Enjoy!
Update 3/17/15: I added a bit more to this scene, I like it better now, I recommend you read it!
I push myself through the crowd gathered around the beer keg, trying to find him. Of course the one person I actually want to see tonight, has disappeared. The most desirable guy in the whole school has asked me to come to this party, but he isn't even
here? Pointless, I knew the headache wouldn't be worth coming here for, but I came anyway hoping that he genuinely likes me. There is no way Kai, the handsome, heir to a corporate throne, actually likes me back. With the thought still on my mind I
prepare myself for another battle against the drunk college kids bodies. And that's when I see him. Across the fraternity house's main room is Kai surrounded by his friends and Levana. Naturally she's here to ruin my day.
I turn to leave the room and the party when I hear my name being called. "Cinder!" Kai yells from the middle of the crowd gathered in the center of the room. I turn around and see him smile as he makes his way through the people. Surprisingly he escaped
Levana's hold. "Hey, you came!" he yells over the loud music.
"Yeah, I said I would!" I yell right back. I smile right back at him.
"Well you don't usually keep all your promises, remember last time!" he says and gives me the eye and I laugh.
"Hey. I never said I could get you an A in math, I just said I would help you get a better grade than you had originally." I give him a pointed look, but I still have a smile on my face. "Now don't complain or you will have to find yourself a new tutor
and trust me, they won't be as forgiving to your procrastination habits."
"Well thank god I have you." He mocks with his hand on his heart, "I don't know what I'd do without you, Cinder!" He swoons which makes me let out a loud laugh. I push him.
"Stop! You are going to make a fool out of yourself, and he all know the honorable Kai can't have bad reputation." He shrugs and looks around.
"So, do you want a drink?" He asks sheepishly. I shake my head.
"I can't, I'm the designated driver tonight." I look around for Iko and find her flirting with a drink in her hand. Kai smiles and laughs.
"Yeah me too." We both stand there as the conversation halts. "You want to sit down?" Kai asks after a minute of silence. I nod my head and we walk towards the sitting room, which is much quieter and less crowded. There are about four or five other people
in the room when we sit down in two chairs next to each other.
"When do you want to come over for tutoring this week?" I ask him to get the conversation moving. "I'm free all week." I add. He gives me a smile that makes want to kiss him before answering me.
"Well Cinder, as you know I am very bad at math, so naturally I need help with that and also we need to work on our engineering project, remember?" He knows I totally forgot about the project.
"Stars! That's really due next week?" I put my head in my hands trying to think why I forgot it.
"And you call me a procrastinator!" He throws his head back in a laugh.
"Hey! You didn't remember it until now either!" I say, laughing with him.
"No I did," He gives me a sly grin, "I may have just neglected to tell you about it to see if you remembered it..." He tries to make himself smaller.
"Kai, you little-" Our conversation is cut short. My smile drops when I see who is standing in front of us. Levana.
"Come on Kai, stop toying with this nobody and come home with me." She says with a small pout. Kai looks enraged by this.
"Levana get out of here. She is not a nobody, her name is Cinder and you can't control who I hang out with." She gives him a fake sad look.
"Oh well I really didn't want to tell you this about your little friend, but she's been keeping something from you." Levana's face is consumed with a devilish grin. Of course the one thing I neglected to tell Kai comes back to bite me in the ass.
Kai looks at me confused. "Cinder is that true? Are you keeping something from me?" I don't answer and look at my shoes. "Cinder, you know you can tell me anything, right?" He puts his hand on my upper arm and I can practically feel Levana's stare burrowing
through my arm. She lets out a cruel laugh.
"Now why would she tell you? Poor, innocent little Cinder. Tsk I guess I'll have to tell you anyway." She lets out a sigh. Kai looks at me and then fixates his eyes on her. "Well Kai, your little crush here seems to have forgotten to tell you something
about herself. She's not whole you see..." Kai looks confused. "One of her legs is prosthetic, the right one I think. I've heard it's pretty nasty too. Burned in a fire when you were just a baby, you poor thing." Her mock sympathy only makes it worse.
Kai turns his head to look her. His eyes wide with shock and pity and I'm guessing revulsion. This is the reason I don't tell people, pity. Everyone always gives you sad glances like you are missing something (which you are) but the prosthetic fills
it in and you can function like a normal human being, but once people know, you always get people pity and that's not what I want. I want to earn everything the right way, not because they feel bad that I'm disabled.
"Cinder...I didn't...I..." He looks down at my leg, like he can see through my jeans. He takes a step back. Levana got exactly what she wants, my downfall. If this is really going to be my last time talking to Kai on a friendly level and on any level
ever, I might as well go out with a bang. I square my shoulders and look up.
"Wow, I didn't know that someone as awful as you would stoop that low. That's a new level of terrible. And if you think being a bitch is going to get Kai to fall madly in love with you, you are wrong." And at that I turn around and kiss Kai. I didn't
expect much, but I at least thought he would kiss back. Once I realize he's not going to respond I break off.
"Cinder..." Kai croaks out. I take my cue and turn into the main room to escape the embarrassment that I just caused. "Cinder wait! Cinder!" I hear Kai yell, but I'm just trying to escape. I find a sliding glass door and open it. The cold air feels refreshing
on my burning skin. I close the door behind me and I crumble against the side of the house.
