portrait of kylie by scarlozet below
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to all of my readers: i hope you enjoy this final chapter. thanks for sticking around!
warning: EXTREME CHEESINESS AHEAD AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH
ღ Finding Cinderella- Epilogue ღ
-Tristan-
It seemed there was no time at all until prom night came.
Clark and I waited in the living room of the Harrises while our girlfriends prepared upstairs. I was still over the moon that I was finally calling Kylie as my girlfriend; that's why it had taken me an hour to get ready, which was thirty minutes more than my usual getting ready time. I wanted to look presentable in front of her, even though she probably wouldn't notice.
He and I talked for a bit until we heard slow thumps of footsteps. Looking up, we saw Lacey being escorted by my mom as they walked down the stairs. She was wearing an off-shoulder purple dress made of some delicate material with flowers and glitters, and her long blond hair was flowed behind her back in soft waves. She had a Rapunzel look going on, and it suited her. I could hear Clark sucking in his breath before he stepped forward to offer his hand to his girl.
"Hey," said Lacey.
"Hey there, gorgeous," Clark answered, sounding like he had just climbed a mountain. She bit her lip shyly as they held hands, unable to look away from him just as he was unable to look away from her.
"Good job, Mom," I said as she went to my side.
"That's not my full expertise yet," replied Mom while fixing my necktie and collar. "Just wait till you see Kylie."
"I'm here."
My heart did a somersault at the very second I heard Kylie's voice. I looked up, and it was like I was falling in love with her all over again. The hem of her white dress flowed on the stairs as she carefully went down. Her bangs were curled to the side of her face, and the rest of her hair was pulled in a small bun pinned with white flowers. She was lovelier compared to what she had been back at the Valentine Ball, because this time, she wasn't wearing any disguise.
"Damn," I mumbled, couldn't take my eyes off her.
She frowned amusedly. "What?"
"You look hideous," I teased.
She smacked my shoulder. "You're way more hideous you even make Shrek look handsome."
"Hey, both of you. Stop flirting with each other, and let's go already," Clark said, chuckling.
Emilie and Mom were beaming like overexcited teenagers in a concert. They hadn't even stopped taking pictures of us. Kylie and Lacey went to them to express their gratitude with a kiss on the cheek before we headed outside the cold night. Clark led Lacey to his car, and they drove first, whereas Kylie and I stayed for a little while in my car.
I took her hand, got the corsage from my pocket, and slid it around her wrist.
"To the girl who rocks my world," I said.
Then she smiled the kind of smile that made me want to kiss her.
"Thank you," she said.
ღ
I parked my car behind a long line of vehicles at the side of the hotel. Then I got out and walked around to open the door for Kylie. She said that I didn't have to do it, but I told her jokingly that it wasn't my fault my parents raised a gentleman. She laughed and linked her arm with mine.
The entrance was filled with people in gowns and tuxedos, but the lobby was even more packed, making it difficult for us to find our friends. It looked like they hadn't arrived yet. Several people said hi, which I returned. Kylie was quiet, but she was smiling a lot and holding my arm tightly.
"Kylie!" a voice screeched.
We turned around and saw Julianne in a green fairy-like dress. Behind her was Grey, and I couldn't hide my shock at seeing them together. After exchanging high fives, I quickly pulled him out of the girls' earshot to ask him, "I thought she turned you down?"
"She can't resist me," Grey answered proudly, glancing at Julianne who was talking to Kylie. Then he turned back to me, making a face. "Nah, who am I kidding? She only asked me to drive her, that's all. She didn't even accept my damn corsage."
I gritted my teeth in an 'oh shit' way. "That blows, man. But hey, at least you didn't come here alone," I said and gave him a pat on the back.
"Yeah. I thought I was gonna attend my last prom with my left hand."
I chuckled. Props to him for actually waiting for Julianne to come around instead of asking another girl to come as his date. It wasn't like him.
"Maybe you can ask her to dance or something later on," I said.
Our talk was cut short when the other guys came with their dates—Will with Monique, Justin with some girl named Nayla, and Clark with Lacey (these two came late; who knew where they'd gone and what they'd done). The only dateless person in the group was Ryo. We were not sure if he had failed to ask someone out or he'd been turned down or he was just trying to be a hipster, but we were sure he had brought his PSP with him to occupy himself throughout the night.
"Group picture, everyone!" Julianne shouted while waving her phone. The gang quickly gathered around, and she asked a random girl nearby to take the photo.
I squeezed Kylie's hand as we posed for the camera. As the girl counted to three, I looked at Kylie at the same time she made a pretty smile, unaware that I had my attention on her. Time seemed to pause and in that moment of stillness, I recalled one time when I was eleven, I had found my parents' high school yearbook and they had told me some stories about the people in it. Then, Mom had pointed at a photo of a track team and happily exclaimed, "Oh, there's me, and there's your Dad!" And I remembered finding it funny to see my parents go all sentimental as they reminisced about their time.
