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[THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN REVISED]

ღ Finding Cinderella-25 ღ

-Tristan-

Three words, eight letters, one regret.

I miss her.

She'd become the girl I didn't recognize, and she didn't even wave when I walked past her. I didn't know how long it had been since we'd faced each other, but i t seemed like ages. Just because we didn't talk anymore didn't mean that I'd for gotten about her, or that I'd stopped caring about her- truth was, I still did. No matter what I said during the day, like, "Ah, screw this, I'm done," no matte r how hard I tried to just let it slip away, when I got home, she was all I coul d think about. I'd never expected to fall for her the way I had, but despite all that, I wished for a second chance at doing all the things we'd once done, but in the right way. No awkwardness or anything, of course.

But for now... I didn't know. Timing and distance had been putting me to the tes t, giving me a constant heavy feeling in my chest. Feeling down bugged the crap out of me, so I just sucked it up and decided at the last minute to hang out wit h the guys that weekend.

Twirling my keys between my fingers, I headed downstairs, caught the scent of ye ast and burnt sugar. When I went into the kitchen, I saw Mom arranging her newly baked mango tarts on a tray. From the ecstatic look on her face, I could tell s he was in a good mood, and that was good timing for me.

I knocked on the doorframe and said warily, "Hey, Mom, I'm going out with my fri ends to Jack's. That okay with you?"

A curly strand of black hair fell to the side of her face as she looked gravely at me. "No alcohol, Tristan."

I raised a hand and said, "Rest assured, Mom, it's a decent place. Alcohol-free, no-smoking pool hall. Besides, I don't drink..." Okay, that one was a half lie, since I'd drunk twice before, but I'd never been a heavy drinker or anything-I kept myself sober at all times.

Mom raised her eyebrow at my remark, and then shook her head like she didn't bel ieve me. I was glad she wasn't freaking out about it, though.

"All right, just come home before dinner, okay?" she said as she wrapped aluminu m foil around the top of the tray. "Your father's coming home tonight."

Speaking of which, I hadn't seen Dad for almost two weeks-he'd been staying in M assachusetts for a project and had to observe the maintenance or something. He w as really that much of a workaholic.

Anyway, I couldn't help but grin at the news, since I'd asked Dad to bring me in formation about the MIT admission.

"Sure, then. Thanks, Mom." I kissed her cheeks and tried to take one of her home made pastries from the tray, but she lightly slapped my wrist, and I shook my ha nd, mock hurt. "Hey, why don't I get one?"

"It's not for you, dear. It's for Emilie," she said. I gulped when I heard the n ame of Kylie's mother, already knowing where this was going. "Oh, right-since yo u're about to leave now, you might as well bring this to them while you're on th e way. I still have to finish the next batch, you see."

"Uh, I can't." I hesitated. "I'm in a hurry now. The guys are already waiting fo r me."

"Please, Tristan." She rolled her eyes as she wiped her hands on her yellow apro n. "It's not like you're going to spend an entire hour just giving this to them. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Mom, you just made a bad request, okay?" I muttered. "I'm not going in there."

"What?" She put her hand on her hip and scrutinized me. "Wait...Tristan, tell me . Did you and Kylie fight again?"

Ha, of course. She would know in an instant, since my worn-out look would probab ly give it away. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged, trying to look oblivious.

She sighed and grumbled, "Oh, just as I thought. I hardly see you two talking to each other these days."

"We've never had a decent conversation, Mom, just so you know."

"I wonder what's wrong with you kids. Why can't both of you settle your differen ces and get along with each other? I think Emilie and I should talk about sendin g you kids to a counseling session or something. For Pete's sake, how can I have grandchildren if you two keep doing that?"

My eyes grew wider with shock. "Mom!" I exclaimed. "What the heck?" Grandchildre n? Jeez, how had she come up with that? That had never even crossed my mind.

Mom's smile sent chills through my nerves. Women were indeed very suspicious hum an beings. Damn, this had turned into a weird conversation-I needed to leave.

"I gotta bounce now," I said, stepping backwards.