My life was going so well, but I just had to ruin it. I knew that neglecting to tell Kai I wasn't whole would end badly, but I wanted to stay in that bubble of happiness, where nothing went wrong and we were two college kids with our lives to spend. I
slide down the wall and I cover my face. How could I be so stupid! Kissing Kai! And I still have to do the project with him next week before I can even think of dropping out. Dropping out..., sounds like a good idea, I mean I'm no use here anymore,
my scholarship is gone thanks to Adri. Plus everyone will know, and I can't deal with the stares, I've lived with them my whole life, this was supposed to be a new start, a clean slate.
Before I realize it my heart rates starts to pick up and my breaths become shallow. My mind won't stop thinking and I can't breath, I can't breath. I collapse in on myself and start to cry. Everything is breaking down, my new better life is now as bad
as or worse than my old one. I might as well go home and get my old back as the town mechanic. I run my hand through my hair and take a deep breath. I count my breathing until I calm down. Everything will work out for the best. I hear the sliding
door open and close and someone step out. I can feel their stare on me, but I don't bother to look up. It's probably some drunk guy trying to distinguish what I'm doing out here and if I'm dead or not.
"Cinder?" That is definitely not some drunk guy. "Stars, I've been looking for you everywhere. I thought you left or something." He says, concern in his voice. I find my courage to speak and I lift my head up to look at Kai.
"Why would you care if I left? It seems to me that you only care if you pass math or not." I lash. He looks surprised.
"Cinder, I've always cared..." I bark out a laugh and stand up.
"If you cared so damn much, you wouldn't have listened to Levana and left. If you cared you would have...never mind." Kai looks at me, I can't tell if he's angry.
"Well if you would have just told me in the first place we wouldn't be having this problem!" I glare at him.
"It's my business and I decide who to tell!" I pause to see if he wants to butt in, when he doesn't I continue. "I'm not whole Kai! I've never been! I'm adopted, I have a fake leg, I am an outcast by nature! No one wants me Kai! The one person who cared
died before I got to know him, okay?! I've been growing up with those stares. The one you gave me when she told you, it's pity. I don't want your pity, I don't want your apologies, I just want to be seen a whole. And we had that for a while, that's
why I didn't tell you because I want to be seen as a person." My last words come out as a whisper. "I get that you don't have feelings for me, but please don't look at me as if I'm not whole." Kai's anger had completely disappeared and guilt and confusion
took it's place.
"Cinder I didn't know." I sigh.
"It's not your fault, I'm the one who didn't tell you." I look around. My eyes go back to Kai's. His face is covered in a smile.
He takes a few steps forward until he is holding my hands. "Can I see it?" I look him in the eye before nodding my head. My real leg ends just after my knee so walking isn't as hard as it would be if I was missing a whole leg. I lift my lose fitting jeans
enough so he can see the fake leg. He looks down in amazement, like he didn't really believe it was there until I showed him. "Cinder, I hope you know that I will never see you as anything, but whole. You are beautiful from head to toe, don't let
Levana tell you otherwise." I blush and stare at the patio floor. "Cinder?"
"Yeah." I whisper still looking down.
"Can you look at me?" I shake my head, I know that he is going to tell me that my kiss was a mistake. He gently puts his fingers under chin and raise my head so I am staring into his eyes."Please believe me when I say, I like you, I like you a lot..."
and then he kisses me. It takes a second to register and kiss back, but the kiss is short and sweet. "Next time tell me when you are about to kiss me so I don't freak out and freeze when the girl I have a crazy crush on is suddenly kissing me." He
smile and I take a step closer.
"Hey." Kai looks up at me and I close the gap. His arms wrap around my waist as mine encircle his neck. This kiss is nothing sweet, it's filled of passion and longing. My fingers play with the hair that rests on his neck while I pull him closer. His hands
wander up and down my back and finally rest on my now exposed hips. After what seems like not enough time we pull back to breath. He rests his forehead against mine. "Good warning?" I smirk.
"You have no idea how long I've waited to do that." he slowly backs me up against the side of the house.
"Do what?" I ask while batting my eyelashes. He smiles so big that it consumes his face.
"This." He puts each hand on either side of my head against the wall and kisses me, yet again. This kiss is more fevered and wanting, like we are afraid that this moment could be taken at any second. I move my hands from being pressed against his chest
to feeling under his thin shirt. He pulls away too soon. He pauses for a second before showering my face with kisses. "Tutoring is going to be harder now isn't it?" He says in between kisses. I laugh at his dumb antics.
"Yeah I don't think she approves making-out with a student, but I think she can make an exception." I smile and Kai chuckles.
"Well I guess I'm out of luck of ever passing math if my tutor is so damn beautiful." I blush and look down at the ground. "Hey, let's get out of here." His smile is out of control.
"Where would we go?"
"Anywhere, my darling." His stupid nicknames are going to grow on me. I have the biggest smile on my face as he grabs my hand and we run off into the night, with the loud party left behind us.
Hey guys hope you like it! If you want me to turn this one-shot into a full fledged story, just leave a review telling me that and I will do it.