Mr. Davis was working on something when I walked in, and as I collapsed in a chair in front of him, he looked up at me in anger. "I assume you're here because students splattered food all over you?"

"If you just let me explain—" I said, pulling more of the disgusting mess from my jacket.

"I suppose you're going to blame the faeries again?"

"No, I meant—" I started, but he interrupted me mid-sentence.

"If you try that move one last time with me, I'm invoking your prom privileges, and yes, I saw the board and the cafeteria food fight."

"Brennan, Jeremy, and Cece—" I tried again, but Mr. cut me and shot me with an 'I don't care glance as I bowed my head.

"Ms. Hart, I am officially repealing your prom privileges."
"You're not my dad," I mumbled, and I was glad he wasn't. I kept the last part in my head. As I stormed out of the office, Mr. Davis gave me his last words to me.

"You're cleaning up the cafeteria, too." He growled. I turned on my heels to look at him.
"I know. That's where I'm going." I screeched. With that, I was off to the Cafeteria.

✽✽✽

The janitor, Mr. Cannery, glared at me as I entered the cafeteria. My eyes bulged as I stared at the mess, and bile hit the top of my throat, but I quickly swallowed as I looked over at Mr. Cannery.

"So—" I clapped my hands together. Mr. Cannery pointed to a bucket and mop in the middle of the room, and I slowly made my way over.

The bucket smelled like old urine and many other disgusting things as I pulled the mop from the bucket. Vomit, round two, rushed my throat like a gushing volcano, but as I held it down with a sour stomach, someone gripped me from behind, and I turned around as a tiny belch slipped from my lips.

"Geez, don't puke on me, Cinderella. I want to help." Is he supposed to be my Prince Charming? He was adorable sometimes, but nope—a dope on a rope, N.O.P.E, nope. I seriously tried Dr. Seuss.
"Aaron," I squeaked with a minor hiccup. He pulled me in and looked into my eyes, but I yanked my arms away and scrunched my nose quickly.

"Go away, dorkis." I raised my voice. Aaron chuckled, prying the mop from my fingertips as he glanced at the janitor.

"Yo, Mr. Cannery, has anything she can do?" I blushed, chewing on my lower lip.

"Yeah," the janitor spoke, pointing over to his cart. "She can sweep."

"Oh, great." As my shoes squeaked toward the broom, I thought to myself, but Aaron touched my arm as I moved one more inch.

"I'll get it for you," he said, pulling me back. The words I expected to leave my mouth were polite, 'thank you,' but that wasn't how my mind sometimes worked.

"I'm not helpless, you know?" I squealed, pushing forward against his chest as I walked over to retrieve the broom. He sighed, huffing as he shuffled behind, dragging the mop.

"The old Emily Hart I used to know would have said 'thanks' and let a guy help her, but I'm guessing you've changed a lot."

I leaned on the broom, trying to look cool, but it only worsened. "Do we know each other?" I tried, but an alien snorted and left my lips.

"We do?" he said while we went to work. "Well, sort of. I'm Aaron. Aaron Chanson and I used to go to another school together."

"I don't remember you," I spoke, dimming my eyesight with a squint. "What school did you attend?"

"Valvular High. I was the weird kid everyone thought was gay. You know, the one that kissed Jaxton Bennett over a bet?" I snorted again.

So, he was that guy. Did he drink Alice's Drink me potion or something?

"You've finally gotten over them, I see?"

"No," he spoke again. "My father just got a promotion, and we wanted to be closer."

"Oh," is all I could say after that. We were mopping and sweeping and mopping and sweeping, and suddenly, Aaron was close to me as he dropped his mop.

"I want to show you something, Emily." He cooed, taking my broom from my hands. His big blue eyes glanced into my brown eyes, but he spoke again before I could say anything. "Okay, I'm going to teach you how to dance. Ready?" No, the hell he wasn't. Then, I was silent as I watched him work the broom.

"Okay, it's a quick step forward left, step forward with your right, step back with your left, and together. It's simple, but it's the opposite for you. Now it's your turn."

Aaron handed me the broom, and I stared at it as if it were a ghost before he took my hands and guided me. "Step forward with your left, right, step back with your right, and glide together."

I was having so much fun as I moved onto the steps, and a small smile formed on the border of my lips that I had been entirely unaware that we were holding hands.

It was a Beauty and the Beast fairytale moment, except he was the beauty, and I was the beast. As Aaron pulled me close, our feet shuffled across the cafeteria with twists and spins. We turned left, and as we spun right, my foot caught on the mop, and Aaron fell right on top of me onto the floor. Aaron brushed himself off as we rose, and his grin grew wider.

"Well, that was fucking something," he mused as I dusted myself off.

"You can say that again," I agreed, and we were suddenly staring into each other's eyes briefly before Mr. Cannery cleared his throat, catching our attention as we looked his way.

"Well, we should probably get back to work," Aaron said, and I nodded before I grabbed the broom from the floor and walked over to the other side of the room, nowhere near the mystery boy.