was still trying to know myself firs t. I was worried that something inside me wasn't good enough-that something at t he core of me was inflexibly... bad. Moreover, there were still issues to settle and subjects to discuss while I was trying to make sense of whatever the heck w as going on between us.

I wondered what Tristan was thinking by now. Probably he was stressing out but t rying to hide it in any possible way and pulling up an optimistic smile instead.

The only thing that was keeping me away from any deeper affection was doubt. I w as falling with the way he made me feel and his personality, but I wasn't fallin g entirely. I could see all those things being a possibility. Just not yet.

Moments later, I was (surprisingly) cramming with my notes on the study table wh en my phone buzzed. I was kind of hoping it would be him, but when I lifted it u p, it wasn't.

"Kylie, guess what happened back at school," Julianne said after I answered. "Gr ey asked me out to the prom."

"Really? Wow, that's great, Jules!" I was genuinely happy for her. Imagine after numerous dances and parties that had past these years, a guy finally had the sp irit to ask her out!

She breathed. "Huh, right."

"You don't sound as eager as I thought."

"Hello, it's Grey Walter, the moronic meat head!" She was in an obvious state of disinterest. I couldn't help to laugh at her choice of words. "He was like, 'He y, Julie, how would you like to be with the starting quarterback?' and he sounde d like a drunk person like he always is."

"That proves that the charm of your new hairstyle is working," I kidded. "Just l ike in commercials."

"God if it keeps up, I'm going to shave my head and be like Lord Voldemort but w ith a nose."

"Harsh. So what'd you say to him? Wait, I guess you gave him a no."

"You can say that again."

"Really, you've already been stressing out about your prom date even before scho ol started and now you just turned down a guy who asked you out for the first ti me? I mean, are you okay?"

"I just don't want to go with him, jeez. Besides, I'm waiting for this certain s omeone to ask me out, that's why," she answered.

"Oh, okay. Him. The carrot-top guy." I paused, thinking about it. "Probably Pete hasn't gotten around it yet. I mean, maybe he's taking it for granted or someth ing."

"Maybe. That's how guys are, right?"

"Ah! And maybe he's currently busy saving New York City from Doctor Octopus. Bec ause, you know, he's Peter Parker. The Amazing Spider-Man."

"Kylie!" she shrieked. "I told you not to make fun of his name!"

"I just can't help it!" I cracked up. "Okay, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Ugh. Like hell it won't. So by the way, have you made up your mind about the pr om?"

"Well... I'm not sure," I said reluctantly.

"You are going. Right? Right?"

"Darn it, fine."

"Sweet. So I suppose you're going out with T. Has he already asked you?"

"Uh, no."

"Oh, same status as well, huh? He'll surely get to it soon. You have been seeing him frequently."

"Well..." Gladly we were talking through the phone, or she would have seen the b lush rising up on my cheeks.

"It's not like I was surprised. And of course, when I say 'seeing', it doesn't m ean the usual friendship type but, you know, like, seeing in a special kind of w ay," she prattled rapidly that I barely could hang on to her words.

"Oh, uh, so... I guess it's kind of, like, um-"

She sighed dreamily. "You guys make such an adorable couple."

"Gee, you sound like a grandma," I said, smiling. A smile that could mean anythi ng.

"And you two would totally have such wonderful babies."

"Holy fudge on a stick."

"Peace out! Just kidding." She laughed. "Okay, back to the topic. Probably Trist an's still trying to get away from, you know, Fiona and her creepy 'he's-off-lim its' commandment, like what she'd done to him back in the Ball. But on the brigh t side, I've heard that she has found a new target-some guy she met through text . Hopefully that guy would finally be the one who can keep her in a cage."

"Speaking of her, have you notice that she's a no-show lately?"

"Uh-huh, and this is good news."

"You really don't want to see her."

"FYI, me and half of the population in school doesn't want to see her, like, eve r. Just who likes to deal with the Drama Queen? Well, maybe just those people wh o also have personality issues like her. In any case, don't you like it? I mean, you're finally going to have the best night of your life without having a stuck-up witch who's trying to scare the wits out of you during the event."

