ღ Finding Cinderella- 24 ღ

-Tristan-

Three words, eight letters, one regret.

I miss her.

I didn't know how long it had been since we'd faced each other, but it felt like ages. I tried to tell myself to forget about her and let everything go, but I couldn't. She was all I could think about, no matter where I was or what I was doing. This heavy feeling caused me a lot of trouble getting to sleep, but I had to bury it deep and go on with my day.

Twirling my keys between my fingers, I headed downstairs and caught a sweet scent. I walked into the kitchen and saw Mom arranging her newly baked mango tarts on a tray. From the ecstatic look on her face, I could tell she was in a good mood, and that was good timing for me.

I knocked on the doorframe and said, "Hey, Mom, I'm gonna go to Jack's with my friends, okay?"

A curly strand of black hair fell to the side of her face as she lifted her head to me. "Just no drinking, Tristan."

I raised a hand. "Rest assured, it's alcohol-free, no-smoking pool hall. And I don't drink." Okay, that one was a half lie because I did drink at parties, but I'd never been a heavy drinker. I kept myself sober at all times.

Mom raised her eyebrow and nodded. "Okay. Just be back before dinner," she said, taking a roll of aluminum foil out of the box. "Your father's coming home tonight."

I grinned at the news. I hadn't seen Dad for almost two weeks because he'd been staying in Massachusetts for fieldwork. He was that much of a workaholic.

"Sure. Thanks, Mom." I kissed the top of her head and tried to take one of her homemade pastries from the tray, but she lightly slapped my wrist, and I shook my hand, mock hurt. "Hey, why can't I get one?"

"Because it's not for you. It's for Emilie," she said and began wrapping foil around the top of the tray. I gulped when I heard the name of Kylie's mother, knowing where this was going. "Oh, right. Since you're going outside, take this to them."

"Uh. Can't." I waved a hand, taking a step away. "I'm in a hurry. My friends are waiting for me."

"Please, Tristan." She rolled her eyes as she wiped her hands on her apron. "It's not like you're going to spend ten minutes on giving this to our neighbor."

"Mom, it's just—this is just bad timing, okay? I'm not going there."

"What?" She put a hand on her hip and scrutinized me. "Oh, don't tell me you and Kylie got in a fight again?"

I shrugged, avoiding her gaze.

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

"Mom!" I exclaimed. "What the heck?" Grandchildren? Jesus.

Mom's smile sent me chills. Damn, this had turned into a weird conversation. I needed to leave.

"Uh, gotta bounce."

"Hold on, Tristan. You're forgetting something." She lifted the tray off the counter and passed it to me. I opened my mouth to complain, but she cut me off. "Now, give this to them and make sure to reconcile with Kylie while you're at it. I know you two have done something wrong, so you should be willing to admit it and apologize. Be mature and responsible."

"But Mom—"

"No buts," she said sternly. "I'm your mother, Tristan. Your argument is invalid."

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

Shaking my head, I walked out of the house with the tray in hand. Now, how was I supposed to do this? I might have been given a second chance to say what I wanted to say to Kylie, but I was afraid I might end up tongue-tied again. Maybe I could just leave the tray on their porch, ring the doorbell, and fly to my car like a damn game of ding-dong ditch.

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

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

"T, where the hell are you? Everyone's been wondering when you're gonna get here," Grey said, the connection getting choppy.

"Sorry, man, but I'm gonna be a few minutes late."

A series of crashing sounds followed and I heard Ryo shout something in the background. I figured they were playing arcade games.

"Is there a problem?" asked Grey.

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

"Aren't you an expert in that field? Just sweet-talk her, man, like you always do."

"Get real. You know you can't sweet-talk Kylie or else you'll earn a slap in the face," I answered.

He guffawed. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just do it already and get here fast. You're missing a lot of stuff!"

"Yeah." With a grunt, I hung up and proceeded with my mission, my mind buzzing with thoughts of what to say to her.

Before I knew it, I was standing in the same place where we had last argued. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath before pressing the doorbell.

A minute later, the door clicked open.

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

Kylie was in front of me. Her face was still as grim as the last time. She was still wearing the necklace from Erik. My guts flipped with dread at the sight of it.

"Hi," I said under my breath, trying to avoid her hard glare.

We only stood in an uncomfortable silence until I blurted out, "Oh, uh, Mom wants to give this to you."

I handed the tray to her, and she reluctantly grabbed it. The moment her fingers accidentally brushed mine, she recoiled. I couldn't help but smile in my head. Her jumpy nature still amused me as much as ever.

Lowering her head as though embarrassed, Kylie murmured something I couldn't hear. I was going to ask what it was, but I felt a tremor in my throat. Still looking at the ground, she turned away and—

Bonk!

She hit her head on the doorframe.

"Aw!" she hissed.

"Are you okay?" I asked. This girl was such an accident magnet.

