Chapter 23 - Under Control

I’ve been thinking of what Harry told me, or to be precise, I’ve been thinking of our conversation. It’s stupid to keep denying that I do fancy Niall, and I fancy him a lot. However, he is obsessed with Cinderella. But there’s something I can do, it is still very cliché, but it’s not what Harry suggested. I don’t know if this will make him suddenly realise it’s me who he’s been waiting for his whole life —yes, I’m being a sarcastic and dramatic idiot—, but at least it will give me some peace of mind, knowing that he won’t go looking for Cinderella anymore.

So this is my plan: I’ll write him a letter as Cinderella, asking him to stop looking for me. That what happened at the ball was a huge mistake from my part and from his. I’ll tell him that I don’t want to be found and that instead of searching for someone who is hiding from him, he should use this time to relax and forget about all his problems.

And if that doesn’t make him stop, then I just quit. I’m asking him to stop very politely and without breaking his heart or anything like that. I’m being nice!  I could easily write him a letter telling him that I really don’t like him, that it was the worst kiss of my life and begging him to please leave me alone. That would be mean.

So when I’m cleaning Niall’s room in the morning, I make sure to leave the letter on his bed, a spot where he’ll surely find it. And then I leave, smiling, sure that this will work. I even run into Harry later and he notices the difference in my mood.

“Hey, you look a lot happier. Tell me that my idiot friend opened his eyes,” Harry says and I chuckle, shaking my head.

“No, but I’ve taken control of the situation, so I hope things will stop soon.”

“Stop?” He asks and I wave my hand dismissively. “What did you do, Ella?”

“Shh, everything is under control. Now go and seduce women with your moth tattoo by the pool, Moth Guy,” I tell him, making him laugh, before I walk past him, with the smile still on my lips.

I’m sure I did the right thing.

But then, before dinner, I’m helping in the laundry room when Cami comes in running, her long brown hair in a tight ponytail bouncing behind her as she smiles widely at me. Once she is next to me, she stops and takes my hands and I can feel her excitement.

“A guest is looking for you! He asked me if I had seen you and I told him yes and I came for you! He’s outside, waiting for you,” she tells me excitedly, her smile so wide that I don’t understand why that would make her happy.

If a guest is looking for me it’s probably to complain. Maybe something got lost in their room and he or she will blame me. Oh joy, time to live another humiliating moment in my life.

Groaning, I let go of Cami and walk out of the laundry room, getting ready for a lecture and all the insults I’ve already heard before. But when I walk outside I find Niall waiting, with a big smile. My heart stops for a second before it races dangerously in my chest, making me shiver. Why is he here? Looking for me? Smiling like that? I start to get really nervous because I really don’t know what to expect. I feel Cami at my back and I feel her bubbling excitement before she just runs away, giggling? I’m not sure.

“Niall, do you need me for something?” I ask, forcing my voice to sound calm.

“I just couldn’t wait until night to tell you this. Sorry, I hope I won’t cause you any trouble with this,” he says and I shake my head. If Cami is the only one who knows about this, then I’ll be fine. She’s a great girl and hates Rhonda, too. All employees hate Rhonda at some level.

“What happened?” I ask, my heart still beating like a horse in a race, and when Niall’s smile gets wider as he steps closer, I almost have a heart attack.

“I found her,” he says and I blink, my face frozen, my body frozen, confusion taking over me.

“H-her?” I ask and Niall nods excitedly, his smile even wider.

“Yes! I found my Cinderella girl. I’m sure this time.”

I blink again, repeatedly, so shocked and confused that I can’t utter a word. No, he didn’t find her, I’m here, he hasn’t told me anything, he hasn't made me try the mask. I wrote him a letter telling him to stop looking for me! What’s going on? He didn’t find me!

I start to breathe heavily, a frown appearing on my forehead. “Are you— are you sure?” I ask, because I can’t believe this. He can’t be that oblivious. I don’t believe he actually thinks that another girl is me. He can’t be that stupid.

“I’m a hundred per cent sure. Maybe a hundred and ten per cent,” he says, his smile confident and the sparkle in his eyes breaks my heart. The pieces fall to the ground because he didn’t find Cinderella, he found another girl.

I never saw this coming.

“And this means… you lost the bet,” he tells me, poking my side but I don’t even react to that. I didn’t lose because he didn’t find the real Cinderella, but I can’t tell him that.

Damn it!

“And that’s why you were looking for me?” I ask and he nods. He wasn’t looking for me because after reading the letter he realised how stupid he’s been. He didn’t want to see me, he just wanted to brag that he found his girl… even though he found the wrong one. “So you have to pay. Embrace your cheesy side!”

To be honest, I just want to go to my room, scream, throw some things at the floor and then eat my feelings while watching Harry Potter. I don’t even want to see him again, because it breaks my heart even more, and now I’ll have to see him with another girl around the centre, being happy, being in love when she is not even the girl from the ball. I hate that girl for pretending to be someone she is not.