"Actually, I don't have an issue with Fiona because I always steer clear from he r. We're cool, I guess."

"Don't be assured of that. I think the reason why she doesn't bother you at all is that you've got Tristan by your side. Fiona can press her Mega B with an itch button to whomever and whenever she likes. It's better to be very careful." From her and Ronnie, too, I thought, but didn't voice it out since I knew she wo uld turn this talk into some kind of a radio drama.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said. "Still, if all else fails, I'm going to prom w ith a cardboard cutout of Lelouch because screw people."

"Oh, may Jesus take your wheel," she muttered.

***

It wasn't until Calculus class the next day I made up my mind that I couldn't st and the indecision any longer. Back at lunch and at the restroom a while ago, tw o girls from another class had asked me if I was going with Tristan. I had simpl y smiled and said nothing. I realized this situation was getting a bit complicat ed. I really couldn't say I was going with him and neither could I say that I wa sn't. Aside from Julianne and Lacey, I couldn't admit to anyone that I hadn't be en asked.

As Mr. Cross was writing test questions on the board, I decided that when I woul d have the chance to see him later, I'd bring up about the topic and find out wh ether I had a date or not. I got this feeling that maybe he'd decided not to ask me out to any dances anymore after that whole pre-Valentine ball incident where we had a wild goose chase in the city after he'd forced me to go with him. But it had happened too long ago, and it wouldn't be the same now. I'd still give a shot in asking him in spite of that. And maybe... just maybe... I would finally have the courage to admit what I really feel.

Satisfied that I had at least made a decision, I eagerly clicked my pen on and f ocused on the test.

An hour of sitting and thinking over my most hated subject felt like one millenn ium. Yet for the first time ever, I didn't have a frustrated feeling of ripping my hair out while answering. I felt confident as I passed my paper to Mr. Cross, and he raised an eyebrow at me but didn't say a word. Undoubtedly, it was a gre at achievement in my lifetime so far.

Screw this-I would survive!

Feeling a bit woozy and warmly euphoric, I went out of the room and hoped to see him anytime soon. As I rounded a corner, I heard distant familiar voices that m ade me take a quick stop. They seemed to be having an argument.

"You should stop it, man, seriously."

 

"Why would I?" A laughter. "Too bad, I already have started, and it got me hooke d."

"But that's-that's not the part of the deal! I just said-"

They stopped as I stepped out. My mouth hung open when I realized that the voice s belonged to Clark and Erik. Their eyes expanded as they noticed me, and silenc e then proceeded.

What is happening?

"Oh hey, guys," I greeted them in confusion, breaking the ice. "Sorry, I... didn 't mean to interrupt you two."

"Hey, Kylie. Don't worry, it's totally cool," Erik said, smiling, contrasting th e dark glare on Clark's face.

"So what are you guys up to?" I kept on shifting my glances between them.

"Ah, just talking about something. Not important, though."

Clark was looking at Erik as if he was about to whack him with a baseball bat. T hat somehow bothered me. I'd never seen that kind of expression on Clark, and I supposed there was something going on with him. Did it have something to do with Lacey? Were they having a fight or something? But Lacey was being herself all d ay-all bubbly, not having any sign of misery on her face or anything. Surely, sh e didn't have any problem with him, because if there was, I knew she'd talk abou t it immediately.

So what is with Clark today? And what does this have to do with Erik?

Millions of questions were running in my mind. I was about to ask Clark but he w alked away without saying a word.

"Don't mind him, Ky. I know that guy. He can deal with whatever issues he is hav ing and get over them sooner."

Oh, well. Tristan and the others can probably handle him better. I sighed and t urned to Erik.

"Anyway, I'm glad to have you around here," he continued. "Can I have you for a moment? I wanted to tell you something."

I pulled up a small smile, nodding. "Sure. I have something to tell you, too."