Chasing Cinderella (Book one of the Cinderella Series) (Completed)

Chapter 28 (Edited)

"Fine," I said, holding my hands up in mock defeat. "But first, you need to help me find Derek before you start getting me prettified." I narrowed my eyes at her, causing her to smile innocently.

"All right. Hand Alejandro the list, and we'll look for him before we get you "prettified," Bax mocked, causing me to roll my eyes. She smiled innocently and walked towards the house. "I will make you all some enchiladas if you all do her work before La Diabla gets back," she called to her cousins. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the house.

"Sorry," I mouthed, letting her pull me into the house. I really didn't want to do this, but I knew that Baxley wouldn't let me help out with all the chores that needed to be done.

Bax clapped her hands, causing me to look at her. "Ok, where does that little rascal like to hang out?" she asked.

"Kitchen or his room," Anne replied, following us into the kitchen. She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "He ran up to his room when Clarice started to yell at Ella because she said that Ella shrunk her dress."

I shrugged when Bax looked at me in awe. "She threw a brush at me, and I dodged it almost at the last second. It hit the wall behind me, startling him and he ran."

"We need to work on your catching," Bax said. "Come on, let's check his room. He couldn't have gotten far." She paused and cocked her head. "Do you think..."

I frowned, blinking. Like me and the rest of the gang, Baxley knew about the tunnels. I mean, she has been my best friend for a long while, and we used to play in the tunnels. If I remembered correctly, there was a secret room just above Derek's room that we could only get into by using the passageways. "I don't know if he does or not, but let's check it out," I said, walking towards the dining room. "Let's take them to be on the safe side."

"Whatever you say," Bax said, following me. "What will you do if he does know?"

"Get him to promise that he won't say a thing," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "I don't think he will, if he hasn't said anything this long."

Bax hummed and nodded her head. "You'll let him keep the room?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It depends on what condition he has left it in," I replied. "I'm not cleaning up that room if it is a pigsty." I moved a picture on the wall and walked into the passageway, followed by Bax and Anne. "I just hope that this keeps him out of trouble."

"Or into more trouble," Anne muttered. "We do not know what he has done to this room."

I nodded my head, and for his sake, I just hoped that he didn't do anything bad to it.

***

I placed a finger on my lip and gestured towards the door where rock and roll music was playing. Of course he would go against his mother's wishes, I thought, rolling my eyes. My heart broke when I heard the familiar chords of Piano Man playing through the cracked door.

Bax poked my shoulder, causing me to look at her. 'Isn't that your father's old record?' she mouthed, causing me to wince and nod my head. A pity look appeared on her face, because she knew how much Billy Joel had meant to my father.

I pushed open the door to see Derek playing with a pencil and sitting at an old rolling chair. "What's going on here?" I asked, causing him to jump up and look at me, fear in his eyes. I walked over to the record player and moved the stylus off of the record. "How'd you get my dad's old record player up here?"

"How do you know about this place?" Derek asked, glancing at the three of us. He tried to move in front of something, but we saw computer after computer, showing different scenes around the house.

I folded my arms across my chest and narrowed my eyes, causing him to gulp audibly. "Where did you get all this money to buy this stuff?" I asked, not answering his question.

He glanced down and bit his lip. "I sort of might have bought it with Mom's account," he said, finally. "Please, don't tell her," he begged.

I looked at Bax before looking at Anne. "This might be why she took money out of the barn's account," I said, causing them to nod. I looked at Derek. "Ok, I will not tell her," I said, making him relax his shoulders. "However..." I smirked when his relaxed form became tense. "You need to work with the group and Bax's family to pay off the debt that you caused the barn."

Derek winced. "How much did I cause the barn to lose?"

"Not that much," Anne said. "That's because Ella knows the bank owner and had him transfer money into the barn's account from your mother's."

"What will you be doing if you aren't helping out?" Derek asked, looking at me.

Bax smirked and slung her arm across my shoulder. "She will be going to prom and make her dream boy fall in love with her," she said. She gave me an evil look, causing me to groan. "Now, since we have found your half-brother, it is time to get you beautified."

I groaned and let Bax lead me away. 'Help me,' I mouthed, causing Derek to just smile and wave goodbye.

Well, I guess I wasn't going to get out of this one...