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ღ Finding Cinderella- 34 ღ

-Kylie-

The next day, I had to endure Lacey's qualms about her date with Clark. Her conc ern list had gotten much longer than I'd expected; she couldn't stop talking abo ut it every night and couldn't even eat normally, since she feared she might gai n more weight. Ronnie and Julianne had to assure her bazillions of times that ev erything was going to be fine while I merely sat in the corner and watched them arguing, having uncertainties of my own.

Saturday came in a flash, and I thought my sister was going to have a nervous br eakdown.

A bloodcurdling scream erupted upstairs. I shot up from the couch, ripping my ey es off the TV and dashing to her bedroom. "Lacey! What's happening?" I called at the top of my lungs.

I thought she had injured herself or something, but when I opened the door, I fo und her staring at herself critically in the mirror.

I sighed. "Thank God, you're okay. What's-"

"I'm so not okay!" she cried, stomping her feet like a kid. She pointed to her f orehead. "Look, look! I got a freaking pimple on my freaking forehead, and I hav e a freaking date in less than two hours!"

I leaned on the doorframe, crossing my arms casually. "You stayed up until midni ght worrying about things. Now look what you've got."

"Don't be mean, Kylie. Really, I'm in the middle of a full-blown crisis here." S he was close to tears; her self-esteem had fallen below sea level again. "This i s a major turn-off for guys, you know. I bet Clark will make fun of me."

"Lacey, I know that looks do matter a bit, but if that guy likes you - really li kes you, like, a lot - he wouldn't care about a little imperfection, even if you look like a horrifically disfigured person."

She blinked the worries in her eyes away and smiled. "That's nice to hear from y ou, sis."

I shrugged, returning a smile. "Just tryin' to help."

Her eyes lit up. "Ah! I think I know what to do with this." She went over to her drawer and pulled out a small case, then began to apply cream to the blemish th oroughly.

"Is everything all right, girls?" Mom called from downstairs.

"Yeah! We're perfectly fine," I said, turning toward the door and then back at L acey. "I'm outta here. Call me if you need help."

"Hold on." She raised a hand and rummaged through her closet. Lifting up two car digans, she asked me, "What do you think? Should I choose the yellow one or the white one?"

I cocked my head to the side, clueless about fashion as usual. "Uh, choose the p ink one."

She pulled a flat face and dropped her shoulders in dismay. "You obviously know that I don't have a pink one. C'mon, sis, I need your opinion. Which do you thin k goes best with the blue dress?"

I rubbed my chin and squinted. "The white one looks-"

"All right, white, then," she cut me off, pressing her chosen cardigan onto the bed after tossing the other away.

I scratched my head as I watched her dashing all over the place like a hurricane . Lacey would always get more hyperactive than a caffeine addict would whenever she was nervous to the max.

"Oh no. I can't find my makeup kit," she exclaimed, her eyes rapidly roaming aro und. "Ugh. Where on earth did I put it?"

"You mean that one?" I pointed to the sleek, black case lying on the floor next to a disorganized pile of clothes.

She hurriedly picked it up. "Thank God. I swear this is the last thing I want to lose right now. How did this get here, anyway?"

I snorted, glancing around. "Huh, with all these messes of yours... you definite ly beat a person struck by a storm."

She sighed. "This is what you call tension, Ky. Tension."

"Take a deep breath, then."

She sat in front of the mirror, and with a few taps of the brush on her makeup, she began to apply it painstakingly.

Even though there was some part of me that still hadn't agreed with their date, I let myself be carried away by her fervor and decided to approach her. I picked up a hairbrush and started to comb her waist-length hair until it fell in silke n columns. Lacey's reflection grinned, and she continued doing her job with a su rprisingly calm hand.

Finally, she turned to me and said, "How does it look? Is it okay, or did I put on too much?"

Her eyes had become larger because of the few pink smudges around her eyes and h er mascaraed lashes. A sweep of rose-colored blush accented her cheeks, and her lipstick was just enough to brighten her lips. I wondered how she'd learned all the techniques to make herself a living Barbie.

