Cinderella

Chapter Ten: Confessions

A/N: OMG, it's the last chapter! I had a really fun time writing this, it was a blast. But I have to thank all my reviewers, and one in particular. FCHS-HSMPrincess reviewed EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER RIGHT AWAY! She's a fabulous author; go check her out, she's on my Fave Authors list. Anyway, FCHS-HSMPrincess, this chapter is dedicated to YOU! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I know I haven't said so in the last few chapters, but I do NOT own HSM!!! What part of that don't you understand?!

As soon as I got home, I ripped off my dress, and put it in my closet. I pulled on some PJ's, and lay down on my bed, deep in thought.

Maybe it was a good thing that Chad found out. Then I wouldn't have to tell him on Monday. But it could also be a bad thing. I mean, what if Chad doesn't like me? What if he thinks I'm a psycho maniac, who is obsessed with him? What if… I stopped my train of thought. I was just going to have to suck it up if he didn't like me, and rejoice if he did. It was as simple as that. I shook my head and grabbed my diary. I needed to sort out my thoughts.

Dear Diary,

Tonight, as you know, I snuck out to the dance with Chad. Everything went flawlessly, until he took off my mask at the end of the night! He saw my face, and now he's knows that I was lying to him! What will I do? Should I call him, or wait until Monday? Will he pretend that nothing happened, or will he make a big deal out of it? I just don't know what will happen anymore.

I was interrupted in the middle of my entry by the sound of my doorbell ringing. I left my diary open on my bed, and rushed downstairs.

I opened the door and saw…

"Mom, Dad, why are you home early?" (A/N: Ha! You thought it would be Chad! Think again, suckers!)

"Oh, well, our meeting was let out early, so we thought that we might as go home and maybe watch a movie with you. I mean, it's not as if you were out." My dad answered. I flinched slightly at his comment. Boy, it was a good thing that the dance ended at 10:30, and not any later. Who would have thought my parents would be back by 11:00?

"Oh, yeah, I just kind of hung around here all evening."

"Honey," my mom asked, "Why are you wearing so much make-up? And why is your hair straightened?"

I gulped. "Erm, uh, I was bored, so I decided to give myself a makeover!" Boy, that was a close one!

My mom looked at me suspiciously. "Are you sure you didn't go out?"

"Who, me? What are you talking about, you crazy girl? Of course I didn't! I'm grounded. Remember?" I said nervously, playing with a piece of my hair.

"OK," my mom eyed me skeptically. "Just, don't stay up too late, OK? Get some sleep, you look tired."

"OK, mom, I just want to call Gabi." I turned around, and ran to my room. I grabbed my phone, and dialed the familiar seven-digit number.

Ring, rin- the phone was cut off in mid-ring.

"Hello?" Gabriella's voice wafted over the phone line to me.

"Um, hey Gabi, it's me."

"Oh, I was waiting for you to call!" Gabriella exclaimed, practically deafening me.

"You were? Stalker. Anyways, what are we going to do?" I asked her.

"What do you mean, we?" she asked. "Um, I think you mean you. I mean, I'm not the one who snuck off to a dance to see him."

"Yeah," I agreed, "But you're my best friend. And you helped. And so did Troy. So you both should help me."

"Bu you thought of the idea!" Gabriella argued.

I tried to think of more reasons that she should come with me. "So?"

"So what?" Gabriella asked. "Oh, and another reason, you're the one who likes him! Troy and I like him as friends! And when Chad admits that he likes you, I, personally, don't need to see you making out with him!"

I sighed. Gabriella was too logical for her own good. "Fine. I'll tell him. By myself."

I could practically hear Gabriella smiling. "Great. Well, I got to go. My mom wants me in bed early tonight, because we have to leave town tomorrow. Bye!"

"Yeah, bye!" I echoed, and put the phone down.

As I crawled under the covers, I dreaded what would happen on Monday. What if Chad told people? I would be humiliated beyond belief. I rolled over to my other side. I had a feeling I would not sleep well.

CHAYLOR-CHAYLOR-CHAYLOR

Monday…

I woke up on Monday morning, yet again, to the annoying monotonous beeping of my alarm clock. I angrily hit the 'off' button, and rolled out of bed. I had not slept very well that weekend, as I had predicted. I even fell asleep during the church service on Sunday. (A/N: Yeah, I made Taylor a Mennonite, like me. Woot!) But, honestly, who could blame me? The service was so boring!

I walked over to my closet. What to wear, what to wear? I quickly scanned my closet, and picked out jeans and a navy tank top, over which I put a yellow long-sleeved shirt. I ran downstairs and grabbed the toast ready for me on the counter, scarfed it down, and flew out the door.

When I arrived at school, I cautiously looked around. Good. Chad wasn't there yet. That took a load off my mind. Also, no one was staring at me, except for Ernie. But that doesn't count, because Ernie has a mental disability, and tends to stare at you for about ten minutes, before moving on and looking at another person. I saw Gabriella running up to me.

"Hey, Tay," she panted, obviously winded. "Do you think anybody knows?"

I shrugged. "If they do, they are all great actors, because no one has looked at me since I got here."

Gabriella sighed with relief. "Good."

I rolled my eyes. "Gabi, why are you so relieved? It's me who has the problem."

"Yeah," Gabriella answered, "But I can't be best friends with a social outcast."

