covers above made by a friend

ღ Finding Cinderella- 29 ღ

-Kylie-

As soon as he arrived, Mr. Cross began to pass around the test questionnaires, and everyone in the class lamented. The big problem was that he was not afraid to give failing grades to his students. There was no way I would let some tyrannical teacher hamper my path to getting into med school.

The questionnaire reached my table, and as Mr. Cross passed by, he gave me a look as if to say, good luck, Harris. Last time, I had managed to get a miraculous C, and if I could get a C-plus or a B this time, I would probably cry a bucket of happy tears.

I scanned the paper and my eyes almost sprang out of their sockets. What the hell? I studied the entire syllabus the night before and even crammed Tristan's detailed notes a few minutes ago, but I couldn't remember if Mr. Cross had lectured all this stuff.

Someone from the back complained about it, but Mr. Cross interjected, "What's the matter, Mr. Oliver? The test only covers what we discussed two weeks ago. If you've paid attention in class, you should do well on this test."

"Psh. I can't even remember what I did yesterday," a girl muttered at my side. She was possibly the only person who was more clueless about this subject than I was since all she did was texting under her desk during lectures.

Sweat rolled down my forehead. I skimmed the questions again, trying to recall what I had studied. Eventually, I grabbed my pencil, started to jot down my answers, and hoped for the best.

-Tristan-

After school. Clark, Will, and I found ourselves sitting in the same classroom again. There was another person sitting behind us: a girl who was chewing her nails endlessly and scanning the room as if she was trying to find an escape. All of us were trying to find an escape.

Mr. Cross didn't give his students a simple task as punishment. He wouldn't assign us an essay to write or just let us sit in silence. Instead, he would give us a problem set that we had to solve, and the answers had to be correct; otherwise, we'd have to stay for one hour until we got them right.

He passed out the questionnaires and said, "Don't even think of cheating. I'll know," before walking out of the room to chat with another teacher. They stood by the open door, their figures visible through the narrow gap.

Clark cursed under his breath as he looked at the paper. "I don't think I've seen these numbers my whole life."

Without breaking a sweat, I began to answer. Heh. Thanks to my Dad for lending me his books. Math was simply a breeze for me.

Not even two minutes had passed when someone threw a crumpled paper ball at me. I twisted my head around to see Will leaning over his desk and craning his neck. We were prohibited to sit close to each other to prevent cheating, but that didn't really stop anyone.

"Dude, make your writing bigger. I can't see it," Will hissed.

"Did I say you could copy off me?" I hissed back.

"T, come on. I gotta get out of here fast. I got a date with Monique, and I'm not gonna miss it on account of this stupid test!"

Same, dude.

"Do you have the answer to number four?" I heard Clark ask.

"Google that shit, man. I'm as clueless as you," Will shot back. "C'mon, T. Just give us some."

"It's just about derivatives. We tackled it before," I said.

"Son, stop speaking in tongues."

Rolling my eyes, I picked up the crumpled paper, smoothed it out, and wrote some answers. I looked at the door again, making sure Mr. Cross wasn't peeking, before throwing back the paper at them.

"Get good, you boneheads," I said.

They scrambled out of their seats to catch it, laughing their asses off.

Everyone settled down when Mr. Cross entered the room and reclined in his chair like a king on his throne, a smug look on his face. But that look soon fell when I grabbed my backpack and headed to the front, handing him my paper. I could hear my friends muttering profanities behind my back.

Mr. Cross gave me a hard look before examining my answers.

"Have you picked out a school, Mr. Hartford?" he asked.

"I don't need to sweat it out, sir. MIT has always been my top choice," I told him.

"But are you certain you're going to be their choice?" His tone was challenging me.

I cocked my head to the side. "Come on, Mr. Cross. Why would I doubt that? I learned from the best." The best, meaning my Dad, but I made it sound like I was referring to him to gain his favor and let me get out of this room.

He arched a gray eyebrow. "Flattery may get you anywhere, Mr. Hartford, but a good work ethic is still a must."

"I was only late once."

"Twice. One was in November."

What? I couldn't recall my first tardiness, but I didn't let it bother me. Kylie must be getting tired of waiting for me at the coffee shop, and this old man in his stiff-looking brown suit was deliberately keeping me here.

"Okay, but I had answered your test perfectly as I did just now, right?" I said impatiently.

Mr. Cross looked at my answers again and made a tight smile. "You're dismissed."

"WHAT!" Clark and Will hollered. I was surprised that they'd been eavesdropping.

It was my turn to put on a smug look as I marched out of the room, determined that no one was going to mess this afternoon.

ღ

Maybe except Kylie.

She had insisted on inviting her friends, ruining my plan to make this as a surprise date. Never mind. I couldn't really say no to her.