"Looks fine," I said. "He won't be able to take his eyes off you."

She shook her head, smiling reservedly, and went to her closet again. She pulled out the dress that she'd been spending a long time smoothing just to make sure it'd look neat and perfect. Then she took off her pink robe, and I helped her by pulling the stretchy dress over her head. It fell easily into place. And for th e finishing touch, she put on her cardigan, white heels, and some accessories.

We turned back to the mirror, beaming at the result.

"Thanks a ton, sis," Lacey said, satisfaction visible on her face.

"I haven't done anything major."

"Kylie Harris not taking credit on something?" She turned to me with a raised ey ebrow. "There must be a new world order."

"Very funny, Lacey."

She studied me for a bit. "You look as nervous as I am, huh?"

I sighed. "I still can't get over the fact that this is happening."

"You make it sound like this is the start of the world apocalypse," she said, am used.

I put my hands on her shoulders and gazed straight into her eyes. "Listen, Lacey ," I said gravely. "If he ever ditches you, makes you cry, or breaks your heart, don't hesitate to punch him in the guts."

She went aghast.

"Seriously, I'm giving you a tip. Just punch him in the guts and get yourself so me ice cream, okay?"

"That's so brutal..."

"Do it for your dignity."

"Uh, o-okay," she mumbled, scratching her head.

We went downstairs afterwards, and Lacey looked around with her eyes squinting, as if she were studying the living room critically. The place was perfectly orga nized; no object was out of place. Mom was arranging a bowl of fresh irises on t he coffee table.

"Well, how about it, honey?" she asked happily. "Does everything pass inspection ?"

"Mom, please," pleaded Lacey, "just this once, try to keep your jokes to a minim um."

We both knew that Mom could be a huge comedian sometimes, especially when it cam e to visitors. She said it was her way of providing "entertainment", though we b elieved her jokes were only effective on the family and not so much on others.

Curiosity came over me once again, and I leaned closer to Lacey's ear. "Do you k now where you two are going?"

"I have no idea, but he said he already has a plan."

At exactly three o'clock, we heard someone coming up the front steps and the doo rbell ringing. Lacey's cold hand automatically gripped my arm before she cleared her throat and walked bravely to the door.

Then I thought she'd pass out the moment he breathed out, "Lacey."

There stood Clark with his pleasant aura. His hair was gelled up in messy spikes , and it actually suited him rather than made him look like a thug; he was weari ng a comfortable-looking dark plaid shirt and jeans. His manner no longer seemed as relaxed and easy as it always had. Now he appeared serious, maybe even a lit tle nervous, what with the set of his jaw and the beads of sweat rolling down hi s rosy face. As he entered, I noticed that his yearning eyes were busy ogling my sister up and down.

 

I kept staring at him closely.

"H-hi, ma'am," he faltered weakly.

Well, this was an amusing scene to watch. His charisma had flitted away the mome nt he'd faced my mother.

Even though I wanted to burst out laughing, I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to look superior. Lacey shot a disapproving look at me, but I continued to shoot daggers at the guy. When no one was looking, I quickly raised two fingers to my eyes and then pointed to his, denoting that I would watch his moves no ma tter what.

He gulped and quickly forced a casual smile at my mom.

So far so good, in spite of the awkward conversation they had started. I excused myself and rushed straight to my bedroom, then took a deep breath.

Now was my time to take action.

I dug my phone out from underneath the bed sheets and looked for Julianne's numb er. It rang twice before she finally picked up.

"Jules!" I screeched.

"Jeez, Kylie, learn to lower your voice for once," she snapped. "What do you wan t?"

"Are you free? Can you come over right now?"

"Can't, sorry. Mom and I have an appointment at the hairdresser's right now. She didn't freak out over my decision last night 'cause she also wants hers cut. Ta lk about luck." She laughed. "Isn't it fantastic? Brace yourself, Kylie. You wil l see a new me next week."

I groaned. "Can you cancel it and move it to some other time?"

