TLC the Musical

Operator

Cinder stood in front of the Auditorium doors with Iko, waiting for her friends to come and meet her like she'd texted them to. Scarlet came with Wolf in tow and Jacin had followed Winter there. The last people to arrive were Thorne and Cress from different directions.

"Who's this?" Scarlet smiled kindly at Iko, standing beside Wolf and leaning her head against his arm.

Everyone was there that Cinder wanted to be present, so she announced, "This is Iko. My old friend from elementary school and when I first started living with the Linh family."

"Hi!" Iko waved. She was eager and brimming with joy. "Nice to meet you." She held out her hand for Scarlet to shake, relieving Cinder from the worrying of her throwing the two of them into a massive bear hug.

All around, Iko was greeted with smiles and kind words, just like Cinder expected she would be. Her friends were great like that, and so were the guys they hung out with.

Well, most of them.

"Hey, Iko," called a voice from the end of the hall. Immediately, Iko grinned and faced the voice. One that Cinder knew automatically. Of course, Kaito waltzed over to the group standing around the entrance to the Auditorium. As he did, his eyes stayed fixed on Cinder, making her slightly uncomfortable.

"You know Iko?" Cinder was a tad confused. Iko had only been back at this school for a few weeks. But then it dawned on her. Kaito was the most popular boy at their school. Of course she knew him already.

"Yeah," she beamed. "He showed me around on my first day. Oh .. did I forget to tell you that?"

Cinder's eyebrow bent in suspicion just like the rest of her did. It may have been a few years since she and Iko had been so close. Still, Cinder knew when Iko was up to something. At the moment, Cinder had the feeling that it had something to do with Kaito.

On the other hand, Kaito seemed delighted that Iko and Cinder knew one another. "You didn't tell me that you knew Cinder either." A splash of blush coated the bridge of his cheekbones as he tried to come off confident and strong. To Cinder, it was like watching a little kid try to act like an adult. And it may have been sort of cute as well.

Her opinion of Kaito hadn't changed much since the last time the two of them spoke. He was a bit of a nerd that came off as slightly weird. Still, Cinder had to admit he was attractive ... in a nerdy, awkward kind of way.

For a while, the girls chatted about going out for lunch on the weekend and the boy talked about having their own little outing. All except for Kaito, who said nothing, and just stood near Iko and Cinder. This was more than a little confusing to Cinder, though Iko seemed absolutely relaxed with what Kaito was doing.

Cress dismissed herself, saying that she had to get back to her house before it was too dark. Thorne offered to go with her, and she agreed to drop him off at his house. Maybe it was because Cress was too nice, or that Thorne didn't have a car to drive, or that he was blind. But Cress was always doing things for Thorne and asking for nothing in return.

Jacin had to drag Winter out of the school since she was so eager to keep getting to know Iko. And why her hair was more blue than the ocean. Still, Jacin ushered her out of the lobby and made sure she got home to her parents before they called to ask where she was.

Last of all, Scarlet and Wolf had to say goodbye. They'd both left their scripts in a classroom and had to go retrieve them before leaving .. together. Cinder had to admit that Kaito had been right. Those two had fallen head over heels for one another.