“Let’s go!” He hurries me and I shake my head.

“What, now? I have work to do, I can’t,” I protest, relieved that I have an excuse.

“Don’t mind that. I talked to Cami and she’ll cover for you. So come,” he says and takes my hand but I feel like his touch is burning and it breaks my heart even more, so I pull back. “C’mon, it’s gonna be nice and you’ll like it. And I’ll tell you who my Cinderella is.”

I don’t want to know. I don’t. I just want to leave, I don’t even want to see him anymore.

“Come!” He insists, taking my hand again and dragging me away from the laundry room and I don’t know why I don’t fight him.

I feel my eyes burning with angry tears because this isn’t how it was supposed to happen. He should’ve stopped looking for her and everything would be back to normal. He wasn’t supposed to find another girl. He wasn’t supposed to find her at all!

I feel like hitting him, for being stupid and oblivious. He said he felt a connection with her, but that’s just bullshit. I felt a connection, I see the boy of the ball every time I look him in the eyes and he doesn’t realise it’s me, the girl he was looking for. He even thinks it’s another girl! That hurts even more because it means he never felt like he said he did, because if the connection he felt were real, he wouldn’t never think his Cinderella was another girl.

Niall takes me to the stables and I’m about to yell at him for being an idiot when I see Ares and Persephone tacked up, ready to go, and next to Persephone there’s a basket.

“What are you planning, Niall?” I ask and he turns to smile at me brightly, breaking my heart all over again.

How is that even possible?

“We’re gonna go to a special place and we’re gonna have a picnic and we’ll see the sunset and you’ll like it,” he says and I raise my eyebrow, folding my arms. “I’m sorry, that sounded really imposing. Let me rephrase it: and I’m sure you will like it,” he tries again and finishes with a big smile that even with my broken heart I can’t help but reply with one of my own.

“Shouldn’t you be doing this with your Cinderella?” I ask, hating how that sounds.

“I will, when I tell her that I’ve found her,” he says and I arch both of my eyebrows this time making Niall chuckle. “Yeah, I haven’t told her yet, but I’m sure she is the girl I’ve been looking for. Now let’s go. You have to pay.”

“You know, I should ask for a proof that you actually found her. If you’re wrong, you’ll have to pay twice,” I say and he laughs as he helps me to get on Ares.

“I’m sure she’s the girl,” he says and I shake my head. I’ll have to think of another price he’ll have to pay for this, because I’m sure that girl won’t keep the façade for too long, or maybe she doesn’t even know Niall thinks she’s the girl from the ball and when he tells her she won’t understand and I’ll be laughing at him.

Niall gets on Persephone and takes the basket with him and then we trot away from the stables together. I don’t really mind that I’m paying for a bet that I didn’t really lose, I mind that he thinks he found a girl when he hasn’t really. I mind that he’ll be with another girl whilst I’ll be here, watching from afar, with my heart still broken.

I was better off without him, I was fine, I was happy without all this drama. He came into my life and made everything so complicated. All I had to worry was about how many days I had left in this hellhole and now I don’t only have that, but I also have to worry about seeing Niall and another girl when I have strong feelings for him. I hope he won’t want to keep seeing me anymore after this because I can’t take that.

I look at him and he seems so happy as we keep riding. I’m impressed that he’s leading me, but I know this place like the back of my hand, so I know exactly where we are going. I took him there first and it’s my favourite place. I know all the routes.

We finally arrive at the glade and I can’t help the smile from coming to my lips. No matter how much it hurts considering the reason why we are here, this place will always make me happy and calm me down.

Niall then gets off Persephone and puts the basket on the ground before he helps me, although I don’t need his help, but I was caught up contemplating the landscape. I take both horses to the watercourse while he settles everything up and when I turn around to see him, I find a blanket on the ground, the basket at one side and many other things in the middle. Sandwiches, fruits and even some cupcakes. For how long was he preparing this?

“And there’s more food in the basket,” he says when I approach, making me chuckle a bit. “I eat a lot.”

“Well, I hope it’s good then,” I say, taking a seat as far away from him as I can. “And really, white and red?” I ask pointing at the blanket beneath us, and he laughs.

“I told you you’d have to do something super cheesy,” is his answer and I shake my head.

“Cheeseball,” I tell him and he smiles proud, as if I’ve complimented him when I was actually insulting him.

I grab an orange and start to peel it, not looking at him but I feel his eyes on me, examining me and it’s making me uncomfortable. I try to ignore him, but I can’t, so I look up and meet his eyes, ignoring the way my heart is beating.

He found another girl, I tell myself, and that kills my heart all over again.

“So…” I start but I don’t add anything else, because he cuts me off, shocking me with the nature of his question.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

-:-:-:-

Ehehe :p

Dedication to @acupofbubbletea (: 

Bel, xx

NEXT UPDATE: Tuesday