"Oh, no way, Jose. I've been waiting for this chance to come!" A pause. "Hey, wh at's going on? You sound like you're out of breath... are you okay?"

"Obviously not. Clark is here right now, Jules, and for the next few minutes, he and Lacey-"

"Will be out, go to some places, spend time with each other, bippidy-blah-blah. I see it now. You just want us to go after them like freakin' spy kids." I could picture her rolling her eyes as she spoke.

I gasped. "How do you know my plan?"

"I'm a psychic. I mean, I think I might be E.T. or something."

"Hilarious. I'm peeing my pants," I grumbled.

"Pfft. Please, your mind is always packed with unsettling ideas, Kylie. Why, are you mad? It's your sister's date, and in case you didn't know, a date is for tw o. No space for a freaking third party!" she yelled so loud that I had to pull m y ear away.

"Jules, come on!" I cried. "I'm just worried-"

There was a noise on the other line, and it sounded like her mother's voice. Jul ianne called something to her before returning to me. "Oops, I have to scoot now ."

"Julianne!"

"Look, Kylie, your plan is obviously bad on so many levels, but if you really wa nt to..." She sighed. "Then I'm not stopping you. Do whatever you want. Just fin d someone else to go with you 'cause I have to get going now."

"Yeah, yeah," I said in dismay and paused. "Oh, before I forget."

"Hmm?"

"Don't go to Georgina's Salon, because the last time I went there, they made me look like a squirrel."

"Noted." She giggled. "Bye, Kylie. Make sure your head is still intact when you go out."

"Hey, what's that supposed to-?"

She hung up. I pressed the off button and sighed - there was no hope for her. I tiptoed downstairs to check on the couple. They were gone now, and only Mom was left in the living room.

"Clark seemed like a very nice boy, don't you think?" she remarked with a smile and went into the kitchen.

The funny feeling in my stomach intensified, and I knew it wouldn't disappear as long as Clark was still with her. I felt worse every second because of the rand om thoughts swarming in my head. Why did I have to be so worried?

I shook my head. I just wanted her to be safe, and I had to see her, even if it was just the tip of her hair.

Putting my hand under my chin, I paced back and forth across the living room. Hm m... there was only one person I had to approach. Plus, he might also know where Clark was going to take Lacey!

"Mom, I'm going out for a while!" I said and dashed my way over to the next hous ehold.

Arthur and Lois were busy gardening in front of their yard - the sort of thing t hey would always do on lazy weekends. Walking up slowly to their lawn, I cleared my throat and greeted the both of them.

Lois turned to me while wiping her forehead with a towel. "Oh, Kylie. What bring s you here today?"

"Uh, well, I just wanna know if Tristan's in right now."

"He is, but I'm afraid he's still asleep," she said with an apologetic smile.

My jaw dropped. "What? I-I mean, until now? But it's already afternoon."

"I guess he went back to sleep. That boy must be very exhausted after a long wee k."

So he's sleeping, huh?

Something popped into my head that made me grin evilly. "Let me handle that, ma' am," I said brightly. "I know just what to do to wake him up."

I went back into my house and searched my room for something I'd been keeping fo r a while. At last, I found it underneath my bed - a rubber mask I'd bought last year for Halloween, and thankfully, it was still okay and just as scary-looking as ever. Its row of long, jagged, fang-like teeth and its bloody eyes still spo oked people out. To complete my inventory, I grabbed a feather from my pencil ho lder.

I ran back to his house again, hiding the things behind my back.

"What's that, Kylie?" his mother asked.

"Just... something." I grinned. "I'll be going inside now."

Before I could shut the door, I saw Arthur shook his bald head with an amused ex pression. "Very mysterious, the ways of the young," he said before continuing hi s digging.

Tristan's house was huge; one might even say it was a mansion. But I'd practical ly memorized its every corner, since I came here every so often.

I'm such an evil genius! I thought to myself and cackled as I headed upstairs, t hen slowly opened his bedroom door. I always knew that this guy never bothered l ocking his door, and that was why I could access his room so easily.