"Hold on, Tristan. You're forgetting something." She lifted the tray off the cou nter and handed it to me; I opened my mouth to complain, but she cut me off. "No w, go and give this to Emilie. And be sure to make up with Kylie while you're at it-both of you should have a humble disposition, okay? I know that you and Kyli e have done something wrong, so you two should be willing to admit it and apolog ize."

"But Mom-"

"No buts." She crossed her arms over her chest and added, "I'm your mother, Tris tan. Your argument is invalid."

"Fine! I'll go now," I groaned. She was always using that line to win our discus sions, and not even Dad could defeat it.

Shaking my head, I walked out of the house as I carried the tray. Now how am I s upposed to do this?

I might be given a second chance to say what I wanted to say to her, but I might end up tongue-tied again, and that was something I couldn't control.

My phone rang, and I walked more slowly as I fished it out of my pocket.

"Yo," I answered, then paused-the garbled sounds blaring on the other end were s o loud, I had to move the phone a little farther from my ear. "What's up, guys?"

"T, where the hell are you? The others have been asking when you're gonna get he re," Grey said, the connection getting choppy.

"Uh, sorry, I'll be a few minutes late."

A series of crashing and banging sounds followed, and I figured they were playin g arcade games.

"I can't play this! The key controls are weird, goddammit!" It was Ryo, who was-of course-a hardcore gamer in every field.

"Ha, I can't wait to own you guys." That was Justin, his voice sounding distant. "Is that T? When's he coming?"

"He said he'll be late," Grey told them and returned to me. "Is there a problem? "

"Sort of. Mom is forcing me to make peace with Kylie."

"Jeez. There's nothing wrong with that-all you have to do is to sweet-talk her, and bam! Everything's solved. It works like a charm with girls... Hey, weren't y ou the one who taught me that?"

"Was I? I don't remember that one. But dude, you know that crap never works on K ylie. You definitely can't sweet talk her, or else you'll earn yourself a slap i n the face. Besides, everything's totally different this time." Yeah, it really is different.

He laughed, not seeming to get what I meant. "Okay, whatever you say. Just do it already and get here fast, yeah? You're missing the game!"

"All right." I hung up with a grunt and proceeded with my mission.

Because I was busy trying to figure out what to say, it took me, like, forever t o reach Kylie's house, even though it wasn't that far away. I didn't want to fac e her at that moment, since it seemed like I'd be bothering her. Then again, if I didn't make even a little effort, she was never going to know any of this.

Should I tell her to stop pushing me away or just let it happen...?

And there I was, standing in the same place she'd walked away from. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. Here goes nothing.

A few minutes later, the door clicked open.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Harr-" The forced cheerfulness in my voice faded away in a snap.

Kylie was front of me. Her face was still as grim as the last time I'd seen her, and she clearly was not glad to see me. She was still wearing the necklace I pr esumed was from Erik, and seeing it made me feel even more dreadful. Damn, did h e already own her by now? No way!

"Hi," I said under my breath, trying to avoid her unusually cold stare.

We just stood there in uncomfortable silence until I blurted out, "Oh, uh, Mom w ants to give this to you guys."

I reached out the tray to her, and the moment her fingers accidentally brushed m ine, she recoiled. I couldn't help but smile in my head-her jumpy nature still a mused me as much as ever.

Lowering her head as though embarrassed, Kylie quickly grabbed the tray and murm ured something I couldn't hear. I was about to ask her, but then snapped my mout h shut. Still looking at the ground, she quickly turned away and-

Bonk!

She'd hit her head on the doorframe.

"Aw!" Kylie brushed her head gingerly.

"Are you okay?" I automatically asked. This girl had always been an accident mag net.

Still, I was being ignored. Kylie slammed the door in my face just the same as l ast time, and I stood outside, waiting to see if anything was gonna happen like the loser I was. Even so, nothing happened, and I wished she'd at least give me her usual scowl so I'd know I was still here. I missed the old Kylie a lot.

With a sigh, I headed over to my car, which I'd parked in front of my house. But I stopped when I heard a familiar voice calling my name from behind; spinning a round, I saw Lacey skipping towards me.

"Hey," she said, gasping.

I gave her a nod.

"T, are you still alive? Looks like your 'princely' aura is fading." Giggling, s he poked my shoulder, but all I did was to force a smile.

