Chances of Fate

XVI - A Cinderella Mix Up

"So, let me get this straight," I sighed, "You're a superstar athlete at your school who made it in the top three of honor rolls and got the principal's award after winning science fairs three times in a row."

Where does he live again? 

This guy, Wren, hasn't shut his mouth for twenty minutes now and all he's talking about is his achievements.

I'm kind of... pissed about all of this.

"Correct." He smiled. "What about you? As the hidden daughter of a successful medical business, what are your achievements?"

Hidden.

I don't like that term.

Geez, it's been so long that I forgot all the stuff that my sister used to tell me when I face so-called "suitors". 

"W-well, I—uh... won an english quiz and s-spelling bee once and I'm a part of the student council."

"And your role in the student council is?"

"A representative."

His quiet scoff made me scrunch my nose. What's this guy's problem?

I just met him and he's acting like he's better than me—which is sort of... true. But that doesn't mean he can do what he pleases!

"Is there a problem?" I asked, almost wanting to stand up from this table.

We were having dinner in a seperate room from our parents and sitting across him for the past thirty minutes while eating my favorite food has made me lose half of my appetite.

I may be shy but I'm not shy enough to walk away from this kind of—of dillweed!

"Not at all." He answered, again with that sickening smile of his which obviously looked as fake as his parents' kindness towards my family.

I glanced at my wristwatch, only finding out that it was still quarter to nine.

Can I cuss in my head again because gosh dang it this is taking too long!

"Is there anything else that you want to b*a—talk about?"

"Not really. I want to know more about you next. This is about us, after all. I can't get engaged to someone if I keep talking about myself. I might as well marry myself, if that's the case." He lets out a small chuckle.

Just when I thought he was a self-absorbed jerk. I even thought bad about his parents.

Wait a minute—"D-did you just say 'engaged'? Like, as in formally agreeing to marry someone?"

I mean, I do know that my parents are setting me up to find me a boyfriend for future business stuff but why rush it though?

I'm still freaking sixteen! Is this even legal?! 

I should search this stuff up on the internet later.

"Yes? Were you not informed?" 

"I—I guess so. I mean, I didn't know about the whole engagement thing and—" I halted when I felt a tingle on my skin.

Ugh, I just had the heebie-jeebies.

"T-there's no way I'm getting e-engaged to someone I just m-met." I continued, sighing uncomfortably.

"Isn't this why we're meeting up for the first time?" He rested his chin on his palm. "You never had a real conversation with your suitors, have you."

"H-how did you—"

"I guess you turned them all down without even thinking."

"If I 'turned them all down without even thinking', then why are you still here?" I shot back, mimicking his words.

"Touché." He smiled. "I'm curious as to why and how your identity's hidden in public. Isn't your name Amirah Hearst at school? How come no one notices you? Did your parents pay t—"

"No. I—I'm not sure, actually." 

I don't really get how my parents did it as well. All they said was to not tell anyone.

Huh, our hospital's name comes from the town's name anyway so I don't think people will know that my parents own the building unless they actually check the main lobby where my family name's certificate is at.

"That's odd." He tilted his head. "You're odd. I like it."

If we were in another situation—like my parents not forcing me to be in a relationship for their business, I'd definitely faint if I heard that but too bad. He's just one of the business world's pawns.

And yes—I take odd as a compliment.

I stood up, alarming him and Laura, who was standing outside the room.

After judging him for a while, he does seem like a decent person but I'm really not into boys that are related to my parent's job.

It's like those old beliefs where girls are only made for marrying guys.

I've always wanted to tell my parents about this but I can't. It's hilarious, really.

"Thank you for your time, Wren Weston. I appreciate it."

Wait—he's not like those other guys who I instantly reject them after dinner. I-I actually had a nice conversation with him! 

What should I say?!

"I'm sorry, did I offend you in some way?" He also rose from his seat.

"N-no, you didn't." I started to walk outside but stopped when I thought of a reply to end our conversation and without looking back, I said, "Let's meet again sometime."

