It all started with an old, crappy pair of combat boots, a bag of popcorn, and a dare. Cinder was the Dare Queen, after all. And the stakes were high - twenty whole dollars.

The fact that $20 made it high stakes was pitiful, but those were different times. Times when combat boots on sale at Goodwill made for a good catch. But that was besides the point.

Thorne, the resident bad boy and her resident best friend, had poked and needled Cinder as he so often did.

"Come on, Cinder. Come on. You gotta make a mark. You have to….you have to…"

He took out a lighter from his jacket and clicked, placing the fire at the edge of the steel bench. Cinder rolled her eyes - her signature move.

"Stop trying to be overly dramatic, bad boy. Everyone can see right through it."

Thorne tilted his head. "No, they can't." To make his point, he turned to a gaggle of girls sitting right behind them and winked - his signature move. He turned back, the girls' swoons falling against his disregarding back. "It's just you, Cinder."

The crowd pressed up against them as an enormous cheer rang through the stadium. Cinder clapped halfheartedly. She wasn't much for school spirit. Thorne, on the other hand, whistled as loud as he possibly could.

"Anyways, Cinder," he elbowed her in the ribs, "you have to leave something for this school to remember you for."

"Dammit, Thorne, we've still got two and a half years in this hell. I've got plenty of opportunities to embarrass myself even further and leave a lasting impression on this place."

"Believe me," Thorne sighed, trying to nonchalantly place his feet on the packed bleacher in front of him, "I've been counting down the days."

"What days, Thorne? You haven't attended any classes in a week."

"It's - it's the whole aura." He waved his hands vaguely as the crowd booed at something on the field. "See? They get it."

Cinder peered down at the field, lit harshly by fluorescent lights. The ref was yelling something at the players of their team, but visibly walked a few steps back when he got to Wolf. Or, at least, that's what everyone called the ferocious, hulking player. Cinder had heard he could knock someone unconscious with a light fist bump.

Scarlet, one of Cinder's closer friends, claimed he was just a big softie, but Cinder, with all her bravery, could not work up the courage to get up to him and ask a question.

"Okay, Cinder," said Thorne, pushing his baseball cap down on the back of his head. "Do something. Leave this place with something. Make it a memory by losing something, or whatever deep shit you want to make it."

"I'll leave this place with a-"

"AH! Sorry, excuse me."

"No proble-"

Cinder stopped in the middle of her sentence.

Kai was still balancing the popcorn that was about to be spilled all over her on the tips of his fingers. He gulped and retracted his hand, which had been teetering very close to her nose. He tried for an apologetic smile, and Cinder was more blinded than any harsh light surrounding the stadium could have made her.

Thankfully, her mind did not catch up to her tongue. Not thankfully, her automatic backup plan did.

"No problem." She nodded her head, narrowing her eyes and pushing her chin out. To add to the damage, she braced her elbows on her knees and leaned forward. The backup plan. The bad girl look. "Just watch where you step next time."

He nodded, the tips of his ears turning a bright red. Cinder was positive her face would have been just as red, but tan skin and some luck usually brought nothing.

Not like Kai, with the smooth skin, and the coiffed, fluffy black hair, and the moonlit smile, and the kind eyes, and the -

"OH, MAN, CINDER," started Thorne, guffawing, "HAVE YOU GOT THE HOTS FOR HIM."

Cinder turned back, mortified. Thankfully, Wolf had saved her day, scoring a touchdown in the last two seconds of the game and causing the crowd to go wild and drown out Thorne's exclamation to everyone except for her.

"Just watch where you step next time," Thorne choked, eyes watering during his imitation of her. "Cinder. Oh my god."

"Shut up." Cinder whined, toying with the edge of the flannel shirt around her waist. But Thorne, as usual, did not listen.

He whistled loudly, which was thankfully still appropriate as the crowd continued cheering.

"Cinder, you'll never hear the end of this. But you'll have to for now. I've got an afterparty to catch." He began clambering out of the weird position he was in on the steel bench, but stopped halfway. "Cinder. Leave something."

"No." She stared at the tip of her combat boots, so worn that the black veneer was just a distant memory.

Thorne cocked his head and smiled devilishly. "I DARE you to leave something."

Cinder stiffened as adrenaline immediately sent a quick pump through her heart. She could never resist a dare. She could never turn one down, either. That was what came with the title of Dare Queen, after all, and Thorne knew exactly how to twist a knife.

"I dare you to…" he followed her gaze. "Leave your almost-Doc-Martens here."

Cinder looked up at him as he smirked with his use of his nickname for her shoes. This was her only pair of shoes, and she couldn't skate home barefoot. But Thorne was smarter than he seemed.

"Just leave one, and I'll give you a ride home."

Cinder's mind was resounding with a no, but her heart was pumping fast with a yes. She untied one shoe as Thorne whooped, trying to ignore the frayed laces and peeling-off sides.

She left it on the steel bench, very black against the harsh white of the whole place, awkward and out of place amidst still elated stragglers. And as she clambered into Thorne's jaguar, skateboard firmly placed between her knees, she looked back at the stadium. She could have sworn that amidst the volunteer cleanup crew, a certain someone with a tuft of soft black hair was picking up the almost-Doc-Marten (singular) and looking right at the car.

She turned around and sighed, regretting her decision already.

"And that, kids, is the first time I ever met your father." Cinder finished, looking faintly proud of herself as she leaned back into Kai's chest.

"Mom," Peony stated matter-of-factly, looking up from her phone where she was clearly playing a game, "I'm too old for storytime."

"You're too old," snorted Rikan as he shifted under the covers, lanky body close to falling out of the bed frame, "Okay, miss I'm-eleven-and-I-rule-the-world, remember who's five years older than you."

Peony rolled her eyes as Kai chuckled. Cinder wasn't sure if it was in response to Rikan's remark or to Peony's action, but something in her daughter's expression stirred something inside. Her signature move.

"ALRIGHT," declared Rikan, "I have school tomorrow, so everyone out."

With a little grumbling from his parents and a lot from his little sister, they ambled out. Peony yawned and went to her room, mumbling a sleepy good night before closing the door. Cinder returned it and rested her head on Kai's shoulder as soon as the door was closed.

"I don't think I realized it," he murmured after a moment, "but I was a pretty lucky guy for finding that shoe."

She snickered, and he placed a kiss in her hair. "I think it was more that I was one lucky girl."