Charm My Heart [On Hold]

Chapter 12 - Dragons vs Dragons

"I'm gonna win!"

"No, I'm gonna win!"

"I don't think so, Charming."

"What makes you say that, Hood?"

"Because we all know that I'm gonna win!"

"I don't think so!"

"Hmph! We'll see about that! Then I'll prove that I'll win!"

"In your dreams, little Cerise Hood. I'm the king of Dragons vs Dragons!"

"Well I'm the queen of Dragons vs Dragons, Mr. Not-So-Charming! No one's ever beaten me!"

This kind of conversation repeated on and on between Daring Charming and Cerise Hood, who were seat mates and partners for the field trip. They were arguing over Dragons vs Dragons, a widely known and famous game in Ever After and its surrounding realms, like, believe it or not, Wonderland. That's just how popular it was.

"Let's make a bet then?" Cerise started another conversation.

"Bring it on, Hood." Daring answered.

"Whoever loses will have to buy at Hocus Latte for the winner. By that, I mean any drink from Hocus Latte."

"Deal! Besides, I'll probably win anyway. We all know that I-"

"Oh, will you two just pipe down for a moment?!" Someone from behind them yelled. Cerise and Daring both looked behind them and saw Duchess, who was rolling her eyes.

"Huh?" Daring and Cerise said in unison.

Duchess, who was unaware of the identities of the people who was in front of her, covered her face with her hands and said "I told you two to pipe down! Just shut up!".

Daring just raised an eyebrow. Ugh, is this how you're supposed to treat a Charming? Especially Daring Charming? And how dare you insult the fairest girl in the land who wears a fine red hood and has a beautiful name of Cerise Hood- wait, what? Daring thought. He called Cerise the fairest girl in the land. What did this mean? He snapped back to reality when he noticed Duchess, blushing madly with a shocked expression on her face.

"Did you just insult us? Did you tell us to shut up?" Daring asked annoyed. Yes, he hated it when people insulted him, but this time, he felt like he wasn't defending himself, but Cerise.

Duchess looked at Cerise with a disgusted look on her face and said "You, yes. You should stop talking. And by the way, what an ugly voice you have. You shouldn't waste it though, it's probably the best voice you can talk with, so why don't you not talk right now, or even better, never talk ever again.". Cerise bit her lip and looked at Duchess with anger in her eyes, which was mixed with hurt and sadness.

"As for you," Duchess said, turning to look at Daring and replacing her disgusted look with a sweet face. She even looked liked she was trying to flirt with him, which she probably was. "You can talk as much as you want. I only told Cerise to stop, not you. Your voice is music to my ears. It's so handsome and charming! Well, of course it'd be charming, after all, you are a Charming. Oh, and I also believe that you'd win in Dragons vs Dragons. That ugly little Hood doesn't have a chance against you." She stated, still trying to flirt with him, even though she completely failed. Cerise overheard, and she was filled with more anger and sadness. She clenched her fists but held back, and Daring noticed.

"Hexcuse me? Are you trying to make me a fool? I know that you told both of us to shut up! And how dare you talk to my friend like that?" Daring told Duchess intimidatingly.

"I-I..." Duchess started. "I just wanted to, um, compliment you? I mean, um, the Dragons vs Dragons thing. You'd win against her in that... Oh, um, what I said to Cerise wasn't really anything important, just don't mind her. I mean it!"

"You mean it? You mean everything you say? You meant every single word you said? Even the bad ones?" Daring asked, getting more annoyed.

"No! As in I mean it! I mean, I meant to say don't mind it, not don't mind her." Duchess stuttered nervously. "A-and everything I said to her, that was a joke. R-right Cerise?" She added, trying to force a friendly laugh and look innocent. Cerise just looked at her with anger. The pain and hurt were gone. Just pure, evil, anger. She wanted to get revenge on Duchess.

"Yeah, right, jokes. It was all a joke." She grumbled, staring at Duchess straight in the eye. She breathed in and out, trying to control her temper.

"Are you sure?" Daring asked Cerise.

"Yeah. Let's just..." She muttered, but she couldn't find the right words to say. Luckily, Daring understood. They both turned around and sat down. Duchess, on the other hand, left and looked for an empty seat, leaving her old seat, behind Daring and Cerise, empty. She found one right beside her BFFA, Faybelle and, of course, Faybelle let her sit. Cerise looked at Duchess one more time and saw her whispering something to Fay while both of them gave her a dirty look.

Cerise turned around and sunk back into her seat. She groaned. Why me? Why am I always the bad guy? Sure, my dad may be a bad guy, but not me. Well, it's not like I'm complaining about my dad. I love him, I really do, but my destiny is different. I'm not a bad guy in my story. In fact, I'm the main character! Why? Suddenly, Daring's voice made her snap back into reality.

"You know, about what Duchess said, about everything she said, you know that isn't true right? I mean, she doesn't even have the right to speak to you that wa-" Daring said but was cut off by Cerise.

"I know! I get it!" Cerise said, maybe a bit too loudly. She and Daring realized that their argument with Duchess may have caused a commotion, so they looked around to check if anyone noticed. Luckily, everyone either had earphones on, were sleeping, whatever they were doing on their mirrorpods, mirrorphones, or mirrorpads were really loud, and some could actually hear the argument but didn't really care.

"Great." Cerise said. She was serious. She was really relieved that no one heard them but she didn't show enthusiasm, after all, why show enthusiasm if someone just insulted you with a lot of hurtful insults? She sunk lower in her seat and looked at her hands, which was on her lap.

Daring thought about what could make Cerise happier, then he got an idea.

"Psst, Cerise..."

"What?" Cerise grumpily said.

"Wanna play Dragons vs Dragons?"

Daring thought he saw Cerise' lips curve into a small smile. It's working! He thought.

"C'mon, you know you wanna play!" Daring nudged her. Cerise looked up and glared at him. Uh-oh, bad move. Big, bad move... Daring was worried that he may have upset Cerise. Suddenly, Cerise smirked and said "Bring it, Charming.".