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[THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REVISED. Edited by: TheRegularNonsense]

ღ Finding Cinderella- 2 ღ

-Tristan-

Kylie wasn't talking to me.

Normally she'd make the effort to pull a face at me, or at least murmur a death threat or two under her breath. But today in this unbearably dull English lesson , I wasn't even worth that.

She was probably still pissed off about the breakup I'd had with another girl tw o days ago, though I still wondered why she was making a big deal about it.

Hey, it wasn't my fault that most of those girls would rush to her like she was Oprah Winfrey, who would give them a reflection guide or something. And it was n ot even like Kylie had the slightest idea when it came to that stuff, so I didn' t even know why those girls would consult her.

Maybe it was because they thought Kylie and I were good ol' best buds. Ha!

But I really enjoyed seeing her frustrated anyway. Seeing her grind her teeth wi th balled fists would never get old. It was Kylie's signature look! I smiled to myself as I thought about it.

When the bell rang, she quickly shot up from her seat and dragged Julianne behin d. I was going to catch up with her, but my loyal subjects Clark Young and Grey Walter had already started tagging along with me.

Oh, well. I'll just talk to her when she cools down.

As we guys began to talk about video games and stuff, making our way to the cafe teria, we were suddenly stopped in the middle of the hall. A crowd, composed mos tly of girls, had hurriedly surrounded us.

"H-hi!" one of the girls stammered. She had a straight brown hair that reached h er shoulder, and-well, she looked okay. "We're here to, um, give these to you."

And every one of them lifted those little bags and note cards while giving me an expectant smile. I could only stare at them in confusion.

"Oh cool. Thanks," I said. "For what, though?"

The girl blushed as if what I'd said offended her or something. "Uh... As a Vale ntine gift?"

Slowly, but surely, I processed the information I'd just heard...

"Valentine," I said carefully, then snapped my fingers. "Oh, it's Valentine's da y!" I turned to Grey and Clark, whose faces were strangely blank, and asked, "Is it, really?"

"Dude, are you serious? Where have you been this entire time?" Grey muttered. Huh, so it was. No wonder the girls were so possessed at the moment and no wonde r Kylie looked so pissed off.

"Damn, I forgot the date today," I mumbled and quickly turned to the girls. I br ushed my hair, laughing. "Ah, thank you again. This is really sweet," I said, wi nking, as I took those bags from their hands.

They giggled and whispered to each other like usual.

You know how many times I said those words per year? Maybe a hundred and one tim es automatically. I couldn't care less about the gifts they gave me.

The crowd was getting huge at every passing second, yet I managed to make a clea n getaway by thanking the crowd, then ignoring them as I walked away. The crowds always irritated me but I never showed it. All these people could get so annoyi ng. I'd been surrounded by praise my whole life, as if I was a living monument o r something. Sometimes these people made me forget who and what I really was.

Luckily, there's one person who reminded me of my real identity... even though s he didn't exactly like me, at all.

"You've certainly not lost your touch. I swear, every Valentine's Day, your pers onal magnetism only gets stronger," Clark remarked after we'd successfully sat d own (ages later) at our usual spot in the cafeteria.

Apparently, a lot of girls hadn't gotten the chance to give me gifts yet, but we couldn't just spend the whole day collecting heaps of boxes and making empty th ank-you speeches.

I pushed the mountain of gifts to them across the table. "Get them."

"What?"

"They're all yours. You guys can eat them, or give them to the charity, whatever . Just get them away from me."

Grey raised his hands. "Hold on, T. This is serious. I thought you like receivin g this kind of stuff. Why are you giving them away so suddenly?"

I slumped in my seat, my hands collapsing on my sides. "I always get the same ol d shit every year, and it's getting boring already. There isn't anything fun abo ut this school anymore," I muttered.

 

"Dude, check this out," Clark said, snickering. He held out the note card, and I grabbed it from him.

There, in neat handwriting, was written: Roses are red. Violets are blue. I have no Valentine today, thanks to you.

It was obviously from Bella. I snorted.

"Wow, I'd never known girls got all poetic like that after they went through bre akups..." Clark said. "Especially with you."

I shrugged, scoffing. "Nah, Bella could just be frustrated and wanting to make m e feel guilty."

Then I saw the P.S. at the end, saying she still liked me and was hoping for a s econd chance. When I say I'm breaking up with someone, I mean it. There was no w ay I was getting back together with Bella. Not on Valentine's Day and not ever.

Why would we ever be a couple again? Getting back with an ex is pretty much like going to a yard sale and buying back your own crap.

I had chemistry with many girls at the beginning of relationships, but all that had just dried up within days. Yeah, I didn't refuse them when they came, but I didn't chase after them when they left. Almost all my past relationships had las ted about a month, and they hadn't felt right at all. I guess you could've calle d them "relation-shits" instead of "relationships".

Someone suddenly poked the dimple on my right cheek; I almost yelled out loud. S eriously, who would just poke someone's dimple without their consent? If it were Kylie, though, it'd probably be another story.

I turned to the person who poked me, and-oh, shit.

"Hey, Tristan," Fiona Ryder greeted me in her ever-sickly sweet tone. She had he r dark eyebrow up and her pink lips in a smirk as she said, "Happy Valentine's D ay."

