Chapter 4:(2531 words)
A couple of weeks later, and Daring Charming and Cerise Hood have spoken almost nothing to each other, whether it be at practice or in their shared lessons.
Luckily, they only had one together, Chemythstry, and they sat on opposite sides of the classroom, Daring used his Charming charm on the teacher, Professor Rumpelstiltskin, to secure that happening. Of course, it didn't work, but Headmaster Grimm agreed to allow it.
They never told anyone why, as no one but the boys that were at try-outs and Cerise's friends knew of their small rivalry.
They have had four bookball practices so far, and many were surprised at hearing of the girl that supposedly disguised herself as a boy to join the team.
Darling Charming wanted to meet her. 'Of course she does,' sighed Daring. 'They're better twins then she and Dexter could ever be.'
In those four practices, Daring had placed Sparrow as running-back instead of the hooded figure, and Daring and the Coach had made the team try plays and small scenarios, and he hadn't once picked the… girl, as a member of these activities.
She just stayed on the bench, patiently waiting for him to change his mind about girls not being allowed to play bookball. It wasn't really all that patient, really.
Ever since try-outs, she had worn her actual clothes, and didn't wear a mask anymore, showing everyone that she was a girl. She still wore her hood though, for whatever reason. 'It's not like she's going to tell me anything about it.' He shook his head, 'It's not like I care that she won't tell me anything about it either. We don't really see eye to eye, and we never will.'
He knew that she was attractive, and that's all. No feelings what-so-ever. She was a disgrace to Ever After, being all fiery and breaking tradition, those are no traits the daughter of Little Red Riding Hood should have.
He knew that he was only going to anger her more, and unlike every other female in the school, he didn't know what to expect from an annoyed Cerise Hood. She was unpredictable, and different from all of the other girls in Ever After High. Hell, he even knew what to expect from Raven Queen!
Daring kept leaving her out though, a sort of revenge for breaking tradition. Prince Charmings don't really plot out revenge, but this girl kept putting him in situations that he had no experience with.
She kept him on his toes, and, to be honest, he was quite thankful for that. His results in lessons were improving since he was trying a lot harder now that he was trying to show the hooded girl that he was superior.
It was quite a fun little game they had going on between the two of them, with not many people knowing about it.
The students of EAH didn't even know that they knew each other, they just knew that Daring was the captain of the bookball team and that Cerise Hood was the fastest student that they've ever had.
Her friends seemed to have angered quicker than her as he had already been confronted by a very angry Hunter.
It was six days prior to that point, on a Wednesday, almost a week after the try-outs. They were having practice three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Wednesday's practice had just ended and Daring was walking up to stair case to his dorm to shower when Hunter had stopped him.
"Hey, Daring!" he called from the bottom of the stairs.
"Yes?" he politely asked.
"Why haven't you been playing Cerise?" his voice sounding enraged.
"She is a girl, I have simply decided that she can watch and learn."
Hunter looked absolutely furious at the statement, "And what would your sister say to that, huh? Don't you love her? She joined the fencing team by doing exactly what Cerise did, and she is fully included, and the boys do that because she's good at it, not because she's a girl!"
Daring stared in shock at the boy that is usually taller than him from the top of the rich staircase.
"I… of course I love my sister, she's brilliant."
"Then you are you punishing Cerise when she's doing exactly what she did?"
Daring stayed silent at that.
"I thought so, please play her next time," Hunter simply asked and walked away to the girl's side of the castle. It wasn't actually split in half for girls and boys, but the dorm rooms were on opposite sides of the castle.
He didn't listen.
It was Tuesday, so early that it was still night. It was almost two weeks since the try-outs. They had two more practices since Hunter confronted him that Wednesday, on the Friday and the Monday, and he didn't play Cerise the entire time.
They were going to have another practice session tomorrow, and Daring wondered when the mysterious girl was finally going to snap.
He didn't have to wait long.
