Once upon a time, Holly O'Hair had a crush on Daring Charming. It wasn't as if it were unusual for a girl at Ever After High to have a crush on the eldest Charming prince, plenty of people did. She could name ten princesses off of the top of her head who had a crush on Daring Charming at one point in time. Holly knew that her crush was just that-a crush-and would pass given time. Still, two years later, and Holly's sixteen year old crush was her Senior crush.

Holly sighed as she double tapped one of Daring's bookpage posts. He was just so clever, and handsome. With a smile that would dazzle the stars.

"What are you doing?" Poppy asked.

"Nothing," Holly said.

Poppy nodded suspiciously. "You better not be bookpage stalking Daring Charming."

"It's not stalking if he just happens to show up on my feed," Holly said.

"Yes, it is."

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes-"

"Girls!" The twins whirled around at the sound of their grandmother's voice. She was standing in front of them with her arms crossed. Oh, crud. The last thing that Holly wanted to do was annoy her grandmother(on account of her being a witch and all). "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Holly said. Poppy, on the other hand, just smirked.

"I'm helping Holly get over her crush."

Holly glared at her sister. She really did not want her grandmother's help on this. Her help was never good.

"Oh really," Nana said, clapping her hands together like a schoolgirl, "That's just wonderful. You know what you need to do, Holly dearest? You need to go on a date with a nice, young man. That will get your crush off of your mind."

Holly continued to glare at her sister. Especially, as she spoke up, "I think that's a wonderful idea, Nana."

I don't.

"What about that nice boy from your work, Poppy? The one with the blue hair?"

"He doesn't swing that way," Poppy said. Holly snorted, most of the guys at Poppy's work didn't swing that way.

"Oh," Nana said, "That's a shame. He was a really nice young man." It only took her half a second before she was thinking of boys for Holly to go out with again. "I have just the boy, Holly. Don't worry. One of the witches in my coven has a son around your age. I'll give her a call."

Holly glared at Poppy as their grandmother retreated to the kitchen and the landline that she kept there. Poppy gave Holly an innocent smile. "What?"

"You know what," Holly said, "I want to marry a prince, not some Witch Boy."

"Who said that you have to marry him?"

"It's...it's...that's how it works."

Poppy laughed. "Maybe in the olden days. Remember, I dated Sparrow for three months. We're not going to get married. Ever. Trust me."

"Still...I wanted it to be special."

"No one said that you have to kiss the boy. Just go on a date with him."

"I don't have much of a choice here, do I?" Holly asked with a sigh.

"No, you don't."

"Fine, I'll go."

Poppy squeezed her in a hug. "You're the bestest sister ever after."

"I know."

Holly glared at the mirror in front of her. Never, ever in her entire life had Holly O'Hair been on a date. She'd once tagged along with Hunter, Ashlynn, and a friend of theirs, but that wasn't a date. This, on the other hand, was. It was her first ever date, and it was with a total stranger who also happened to be a witch. A witch!

She did not see the need to dress up for her date with Witch Boy.

"Are you really wearing that?" Poppy asked as she entered their shared dorm room.

Holly glanced at her outfit in the mirror. She had decided that she could dress casually for this date. After all, they were only going out for coffee, and she was not planning on going on a second date with Witch Boy. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a blue sweater, her red hair piled on top of her head in a bun. Instead of her contacts, Holly was wearing a pair of thick, purple glasses.

She shrugged. "Yeah. Why? Do you have something wrong with it?"

"Are you really sure that you want to wear the glasses?" Poppy asked. "It might give him the wrong idea."

"Which is?"

"That you never want to go out on a date with him again."

Holly grinned. "That's the right idea."

Poppy groaned. "Alright," she said, "You should go. You don't want to be late."

"I don't want to go," Holly muttered.

Fifteen minutes later, Holly found herself sitting at a table in The Royal Grounds, a coffee shop located on the far side of Book End, a caramel mocha in front of her. Her date was late. Holly frowned into her cup. That would be just wonderful, wouldn't it? Poppy would laugh her head off; Holly O'Hair stood up by a Witch Boy that she didn't even want to go on a date with in the first place.

