cover above made by malikahsadia

ღ Finding Cinderella- 36 ღ

-Kylie-

I slammed my back on the front door, clutching my chest and gasping for air. My heart was beating so hard that I could even feel the pain in my throat.

I had kissed Tristan on the cheek.

Oh my God.

Okay, it might have only been on the cheek, but still...

I covered my face with my hands and squealed. Then, realizing that I was acting like a little girl, I quickly inhaled through my nose and exhaled slowly through my mouth.

Raking my fingers through my hair, I shut my eyes and tried to collect myself. The scene kept replaying in my head like a broken record. The entire day with Tristan had felt perfect, and I simply had gotten the urge to kiss him. His reaction was something I couldn't decipher correctly: shocked? Confused? Horrified? Weirded out? He had seemed like he was going to say something, but I had scurried away before he could speak.

Good job, hormones. How was I supposed to act around him the next time I saw him? What should I say? Should I pretend I hit my head or something, and I got amnesia?

Before I could ponder further, I heard a car pulling up, a door slam, and footsteps coming toward the porch. Lacey and Clark were back. And it seemed they were whispering intimately to each other since I couldn't hear anything for the next few seconds.

Deciding to give them privacy (and to save myself from the awkwardness), I proceeded to the stairs, but then the front door opened, making me look back. Lacey sauntered in and shut the door, a dreamy smile taking up her entire face.

"Hey," I said, walking toward her. "How was it?"

"It was perfect!" she gushed. She turned to the window and slid the curtain a little bit to watch his car roll away. "Clark was so nice even though I was painfully awkward and quiet most of the time."

"I'm glad it went well for you."

She spun back to me. "I guess you enjoyed your date as much as I did, correct?"

Crap. They really had seen us back there. I wanted to lie, or deny, or fire a savage comeback, but the idea machine that I called my brain had malfunctioned from the kiss, so I could only press my lips together, and do a half shrug of my shoulders and a half shake of my head.

"Don't deny it. You have that happy glow around you," said Lacey, making circular motions with her hand.

"Girls?" Mom called from upstairs.

"Yes?"

Mom, who was in her robe, descended into the living room. "Did you two have fun?" she asked.

"Yup," Lacey answered. I kept silent.

Mom stared at me before making a smile. "Kylie, Lois told me that you and Tristan went out. Why didn't you tell me about it sooner? I could have prepared pretty clothes for you."

"Oh Mom, no, please," I groaned.

"What? It's important to dress well on a first date."

"Mom, you know I only dress up when there's a funeral. And it wasn't exactly a date. We just... biked around," I replied. I couldn't tell her that we had been spying on my sister. "We're not dating. Not at all."

Lacey raised her eyebrow. "Suuure."

I sent her a 'shut up' look.

"Well, at least you two are getting along just fine," Mom said. "It's better than to hear you shouting at each other. Oh Kylie, you don't know how happy it makes me and, no doubt, his mother, too."

"All right," I said with a huff and faked an amused smile. "It's been a nice chat, everybody. I'm going to take a bath. Please don't talk to me for the next 12 hours. I'm tired. Goodnight."

They only exchanged looks that seemed to contain a lot of meaning, and I marched upstairs before they could say anything.

A few moments later, I found myself relaxing in a nice and hot bubble bath. As I watched the steam rise from the surface of the water, I ran through the events of the day in my head.

It hadn't been exactly a date, and it hadn't been not-a-date either, but... even though I was still a little resentful that I was feeling this way, I wouldn't mind if we went on a (kind of) date again.

ღ

On Monday, I decided to ride the bus all because I wasn't prepared to face Tristan early in the morning. Clark was picking Lacey up, and I believed it was going to be a regular thing for them from now on. Time for my solo travel, then. Yay! Not.

When I got to my homeroom, Julianne was in her seat, reading a book. I dropped my bag on the floor, and she turned to face me, placing her arm on the back of her chair.

"Don't trust Ronnie," was the first thing she said. No preamble.

I crumpled my eyebrows. "Wow, says the person who almost looks like her." I gestured to the clothes I didn't think she'd ever wear at school—denim jacket, skirt, and heeled shoes. "It still baffles me to this day how you girls are not dress coded."

"There's a loophole in the system. Ronnie pointed it out to me."

What the hell? She didn't want me to trust Ronnie, but she had just referenced her as if she was a role model. "Hey, don't get mad at me for saying this, but Jules... I feel like you're riding on Ronnie's coattails. Are you?" I asked carefully.

"Am I? Yeah," Julianne admitted in a quiet voice. "It's not like I wanted to abandon my friendship with you and Lacey, but having a super popular girl in our group felt novel for me, and I wanted to see what it's like on top of the food chain—not exactly upraise my social standing, but just to see. Well, Ronnie may not be at the topmost anymore because of, you know, Fiona, but she's still the head cheerleader. Still has a reputation. So, I made an investigation."