I giggled, and punched her lightly on the arm. I knew she didn't mean it, but I had still been worrying about that all weekend. What if I did turn into a social outcast?

Gabriella and I walked into school, talking the whole way. We parted to go to our separate lockers.

As I was walking to homeroom, I spotted Chad. I quickly made an excursion to the girl's bathroom. If he was going to reject me, I did not want it to be in front of a whole crowd of people.

I reached homeroom unharmed, and took my place in the second-last row. Gabriella came over to my desk with Troy, and we started talking about the History test that day.

Riiiiiiiiiiing went the late bell. I looked around. Chad wasn't there yet, and neither was Mrs. Darbus. I settled down into my seat, and waited for the announcements. Just then, Chad walked through the door. I panicked. Mrs. Darbus wasn't there yet, and Chad was heading straight for my desk. I prepared for the worst.

"Hello, class," Mrs. Darbus breezed in, "I was held up in the staff room. Mr. Danforth, please go to your seat, why are you standing up?" I silently blessed Mrs. Darbus.

"Well, Mr. Danforth, why are you standing up?" Mrs. Darbus pestered.

"Umm, well, I," Chad sputtered. "I, um, dropped my pencil and it rolled over here. Yeah."

"Right," she said skeptically. "Please just sit down. I have your marks from your presentations, I will call you up in your pairs. Troy and Penny!" she called, shuffling her papers. I saw Troy looking delighted as he sat down. I guessed that he must have gotten an 'A'.

Mrs. Darbus called three other pairs before calling up Chad and I. I nervously walked up. Would dancing in the middle of class give us a low mark? And would Mrs. Darbus keep us after class again, forcing Chad and I to walk alone together?

"Well," Mrs. Darbus started. "As you know, I did not approve of your, ahem, public displays of affection. But, you did do a very good job on your presentation, so I am giving you an 'A-'."

I sighed in relief. A-! That was a pretty good mark for Darbus, considering I wasn't one of her favourite students. I went back to my seat, and looked up. I saw Chad staring at me, silently telling me to wait up for him after class. I chose to ignore his signals, and instead turned to Gabriella.

"So, what did you get?" I asked.

"An 'A'. You?" she replied. I noticed that she was not in the mood for talking, as Troy was trying to get her attention.

"Um, 'A-'." I said, and started doodling on my loose leaf. Man, was I ever bored!

CHAYLOR-CHAYLOR-CHAYLOR

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, unless you count Chad practically stalking me all day. I mean, wow, did he really want to talk to me that badly?

As the end of the day bell rang, I turned to Gabriella. "Don't wait up for me, OK? I have my car here, and I have to talk to Chad."

Gabriella winked at me. "OK! Have fun!"

I rolled my eyes. Honestly, could she get any more immature?

I stuffed my books in my locker, and grabbed my backpack. I looked around for Chad. Where was he? I double-checked. Cheerleaders? Nope, Chad wasn't doing much flirting today. Jocks? He didn't seem to be with his regular posse. Random kids going out of school? Nope, not there either. Was he avoiding me? I hoped not.

As I walked out of school, I noticed a familiar head of brown curls. Chad was hanging out by the flagpole, all by himself! It's pretty unusual to see Chad alone, but I was grateful. That meant no friends to mock me and ask questions.

"Hey, Chad." I greeted him nervously. I hoped he wouldn't yell at me. I mean, there weren't a lot of people in the school yard, but I was not eager to get embarrassed.

"Hey, Taylor, listen." He started. "I'm going to cut to the point. Why on Earth did you sneak into the dance, and disguise yourself?"

"Would you believe me if I said that aliens took my brain?" I deadpanned.

"Nope, you're too smart for that. You would trick them into taking their own brains instead. Now, answer my question, why did you sneak out to the dance?" Chad looked at me seriously.

"It seems so stupid, now that I think about it. See, it was because of you." I looked at Chad's shocked expression, and continued. "You see, after the after party, you didn't do anything to indicate that you liked me. And since you were flirting with Tonya, I wanted to know whether or not you liked me. So I devised a plan to sneak into the dance and find out of you liked someone. And now it seems really embarrassing and idiotic." I finished, slightly out of breath.

Chad stared at me. "You snuck out to a dance because you like me?! Why didn't you just ask me if I liked you, too?"

I rolled my eyes. "Would you have answered me honestly?"

Chad nodded. "Absolutely."

"OK, then, let me guess who it is." Chad looked surprised, but nodded his agreement. "Is it Tonya?"

"No!" Chad yelled.

"Is it Laurie or Jade?"

"Nope, and nope." He answered, smiling.

"Well, then," I said, frustrated. "Who is it?"

Chad smiled. "You."

My eyes widened. Before I could start to process what he said, I felt a pair of lips on mine, and realized that Chad was kissing me. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Chad liked me, and he was kissing me!

I relaxed slightly, and started to kiss him back. My hands trailed over his abs and chest, reaching their destination on Chad's muscular shoulders. I gasped as Chad's tongue went into my mouth, and then sank into the kiss.

It seemed my fairytale was coming true at last.

A/N: It's over! No! I love this story! I will, though, be starting a new story, called A Day in Quebec soon. Look for it! Anyway, just because it's the last chapter doesn't mean that you shouldn't review. In fact, you should!

Tootles! (For the last time.)

TheFabMax