| A Modern Cinderella Story | On Going |

♛ Chapter Thirteen ♛

Intending to avoid Sabrina and her friends, Cooper, Kwan, and Daniel slipped into their first class before the teacher or other students were there, excluding one student who was always there before anyone: Stephoné.

Kwan laid eyes on the girl, her arms folded on her desk and her head resting on her arms. He nudged Cooper and pointed to the empty seat beside her. "Now's your chance." He whispered with a sly grin, taking a seat by the window.

Cooper strangely looked at Kwan, his eyes moving over to the brown-haired girl. 'Her brother and friend aren't here, so maybe I could try . . . but I don't want to bother her, plus studying her yesterday, she seems to not like people that much.' He thought, subconsciously sitting where Kwan had suggested.

Daniel sat behind Kwan and threw his brother a thumbs-up. "Just say hi," He mouthed, a cheeky smile displayed on his lips and Kwan seemed to have the same smile.

Cooper looked away from his brother and friend and looked at Stephoné. He awkwardly cleared his throat and smiled slightly. "Um, hi, I don't think we've formally met, I'm Cooper. You waved to me yesterday in the cafeteria." He offered his hand to her.

Stephoné lifted her head and met the same blue eyes as she had seen yesterday. 'Oh no, he's here before Ariana and Will! What am I going to do? I never thought he'd try to talk to me! I can't be rude and ignore him but my social anxiety won't allow me to say anything! I need to say something but where are the words? Just think of something to say! Hi! Yes, hi is a perfect response but why can't I say it? Why can't I just speak? Why won't my mouth just say something? Where are the words?' She thought to herself, giving an awkward smile and hesitantly looking at his hand.

She swallowed harshly and held out a shaky hand. "Uh . . . I'm Stephoné." She replied, withdrawing her hand and stuffing them between her legs while pulling her eyes away and focusing on her desk. 'He's gonna think I'm rude . . . like Sabrina said I was . . . rude.' She thought, guilt weighing down on her heart.

Cooper withdrew his hand but still kept a smile on his lips. 'Maybe offering to shake her hand wasn't the best idea. I need to take it from a different approach since she seems uncomfortable.' He thought to himself. "Stephoné. That's a pretty name."

Stephoné pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and fidgeted with her fingers. "My mom named me after Persephone . . . So, it's not spelled like you'd typically spell Stephanie, it's spelled s-t-e-p-h-o-n-é with the accent going to the right on the E." She replies, her voice barely audible.

Cooper had to strain his ears to hear what she said, and subconsciously he leaned closer to better hear her. "That is interesting. I don't know why my parents named me Cooper, but people do often misspell and mispronounce it as Copper. I'm sure people mispronounce and misspell your name too, huh?"

Stephoné nodded her head meekly, tugging at her sleeves. "Yeah," She shortly replied, getting lost in her thoughts. 'That was so lame. Sabrina was right, I seem rude when I'm unable to talk to someone. No wonder people avoid me even when Ariana and Will aren't around. Cooper won't be any different. I shouldn't get my hopes up that he'd be different.'

Cooper didn't think she was rude. 'She reminds me of how I acted the first time I arrived at the palace when I was 13. Uncomfortable and unable to find my voice, especially with the bullying of other nobility, excluding Kwan.' He thought and then spoke up. "So, um, I heard your friend is planning prom, will she need help?"

Stephoné glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "You'd have to ask Ariana. I don't know." She shortly replied, continuing to tug at her sleeves as she thought. 'Does he want to help or is he just asking to be polite? Sabrina and Lacy always ask but they never truly want to help, I can never tell with Kiki.'