I wanted that. I might be getting ahead of myself here, and I was probably being sentimental as fuck thanks to that childhood memory, but I couldn't wait to find this photo—our prom photo—twenty years in the future and show it to our kids while saying, "Look, there's your mom and me." I wondered what Kylie would think about it.
After what seemed like a hundred group pictures, we all went to the great hall where the program was held. The venue looked like some sort of a magical garden, with all the flowers, arches, curtains hanging from the ceiling, tree trunks and branches with string lights around them, and the blue-gold theatrical lighting. It was cool.
While Kylie was busy collecting all the foods served on the banquet table, Grey came to me with a drink in his hand and asked, "Hey, ready to bag the prom king's crown home?"
I snorted. "Nah, not gonna happen, dude."
He scoffed. "No way. Everyone voted for you."
"Maybe, but there's a change of plans."
At some point, our dates had gone to the bathroom together, as girls always do for some reason, so it was just us guys watching the prom coronation.
"This year's title of Broadway Heights Prom Queen goes to..." Miss Ritchie said over the microphone, opened the card, and swept her gaze over the crowd. "Our very own, Veronica Sullivan!"
Everyone cheered as Ronnie proudly sashayed through the parted mob. I couldn't comprehend why people had voted for her after the scandal, but rumor had it that Fiona had pulled some strings to make Ronnie win. That was surprising because Fiona had always made sure the crown would land on her head. There had to have been a grave reason for her actions, and I could only assume that the reason was connected to the picture.
Grey nudged me. "Dude, is that Fiona?"
I turned my head to the right. Speaking of the devil, Fiona was at the side of the room; her dark fitting gown was blending well with the shadows. Even though she was far away, I could feel the envy coming off her in cold waves.
"Weird to see her alone at an event like this," said Grey. "You think it's true that she and Erik broke up?"
"Huh. No surprise if it is," I said. "Maybe he's too big of a coward to show his face tonight."
Fiona saw us staring, and she twisted her dark lips into a scowl. "What are you looking at?" she mouthed like she was casting a curse.
Grey and I immediately turned away. Her face was pure nightmare fuel.
Miss Ritchie had put the crown on Ronnie, who was now giving her picture perfect-smile to the crowd. The clapping noise dissolved as the microphone crackled and Miss Ritchie announced, "And now... the title of Prom King goes to none other than Tri—"
Steven marched up on the stage and whispered to her ear. I smiled. My plan was working. It was cool of Steven to grant my request even though it had been on short notice. Miss Ritchie gave him a dubious look and said something like, "Is that so? Are you sure about that?" to which Steven shrugged and nodded. There was muttering and buzzing among the audience at this point. Miss Ritchie shook her head and said something to herself before lifting the microphone back to her mouth.
"My apologies"—she cleared her throat and returned her smile—"this year's Prom King is... Ryo Knight!"
"YOOOOOO," my group of friends hooted and began to push Ryo around. Several people backed away as if scared of catching insanity from us.
"Nande kuso?" he roared, tugging his tuxedo in place.
Justin was cracking up so hard he could barely say, "Man! We're so proud of you!"
Ryo flipped him the bird and turned to me. "T, w-what's—what's the meaning of this? I-is this a prank? Because it sure as hell is not funny."
I grabbed his shoulders, spinning him to look at the stage. "It's not a prank, dude. You deserve some recognition so get your ass outta here and take it. Besides, this is your chance to get some closure with her." I patted his back and pushed him.
Everyone clapped and whistled as Ryo stumbled his way up to the stage. Ronnie was looking at him like he had two heads, and he tried to give her a smile. He couldn't seem to stop fidgeting that Miss Ritchie had to hold him by the shoulders to make him go to the front and face the crowd. After the crown was placed on his head, he grabbed the microphone from the teacher's hand and said, "Hi, uh, I'm really sorry if I'm not the Prom King that everyone might have expected. Trust me—I, myself, don't know what I'm doing here."
His sudden speech caused the crowd to crack up.
Visibly puzzled, Miss Ritchie retrieved the microphone from him. "Thanks for the message, Mr. Knight, although it's not required of you to make one. Anyway, let's wrap this up by giving a big round of applause to our Prom King and Queen this year. Have a great time, everyone!"
A pop song arose from the loudspeakers, and everyone began bouncing, whooping, and waving their hands in the air. I felt a finger poke my shoulder and heard a voice shouting, "T!"
Spinning around, I noticed that the girls had returned except for Kylie. I was about to ask Lacey where her sister was when she said, "Erik's here. And he went outside with Kylie to talk."