As I pushed through the glass doors of Crest, I spotted Lacey waving her hands in the air at the table in the corner.

"Speaking of the devil, Kylie! Here he comes!" I heard Julianne squeal as I drew closer.

She and Lacey were occupying one side of the table, and they beckoned me to sit in the space beside Kylie. I grinned. I knew these girls had a trick up their sleeves.

When I sat, Kylie inched away, trying not to make contact even with the fabric of my shirt. She didn't turn her head to acknowledge me when I said, "Hey, Kyles."

"So, how was detention with Mr. Cross, T?" Julianne dropped the question suddenly that I was caught off guard.

That made Kylie sputter a laugh. "What? Aren't you his favorite student? What did you do to deserve that?"

"I came in late," I answered and asked Julianne, "Who told you about it?"

"Your orangutan friend."

"I'm sorry. Who?"

She blew a strand of her hair and said snappily, "Grey."

I chuckled at what she had called him. If he were here, he'd probably laugh it off and flirt with her right away.

"Did you know? They're working on a physics project together," Kylie remarked with a mischievous tilt of her mouth. "I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up going to prom together, too."

"Hey!" Julianne shrieked, kicking her under the table.

Kylie snickered. "Now you know how I feel."

"I can see a pattern," Lacey mused, and Julianne shot her a glare.

"All right, all right." I waved a hand to settle them down. "Let's talk about it after we place our orders. What do you girls want to have?"

Julianne looked at the chalkboard menu above the counter and glanced down at her wristwatch. "Oh, wait!" she suddenly gasped, her eyes bulging. "I totally forgot about the time! I have to pick up my brother from his piano lesson. Sorry, everyone. I really need to get going." She swiftly stood up, slipping her bag over her shoulder.

A look of terror clouded Kylie's eyes. "What the—"

"See you tomorrow! Have fun, Kylie!" Winking, Julianne blew her a goodbye kiss and dashed out of the café before any of us could say anything.

It wasn't long before Lacey stood up from her seat, too, announcing, "Oh, I have to leave now, too!"

"And where do you think you're going?" Color had drained from Kylie's cheeks.

I only stared at them, perplexed. What a sneaky, evil ploy.

"Home," her sister answered.

"We can go home together, Lacey."

"Well, I just remembered that earlier this morning, Mom asked me to do my laundry." Lacey bobbed her head to try to convince Kylie. "So yeah, byeee!" She fluttered her fingers in the air, giggling as she skipped away.

Silence hung in the air until I let out a soft whistle. "Wow, that was... sudden," I commented.

Kylie put a hand on her forehead and stared into space, looking like she was questioning all her life decisions.

"So, uh..." I began. Dammit. Why did I feel awkward? I'd been on so many dates before, but this one felt the most nerve-wracking. Okay, maybe I couldn't exactly call this a date because the feeling was one-sided. Still, I could barely keep my cool.

I was saved when a tall guy with an apron around his waist came to our table.

"Yo, man! Good to see you again here," he said.

I gave him a nod. "Hey, Drew. How's it going?"

"Pretty dandy. Got a truckload of stuff to wrap up in college, but good thing I was able to get away from them for a few days and work here." He glanced at Kylie and smiled. "So, what would you like to have today? We have a new menu that's perfect for couples to share." His voice dropped to a lower octave as he continued, "It's pretty dumb, but the boss insists—"

"Latte. Iced. Regular," Kylie said in a clipped tone.

"Yeah, she's not—we're not what you think we are so we're getting a regular menu," I said to Drew, doing awkward motions with my hand.

He looked confused. "Really? You always come here together so I thought—"

"Yeah, we get that a lot, but we're really not a couple," Kylie replied, eyeing him critically. "He's pretty much like a brother to me."

Upon hearing that, I couldn't help but widen my eyes at her. Not only I'd been placed in friendzone, but I was pushed to brother-zone, too? Fuck. That honestly hurt.

Drew bobbed his head slowly. "Okay, got it. Sorry for my assumption." He read me with sympathy in his eyes as if he wanted to say, damn, sorry to hear that, man. "Anyway, what can I get you?" he asked me.

I told him none, and he strode to the counter. Awkward silence crawled by once again. Kylie began to toy with the small flower decoration on the table while I contemplated what she had said.

"Did you really mean what you said earlier?" I asked. "That I was like... your brother?" That didn't taste good on my tongue.

"I was joking," she said. "I only said that so he'd stop assuming our relationship."

A sigh of relief escaped me. "Thank God," I said before I could stop myself. Kylie gave me a suspicious look, and I thought it was a perfect time to just go and tell her what I felt, so I continued, "Because I'd like us to be—"

"Friends," she added with a nod. "Yup, we're good as friends."