I tiptoed to the side of his bed and froze. Although he was sleeping, he still h ad that serious expression of his on. His eyebrows were knit together, and his l ips were slightly parted, puffing out air. Tristan sure slept like a log, but I knew how to take care of this.

Kneeling down closer to his side, I fastened the strips behind my head and fixed the mask until it covered my face perfectly. Then, with the feather, I began to tickle his ear, which was his weakest spot, and snickered. It took a few attemp ts for me to finally make him move and scratch his ear. He moaned, and the momen t his eyelids fluttered up...

"Boo!"

"Aaaaaahhh!"

His earsplitting scream could possibly be heard all over the state. Tristan scra mbled out of his bed, throwing pillows at me in the process, before he landed on the other side with a loud thud.

"Aw, crap!" He rubbed his swollen head.

I clapped my hands as I howled with laughter.

"Jesus Christ, Kylie!" he shrieked. He was breathing profoundly; face going vamp ire-pale all over. "You still have that - that thing?"

My eyes were welling up with tears, and my stomach began to ache from me laughin g so hard. Priceless! So priceless!

 

"T-Tristan, y-your face," I choked out. "l can't - I can't even-" And there I we nt again, snorting until I was out of breath.

He slapped his forehead and groaned out loud. "Gah! Is that the right way to wak e up a person? Really, Kyles, I almost had a heart attack right there! Don't do that again or I'll-"

Pulling the mask off my face, I stood up and put my hands on my hips. "It's your fault that you sleep past noon."

Still frowning, he pulled himself up and brushed his hair. "It's just because I want to. There's nothing to do around here."

"Lazybones."

He yawned, and his eyes went half-shut as he looked at me. "Ah, so you came here just to ruin my sleep?" He smiled for a second. "Nice try, Kylie. I'm going bac k now. Good night in advance."

Before he could collapse on his bed, I quickly grabbed him by the shirt. "Hell n o!" I exclaimed. "Don't you dare go back to sleep after all that effort!"

"Seriously?"

I nodded firmly. "Stay up, T."

He sighed and faced me. "Fine. What do you want? I know you're up to something."

"Go out with me."

His eyes widened in surprise. My jaw dropped, and my face heated up with embarra ssment. I couldn't look straight at him. Oh, no - what I'd said had sounded so desperate and utterly wrong!

"Kylie, wait... do you-?"

"No, shoot! That's not what I meant!" I frantically waved my hands. "What I'm tr ying to say is that, I-I want you to come with me and do some undercover work! Y-yeah, that's it. And... not the other thing. I know what you're thinking, so ju st erase it! It's all wrong." I urged myself not to turn around and cover my fac e, or else it'd make things much more uncomfortable. I forced a grin instead.

Tristan put his hand over his mouth and looked away. Then he cleared his throat. "I... I thought you were serious about that," he muttered.

"Huh? B-but it's not - I mean, wh-what are you saying-?" I sucked my breath in f or I didn't know how long, feeling the stiffness in the atmosphere. Woooh, calm down, Kylie.

To my surprise, his face turned slightly red. "Ah, forget it." He rubbed at the back of his neck uncomfortably while frowning. "What undercover work are you tal king about, anyway?"

Well, his reaction had been weird, but I quickly pushed the thoughts away. It di dn't matter that much - I'd come here on a mission.

"Well..." I said after I'd composed myself. You can do this. This is for the sak e of your sister. "I just want to find out what's happening to Lacey and Clark r ight at this moment."

He chuckled. "You mean you want to stalk them?"

"Wow, that's a strong word. I'm just doing some intensive analysis on a certain person."

"It's still the same thing, dummy. But hey, don't you think that's bad? Snooping around someone's date?"

"Puh-lease, like I'm the only person in the world who does that." I groaned, rol ling my eyes. "Come on. The clock's ticking, and fear's eating me out already."