He was walking down the corridor, heading out the pitch to do some laps, he had to keep fit for the ladies after all.
It was very early in the day, moonlight was still shining through the occasional window, and there were no students in the halls yet, they were probably all still asleep. So, he didn't expect to see anyone up yet. However, he heard footsteps behind him.
He stopped in front of a window and turned around to see a fuming Cerise Hood behind him, an expression of betrayal and enragement on her gorgeous fa- 'Can't be having those thoughts now, Charming!'
"Yes?" he politely asked, looking slightly annoyed.
She was quite tall for her age but he was still taller than her, but not by much. This annoyed him, as he couldn't look down on her as he ripped her argument to shreds.
"I have a problem with you, UnCharming," she stated, her voice strangely level, it sounded like she was trying very hard not to make a scene, even though there was no one here to watch.
His eyes widened at the nickname, if anyone else said this, he would have laughed along, but since it was her, he ignored it. He didn't know what else to do.
"I have no idea what you mean," he lied, flashing her one of his smiles that girls usually faint for. 'Of course, this is the mysteriously hooded girl you're dealing with,' he reminded himself.
She surprisingly didn't even realise that he had done so, her nostrils were flaring and she was showing her teeth, almost growling at him.
She looked rather like a wolf, he mused, laughing in his head at the irony of the future Little Red Riding Hood looking like the animal that would try to threaten her life later on.
"Oh, I think you do, UnCharming," she growled.
He took a step back. Unusual. He never backed down from a challenge.
"Please do tell," he smirked.
"You," she pointed her finger at him, her nails sharp and pointed, "haven't been playing me. At all!"
"You will just have to wait your turn, I'm afraid."
Her eyes glowed gold for a millisecond as the fading moonlight hit them. He had never seen nor heard of anything like that happening before. He shook his head, it must have just been his imagination.
"No, UnCharming, I will not as I already have done so, for a fortnight no less!"
"And?" he teased. She looked furious.
"And? And!? You, Prince Charming, are a sexist jerk! And I will not just do what you say just because you think that you are superior!" she yelled, her eyes looking more golden by the second.
He paused. 'Am I really sexist? Or a jerk? Does she actually believe that?" He looked slightly crushed at that, until he quietly asked, "Do you really believe that?"
He looked at her, as surprise shown on her face and her eyes faded into that misty grey that he had shamefully dreamt about once or twice since the try-outs two weeks ago. It must have been a trick of the light, how could eyes shine golden like that?
"I do… but I think that you can stop being one if you try hard enough," she said after a few minutes, clearly putting thought in her answer.
Now it was his turn to be surprised. He was expecting her to be the angriest of them all, and she certainly lived up to it, but she also cared about him, it seemed. She didn't want him to feel sad, and she comforted him.
Strange.
She clearly noticed his shock too, as she cleared her throat and pulled on her hood, hiding her face even more, "So, what are you doing up so early anyway?"
He stood still, unsure if he heard correctly, "Excuse me?"
She shook her head and huffed a laugh. "Go on then, tell me," she encouraged.
He smiled slightly, amused at her sudden change of mood.
"Well, I was going to run a few laps, I need to keep fit for the ladies, you know." It didn't sound as suave as it did earlier, in his head. He would much rather Cerise be amazed by him, as it seemed so impossible to do. He always loved a good challenge.
"And you?" he added, a curious look in his eyes.
She smiled cheekily, "Why do you want to know, hmm?"
He shook his head at her response. "I told you why I was up, now it's your turn."
She huffed and playfully glared at him. 'As if they were friends for years.' He was very confused. 'How did we go from insulting each other to being… friendly?'
She seemed to be thinking the same thing, as she cleared her throat once more and answered, "I couldn't sleep, so I was going to go running."
He smiled at her in a friendly manner, "You can always join me if you want. That is, if you're okay with losing?"
She pointed her finger at him again, though this time it was funny instead of threatening, "Oh, you're so on!"