. 

Why.

"Amirah?"

I locked myself in my room after that incident and refused to see my parents. 

Why did I do that? 

I stared at the floor for a few seconds, thinking of the other choices that I might've made last night than just isolating myself.

"Amirah!"

"Y-yes!?" I turned to the person beside me.

Oh, it's just Connie.

She was walking beside me with a curious face.

"I've been calling you ever since I saw you enter the gates."

"You were? I'm sorry, my mind was busy."

"Busy thinking about what exactly? You look like you stayed up all night." Connie looked at my bags for the camp later and then made me let go of the other strap of the bag which she grabbed immediately. "Let me help you."

"Thank you..."

"I-it's a one time thing so yeah, you should be thankful."

I smiled at her and nodded. "You're extra pretty today, Connie."

"I—of course, I am! It's the autumn camp today, after all."

I'm glad that she's not upset about her play—even though she was the one who quit. That's what I assume though.

I only brought three bags with me and one of them is a backpack. I'm partnered with Everleigh and she was the one who offered to bring the tent.

Ash probably carried all of her stuff so I'm sure she'll be fine.

The only classes who're joining this camp in this schedule are class 3-1, 2-1, 2-2, and 1-1.

And after this, there will be a new set of classes for the camp next week.

I love school activities sometimes.

We placed the bags in our classroom and thanked Connie for helping me. I asked where her bags were and she said that she already left hers in her classroom.

Some of my classmates didn't participate in this event though. It wasn't really mandatory for us to go but you know, attending this can boost our grades.

I checked my watch to see if it was still early so I can go buy a drink downstairs. 

It was ten thirty in the morning. Thirty more minutes before the school play starts.

"Oh my!" Everleigh jumped back when I nearly bumped into her at the doorway. "Amirah, you scared me." She placed a hand over her chest.

I noticed that she was only carrying one bag and when I looked at the person who was behind her, everything was clear to me.

"Are you alright?" Ash raised a brow as he stared at me.

"Oh, um..." I nodded. "I'm just heading out to buy a drink."

"I'll come with you." Everleigh smiled, instantly wrapping her arms around me. "I wanted to buy milk on our way here anyway but I didn't want to bother Ash."

"You're never a bother, Leigh! I'll come with you guys!"

"How about you take a rest since you didn't let me carry my stuff." She suggested, genuinely smiling at him.

Of course, Ash did what he was told and approached some of our classmates for a talk.

Me and Everleigh didn't take long though. I bought a bottled bubble tea as usual and she bought a carton of milk from the canteen.

On our way back to the classroom, she asked why I looked like I just got attacked by a pack of hyenas. 

Laura did try her best to persuade me into getting my hair and face ready but I just tied my hair all the way here but since I didn't realize that it was cold outside, I had to untie my uncombed hair.

And so, as a reply, I told her about what happened last night and how I regretted my decisions because of that boy who made me dazed.

I-I didn't know what to say to him back then, okay?

Everleigh softly chuckled and said, "I think your choice of words were fine. Don't stress about it too much. Do you want me to brush your hair before we head back?"

As expected of Leigh.

With a nod, I replied with, "Yes."

"Leigh, Amirah! We already included you in the attendance." Ash walked towards us with a small wave. 

"Thank you." I scratched my cheek, wondering if I should talk to the three people who aren't chatting with us. 

Everleigh smiled. "That's nice of you." 

"Ash, you're sharing a tent with Zodel and Luke, right?" I asked.

Our teacher said that it was fine for us to group up to five people with the same gender. I invited Laura to group up with me and Everleigh but she politely declined.

At first, I thought that it was because Ember wasn't coming. According to Laura's story, they've been friends ever since the festival so maybe she wanted Ember to be her partner for the camp. 

But apparently, Ember wasn't a part of her reason. She's only here for the play because she found out that watching the play can also have plus points so good for her, then.

"Yep! Why do you ask?" Ash c****d his head. 

