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ღ Finding Cinderella- 40 ღ

-Tristan-

"Hey, T, why didn't you come to the party last night?" Justin asked as I came to our table in the cafeteria.

"What party?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We were texting you about it yesterday."

The memory popped in my head, and I sighed, "Ah, right. I remember it now, sorry ."

"You missed the brawl at Devlin's place!" Grey exclaimed, slapping me on the bac k. "Man, you should've seen Jacob's face caked with Flynn's throws after he saw him making out with his girlfriend. I heard the poor guy has a broken rib now."

I shrugged. "I wouldn't have wanted to go, anyway," I said, ignoring Grey's prat tles.

"Whoa, that's a little odd, coming from you. You're known as the social penguin, but you've been missing at parties these days," Justin observed, drawing his ey ebrows.

"Yeah," chimed Ryo. "The party sucked ass, though, since you couldn't make it. E veryone was, like, waiting for you to come."

Justin shot him an incredulous look. "Wow, you're saying that like you were ever been there."

"It was just something I could imagine."

"Mind you, Ryo, you can't go to parties since you're the one who's doing our hom ework," said Grey coolly, and took a bite from his burger as we snickered about his remark.

It was actually true-Ryo would never get invited to parties since he said himsel f that he would rather sit at home all night, do his assignments or play on Xbox live, than get wasted.

"Kutabare," Ryo swore under his breath. "You pricks seriously owe me."

While the others were trying to figure out what the heck he meant by that unfami liar word, Justin faced me and said, "Actually he's right. Everybody asked us th ousands of times about you. They were expecting for you to pop out."

"I've been busy."

A chuckle slipped from his mouth as he shook his head. "You don't say, T," he sa id. "With what?"

"Ah," I breathed. "Well, some stuff."

I wanted to surprise Kylie with something important, so I'd actually been organi zing all the things I needed for it. After I dropped her home yesterday, I took another drive downtown to buy all the necessary materials so that I could start with them after school today.

I had to make sure everything would go the way I planned it. Hell, I couldn't ev en sleep straight last night because of the considerable amount of ideas flowing in my head. And just thinking of Kylie's reaction once she sees the surprise ma de me even more fired up to start.

"By that, you mean with Kylie? You spend most of your time with her," he pointed out.

I frowned and asked, "Where are you going with this?"

"We're your best buds, T, but you rarely hang out with us with us anymore."

"You mean, you think I'm neglecting you guys?" I said amusedly. "C'mon, I'm not like that. It's just..." I paused, slowly feeling guilty. Somehow, he was right. I always tend to forget everything and everyone else whenever I'm with Kylie. " Never mind. It's hard to explain," I said instead, "but let me clear this up -I' m not ignoring any of you. Okay?"

"Gosh, T, I'm so touched," Grey said in a saccharine voice, dramatically pressin g his hands on his chest.

Ryo punched Grey's arm lightly and fell into stitches of laughter. "So gay, man. "

Smirking, Justin bobbed his at me and said, "Hey, looking at things now, it seem s like you're changing too, bro."

"Huh?"

"Where was that proud and aristocratic ego you've always had, huh, 'prince'?" He nudged me on the side.

To be honest, that title I used to live with and be proud of sounded so foreign to my ears now. I guess he was right. I hadn't noticed that I was slowly, changi ng day by day. In this last year alone, my life had turned upside down, and it w as because of her. Kylie had been right after all; it's plain stupid to care abo ut the social image everyone else sees. What's the use of this so-called "prince "-like aura, if I barely reach the girl I love?

A smile snuck on my face. "No one cares, right?" I answered, shrugging.

"I still can't believe that you, you who have always had that kind of issue, wou ldn't be troubled over that anymore."

I noticed that all eyes were on me, and they all felt sincere and welcoming for the first time.

Grey patted me on the back and said, "Welcome back, Tristan."

***

"Hand over the glue," I said, shaking my damp hair away from my eyes. Clark grab bed the small plastic bottle beside him and handed it to me. "Thanks, man. Sorry if I dragged you into this job. I know you've got the whole afternoon with Lace y, but I don't think I can finish all of this ahead of time, just by myself."

"Nah. S'all right, Tris. I told her I would be helping you with some stuff, and she said it's okay," he said. He was working on the letters that were traced on red construction papers. Currently, he was outlining the letters M and O with kn owhow.

"So, have you thought of taking her to the prom? I think it'd be cool if we guys can have a double date and then ditch the dance later on."

"Nope. Haven't made a move or anything yet."

"Jeez, what are you waiting for? Christmas? I say you ask her straightaway. She' ll say yes, absolutely. I mean, she's your girlfriend, right? So quit slacking."

He let out a small chuckle. "Well, look who's talking."