I was still baffled as hell, so I decided to dig further into her head. "And... what did you discover from it?"

"Well, aside from the fact that she always wants to look good in public and that she interacts with a lot of people, nothing much. Fun, sure, but it gets tiring fast." Julianne scowled. "And what happened at the mall gave me a wake-up call that I should stop hanging out with her."

I managed a laugh.

"Seriously, she has a strong streak of crazy in her, Ky. I'm telling you, she was livid when she wasn't able to find T, and she started murmuring some shit I couldn't understand. I tried to appease her with a soft serve ice cream, but it didn't work. She threw it in the trash after a few bites."

My eyes popped. "Who does that?"

"I know! I was like, 'It was Dairy Queen, Ronnie. Are you insane?' But I didn't tell her that. I didn't want to have my head cut off."

I almost snorted over that. "Aren't you exaggerating?"

"No, Kylie. Really. Watch out for her. She's crazy." Julianne locked her eyes on me, trying to get me to be serious.

"Okay, I'll be careful," I conceded, as I was clearly aware of the "crazy" Ronnie was hiding. I was starting to wonder who was scarier: her or Fiona?

Julianne twisted her mouth into a crooked grin. "Anyway, how was your weekend with Tristan?"

I tried to fight back a smile. "It was okay."

"Okay, my ass. Something major happened, right? It's written all over your face."

I licked my chapped lips. Could I stop her from probing for answers? Nope.

"I..." I sucked in a breath. "I forgot. I have amnesia."

Julianne slapped my arm, and I held back a laugh. "Come on, give me the details."

"Can I tell you later? I... have to get a hold of myself first."

"Ooh, must be something scandalous, huh?" She wiggled her eyebrows. "All right, I'll wait. But you really have to spill it or I swear I'll haunt you in your dreams."

ღ

In English class, Ronnie's chair was empty, and her absence had given me a little more room to breathe. I felt bad for feeling relieved that she was absent because she could be sick or could be going through something bad. Not that I was wishing the worst for her, but I really just didn't want to deal with her at present.

As for Tristan, he and I didn't talk throughout the class, much less look at each other. It was a good thing, considering that I couldn't look at him without my heart jumping and my lungs running out of air and me wanting to hold him closer and nuzzle my head into his neck. But I could swear I saw him peeking at me occasionally and wearing a 'please notice me' face.

God. Fucking. Dammit.

I had sworn not to feel too strongly for him, but here I was, unable to keep my emotions under control.

Therefore, when lunchtime came, with my cheeks aflame and a deep frown on my forehead, I finally said, "That Saturday night... I kissed him."

Lacey's forkful of baked chicken stopped halfway to her mouth, and her jaw slackened so much I was surprised I didn't hear it hit the floor. At the same time, Julianne let out a shriek that prompted several students from other tables to look at us. Horrified, I shushed her, and she covered her mouth with her hands.

"Oh my God, sis, you did what?" Lacey asked, her words coming out in a shrill squeak.

"I can't believe it!" Julianne was fanning herself as if she had just eaten a chili pepper. "Like, you kissed him on the mouth, seriously?"

"Oh gosh, no." I grimaced, shaking my head. "It was on the cheek, okay? On the cheek."

All at once, her fanning stopped. And her face fell. "Oh... that was pretty anticlimactic. You should've just aimed for his mouth," she said, to which Lacey nodded eagerly.

"Why in the world would I do that?" I asked with another grimace... although that made me wonder what would have happened if Tristan had turned his head at the very last second, and our lips collided instead.

The thought sent electricity down my spine.

Julianne gave a short chuckle. "That's cute, Kylie." She put her hands under her chin and said with a scheming smile, "You like him, don't you? That's why you kissed him?"

"It was all an impulse," I argued, scowling. Logically, though, it wouldn't have been an impulse if there hadn't been a feeling that triggered it, so I murmured almost incoherently, "But... I guess, yeah."

Lacey and Julianne leaned forward, their eyes turning to slits. "What?" they chorused.

I closed my eyes. Sweat was forming on my scalp. Dammit, I guess this is it. I glanced from side to side, making sure no outsider was eavesdropping. After taking a lungful of air, I spilled the words in just one breath: "Fine, I like him. I like Tristan. Romantically. And it's probably more than like. There, I said it. Can I jump off a bridge now?"

For a moment there was silence as if the shock had stolen their voices. Then the stillness broke when Lacey made a sound that was nearly similar to a dog's whine, her face contorting like she was going to cry.

"Kylie, I'm so proud of you!" she squealed, totally missing my death wish. "I never thought I'd actually hear you admit it out loud. Oh, this is such a beautiful day!" She did a mini happy dance in her seat.

"I think we should celebrate it every year. Light candles and pray for her soul to love and trust with abundance," Julianne remarked with a goofy grin.

I buried my red-hot face in my hands. "God, this is so weird. This is all so fucking weird."