 

As she was about to wrap me in a hug and give me a kiss on the cheek, I dodged a way as fast as I could. Fiona almost landed her face on the table if she hadn't supported herself with her hands just in time. Her russet eyes flashed, and Clar k and Grey tried to stop themselves from laughing. I raised my hands, not feelin g any guilt at all.

"Gee, Fiona, a simple hi would be enough," I said. "Listen, this isn't supposed to make you feel bad, but let me remind you that we are not together anymore."

At her back was her best friend Veronica "Ronnie" Sullivan, who was the head che erleader of Broadway Heights cheer squad. The scarlet-haired girl rolled her eye s as she almost discreetly snorted a laugh.

"Huh, and I thought you would like it." Fiona scowled, crossing her arms across her chest. "It's just a gesture of friendship, Tristan."

What she actually meant was that: she was flirting with me beyond a general acce ptance of friendship.

I was about to say a counterattack, but then I just snapped my mouth shut. It wa s pointless to argue with a person who had a mind of a steel trap that was alway s closed.

"So, anyway, I heard you broke up with Bella Matrix," she said with a touch of b oredom.

I deadpanned, "So?"

"Oh, just nothing." She turned her head away and murmured to herself, "Finally. Served her right."

"Fiona, what are you doing here?" I complained, ignoring what she'd said.

Grey could be heard munching on popcorn while watching the scene, as if he were in the cinema.

Fiona rolled her eyes. "Are you trying to say that I'm not allowed to be in the school cafeteria?"

I hit my forehead with my palm. God, why did I have an ex-girlfriend like her? H ad I been drunk when I met her?

"Jeez, no. I mean, why are you here in our spot?" I said, trying to control my f renzy. "Your friends are over there." I motioned to the table, not too far away from us.

"Oh, well, actually I was just going to ask you something," Fiona answered, shru gging casually. "You're going to the ball, right?"

Ah, yes. Broadway Heights High School's Valentine Ball was a yearly special even t that celebrated the school's birthday, and at the same time, Valentine's Day. The entire school looked forward to it, since anyone from any class could attend the ball, freshmen to seniors.

I'd heard that the student council had changed some of the Ball's programs that year. I was pretty sure they'd added an event called "Fate Dance" or something l ike that. No one, well, other than the people on the student council really knew what that was, and it was something everybody was waiting to see.

Last year, I'd been chosen as the King for the initial dance. I'd thought the ex perience would be epic, but ended up being awkward as hell because they'd also c onveniently chosen Fiona as the Queen.

That was one of the most remorseful experiences I've had in my life.

And now, she was asking me if I was going to go the ball. I could sense somethin g bad behind that sinister smile of hers.

"Silly me. Of course, you are, since everyone's expecting you to come." She laug hed. "So do you already have a date?"

"Yes," I answered immediately without even thinking.

"Really? Who?" asked Clark.

I glared at him, and he averted his wide eyes, slowly shutting his mouth. I didn 't have a date actually, but I had told Fiona that because I wanted her to get o utta here.

"Ooh, that girl must be so lucky then," she mocked. Her manicured fingers wrappe d around my arm as she came closer and purred in my ears, "But you can come to m e if you'll ever get bored with her during the night. You know I'm always here."

I pulled her off me. "That's it, Fiona. Beat it, okay?" I then noticed that Ronn ie was giving her an incredulous look.

Fiona threw her brunette head back as she laughed again. "Bye, prince! See ya ar ound!" She waved her hand in the air as they left.

She was one hell of a crazy woman. As of yet, she was one of the vilest females I'd ever encountered, probably the second most vile, if I'd had to rank them. Th e first, of course, would have been Kylie, but again that's another story.

Grey started a slow clap, shaking his head in awe. "Whoa! That drama. Sweet Jesu s, the feels, man." He fell down laughing. "Too bad the other guys weren't here yet. They would have brought us more popcorn." Seeing my glare, he coolly shrugg ed. "What?"

"You better shut your mouth, Walter," I grumbled to the blond.

"So, Tris, what are you going to do now?" asked Clark.

I sighed. "I dunno. Find a date, perhaps, so she can leave me alone during the e vent."

"If you found a girl, though, the rest would surely kill her," he replied, givin g me a knowing look.

"I know."

Grey nudged Clark. "Hey, speaking of girls, have you picked out one of them for the ball?"

"Yeah, but I haven't asked her yet."

Clark didn't need to sweat over that. With his good looks, his Mr.-Nice-Guy atti tude, and his spot in the varsity swim team, he too had a long line of admirers of his own. But his heart and mind would still be in that one particular girl.

He was just always so oblivious and unsure of himself, however, ever since we we re in middle school. He should just ask the girl out!

"Good luck with that, bro. Watch out for the big sister, though. She can chew yo ur head off," I said.

"Is that supposed to be taken metaphorically or literally?"

"How about both?" Grey answered playfully.

Right on cue, I saw Kylie and Julianne, with full trays in their hands, scanning the whole cafeteria for an empty seat. I gave them a wave and motioned for them to sit down with us, but when Kylie noticed me, she just glowered and walked aw ay.

I gave a soft laugh. Ha! She'd finally returned to her usual self.

Suddenly, with my mind already on the Valentine Ball, a light bulb flashed on in my head. I knew just what to do.

"Anyway, T, you're in the search for a date, right?" Grey inquired. "I can give you a girl's number if you want to. She's pretty hot-"

"No need," I said, a devilish grin forming on my face. "I already have one in mi nd."