I snapped my mouth shut and heaved a sigh. "Oh damn, sorry. I'm being such a hyp ocrite now. Okay I know I've been slacking these past few days, and that I've ju st dived into this task last minute, but that's why I'm working my ass off over this, so it's finished before this week ends."

 

"Don't worry bro. We've got your back. There are only a few things left to polis h up and then we're done." He bent down a little over the table, and began to sl ice the letters.

"I hope Cox will allow me to use the room this Friday," I muttered, as I wiped t he excess glue away from the Styrofoam's edges. Hmm, not bad for a masterpiece. There were a few fingerprints and dark smudges on the pink wrapper, but what the hell. No one could blame me if I sucked at arts and crafts. It's the thought th at counts, right?

"Wow, you're really making this very special for Kylie, huh?"

"Of course!" I grinned. "If I ask her like this, which I don't think she'll expe ct, there are fewer chances of her saying no. Then I'll win the date. How's that for a strategy?"

He shook his head in amusement. "Dude, the evil is strong with that one."

I nudged him. "Cut me some slack, will you? I just don't want to blow everything again like the incident before the ball."

"Ah, I heard about that from Grey. He said she smacked your head off after you s neaked into her bedroom in the middle of the night, just so you could ask her ou t?"

I stared incredulously at him. "What? That's what he said? Grey-that friggin' id iot. He's making up versions of his own." I shook my head. "No, really. It was a long and very different story. I pushed her to go with me; she ran away. The wh ole plan was just a prank actually, and she figured out... so yeah. Bad move."

"Okay... But this time you're still, like, pushing her to go with you. She'll se e the effort you've made and she'll have no choice but to say yes. Even if she m ight, you know, not like it deep inside," he said. My eyes flashed and he laughe d, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Fine. I'm an ass already."

I grunted and went back to my work. "At least I'm asking her out in the right wa y," I replied. "And it's not because I have to, but because I want to."

 

"All the little things you do for her..."

"I just want to see her smile."

We spent a couple of minutes working in silence. I checked my wristwatch. It was already quarter to four. We'd been working for an hour now, but we were almost done. And Kylie's probably gone home by now.

"So I guess you and her are now an item, huh?" Clark asked after a moment.

"Not yet." I turned to him. "I mean, almost but, not quite. We're heading on to that now, I know." Boy, I had truly been in seventh heaven when I'd finally conf essed to her, that I barely managed to not dive up, punch the air, and charge ar ound the place with my jacket over my head screaming Yesss!

"Man, I still remember those times when you two would be at each other's throat over insignificant things, and now the vibe is changing..."

"Yeah." I laughed. "We're getting along better than ever now, so I guess you co uld say I won my pass to the next stage."

"Oh yeah?"

A smile spread across my face. I couldn't seem to find the perfect words to desc ribe the days when I was with her. I was always trying to make her happy, surpri sing her from time to time, and locking my hands with hers whenever I could. Yes , I knew she still had her insecurities. We all do, right? But that wasn't going to stop me from being with her.

There was only one more leap left to take before I could finally reach her, and make my goal come true. All I had to do was make her mine on the same day I ask her to go with me to Prom, and that would make it official.

Clark smiled, though he seemed to be hesitant. "Good luck, bro." He patted me on the back.

I peered at him, slightly quizzical. "Thanks-I really need that."

He lowered his head and exhaled deeply after a short while. "Tris, I don't know how to say this to you," he muttered and paused. "But... I'm sorry, man."

"About what? What do you-?"

Ryo burst in the room at the second. He was sweating and panting all over, as if he had spent the whole time running. His dark, almond-shaped eyes flicked to my direction.

"T! I finally found you!" he exclaimed. "I've been searching room to room just t o-" His voice faded as he scanned the messy place. "What are you guys doing? Wha t's with all this junk?"

"Ah, it seems like I have a lot of explaining to do, huh?" I said, grinning. "We ll, this is actually the stuff I've been doing. We're making a sign for-"

"Save it. There's no time for explanation. You should get outta here and face Ro nnie outside."

"What?"

"I ran into her few moments ago. She's fuming, T. I had to step away before she could tear me to pieces. She demanded me to look for you."

I frowned. "She's like that these days. What does she want?"

"I dunno. Maybe it's insanely important. You really need to go now and calm her down before she could literally blow up the whole school!"

"Jeez, Ryo, you watch too many cartoons," I said, shaking my head. "Fine, if tha t's what she wants." I turned towards the door. "Clark?"

He nodded, giving a thumbs-up. "Yeah, I can handle this, T."

"Cool. I'll settle this real quick."

***

I found Ronnie sitting alone on one of the benches. I had expected her to face m e with anger and start bitching at me but, when I went to her side, she lifted h er head up and I saw hesitance clouding her eyes, as if meeting up with me was a mistake.

I didn't want to snap at her, seeing how she was right now, so I said in a casua l voice, "Veronica."