"Why?" asked Lacey.

"Ah, it's probably because they used to be, like, mortal enemies, and now she's head over heels for him," was Julianne's amused response.

"It's weird? I don't think it is." Lacey's voice was brimming with innocence. "I mean, I saw how chummy they were in the past—and by past, I mean their pre-mortal enemies phase—so I kind of expected for one of them to fall for the other eventually... despite their disagreements."

"You're reading too many books," the other said, which made Lacey laugh.

"But really, it all seemed natural to me. The only thing I didn't expect was for Kylie to say it loudly, knowing how stubborn she is. Oh, and for her to actually kiss him first. That was too cute for words!"

"Hey, stop talking like I'm not here," I griped and rubbed my face with my hands, trying to recover from embarrassment.

"Well, weird or not, you can't un-realize what you've realized, and you can't deny it anymore either," Julianne said. "So, what are you gonna do?"

"Jump off a bridge," I deadpanned.

"Oh, enough, you Wednesday Addams. Postpone your death wishes until you have confessed to him."

"Not doing it," I muttered and began tugging the loose thread at the hem of my shirt.

"You're not gonna tell him? Why, you scared? What happened to the gutsy Kylie earlier?" There was humor in Julianne's tone, but it didn't amuse me.

Because truthfully, I was scared.

Not just of confessing, but...

"Sis, what is it?"

I moved my gaze up and met Lacey's quizzical look.

"What is it that troubles you?"

I shifted in my chair, crossing and uncrossing my legs, to try a comfortable position, but even so, it didn't ease my mind.

"I'm getting deeply attached to him, and I don't like it," I answered with a touch of annoyance. Annoyed that I couldn't keep up my tough exterior.

"Trust issues?" Julianne asked.

"Something like that."

"Is it because of his, uh, past record? Him having a long string of ex-girlfriends?"

"That's part of the reason, but not the only reason."

They exchanged looks at that, Julianne doing some weird movements with her mouth as if she didn't know what else to ask me. Then Lacey made a small sympathetic smile. For a second there, it felt like she was the older sister instead of me.

"I guess Kylie has been a tough cookie all her life to protect me that she doesn't want people to break her defenses."

Her observation hit the mark, but it didn't surprise me. Sibling telepathy was such a magical phenomenon.

"Think about it, isn't it scary?" I said. "Getting close to someone will most likely lead you to open up to them. And just the idea of letting that person know your entire character and see the parts of you that you don't let anyone else see is... is frightening." I swallowed a lump in my throat "I'm just saying this because I think that if they knew everything about you, they might not be able to handle it. They wouldn't stick around. They'd drop you. And then you'd lose the safe balance you have created for yourself."

I couldn't believe those words had come from my mouth.

"I see what you mean..." Lacey said, seemingly unsure how to respond. "I don't have a lot of experience, so I don't know what advice to give you..."

"It's okay," I said. She had a tendency to carry people's problems on her shoulders, and I didn't want her to stress herself like that.

"...but there's always that risk of vulnerability, and I think that's what makes you truly connect with someone. If you shut yourself off from it because of the fear of getting hurt, then it's like you're denying yourself the opportunity to feel joy and closeness and... and to feel alive."

By the time she finished talking, Julianne and I were gaping at her. It was already a given that Lacey was the most optimistic, most insightful person out of us three, but there was something about the way she spoke that never failed to astonish us.

Julianne was the first one to break from the trance. "Yeah, I guess in short, if you don't tell him how you feel, you're gonna die single and lonely."

That caused me to titter. I wasn't sure if she was trying to make a joke, but everyone had gone too pensive and serious that it was surreal, and it was starting to amuse me.

I might have a few screws loose.

"Hey, I'm serious," Julianne said, but I could see her holding back a giggle. "Even though you have worries, it seems like such a waste not to confess to him directly. Besides, if you don't take any action, another girl might show up and snatch your prince away."

Lacey narrowed her eyes, thinking hard. "Hmm, is that so? T's too hung up on her to notice anyone else."

I buried my face in my hands again. "Ugh, talking like this with you guys... it's weird."

"I love it." Julianne chuckled. "This is my first time seeing you agonize over liking a guy."

"This didn't happen with Erik, right?" Lacey inquired.

"This never happened with Erik."

Speaking of the guy, I still needed to settle something with him. The only time I would be able to talk to him was when we both happened to meet in the hallways or in the trail leading to the garden shed, but we would only have small talks. Something was probably keeping him busy.

The necklace he had given to me on our not-a-date date was still in my possession—I hadn't worn it recently; I'd only been keeping it in a case—and perhaps it was about time to return it to him and tell him to pursue someone else.

Whoa. That made everything official. I didn't like Erik. I liked Tristan.

And it felt like a nightmare and a dream happening all at once.

author's note:

if you want to make fan art, covers, and other media for this book, please feel free to do so. i'll be happy to feature them in a chapter and give you a shout-out.