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ღ Finding Cinderella- 13 ღ

-Tristan-

The moment I set foot in the school building, I quickly took in the mob of students. I kept an eye on every girl around with similar facial and body features to those of the nameless Queen of the ball.

Long, curly, black hair...

There! A girl with the same hairstyle was leaning against her locker, laughing with her friends. When she caught me staring, the corners of her lips turned upwards shyly.

I returned the smile and then looked away, disappointed. She might have the hair, but she didn't possess the enigmatic presence of the mystery girl.

"Dude, Tris!"

A sudden shout startled me from my thoughts, and I turned to see Clark jogging toward me. We bumped fists and made our way upstairs. Along the way, he said, "Were you daydreaming or what? I've called you three times."

Small, oval-shaped face...

I shook my head. "Sorry. Was just thinking about something."

He smiled. "You mean someone? I saw Kylie a minute ago, and she looked pissed. What'd you do to her this time?"

I scoffed. "Nothing, man. She's always pissed."

We reached our homeroom, and the raucous noise inside subsided right away. Several of our classmates greeted us as we headed to the back of the room, where the rest of the gang sat. My friends gave me high-fives and pats on the back as usual. I returned them absent-mindedly, and, after placing my backpack on the floor next to my seat, I went to look out the window, continuing to scan the students walking below the building.

Tall, slim build... Small nose... Huge, dark eyes... Honestly, these were all just the most accurate guesses I had since I had barely seen her entire face that night. Better have some clues than nothing.

"Bro, that song is so old!" I heard Ryo Knight, one of my pals, exclaim in his Japanese accent, as another guy played a Westlife track on his phone.

"So is your mom, but I don't see you complaining," William Reed countered, followed by laughter from the others. "Anyway, this is my only option," he supplied. "She goes nuts for classic songs, it's almost beautiful."

"Wait, so let me get this straight. You're dating her now. For real?" another one of my friends, Justin Case, responded. And yes, that's really his name. Creative, right? His parents had to have been huge comedians.

"For real. Why would I be playing? Monique's a great girl, man."

My head snapped toward them. All their mouths were frozen into O shapes as they stared at a bewildered William.

Eventually, Grey said, "Dude! Did you not realize you're dating T's ex-girlfriend?"

"Seventh ex-girlfriend," Clark added, and everyone's eyes darted to me. All the while, Will looked like his soul just left his body.

I raised an eyebrow, wondering why they were overreacting. Okay, I had dated Monique. She was a choir chick whom I met at a year-end math camp in tenth grade. She was very sweet and had a nice rack, but her slow-mindedness made her frustrating to talk to. So, our relationship had been just like all the others—childish, confusing, and not too serious. It was hardly even worth remembering.

"Reed, my man, you just broke the bro code." Shaking his head, Grey leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "That girl is off-limits, and you know the punishment for that."

So typical of him. Instead of memorizing our coursework, he'd instead memorize the entire contents of the Bro Code.

"Damn, this blows," Will muttered to himself. He turned to me, solemn-faced. "Dude, I know this is wrong, but Monique and I just hit it right off. I completely forgot she's your ex! I really didn't mean to disrespect—"

With an offhand wave of my hand, I said, "I don't care. Doesn't matter. If you like her, then forget the rules and seize the opportunity. Prove you're actually cut out for her. That's how it works, right? Oh, and don't forget to give her sunflowers every once in a while. Those are her favorites."

The other guys just stared at me, dumbfounded, while Justin started a slow clap. "Whoa—that's incredible," he said. "I couldn't believe T could come up with such almost paternal advice."

Grey's face scrunched up in disgust. "What weird shit did you inhale this morning, man?" he asked. "You've been standing there by the window like you're in some music video, and now you're quoting Nicholas Sparks! T, whatever you're on right now, get off of it. I'm really concerned."

"What are you talking about?" I said. "I was just being considerate toward Will."

"That doesn't really explain why you've been acting weird."

"Tristaaannn!" A piercing voice cut through the conversation, and I was forced to look at the source of it.

Ronnie was sitting on top of the teacher's desk, her long bare legs swinging underneath. Tossing her straight auburn hair behind her shoulder, she smiled at me and asked, "Wanna come with us after school? There's a new club in town that we want to try out."

Her friends nodded, urging me, but I said, "No."

"W-we can go bowling after! You like that, right? Please, please come with us?" Ronnie gave me her puppy eyes. "Just this once. For sure it'll be fun!"

"No."

She looked like she was about to cry. "But Fiona won't be there..."

"No." I sighed. "Sorry. I don't feel like it. Try again next time."

Facing the window once again, I tried to ignore the mutters and groans from the girls. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ryo shooting up from his seat, one hand springing up in the air and the other pulling up Justin.

"Since Tristan won't come, we can be his replacements!" he called. "I think it would be ten times more exciting if we—"

"No way," was Ronnie's grumble. If she were a cartoon character, Ryo's question would've made smoke blow from her ears and nose.