"Tristan," she said quietly. "You came."

"Ryo said you wanted to talk to me." I sat beside her, leaving a wide space betw een us. "And I know you've been trying to tell me something for a quite long whi le now. So... what is it?"

"You sound uncertain." She tried to smile, yet it was more a look of contempt th an an expression of amusement. Her eyes weren't focused on me as she said, "If y ou don't want to know, then you don't have to. It seems like I'm bothering you a lot, right?"

I exhaled. "I just wasn't expecting this. Look, I'm here already. Why don't you cut the chase and tell me whatever this is all about? I'll try and listen."

The rustling of the wind against the trees was the only sound I could hear when silence settled between us. I stayed rooted in my seat as I patiently waited for her to say something. Her eyes were strangely puffy these days; even her make-u p couldn't cover the circles around them, and she looked pale, too. Had she been crying or what?

I couldn't help to be troubled, and when I was about to ask her, she said, "It's ... about stuff happening around recently." She forced another smile again as sh e faced me. "Looking at things now, I wonder why I didn't notice how much you an d Kylie suited each other from the beginning."

Ah, so that was what she'd been thinking over these past days; I should've expec ted that. I didn't know if she meant what she'd said as a compliment, or if she was just mocking the whole thing. It was kind of hard to tell from her expressio n.

I simply smiled at her remark as I looked into the distance.

"Do you really love her?" she asked softly, reluctance evident in her tone.

"I would be lying if I say no."

Then after a moment, I heard her taking long deep breaths. Alarmed, I turned to her. A tear slipped from her eye, and she quickly wiped it away with her hand. R onnie's face was completely red, worse than the face of someone with a high feve r.

I tried to touch her shoulder, but she recoiled.

"Ronnie... why are you crying?"

"Why? You're asking why?" she choked between her sobs. "Are you really that dens e when it comes to my feelings?"

Crap, I was dealing with this kind of issue again.

"Listen, if you'd just tell me what this was all about, then I could-"

"Tell? No, T, I've been showing you what this was all about!" she exclaimed; her fists balled on her lap. She was breathing heavily as tears started to pool aro und her eyes once again. "I'm in love with you, Tristan."

Blinking my eyes, I was speechless.

"All I wanted was for you to understand that! Is that too much to ask for?" She hiccupped. "I've been in love with you since we were young. And it's been years, Tristan! Years! I tried to erase it, I tried to forget it. But I'm still trappe d." She buried her face in her hands. "I'm trapped...."

I gulped, feeling a little nauseous because of this unexpected turn of events. " Ron, you know, I..." I paused, took a deep breath, and continued: "I-I've been a ware of that ever since."

"You were?" She bit her bottom lip. "I-If that was the case, then why? Why didn' t you love me back? I could have - would have done anything for it to work out. Even after you make me feel like nothing by ignoring me, I still love you more t han I can put it into words, and I can't stop."

"You asked me why," I said in a calm voice, "The truth is, I liked you." She loo ked straight in my eyes, and I carried on: "I did like you, Ron. But you changed a lot. If truth be told, I don't... I don't like the way you treat me or other people now. You used to be better than that. What happened? Where was that Veron ica I used to know?"

Her jaw clenched as though she was trying to hold back her tears. "You know, Tri stan," she spoke, voice cracking. "You could change so many times, but I would s till want you." She pressed her lips. "But I guess that doesn't apply to everyon e, right? Oh God... I thought everything I did back then was right. Turns out, I 've been screwing up my chances, by being a huge bitch towards other people. Yea h, I... I could've done it better..."

I pushed a thin smile for reassurance. I was glad that she had admitted it herse lf. Perhaps it was a good start.

"If I go back to being my old self, T, will you... finally love me back?"

I looked down on the ground. I'm sorry, were the words I wanted to say, but I di dn't know how to without hurting her.

As if seeing my expression, a soft, impassive laughter came from her lips. "I kn ew it. You can never learn to love me, can you?"

"Have you ever known someone who can teach a heart how to beat?" I continued to smile sympathetically. "None, right? It simply means that you can't teach someon e or something to love the other. It would be called forcing otherwise." I shrug ged. "I honestly don't know much about this myself. The only thing I'm sure abou t is: love is something natural-an immense thing, which doesn't have a straight answer."

"Seems like I still have a lot to learn." She gazed down her lap. "About Kylie-w ho is she to you?"

My smile widened as images of Kylie floated through my head. "She's the girl who kills me every day, yet the one who keeps me alive."

Ronnie only kept on smiling in melancholy as silence came again.

"I lost," she whispered after a moment. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she shoo k her head. "Never mind."

I said cheerfully, "There are lots of other good guys out there, Ron-"

"But they're not as good as you."

Whoa, easy.

I raked my fingers through my hair. "Well, uh-I mean-"

She snorted, rolling her eyes. "I know what you meant, T. But no, not now. I sti ll have to get my shit together."