She then showed her enthusiasm by running all the way to the stadium, Daring already far behind.
When he finally reached the stadium, he saw the beautiful girl picking her nails sarcastically, obviously bored out of her mind.
"Hey," he breathed, still tired from running the whole way. He took a closer look and saw that she didn't even seem affected by running for a few minutes. The bookball stadium was quite far from the school entrance. 'How…?'
"Finally, you sure took your sweet time!" she playfully stated, punching his shoulder lightly. 'Something friends do,' he noted.
What was weird was that he felt perfectly fine. Actually, better than fine. He thought that if he would ever be friends with the daughter of Little Red Riding Hood, he would feel disgusted with himself. However, that is not the case, so it seems. He felt wonderful, in fact. He had never felt like he was having so much fun before in his life.
Cerise sure was unusual. 'Her massive mood swings made her exciting,' he thought, 'Unpredictable and fun.'
He laughed at himself as he sat on the bleachers, taking a break from running a few laps. Cerise was still going. 'Of course, she was her!' He laughed more.
She stopped running to stand next to him. She was breathing heavily, but still didn't seem affected from the exhaustion.
"So, you'll finally play me?" she questioned excitedly.
Her happiness and joy was rubbing off on him. Sure, he was used to seeing girls act that way around him, but Cerise was doing so for other reasons, not him. It felt… refreshing, not having someone depend on you for happiness. It was an unusual thing to say, but it was true. And it was a new experience to feel happy because of someone else, which hardly ever happens.
He always had to make his own happiness, his own fun, because it is very boring being a prince and following a destiny that was planned out long before he was born.
Now, he had the girl in front of him, and for that, he was once again grateful. He was starting to see her and Hunter's point, at last.
"Yeah, I think I will."
Her smile was filled with delight and relief as she fist-pumped her fist in the air, her joyful expression filling Daring up with glee and peace of mind, who knew one person could make him feel so… free.
She stopped bouncing around and turned to look at him, smile firmly in place, probably not getting off anytime soon.
"Hey, Daring?"
"Yeah?" he turned to look at her, a sheepish smile found its place on his face, embarrassment from zoning out clearly showing.
She smiled wider. "Thanks, for letting me play. I really like bookball and I really like running… as you can probably tell."
He grinned at her, and she thinks that it is the most wonderful thing that she had ever se- 'Hold it right there! I can't be having thoughts like those, just listen to what he's saying.'
It looked like she zoned out herself for a few seconds, until she snapped out of it and shook her head.
He ignored it for now.
"It's no problem, I should have given you a chance… sorry I was a sexist jerk. Sometimes I get a little overboard on the whole 'traditions' thing."
She laughed at the under-statement, and turned her head slightly to look at the sunrise.
"Wow," she breathed, her face full of awe and wonder.
"What, never seen one before?" he teased.
She turned to look at him, playfully glaring once more, "I have," she began, "It's just been a few years, I live in a forest, remember."
"Oh, right," he chuckled.
She checked her mirrorphone for the time, "Hey, Daring."
"Hmm?" he replied, looking at the spectrum of rich reds and soft pinks covering the sky as if it was a priceless painting.
"It's almost six, students with early classes will be getting up soon."
He turned to look at her, a frown on his face. "Oh, you're right, we should probably go."
Their eyes locked, a battle of cold iron grey against a storm of passion commenced until Cerise commented, "Yeah, we should."
She stood up from the bleachers from where they were watching the sunrise and started walking back inside the building, but before she entered, she turned around and waved goodbye at him.
When she did so, his stomach erupted with butterflies. 'Okay, it's official. I 'like' her.' He groaned, not because he didn't want to not like her but because he already had his destiny all planned out. Now this random girl just walked in and blew his whole world away, and she didn't even know!
He shook his head and went to his dorm room to change, and wondered if this little friendship they had this morning would stay or not…
He hoped that it would, anyway.