She could die from the embarrassment.

Holly pulled out her phone and opened up bookpage. She was met by a photo of a smiling Apple White with an equally happy Daring Charming. Holly groaned and banged her head on the table. That was just her luck. Apple was on her monthly date with Daring, which meant that Holly would get minute by minute updates of how Apple's absolutely perfect date was going.

Meanwhile, Holly was stuck on a date with Witch Boy. That is if he ever bothered to show.

Which he hadn't.

Holly silently cursed her luck.

"Are you okay?"

Holly looked up to be met by a pair of crystal blue eyes that sparkled like literal sapphires rimmed by thick, dark eyelashes. She smiled at the wavy black hair and chiseled jawline that accompanied those eyes. Her smile turned into a frown when she noticed the 'Hecate's Academy for Witchcraft' t-shirt.

"Yeah," Holly said, "I'm fine." This wasn't fair! Witch Boy was not allowed to be cute. He was supposed to be green and covered in warts. Not-

"Are you Holly?" Holly nodded and Witch Boy sat down in the seat across from her. "I'm Mordred. My mom's in the same coven as your grandmother."

"I know," Holly said. She was saved from having to make small talk by the waitress, who sat a plain, black coffee down in front of Mordred, flashing him a flirtatious grin as she did so. If he noticed, Mordred didn't pay any attention.

For some odd reason that satisfied Holly.

"So," she said, "you go to Hecate's?"

"Yeah," Mordred said, "You go to Ever After?"

"Yeah," Holly nodded. She glanced at the clock on the wall. She had two hours before she could call Poppy to pick her up. This was going to take forever.

"I'm going to be honest," Mordred said, "I don't really do the whole dating this. I've never even been on a date with a girl."

"Me neither," Holly said. This was good. This was common ground. She could work with this. "My sister's the one who dates."

"You have a sister?"

"A twin, actually," Holly said, "Her name's Poppy."

"So, who's older? You or her?"

"Technically I am," Holly said.

Mordred raised an eyebrow. "Technically?"

"Yeah," Holly said, "My grandma delivered us, so it's hard to be sure exactly. She's not exactly the best at keeping things straight." Why was she telling him this? She'd agreed to never tell anyone that she was the younger twin. Why was she telling a total stranger? "So, what about you? So you have any siblings?"

"One," Mordred said, "An older sister."

"Does she do magic too?"

Mordred nodded. "She's loads better than I am. Plus, she's really hard set on her destiny and all that."

Holly cringed. She'd rather avoid talk of destinies. Ever since Raven Queen's diabolical sophomore year, the class had been split, and Holly with them. "What's her destiny?" Holly found herself asking despite her better judgement.

"She's going to be the next Morgan Le Fey," Mordred said, staring at his coffee.

"Which makes you the next Mordred?"

"Technically, no," Mordred said.

Holly raised her eyebrow. "No?"

"Yeah," Mordred said, "the next Mordred's my cousin. So, are you the next Repunzel?"

Holly nodded. "Yes. So, what's it like to be able to perform magic?"

Mordred let out a sigh of relief at the change of topic. "Would you like a demonstration?" Holly nodded. A second later a blue orb sparked to life in Mordred's hand, moving round and round like a ball of water.

"Wow," Holly murmured in awe.

"Would you like to try?"

Holly shook her head. "I can't do magic."

"Nonsense," Mordred said, "Your grandmother's a witch. You have magic in your blood."

"I don't think that I should."

"Come on, Holly. You'll never know if you don't try."

Holly eyed the boy in front of her. Mordred was looking at her with such hope in his eyes. He actually seemed to believe that she'd be able to perform magic. It was complete and total nonsense. She sighed. "Fine," Holly said, "What do I have to do?"

Mordred grinned. "You need to concentrate on what you want to happen. Take this cup for example." He gestured to the coffee in front of him. "You need to picture it floating and it will. Like this." Mordred looked his coffee cup. Holly gasped as the cup glowed blue and floated off the table. "Now, you try."

