Page 7 of Becoming Cinderella

“Um, Prince William?” she asks.

“Close. Try Liam Taylor.” She’s quiet on the other line. I check my phone to make sure we didn’t lose a connection. “Penn?”

“You’re not serious.” I can tell in her tone she’s trying to decipher how serious I actually am.

“Cross my heart.”

She starts screaming to a point where I have to hold my phone away from my ear. I fill her in, leaving out the part where Jared confessed his feelings for her. I’m not sure why I do. Maybe I want to be selfish and keep the conversation focused on Liam for now? Today is about Liam Taylor, all the other days will be about figuring out the Jared situation.

We hang up just as I pull into my driveway. I reach down and pinch my arm. Definitely not dreaming. How will I ever be able to top this day for the rest of my life?

The next morning Penn is waiting in the school parking lot for me. Before I’m even out of my car she’s pouncing on me.

“Tell me every single detail!”

I tell her everything I told her on the phone the night before. Once again though, I leave out the Jared part. I know I need to talk to her; I’m sure Jared will follow up to see if I have. But the longer I can push back the conversation, the longer I can stay in denial about it even happening.

At work I have to once again tell the story to my coworker, Kayla, with the damaged stock room door hanging loosely as a reminder. Kayla is a lot like Penn when she hears the story, freaking out at all the right moments.

I try to then get my math homework finished, but can’t focus. My mind keeps wandering back to Jared’s confession the day before. What am I going to do? Liam thought I should fight for my relationship, well current lack of, and I can’t stop thinking about the smile Jared gave when he told me I was one of his favorite people. Why can’t love and relationships be easy?

With my head full of distractions, my shift drags on and I’m counting down to the final minute when we can finally close. I check that the front door is locked behind Kayla before heading out the back door. I freeze when I step outside and see Liam standing by my car. I blink a couple of times, willing my eyesto not be playing a trick on me.

“Um, hi?” My heart stutters a bit seeing him standing there.

Liam’s hands are shoved in his front pockets before he offers an almost unsure wave. It’s like the ending scene in Sixteen Candles when Jake Ryan is waiting for Samantha. If I’m being honest, I’m not sure he’s even real now. Why would Liam Taylor be waiting around my beat-up car?

He looks relieved that it’s me walking through the door. “I was hoping this was your car. So, did you do it?”

“Do what?” I lock the store’s door and walk towards him slowly, still unsure what to make of him being here.

“Give that boy a compliment.”

I moan as I lean against my hood. “I did.”

“It went bad?” He seems both surprised and worried.

“Not really, but yes.”

Liam’s eyebrows grow together in confusion at my words.

“I totally blew it and told him I liked his shirt. His shirt!” I look up at him. “What a basic, default compliment. My brain literally does not know how to function when it’s in a ten-foot radius of Jared Green.”

“But it worked?” A spark of light ignites in Liam’s eyes. Man, those eyes. I always thought they were photoshopped to look that blue.

“I think so? He seemed genuinely flattered at such a stupid compliment. He called me one of his favorite people, so unless he says that to everyone, I guess that’s a good sign.” I’m downplaying his words to Liam, because Jared calling me one of his favorite people meant a lot.

Liam shoves his hands back into his front pockets. “Good. Because I’ve been thinking.”

I look at him suspiciously. “Why does that sound like a bad thing?”

He ignores this. “I have an idea.” I wait for him to continue, watching him start to pace back and forth for a moment before facing me again. “I can help you, if you help me.”

I let out a short laugh. “What could we possibly help each other with?”

“I’ve been in one or two rom-coms in my day.”

He says this jokingly because he’s been in several, like my all-time favorite, Suddenly Yours. He even won the Best Kiss award at the MTV Movie Awards last year for his movie Twelve Dates of You. It was an award well deserved. Their kiss at the end of the movie still lives rent free in my head.

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