She had no mercy for my heart.

"Right..." I laughed to mask my disappointment. "But it's nicer if we can be more than that," I muttered, mostly to myself.

She blinked at me, and a sneer rested on her lips. "Oh, like best friends? Ask me some other time. I'll sleep on it," she retaliated.

There was no arguing with her.

After a while, Drew came back with her order and I gave him the cash. Kylie and I went out of the café afterward and headed to my car. She tossed her bag in the backseat and climbed into the passenger seat while slurping her drink. I didn't want the day to end like this—almost a failure and anticlimactic—so as I turned on the ignition, I said, "I want to show you something."

"And that is?" she asked over the rumble of the car.

"Remember where we used to hang out as kids?"

I saw a glint of recognition in her eyes, and I took it as a good sign.

Before long, we found ourselves parking at the side of a riverbank. The water looked clear and calm, and it glowed as the afternoon sun hit it. The place was full of huge rocks and thin trees that were starting to bear leaves. From afar was a bridge, where a few small vehicles were passing through.

We trudged a bit further, pebbles and soil grinding beneath our shoes. When we stopped in a clearing, Kylie did a full turn to scan the area, bearing a delighted look on her face. Her shoulders rose and fell as she breathed in the cold breeze.

"It hasn't changed a bit. It's still peaceful and beautiful as I remember," she said with an awed sigh.

I picked up a pebble and tossed it over the water. The pebble skipped three times in a fluid motion before it stopped on the other side of the river. I smiled proudly to myself. That was something I'd been trying to master when I was young.

"We used to pack food and eat them here," Kylie recalled. She picked up a pebble and tried to skip it as I'd done, but the pebble plopped straight into the water. She made a face, and I laughed.

"Every weekend that summer, right?" I replied.

"Every weekend."

"I remember when you fell from a tree because you wanted to return a fallen bird's nest," I said.

"Worth it." A pretty grin wrinkled her eyes. "I saved the bird's home."

"Did you ever tell your mom about it?"

"No, of course. She would've gone ballistic and grounded me if she knew I almost broke my leg."

"That's true. You were limping on our way home so I had to give you a piggyback ride. And you fell asleep on my back."

"I'm remembering everything like it was yesterday." She sat on the rocky ground and fell quiet for a moment as if pondering. "Dang, we were really good friends before we fucked everything up, were we not?" she said and sipped the last of her drink.

I laughed again and sat next to her. "Yeah, we were," I said. We had tried to forget those good memories and warped some of them because our arrogance and prejudices had gotten the best of us. But we'd been kids then, on the cusp of teenage-hood, and perhaps all those bad experiences, all those fights had been meant to be part of growing up.

She lifted her head, and as she gazed at the blue-gray sky, there was wistfulness in her eyes. Watching her gave me a desire to inch closer to her, brush her hair that was touching her lips, and even kiss her. But I was above that. I didn't want to ruin this moment because of these selfish urges.

"Oh, before I forget," Kylie said, breaking the growing silence. "Remind me to return your notes to you later. They really helped me a lot, I gotta say."

"You can have them a little longer if you want," I offered.

"No need. I already copied some of the lessons I missed."

I nodded. "So, how was the test? Did you pass?"

She bit her bottom lip. "Well, I sure hope I did. At the very least, I was able to answer all the questions. It was a miracle, really, that I managed to do that."

"I'm proud of you," I said sincerely.

Her eyes locked on mine as she breathed in, and then, almost hesitantly, she looked away with an embarrassed laugh.

"That's really cheesy, you know? But... do you mean it?" she asked.

"I mean it," I said.

She bit her lip again as a smile threatened to grace her face. "Thanks... even though it's hard for me to believe in myself sometimes. It's good to hear that from you."

Was she flirting? Were we flirting with each other? It was hard to tell. Maybe a little, to keep our talk interesting. Or maybe I was making something out of nothing. What was her definition of flirting, anyway? Her smile widened, and it lit up her face. It was alluring. I couldn't take my eyes off her.

"What? Is there something on my face?" She quickly wiped her mouth with her hand.

Unable to stop myself, I said, "Yeah. That nice smile of yours."

She coughed and looked intently at the river. "So... do you come here often?" she asked. The fact that she was jumping from one subject to another to deflect my advances made me want her more. It was like chasing a damn butterfly that kept flying away every time I tried to catch it.

"Seldom. Last time I went was maybe about a month ago." I threw another pebble into the water.

"What did you do?"

"Just chilled and thought about stuff."

"Let me guess, on how to pick up girls?"

"Yeah, pretty much," I jested.

"Oh my God, please don't tell me you made out with your ex-girlfriends here. That's just..." She shivered as she made a disgusted face.