Holly concentrated on her coffee cup. Just image it floating. Just imagine it floating. Holly closed her eyes and picture the cup. She focused on the bottom of the cup. Mentally, she added little bits of energy to the base. She shivered as she felt her fingers tingle.

"There you go," Mordred said.

Holly opened her eyes and grinned. Just a few feet in front of her was her caramel mocha being held off of the table by a cloud of pink energy. Amazed, she looked at Mordred. "Did I do that?"

"Yes. Try moving it." Holly concentrated on moving the cup. Inch by inch it floated across the table to Mordred. He smiled at her.

Without warning, Mordred enveloped her small cloud of pink magic in his own glowing blue orb. Holly gasped. Mordred hadn't moved from his spot across from her, but it felt like he was holding her hand. His magic felt like it was tenderly holding hers.

"You're good at this."

"Thanks," Holly smiled sheepishly, relishing the feeling of his magic over hers. She had no idea that anything could feel this good. It was...magical.

"Holly!?"

The moment was shattered. Holly's cup dropped, spilling mocha all over Mordred. Holly flashed her date an apologetic look before turning around to meet her worst fears.

Apple White was standing only a few feet away from their table, her hair and makeup applied perfectly, wearing a dress that looked like it belonged on a princess(which she was). Beside her, was Daring Charming, looking equally as perfect. Holly felt her stomach plummet. Things were going so well. She hadn't thought about Daring in the past hour.

This was just her luck.

"That is you!" Apple said, coming to stand beside their table, "I didn't recognize you with glasses on."

Holly wanted to bang her head on the table. Why her? Why did things like this always happen to her?

"Oh," Apple said, not noticing the awkwardness between all members of the table, "Who's your friend?"

"This is Mordred," Holly said. She turned to Mordred. "Mordred, this is Apple White and Daring Charming. We go to school together."

Mordred smile seemed forced. "It's nice to meet you," he greeted Apple. He ignored Daring. Holly raised her eyebrows. What was that about?

"Wait a spell, is this a date?"

"Um..." Holly glanced at Mordred. Was this a date? Technically, it was, but they hadn't talked about it being a date at all. Could she see herself with him? Yes. Could he see himself with her? Holly didn't know.

"Yes," Mordred said, "It is a date." Holly felt like a weight was lifted from her chest.

"That's wonderful!" Apple exclaimed, "I'm so happy for you."

Holly smiled. "Thanks."

"Do you mind if we join you?" Apple asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Daring spoke for the first time that evening.

Apple turned to him. "What? Why?"

"I think that Daring's right," Mordred agreed. Apple groaned as Daring dragged her away and waved goodbye.

Holly faced her date. "So, what was that about?"

"What was what about?"

"What's going on with you and Daring?"

Mordred shrugged. "He's my cousin," he said, "We don't get along."

Holly blinked. Mordred was Daring Charming's cousin. But that would make him a Charming. This was unfair. He couldn't be cute, nice, and a Charming. "You're a Charming?"

Mordred nodded. "Technically. My dad's his dad's cousin. They don't really like to talk about us, since he married my mom, and she's evil. That's a big no no in the family."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Mordred said, "So, technically I'm a prince. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Did you go out with Daring, or something?"

"Well," Holly said, "Once upon a time I had a crush on Daring."

"What about now?"

"No," Holly said, "I don't have a crush on him anymore."

Mordred smiled. He snapped his fingers and the mocha stain was removed from his shirt. "So, should I get you another mocha?"

It was an open question. He was giving her the chance to leave if she wanted to. Holly smiled back. "Sounds good," she said.

Once upon a time, Holly O'Hair had a crush on Daring Charming. It wasn't as if it were unusual for a girl at Ever After High to have a crush on the eldest Charming prince, plenty of people did. She could name ten princesses off of the top of her head who had a crush on Daring Charming.

She couldn't name a single one who had a crush on a witch boy.

That was just her luck.