Still, I was ignored. Kylie slammed the door in my face just the same as last time, and I stood outside, waiting to see if anything was gonna happen like the loser I was. Nothing. I wished she had at least given me her typical scowl so I would know she still acknowledged my existence.

I miss you so fucking much, Kylie. I hope you know that.

With a sigh, I headed over to the car that I'd parked in front of my house, but I stopped when I heard a voice calling my name from behind. I turned around and saw Lacey running toward me.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey. How are you?" she said, "I haven't heard any news from you since, you know, that day. So, have you told Kylie yet?" Her eyes lit up with anticipation.

"How was I supposed to tell her if she wouldn't listen to me in the first place?" I replied. "Additionally, I couldn't make a move when someone got her wrapped around his finger."

She let out a small laugh. "Jeez. This is just like the book I read in which the girl is torn between two suitors with drastically conflicting personalities."

I snorted. "I kind of disagree. Kylie has already placed me on her list of rejects."

"That's so not like you to belittle yourself like that. Stop it and tell her outright."

"Yeah... Maybe not right now," I said. "I have to meet with the guys at Jack's. Wanna come? Clark's there."

Lacey blushed right away, and I chuckled. She was still crushing on him even though she had turned him down. The poor guy. Wait, who was I to laugh? I was heading toward the same direction where Clark was currently stuck.

"LACEY!"

She and I turned when we heard Kylie shriek from their porch. Her face was scrunched up with annoyance, but she wasn't looking in my direction as I wasn't there.

Lacey gave me an apologetic smile before jogging her way back to their house.

I entered the car, deflated. I hoped Kylie didn't think I hated her. It was funny how she seemed so close, yet so damn far. Perhaps teleportation would come in handy nowadays.

ღ

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

There were about a dozen pool tables or so, and the last table was where I found my friends.

I nodded. "Hey."

"You're finally here." Clark tossed me a cue stick. "Let's start the game now."

"Wait, I got a call." Will gestured at his phone and rushed outside.

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

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

"And for booze later, too," Justin added and the rest hooted their agreement.    

"Cheapskates," I said, but they just laughed. "Whatever, you go play first. I'm just gonna chill for a bit." I sat on the couch in the corner. They exchanged questioning looks before kicking off the game.

Grey walked toward me, applying chalk to the tip of his cue. "So, how did the talk with her go?"

"There was no talk. She's still avoiding me like the plague."

"Well, well. Seems like you need medicine for that." He grabbed the black backpack on the couch and unzipped it, revealing a water bottle inside. "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 again.

"What? Alcohol is the best medicine out there, you know? Except for treating diarrhea. You might as well drink that once per day."

"Yeah, no thanks. I don't need this." I shoved the bottle back in the bag. "Really, man, I'm being serious here."

He chuckled. "You're so fucking weird. It's just Kylie, T." He studied my deadpan face, and his smile fell. "Shit, let me guess. You asked her out but you got rejected, is that what happened?"

"No, no. I didn't ask her out. We had a fight. It was the worst one. She rejected my entire existence."

Grey gritted his teeth. "Ow. But you can't keep yourself stuck on her, man. You got Cinderella, right? Weren't you crazy about her?"

"They're the same person," I droned.

His eyebrows knitted as he stared at me. "What?"

"The mysterious girl had been Kylie. Her sister told me the truth."

"Holy shit. That has shed a lot of light for me." He put the cue stick aside and joined me on the couch. "Dude, this may be a cliché but there are plenty more fish in the sea, right?"

"But she's my fish," I said.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "God. You did not just say that."

"But she took someone else's bait," I said, my jaw getting tense.

"Erik? That guy who you want to beat to a pulp? He seemed like a fairly nice guy. Kylie must've liked that side of his better than yours."

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

"Why, what did he do?"

A memory came to mind, and I looked at Grey dead in the eye. "Erik's actually—"

"What are you guys doing here?" Will asked, walking toward us. "Aren't you gonna play?"

Grey lifted his eyebrow at me, and I shook my head, denoting to forget about the topic. He stood up and patted Will on the back.

"Dude, what's with the long face? Your girl giving you a hard time, too?"

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

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

Grey stepped between Will and me and slung his arms over our shoulders. "Since you two got women problems, why don't we just get drunk and let the day pass?"

Laughing, Will gave him a quick wave and went to join the others at the pool table while I gave Grey a weird look and let out a humorless snort. He'd never been serious about a girl that's why he treated this kind of matter so casually.

"Still thinking of that Erik guy as competition? What do you say we all corner him and beat the shit out of him?" If he said it, he meant it. Grey was the juiced-up jock of our gang, and he was willing to go to great lengths if it meant helping his friends. Lucky for him, he still managed to keep his record clean, thanks to his crafty strategies and his spot on the football team.

"Forget it. He's not worth the trouble," I said, watching the pool balls shoot into the pockets. Clark thrust a fist into the air at his success. "Let's just see how everything plays out later on."

"Your choice. But mind you, if this continues, she'll be taken by the other guy."

I bobbed my head, considering his words.

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