Although what she'd just said had been a joke, it was still partly true. If ever ything had been the same as before, I'd have been pissed off by that fact, but n ow I really didn't care about it.

"And I haven't heard anything from you since, you know, that day," she continued in her usual cheerful tone. "So, have you told Kylie yet?" Her eyes lit up with excitement.

"How am I supposed to tell her if she's ignoring me in the first place?" I growl ed.

"Aw, too bad..." Lacey brushed back her hair, her lips curling in disappointment .

"And furthermore," I added with a shrug, "there's that guy guarding her like a g reyhound."

"Ooh, so cool! This is just like a story from a book I read where this girl is t orn between two suitors with drastically conflicting personalities!" She was bla bbering with much enthusiasm, but I just snorted at the idea.

"Yeah, and by now, she's already put me on her list of rejects." I shook my head .

She nudged me in the side. "Aw, do I sense a bit of jealousy in your voice, bro? "

"Jealous? Ha! Why would I be jealous?"

"I hit a sore spot, eh?" she teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Cut it out, Lacey. Look, I have to go." I started to walk towards the car.

"Where are you going?"

"Jack's," I answered, opening the door and nodding to her. "Wanna come? Clark's there."

Lacey blushed, and I chuckled. She was still crushing on him, huh? But she'd tur ned him down, the poor guy. Wait... I was heading towards the exact same fate, u nfortunately.

"Laceeey!"

Both of us turned when we heard Kylie shrieking from the porch. Her face was scr unched up with crossness, just like always, but she was avoiding looking in my d irection, as if I wasn't there.

Lacey smiled apologetically at me, mouthing, "Here she goes again," before joggi ng her way back to their house.

Sighing, I entered the car. I didn't know if everything would ever be the same a gain, but it definitely wasn't fixed yet.

I hoped Kylie didn't think I hated her-I just couldn't talk to her. It was funny how she seemed so close, yet so damn far; perhaps teleportation would come in h andy nowadays.

***

As I entered the pool hall, I noticed that the place didn't have that big of a c rowd, unlike other times, when the place would be packed with teens and adults. There were still those frosty-haired dudes wearing all-dark clothes, girls in su nglasses, and a few familiar people who greeted me as I walked past them. It was the same, good old place to hang out at during boring weekends.

There were about a dozen pool tables or so, and the last table was where I found the guys meeting up, probably choosing teams.

"Hey."

"Ah, you're finally here!" Clark exclaimed, fist bumping me. He grabbed a cue st ick and tossed it to me. "Let's start the game now."

"Hold on a moment, guys, I got a call." Will quickly rushed to the back, lifting his phone to his ear.

"So... what do you guys want to bet on?" Justin said as he leaned over the table , taking a few practice strokes.

"I know!" Ryo piped up. "Since T was late today, why doesn't he just pay the fee for pool?"

"And for booze outside later, too!" Justin added. "Fifty shots of beer in three minutes. And just for fun, no bathroom breaks."

"Deal!" the rest chimed in.

"Awesome. Then let's get this game on already!" Ryo said, shooting a malicious g rin at me.

"C'mon, guys. I'm strapped for cash!" I objected, but they just laughed.

"This is your punishment, you know that. Besides, it's fine-we're going to have a good time."

"Huh, you're just saying that because you always win all the bets." I shook my h ead. "But fine, whatever. You guys play first, and I'll just cool down over here for a moment." I settled down on the couch on the corner, and the others looked at each other and shrugged before starting the game.

"What's the matter with you, T?" Grey asked as he sat beside me, applying chalk to the tip of his cue. "How did the talk go, by the way?"

"No luck. She's still avoiding me."

"Well, well. Seems like you need medicine for that," he said with a chuckle, and when I only looked at him in confusion, he grabbed his black mountain backpack from behind him and pulled out a gray metallic water bottle. "Here, drink this."

I grabbed the bottle and twisted the cap open. The scent of alcohol drifted past , and I frowned at him. "Dude, this is vodka." This guy was breaking the rules a gain.

"What? For me, alcohol is the best medicine, except for treating diarrhea, that is. You might as well drink that once per day."

"Don't give me that crap, Grey. I don't need this." I shoved the bottle back at him. "Really, I'm being serious here."

"No shit, Sherlock." He laughed, but I just kept my face neutral.