"Okay. I understand."

"Thanks." She smiled again; sadness still lingered in her eyes. "Can you do me a favor, Tristan? I know this whole drama irritates you like hell already, and I' m sorry for that. This would be the last time I'd bother you about this. And I w on't be a huge pain between you and Kylie anymore. Never again. I'll leave you g uys alone, I promise that." She raised a hand. "Cross my heart, hope to die. Jus t do me this one last thing."

Can I trust her? I asked myself. After all the things she'd done, there was only a pinch left of my trust for her. Yet, seeing the way she looked at me right no w, the way she spoke the words - it made me sympathize for her more. She was pro bably trying to change for the better now, so I think I should give her a chance . Besides, I wanted to know what the favor she was asking me for.

I nodded. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Kiss me."

-Kylie-

"What?" Blood rushed to my cheeks as I went completely stiff on the spot. I was shaking so badly that I could barely hold the hamburger and the cup of Coke in m y hands.

"I said, how about going to the Prom with me?" Erik uttered again. He laughed as he brushed his hair. "I'm sorry if I spoke too fast. I was just too anxious, se e."

I had been so absorbed in Tristan that it hadn't struck me Erik might ask me to go to the event. I had never expected something like this would happen. Not toda y. This was such a terrible situation!

"E-Erik..."

"Please don't think this is a sort of a joke or whatever. I'm asking you out for real."

"So... you've gone treating me these" -I motioned the snacks like an eight-year-old kid in McDonalds- "just to ask that... question?"

"Gee, uh, yeah? You know, just to make an impression." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. "Damn, I'm not good at this," he muttered to himself.

We'd been spending the whole time strolling around the whole school, joking and laughing, talking about whatever came to our minds. Neither of us had immediatel y jumped into the real talk, as if we'd been secretly trying to figure out what the other should say first. I'd still been trying to think of a way to say my th oughts to Erik, without making him feel bad. Maybe he had been with his own thou ghts himself, too, and he had only mustered up the courage to say so just now, h ere in this empty place on the back of the school premises.

I began to pace away. The snacks he'd treated me to were starting to get cold, b ut I suddenly didn't have the appetite to eat them now.

Erik followed behind. "So... what do you think?" There was a note of pleading in his voice.

Oh no, I had to choose my words carefully. How would I say that I wasn't up for it, without sounding mean and making him feel bad? Ugh, no, scratch that. Even i f I tried declining him in the politest manner, he naturally would still feel ba d. But I couldn't just walk around here like he wasn't there. I had to say somet hing.

I stopped and faced him. "I'm-I'm sorry, Erik," I finally said. "I can't. I... I already have a date." And I almost told myself that I did.

Erik blinked. His face was completely pale. "Oh. I see..." he said hesitantly. " With Tristan, right? I should have known; I'm sorry."

I bit my lip. He knew that I didn't want to go with him. He must even know that I didn't really have a date. We just stood there, facing one another in silence. I lowered my bloodshot face and stared at my sneakers.

"So I guess I don't stand a chance with you anymore, huh? This is what you wante d to tell me, isn't it?"

My head shot up. He was staring at the field. I was ashamed of hurting Erik's fe elings, and I knew he was embarrassed to have his feelings hurt: he sounded unce rtain about what he had said. I wanted to speak, but I couldn't. My lips were se aled for the moment.

Seeing a trash bin nearby, I went to it and dumped the half-eaten snacks. My sha ky palms were sweating so I brushed them on my jeans. I took a deep breath, befo re I faced Erik and started, "You see, Erik-"

Just then, the wind breeze through and I heard voices. Familiar voices. Curious, I followed them, heart starting to pound loudly in my chest, as I was getting c loser. And there on the benches were two figures. They were so close with each o ther and-and I just realized they were kissing.

I knew it was rude to stare, but I just couldn't help to do so.

The scene was near perfect. It was like watching a fairy tale.

Her hand gripped on his shoulder, while he just sat there, face unreadable. His eyes were open, staring at the girl. I couldn't tell if the kiss was passionate, or genuine, or... whatever. I couldn't even tell if I was looking at an illusio n or not. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, as I held my breath and reality sma cked into my chest.

There were two things that awoke me that time:

The guy was Tristan.

And the girl was Ronnie.

A hand wrapped softly around my arm from behind. I turned to Erik, forcing a smi le, and started to walk away.

"Kylie, wait," he called. "Do you want me to drive you home?" As much as I wante d to, I knew he was trying to avoid the question about what we had just seen.

I shook my head. "No, t-thank you. I can go home by myself."

"Kylie-"

I turned him with a smile still plastered on my face. "I'm okay, Erik. Don't wor ry. Everything's fine!" I waved my hand in the air.

And when I looked away, the road blurred as my eyes filled with tears.