"You shouldn't worry too much 'bout that. Clark completely knows how-"

"I don't care about what Clark knows or whatever. I just wanna see Lacey, like, now." I pressed my hands together in front of me. "Come on. It'll be quick, I sw ear!"

He didn't say a word for the next few seconds, and I figured he was thinking abo ut it. Then he rubbed his temples and said, "Okay, okay. You know what, Kylie, I wouldn't agree to this if I wasn't in lo-" He prolonged the word as if he was t hinking twice about it, then stopped.

I stared at him, bewildered. "You're not what?"

"Never mind." He shook his head, grabbing his red sweatshirt from the chair and putting it on over his dirty white shirt. "You sure you wanna do this?"

I clenched my fists. "I'm all fuelled up."

"As always," he said with a snort.

"Oh wait, T, do you know where they're gonna hang out?"

"Well, Clark talked to me about his plans yesterday, so I think I might have an idea. They'll just be here in the city, anyway..."

I thrust my fist in the air. "Awesome!"

He stared at me for a few seconds before shaking his head.

As he grabbed his car keys from his table, I motioned him to stop. "Forget it. W e're not using your car."

"Why not?"

"Your car always sticks out like a sore thumb, and I don't want them to spot us. I think it's better if we use our bicycles."

"What?" He attempted to disagree, but as I crossed my arms and gave him a grim l ook, he sighed in defeat. "Yeah. It's not like I can argue with you any longer."

Several minutes later, we found ourselves all geared up - helmets, kneepads, and elbow pads on. Now this was what I called adventure time. I opened the front do or, put my hands on my hips, and laughed at the top of my lungs as if I owned th e place.

"Wow, that laughter. You need to be quarantined," Tristan muttered behind me.

His parents were looking at me as if I'd finally turned into a complete psycho, but I didn't care. Adrenaline was surging inside me, and I couldn't stop myself from being restless and thrilled...

...until I realized that my bike had a flat tire and a broken handbreak.

"Oh, goddammit," I cursed. Why had I forgotten to fix this thing?

Tristan came up behind me while dragging his mountain bike alongside him. "We ca n share mine."

I gasped. "We?"

"No, my parents," he shot back, bored. Grr, this guy...

I crossed my arms and scoffed, "I'd rather walk than share that with you, thank you very much..."

I remembered some of the chick-flick movies I'd watched. You know those ones whe re a boy and a girl would go biking in a field and a love song started to play, then you'd bawl your eyes out after that because of the drama. And that would be totally embarrassing in my case!

Tristan turned his back to me and yawned. "Bye, I'm going back to sleep now."

I yanked his bike back and sighed with exasperation. I didn't want this plan to fail epically! This was for the sake of Lacey, so I had to suck it up and be bra ve like I always had.

"All right! I give up," I uttered.

Smirking in triumph, he climbed up on his bike and waited for me. Grumbling, I l azily sat on the top tube in front. My mind was preoccupied with some sneaky str ategies to catch Lacey and Clark, but it began to swirl when Tristan's sturdy ar ms wrapped around me to reach the handlebars.

"Ready?" he whispered, and his warm breath brushed the nape of my neck, sending tingles down my spine.

I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my tongue hard, preventing myself from letting o ut a deathly scream.

Just what am I doing right now?

He chuckled and started to propel the bike smoothly.

I opened my eyes and tried to pull as casual of a look as I could. There was no time to agonize about these silly little things, like how my heart was beating s o badly at the thought of him so close to me, or how his body heat and spicy sce nt were circulating all over, making me extremely edgy and uncomfortably hot.

As I'd said, this would be quick. Everything would be over in a jiffy and would be back to normal.

"Hurry up, Tristan! We're gonna be late!" I slammed my hands on the handlebar st em and yanked it a couple of times forcefully, making the bike move in zigzags.

"Jeez, Kyles, will you please calm down?" Tristan exclaimed as he tried to contr ol the handlebars. "I can't bike straight! Do you want us to die?"

I chose to ignore him and shouted instead, "Ride 'em, cowboy!"

Let the spying operation begin.