"No, this time, it's true. I mean, Kylie won't even look me straight in the eye, and she's been avoiding me to the point of shoving me and yelling at me. It's j ust strange, since I was being nice to her the entire time..."

"Wait, hold on right there, bro," he said, waving his hand. "That tone... you're into Kylie, aren't you?" He read my silent reaction before snapping his fingers . "Ah, all right, no need to answer me. Though it's quite hard to imagine, since you two are like cats and dogs, I've already seen it coming."

I snorted.

"But... there's one thing I don't get. I mean, okay, this may be a strange thing to say, but the last time I noticed you, you were going ballistic searching for that mysterious girl, and now, you're on to Kylie?" he stated slowly, as if try ing to digest the information. "What's with you, bro? Changing leagues?"

"Why would I when they're already in the same league?"

"What? Wait, so you mean that she and the girl..." He paused, pointing to random points in the air like he was puzzling out the pieces. Suddenly, he pushed hims elf back in shock, exclaiming, "Daaamn. Dude, you've gotta be kidding me!"

"Nope. Her sister was the one who told me herself."

"This is, like, a massive turn of events!"

"Yeah, I know. I didn't even believe myself at first."

Setting his cue stick aside, Grey leaned into the couch even more; his face went firm, and it was then that I knew things were about to get serious. "So in that case... you must've made a move on her, right?"

"Why would you say that?"

He shrugged. "Even if you won't admit it, I can see that you care for Kylie. And based on how you're dealing with things right now, I can tell that you actually made a move on her."

I remembered the night when I'd hugged her for the first time. What I'd done had been so sudden, like there'd been a sudden force pushing me to do it when I'd s een her crying in front of me. I hadn't been able to help it. Maybe that counted as a move-a failed move, to be more exact.

"I didn't... intend to."

"Then maybe that's why she's paying no attention to you." He shook his head, pat ting my back. "Maybe you just have to take things slow, bro."

"Yeah, and maybe when I find out why she hates me, it'll turn out that she wants to be with Erik," I muttered.

"Ah, that guy you wanted to beat to a pulp a while ago? That Erik dude seemed to be a fairly nice guy, and Kylie must've like his side better than yours."

"Huh, are you kidding me?" I scoffed. "He isn't as nice as you think he is."

"Whoa, chill, man. What'd he do, anyway?"

The memory came to my mind, and I glared at Grey, who was surprised by my sudden anger. "Erik's actually-"

"Hey, guys. Aren't you gonna play?" Will asked, walking towards us.

Grey raised his eyebrow at me, and I simply nodded at the billiard table so I co uld get into the game and forget about the topic.

"Hey, bro. Lookin' down all of a sudden, huh?" Grey tapped Will on the back as w e headed back to the table with our cues. "What's up?"

 

"Monique's been acting weird lately. I tried to ask her about the problem, but s he said that if I don't know, then she's not telling me. And I was like, 'what t he hell?' What's that supposed to mean?" Will looked at us questioningly, and Gr ey and I just shrugged.

"Women," we three said in unison as we rolled our eyes.

Grey slammed his hands on my shoulder and Will's and said, "Since you two have w omen problems, maybe you should just get drunk and let the day pass."

Laughing, Will punched him in the chest and went ahead of us to join the others at the billiard table.

"Huh, right," I grunted at Grey, who was casually applying chalk to his stick ag ain.

"C'mon, bro. Still thinking of that Erik dude as competition, huh? What do you s ay we beat the shit out of him?" When he said it, he meant it seriously-Grey was the juiced-up jock of our gang, and he was always up for matches, especially wh en it came to helping his pals. Lucky for him, he still managed to keep up his c lean status, thanks to his crafty strategies and his spot on the football team.

"Nah, forget it. He's not worth the trouble," I said, watching the pool balls sh oot into the pockets. Clark thrust a fist into the air at his success. "Let's ju st see how everything plays out later on."

"It's your choice," I heard Grey said at my side. "But mind you, if this continu es, she'll be snatched up by the other guy."

I raised my eyebrow at him and bobbed my head, considering his words.

He turned his eyes on me as he flashed a smirk. "You only got three choices, T: give up, give in, or give it all you've got."