"Nothing. I was just wondering, that's all."

"Alright, everyone, please form a straight line outside. We're heading to the auditorium now." The class president announced as he clapped his hands.

A classmate of ours raised her hand and said, "Then, should I form a crooked line since I'm not strai—"

"Please stop." He frowned.

We chuckled at her comment and proceeded outside for the line.

As much as I want to get noticed by other people, I didn't want to get noticed by being in front of the line!

"Everleigh, let's switch places." I whispered as I softly tugged her outfit.

She was one person away from me but she didn't seem bothered about our line formation.

"I'd love to but our president can clearly hear our conversation." She quietly giggled and jerked her thumb behind her.

"Oh..." I pouted, trying to casually avoid the president's gaze by staring at the person who was behind me. 

Luckily, it was a friend of mine.

"Ryn, I realized that we had the same hair color and I always wanted to tell you that. We must be related or something." I joked.

Amarynthia, who was a little taken aback from my comment, stroked her locks. "Who knows..." She replied in a whisper.

We call her Ryn because her name's just too long. 

As far as I know, Amarynthia is Zodel's seatmate and she also has pastel pink hair. I consider her as a friend because I borrowed her sharpener once and we usually bump into each other at the library.

Maybe I should search up my family tree to see if Amarynthia has my family's blood.

After arriving at the auditorium, our president assigned us on our seats even though there were only a few sections gathered here today.

I'm assigned in the middle of the seats with Luke in my left and Everleigh in my right. Amarynthia was seated next to Luke and Ash was seated next to Everleigh.

I don't know where Azure and Connie's section are seated though. 

It didn't take long for the play to start because we were the only section that everyone was waiting for.

I'm informed that this would be an hour and a half play so I bought myself some snacks of course.

At the first half of the first act of the show, I just realized something.

"Wait, this is a Cinderella musical?" I scrunched my forehead.

The play was the classic Cinderella but I didn't expect that it had singing on it.

"Yeah?" Luke replied as he turned his head towards me with a raised brow.

"Well, I didn't know." I whispered, shrugging.

Geez, why's he so grumpy today?

Usually, he sprays me water whenever he hears something stupid coming out of my mouth but these days, he seems... too quiet.

It's a little suspicious if you ask me.

The whole gown transformation on Cinderella was amazing. I just didn't care enough because I was busy munching on my chips and Everleigh kept clinging onto me everytime a new scene appeared.

I'm not really interested in joining the theaters but watching them is quite exciting.

I also just realized that the one playing the background music was Celeste who was below the stage with her piano.

With a whisper, I asked, "Hey, Luke, do you think there'll be a kissing scene?" I turned my head to the left, only greeted with two empty seats. "... Luke?"

"What's wrong Amirah?" Everleigh peeked beside me.

"Luke and Ryn just left."

"Maybe they wanted to go get more snacks." She patted my shoulder. "Don't worry, they're gonna be alright."

"Yeah, but they're gonna miss Cinderella running away..."

I wonder where those two went.

"Want some chips?" Everleigh nudged her snack towards me which I gladly accepted.

You should never reject grace.

I couldn't focus on Cinderella getting scolded by her step mother and step sisters for no apparent reason because Everleigh's hands were shaking my arm, saying that they're too mean even though we knew that they were only acting.

The ending was near but those two haven't returned from their seats yet.

Maybe they decided to leave because it was too boring for them.

Well, I'm not the one who's gonna get in trouble.

But I'm still worried.

"Are there any other women in the house?" The Grand Duke asked as he looked around the room.

Herald, the Grand Duke's sidekick, patiently stood beside him with the glass slipper in his hands.

I noticed that the person playing as the prince was placing a hand over his chest. It was... weird.

"Well, there is one more..." One of the step sisters looked at the floor, wondering if she'd tell them about Cinderella who wasn't around at that time.

They stopped when the prince walked out from the scene but later on continued.