I shook my head. "No, that never happened. This place is special, and only the women who mean the most to me are allowed to come here."

She sent me an analytical look. "Oh yeah? And how many are they?"

"Two. First is my mom," I said and smiled. "And then, you."

Her mouth dropped open in surprise, and pink color tinted her cheeks. I laughed at her reaction.

"Come on, Kyles. Don't you remember?" I tried to remind her. "I told you long ago that this was our secret hideout. I want this place to remain like that."

-Kylie-

The summer before high school.

It was when everything had started, and the memories that I had repressed rolled back into me as calmly and steadily as the river. I remembered that we had agreed to keep this place a secret from anyone. And I remembered the way my heart had thundered in my chest when I had looked into his stupid gray eyes. I hated to admit that the old feeling was coming back.

"Oh. Yeah. I remember now," I muttered. I didn't know what else to say. My mind was a mess along with my emotions. And I wouldn't be having this dilemma if Lacey and Julianne hadn't ditched me! How could they do that to me?

"I want to ask you something," Tristan said after a moment of silence.

"Okay," I said. Not like I could stop him.

"Are you and Erik dating?"

I stared at him. I didn't expect him to ask that again. "No. We're just friends," I quickly answered. Even if Erik had said that he liked me, I hadn't responded to his confession. Thankfully, he was cool with it. No pressure, no problem.

"Friends?"

"Uh-huh."

"Swear?"

"Gee, Tristan. Do I need to repeat it a million times?" I said with a small chuckle.

"He gave you that necklace, right?" he probed, and my hand automatically flew to my chest where the pendant was.

"Y-yeah, but it's something that you would give to a friend," I explained.

"That night... when we had a fight," he hesitated, "he mentioned that he had a nice date with you. What was all that about?"

"Well, friends can go on friend dates, right?" I said, rolling my eyes at him.

He was quiet, considering, and then he nodded, the frown on his face gradually relaxing.

"Why does it bother you so much?" I couldn't help but ask.

He looked at the ground as if thinking about what he should say. Eventually, he lifted his head and a series of words tumbled from his mouth, coming so fast that I couldn't understand any of them.

My eyebrows furrowed. "Sorry, could you repeat that?"

Tristan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know we're not together or anything, but I hope you won't date anyone else," he stated slowly, placing weight on every word.

My stomach did wild cartwheels again, and I tried to shrug it off by laughing, even though it most likely sounded like a hiccup.

"Didn't you mention this morning that you liked someone? Why don't you tell her that?" I said, failing to keep the tremor from my voice.

He flicked his eyes to me, giving me a profound look that I would bet had dropped a lot of panties, had broken hearts, and had inspired badly-written, highly-dramatic online statuses. What came out of his mouth knocked the air out of me:

"I just did, Kylie."

An electric feeling zipped through my skin, slammed my heart into my rib cage, and made my body tingle. My thoughts swirled in my skull, fast and chaotic, and I suddenly felt lightheaded. The shock and absurdity of it all made a laughter bubble up in my throat. I snapped my fingers at him.

"Ha, good joke! Very funny!" I exclaimed and swallowed. "I need to go home now."

"Kylie—"

I immediately stood up and patted the dust off my pants. "Look, it's... it's getting dark already. And I'm starting to feel cold," I stammered.

Without looking at me, he nodded. "Okay. Let's go home," he said in a small voice.

I couldn't stop myself from fidgeting in my seat as we went. I kept my attention to the car window the whole time because looking at him was making my pulse race, and I couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you mad?" Tristan asked quietly, making me flinch.

I only gave him a subtle shake of my head. The car was dead silent again. I wasn't mad at him. I was mad at me.

Finally, after what felt like an endless drive, I bolted to my house without looking back and without saying a word to him. In the living room, Lacey was having a video chat with someone. When I stopped in front of her, she looked up from her phone with an expectant grin on her lips.

Trying to catch my breath, I lifted a finger and said, "You'd better explain what happened back there."

"Uh-oh." She shoved her phone in her face and babbled, "Jules, she's here. And I think we should call 911 because she's freaking out pretty bad."

Julianne's high-pitched cackle rang out from the phone.

"You guys are making me hate you. It's not funny at all!" I yelled as I stomped to my bedroom. I tossed my bag onto the chair and pulled all the blinds close before throwing myself into the bed. English, economics, and math assignments could wait. I had a bigger issue than those.

Tristan liked me. Tristan liked me?

He could've been joking, right? He must be. Oh, dear God, if You're out there, please tell me it was a joke.

I pressed a pillow on my face and let out a groan. My face felt so uncomfortably hot, and the queasy sensation in my stomach was making me want to puke.

I put away the pillow and heaved a loud sigh.

"You damn idiot," I said to myself. "You're not supposed to feel like this."