I felt bad for my friend, though, being burned yet again. Behind me, I heard him moaning, "Chikushou, nandemonai!" and God only knew what the meaning of that phrase was. Probably a string of curses they used on Japanese TV or something.

Someone slung his arm around me. It was Grey, motioning for me to sit down. I gave in, slumping into my seat and dropping my arms to my sides.

"I think this is the first time we saw you rebuff a hot girl," Justin noted. "Watch out, she's going to skin you alive for that one."

"Whatever. I have a lot of things on my mind right now."

"We can tell that," Clark said. "Still thinking about Kylie?"

"Ooohhh," Grey hooted to tease me, but I rolled my eyes at him.

"No. About the Queen of the ball. The one who substituted for Lacey."

"Oh," Ryo murmured. Why the hell did he look so disappointed? "So our best girl has been replaced, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. "Never mind. Anyway, do you guys have any info about the masked girl?"

My friends looked at each other and shrugged. Goddammit.

"We were wondering about her, too," Will remarked. When he saw my heavy gaze, he hurried to revise his statement: "B-but, you know, not in that kind of way. We weren't calling dibs or anything. She's yours. All yours."

"Wait, wait, I think I know her!" Justin blurted out, snapping his fingers as if he were getting an idea. "The masked girl, huh? I think I know who you're looking for!"

For a moment, I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. "You know her? Really?" I asked with more eagerness than I intended.

"No." He snickered. "Ha! Got ya, T!"

There's always that one friend of yours that you just want to smack in the face with a brick.

I pointed my finger at him sharply, giving him a death glare. "Okay, you may have got me there, Case, but you'd better shut up before I could go Darth Vader on you."

"Oh, don't worry, dude," Ryo exclaimed to Justin. "I know Kung Fu! We can go Neo over him."

"What?" I gave them a weird look.

Justin spread his arms out like Jesus. "Welcome to the Matrix, sucker."

The rest of them cracked up.

"Fuck you, guys," I muttered. "Do you think this is a joke?"

Clark took the opportunity to cut in, saying, "You're actually making a big deal out of this... this masked girl?"

I wanted to argue, but I realized he had a point. Why was I making a big deal out of her? I wasn't the type to chase girls. I'd just entertain those who approached me and forget about the ones who didn't.

Not this time, though. Everything seemed to be changing now. It felt weird, almost making me uncomfortable. Had I hit my head somewhere without my knowledge, and the impact had rewired my brain to make me think about her all the time?

Yes, she was the girl I didn't want to forget, but then if I didn't, I might drive myself crazy.

The guys were still waiting for a response, and the only thing I could give them was a shrug and a head shake, since I had no idea how to answer them.

Throwing up his hands in surprise, Grey said, "Holy shit, the Casanova's getting serious about a girl? That's news to me." He then turned his attention to the others and announced, "All right, listen up, brothers, enough dicking around. T's in a grave situation here, and this kind of thing happens rarely, which means we'd better make the most of it."

He looked back at me, jabbing his thumb to his chest and adding, "We'll be your wingmen and help you out."

"So... this is like a search party?" Clark asked, his face like that of someone about to witness the apocalypse.

"Yeah, let's call her Cinderella!" Ryo said, causing all of us to stare at him as if he were stupid. And yes, he really did look stupid, his finger pointing upwards as if there was a light bulb on his head.

"You're a big fan of that story?" I asked with a sneer.

"Iie! I only know that because my little sister was forcing me to watch the Disney version with her... along with the other movies, like Barbie and Bratz."

Grey patted him on the back, saying, "I know how it feels, bro. I have a young cousin who's like that, only she goes for Twilight and shit. Anyway, I think Ryo finally has a point here. The girl's like Cinderella since no one knows her identity, Tristan is the prince, of course, and we guys are like... like..."

"The mice," Justin filled in.

"Exactly." Grey nodded, then slapped his forehead when Justin's words sank in. "No, jeez! Why would you compare us to the mice? We're like... like... uh, forget it."

I smiled. "You're all dumbasses, but thanks for having my back even when I don't ask you to."

"Yeah, love you, too, bro." Justin nodded.

"Same feelings, bro," Ryo added, sending him an emotional look, and Clark nearly broke into a fit of laughter.

"Come on, T-Rex. Don't mention it. A bro doesn't let a bro have all the action alone! Am I right, guys?" Grey said, holding out an open palm.

We slammed our hands against his as a pact and let out several hoots. Everyone else in the room was staring at us as if we were a bunch of idiots, but at that point, I really didn't care.

"Awesome," I said breathlessly. "Then what's the plan?"

Before any of them could answer, Mr. Cross entered the room, and everyone rushed to their seats. Without saying a word, he slammed his book on the table, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote a series of mathematical equations on the board, much to the class' frustration.

I caught a glimpse of Grey mouthing at me, "Plan. Later," and I gave him a quick nod. I was finally sensing a ray of hope that somehow improved my mood.

Cinderella, huh?

If she were Cinderella, she should have at least left a glass slipper behind as a clue, right? But she didn't leave a single thing...

Cinderella, where on Earth are you?

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