Sometimes it was difficult for Henri to keep up with his friends, but having over achievers for friends would do that.

There was Snow and Florian, who were not only incredible in pretty much every subject they took, but they were the most famous couple in school. Not to mention that they were head and deputy head prefect, and with all the extracurriculars they took it was a surprise that they could find time for themselves and their friends. Which (somehow) they managed to do.

Newcomer Phillip seemed less talented than the others, but he soon proved himself to be like a modern day Fred Astaire. Henri could easily see him becoming like his increasingly busy girlfriend, Cinderella.

The girlfriend in question was almost always busy with some kind of drama event or another, and if not that the orchestra had to perform somewhere. Despite the fact that the two of them were dating he felt like he saw less and less of her every day, which was certainly not what their relationship should be like.

So it was easy for Henri – an underachiever who never showed up to his sports practices – to feel a bit behind. Sometimes he wondered how he even ended up with that crowd, but then he remembered almost as soon as he forgot. His ridiculously attractive face.

Half the reason he had any leverage in the social system of the school was because of his perfectly formed visage. He considered it both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because who wouldn't want to be good looking? And a curse because that was all people seemed to care about.

He was sure that Cinderella cared for more than just his looks, no, that wasn't the problem. The lack of time that she spent with him was the problem. He wanted someone who would rather spend time with him rather than a bloody flute. She was a nice girl, and they'd dated for almost as long as Florian and Snow had. But he couldn't help but want something… new…

But God knows when he'd get the courage to break up with her.

Henri trudged towards the gym, the cold wind blowing leaves straight into his face. Hands shoved into his pockets, he braced himself for yet another outdoor PE session. Like anyone needed that – Florian had already been struck down with a cold because of it.

As he walked by a gaggle of year 12s huddled together like penguins, Henri couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"Did you hear that Charlotte broke it off with Naveen?"

"Yeah, I can't believe it! She never takes her eyes off of him in English…"

"I heard it was Tiana's fault."

"What? That little year 11?"

Henri had heard of Charlotte through Phillip's exasperated stories. What he'd gathered from them was that she was chatty, clingy, slightly crazy, and would cancel anything for a date. Sounded like she was just what Henri needed…

Henri paused, deciding it might be a good idea to return to that conversation. He pulled out his phone and pretended to flick through it, keeping an ear out for any useful information.

"I bet she'll want to lay off dating for a while."

"Nah, she desperate to find someone else. You know her, can't be single for a day without a new guy."

"I wonder who she'll go for?"

"Hey, wanna make a bet?"

So she was looking for a new guy, and Henri was looking for a new girl. Well, he had to break up with Cinderella first, but that could wait. He knew what Charlotte looked like, blonde bob, short, a little round, and always in pink. The kind of girl that was easy to spot in a crowd. She seemed like the kind of girl who would fall for a guy like him… This would be easy.

He just had to get through PE first, which was easier said than done…

He found Charlotte during the lunch hour of the next day when she was touching up her makeup in the small mirror that hung in her locker. Henri felt a brief pang of guilt when he thought about Cinderella – he couldn't cheat on her. That would break her heart!

But she'd neglected him. Yes, he understood that she had lots of stuff going on and she couldn't help it, but she barely even texted or called him anymore.

Putting the thought of Cinderella out of his head, he approached Charlotte's locker.

"Hey," he said, and Charlotte looked up from her mirror. When she saw who it was, she instantly slammed her locker shut.

"Hey Henri, watcha up to?" she leaned against the lockers.

"Not much now, not much after school. Are you busy?" he mimicked Charlotte's stance.

The hall was empty aside from them, there was no way he could get caught, and Cinderella had orchestra practice on Friday. He was safe.

"If you aren't, charmin'," she gave a coy smile.

"Wanna meet by my car? I'll take you somewhere nice," he leaned in, and Charlotte giggled.

"And where might that be?"

"Wherever you want."

Charlotte batted her eyelashes. "It's a date."

Henri smiled, and she smiled back. Their romantic moment was interrupted by a teacher sticking their head out of a classroom and yelling: "It's an outside lunch you know!"

"Guess I'll meet you by your car then," Charlotte said with a lowered voice, then sauntered away down the corridors.

Henri watched her go, an odd feeling of guilt and excitement mixing in his gut. He thought the process of asking her out had gone well – she certainly seemed interested. But then how would he face Cinderella afterward?

A thought suddenly dawned on him. Did Charlotte not know he was in a relationship? Or did she just ignore it because she was desperate after her breakup? Did she know and just forget?

Henri let the thought slip from his mind as he wandered down the corridor, his mind occupied with dating strategies. Or rather, how-to-not-get-caught-cheating strategies. Only time would tell how it would end up, though he wasn't sure he was prepared if Cinderella caught him with Charlotte.

Or maybe she'd just be too busy to notice…

Charlotte flopped onto her fluffy, plush, ginormous pink bed, her stomach doing backflips inside her. She'd just been on a date with the hottest guy in school, and the best part about it was that he'd asked her! Not the other way around, which it often was.

The date itself wasn't anything to rave about. They'd hung out in town, gone out to dinner (which he'd paid for), went for a moonlit walk in the park, and then he'd driven her home. Not much different from any old date with Naveen.

Naveen… He'd be so jealous! He'd dump Tiana as soon as he heard they'd gone out and come crawling right back! She wouldn't take him back, though, not when she had Henri Renou as her date!

Charlotte grabbed onto one of her overstuffed heart shaped pillows and hugged it tight to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut and giggling to herself. After reopening her eyes she gazed over and her bright pink phone.

Smiling, she discarded the pillow and grabbed her phone, tapping in the password and leaning against her larger, lacy pillows. She went straight into the Facebook app and instantly started tapping out a post.

Just had the BEST date with Henri Renou! Wanna do it again charmin'? ;)

a/n: thumbs up for Fred Astaire!