The stepmother glanced at her daughters and shoved them away from the seat for the shoe fitting. "Move!" She yelled, making us, the audience, chuckle.

I don't know if that was part of the script but I guess the show must go on.

"I meant to say, a younger woman." The Duke faked a cough.

"How young?" The step mother raised a brow.

"Younger than you."

The step mother unwillingly stood up from her seat with a dirty look on her face.

"Well? Are there any other women in this house?" The Duke placed both of his hands on his hips.

The stepmother shook her head. "No, there are no other women in the house." 

We waited for a few seconds but nothing happened.

Was there supposed to be a reply?

"Do you think they screwed up?" I whispered to Everleigh who instantly denied my question.

"There's no such thing." She softly giggled. 

"I said, no, there are no other women in the house!" She repeated, a little louder than before. 

And then the strangest thing happened.

"I-I'm here."

"It's Amarynthia!" Everleigh squealed.

Amarynthia Chrysalis, my classmate, who was just sitting beside Luke earlier, was now standing on the stage dressed as the ragged version of Cinderella!

"What the?" I almost stood up from my seat with my mouth covered.

Wait, hold on a sec, where's the real actress? And what happened to that dang prince? 

"W-what?" The stepmother finally replied, I could see the confusion and relief in her eyes.

"I'm sorry step mother but, I am here." Ryn answered.

No way. There's no way this was scripted!

The stepmother scoffed. "A scullery maid."

"A servant girl!"

"A chimney sweep!"

Cinderella's step sisters circled her with judgment on their faces.

"Well, you certainly sound like a girl of many talents." The Duke nodded. "Should we try it on?"

"Wait."

Small gasps from the audience filled the auditorium.

"Luke?! " Alright, I couldn't help but whisper yell at this scene right now.

Where did they—? How did—? How?

What is going on?!

He's also dressed up as the prince! 

"What a twist!" Everleigh glued her fingers together with a smile.

I could tell that everyone was loving it, especially the person sitting on my right.

"Didn't we meet about a week ago?" He continued.

Ryn walked towards him, a confused look scattered on her face. "Oh, now I remember! You helped me with my packages! You said that everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and respect..."

I saw Luke smile. "You never did tell me your name."

Luke smiled! What in the world?!

"It's Cinderella."

"What a beautiful name."

I can't handle this anymore. This is too cute and unexpected!

"A-Amirah?" Everleigh shook me while my hands covered my face.

No, I can't. The scene's too pure. I can't stop smiling.

Herald handed Luke the glass slipper.

"May I?" He asked, his hand ready to accept Ryn's.

Without a word, Ryn sat on the wooden chair and let Luke slip in the glass slipper.

After that they started singing together which made me stand up from my seat. 

I didn't know they could sing!

And they—they—Ryn and Luke th-they kissed! They—! 

After that, the whole cast started singing together and everyone else stood up from their seats to applaud them.

"This is the best!" Everleigh clapped, rising up from the chair. "If I had roses in my hand, I'd throw them!

"L-Leigh, you're crying." I softly pulled her clothes.

She looked at me and sniffed. "You're crying too!" Leigh laughed.

"That was not what I expected." Zodel commented on our way out of the auditorium, his eyes were still wide.

"Let's face it, we all thought the same." I replied.

That stuff only happens in movies and books though. Could it be that Luke and Amarynthia are the main characters of a book written by someone who doesn't exist in this world?

"Amirah, let's wait for the two in the classroom." Everleigh suggested which I agreed to.

Those two look good together, not gonna lie.

- - - 

10-10-xxx

Dear Diary,

Currently, I'm hiding in a bathroom stall at the auditorium after the play because I just had to write this! Yes, I know I said that I was gonna update after the camp but I don't know if this was a part of the play's script or not but dang! They just switched the main leads! It really surprised me and the whole audience. Marlais was even covering his mouth at the last scene hahaha! What a dork.

I'm sure that everyone who witnessed the play is gonna be talking about this for the whole month! Well, that's it for today!

Camellia