-Kylie-
"So, what is it?" I asked, glaring at Erik. He was wearing casual clothing—jeans, sneakers, a blazer over a T-shirt (probably as his attempt to blend with the occasion)—so it must mean that his only purpose for coming was to talk to me. He had led me to the hotel's garden where nothing and no one could interrupt us.
"Look, I..." He licked his lips and gave me a look like that of a whipped dog. "I'm sorry."
I frowned.
"I'm sorry for making you upset. I know I did a stupid thing, okay?" He paused to breathe in a mouthful of air. "Will you give me a chance?"
I couldn't believe my ears. He had filled my head with lies since the ninth grade. Pretended that he liked me. Used Clark for his stupid revenge. Conspired with Fiona and Ronnie to hurt Tristan and me. Fought with my boyfriend and wrecked the poor greenhouse. Now he expected me to give him a chance? What for?
"You know, I'm really not that upset about what you did," I said, "but rather, I feel... disappointed. Very disappointed. Because the person whom I used to consider as my knight in shining armor has turned out to be a douchebag wrapped in an aluminum foil. And with that, I don't think I can trust you anymore."
His mouth slackened as if it was his first time being called a douchebag. Well, he'd probably get more of that soon from other people so he'd better get used to it already. Before he could spout some crap, I said, "Oh, I've been meaning to return this." I opened my purse and fished out the necklace that he'd given me back in our "date." "Here, return this to your Mom and explain to her why it came back and how you have become the scumbag of the year."
I tossed the necklace at him. He caught it and stared at it in his palm as if contemplating.
"Since we're on the subject of honesty, I have to tell you... this"—he curled his fingers over the necklace, hiding it from the world—"this doesn't belong to Mom. I bought this for my ex-girlfriend but got it back when we broke up. No, it wasn't Cyrene. It was another girl... in Florida."
I scrunched up my nose in shock. "Wow. Remember when you told me... 'I should give it to the girl I like,'" I mimicked his old words while making a face. "So the necklace story was another lie that we can add to your growing pile of bullshit, huh? I wonder what more crap you could be hiding."
"None, I swear. I'm sorry for lying, Kylie. Really. Can't we just be cool with each other? That's what you said to me before, right? No awkwardness, no hate?"
I feigned innocence. "Really? Did I say that? Must've been another Kylie."
"Come on, I'm serious." He sighed, his shoulders drooping. "Don't you believe in second chances?"
"I do believe in second chances, Erik."
"So why won't you give me? Everyone deserves a second chance, as they say."
"It depends. If the person proves that they deserve a second chance, then sure," I retaliated with a smile and started to pull the skirt of my dress up, preparing for my departure.
"Then I can—"
"It's been a nice chat, Erik. If you have any clarifications, please don't hesitate to consult my two middle fingers."
As I weaved my way out of the garden, I caught his muttered 'fuckin' bitch' behind me. A vein popped on my forehead. Sauntering back to him, I put on the sweetest smile I could ever produce.
"Oh, before you leave, I'd like to give you one precious gift that you will surely remember for the rest of your life," I said.
Then I whacked his face with my fist.
ღ
I was reaching the outdoor hallway when I found Tristan rushing around at the other end, the shadows and plants around were obscuring his figure.
"T, hey!" I called.
He stopped, turned, and dashed toward me.
"God, I've been looking everywhere for you," he gasped. "What happened? Where's Erik? Did he do something to you?"
"Relax, I'm fine. We just talked, and he ran away. Probably out of shame."
His eyebrows squeezed together. "What...? Okay, let me change the question. What did you do to him?"
My lips curled on one side. "I only gave him a parting gift," I said, then shook my still-in-pain hand. "Seriously, it was like punching a wall."
Slowly, the tension in his face eased as he figured out what I'd done to the guy. "You're really scary," he said with a breath of laughter and put his arm around my shoulder. "Let's sit by that fountain over there."
"Why? Aren't you having a good time inside?"
"I'm having a good time with you right now."
I rolled my eyes and smiled, my cheeks warming. We walked over to the huge fountain in the middle of the garden and sat on the marble seat. My feet were aching so I removed my heels and massaged soles. A cold wind blew, making me shiver. Tristan took off his coat and draped it over my back. He was being extra chivalrous tonight; it was cute.
"Thanks. Hey, how come you're not wearing your crown or your sash at least, Prom King?" I asked with a lift of my eyebrow.
"Nah, I gave the title to Ryo," he said.
That surprised me. "Why?"
"Well... that guy may be weird but he's a good friend, and I just think he deserves it. Besides, I'm done with the whole... popularity thing."
"Done, huh?"
"Really."
"Because you've milked it dry, right?"
"Hey, that's—! That... sort of true. It was stupid, huh?"
I laughed. "But it's nice of you to give your friend that chance."
We shared a comfortable silence afterward, just listening to the trickling of the water fountain, the sounds of the night critters, and the music muffed inside the hotel. The full moon and the in-ground lights lit up the place, giving it a beautiful—almost magical—atmosphere. The quietness was lulling me to sleep. I inhaled the fresh air and smiled in contentment.
"Kyles?"
"Yes?"
"Would you like to dance with me?"
I rounded my eyes at him. "Right here?"
"Yes." Tristan stood up and bent slightly, placing his one hand behind him while offering his other hand to me. "Would you?" He was doing it so brazenly it was ridiculous, but I had to admit that it made my heart beat a little faster. And—ugh, fine—his crooked grin was making me swoon. I couldn't believe I was using the word swoon to describe my own feelings.
With his coat still around my shoulders, I stood up barefooted; the cobblestones felt chilly against my feet. I curtseyed, grabbing the sides of my dress and bowing my head.
"I'd love to, kind sir."
Our eyes locked for a second before we burst into laughter. We probably looked insane from afar.
He wound his arms around my waist while I put my mine around his neck. As we began to sway, I asked, "T, why did you ask me to wear this dress again?"
"I want to redo our first dance. Remember the Valentine Ball? It was a disaster," he replied. "Why did you run away that night? Did you really hate me that much?"
Oh God. He had dug that memory out of me. The memory that made me want to bury myself in a hole whenever I remembered it.
"Don't ask. Forget it," I said.
"Fine, but this time"—he tugged me closer to him until our chests were pressed together—"don't try to run away from me again."
"I won't." This time I wouldn't. I'd stay with him and cherish every second with him before we'd separate our ways. There was no stopping it, but I tried not to think about it tonight.
I nuzzled my head in the crook of his neck, closing my eyes and taking in his addicting scent. We continued to sway slowly to the sounds of the night. I didn't know how long we stayed like this, but I spent every second imprinting on my brain his warm touch, his scent, his heartbeat pounding against mine, the way he held me in his arms, the happiness swelling in me, and everything that was in the moment. I really, badly wished I could turn the seconds into tangible objects so I could keep them forever.
"Wait, I want to give you something," he whispered in my ear.
We stopped dancing as Tristan took something from his pocket. He lifted my right hand and then hooked a bracelet around my wrist. It was made of gold with red roses and gems as its ornaments. Beautiful.
"This is my gift for you, so wherever you are and whenever you feel lonely or afraid or stressed out, just look at this bracelet and you'll be reminded that you're amazing and that I'm always proud of you. I love you, Kylie."
A flood of emotions washed over me, and I felt tears well behind my eyes. I shut them briefly before he could see me going sentimental. Then I smirked and couldn't help but tease him, "That's very cheesy, Tristan."
His playful grin returned, making his dimples more pronounced. "Only for you," he said.
I rolled my eyes for the second time of the night. "You know what? Even if you manage to get on my every single nerve..." I smiled. "...you make things fun for me."
"Ah, you say that because you know how to frustrate me like no one else."
"True, but not only that. It's because..."
I pressed my lips together, taking a moment to conjure up the words that I'd wanted to say to him. I was finding it hard to say them right away because they couldn't seem to do justice with the feelings I had inside of me. After taking a drag of air, however, I opened my mouth. And the words finally spilled.
"I love you, Tristan Jon."
With his eyes growing wide, he broke the biggest smile I'd ever seen on his face. He pumped his fist while hissing a victorious yes, and I laughed at his child-like excitement. My laughter was cut short when he cupped my cheeks and kissed me. Not wanting us to stop, I hugged him tightly as I kissed him back. He moved his arms back to my waist and scooped me up, lifting me off the ground, still kissing me with the same intensity as I did with him. It was making me feel ticklish and dizzy.
If I had imagined this moment way back in the old times, I would have been appalled. But things change, feelings change, people change. And the things we least expect just happen. In my case, it was taking a leap of faith and opening my heart to him, despite my adamant denial and deep-seated fear. Maybe... all it takes to fall in love is the courage to believe.
It felt like this was the perfect time to say "The End" to wrap our story up—like in the fairy tale books, you know? But nah, that would mean everything was completely over, and our story was far from being over.
He and I really didn't know where life would lead us after summer. What I knew was that we still had a long way to go, many different people to meet, more challenges to face, but we just had to try to make things work out between us, no matter the distance, no matter the time, and no matter the circumstances.
We just had to try. And trust each other.
Wherever we lead to, always know that I love you, Tristan.
So tonight, I didn't want to be scared. I wanted to enjoy the time fully and let my silly romantic side believe that...
This was only the beginning of our journey to happily ever after.
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