The Cinderella Game

Chelsea

The night of the ball rolled around. Reilly had gone over the plan with Chelsea a million times, and even though she knew what to do, she was still nervous.

"You're on your own from now on, I'm not allowed to help you anymore, as soon as we step out of this car," Reilly said. Chelsea nodded, her eyes bright. She knew Ash would be at the dance, it was part of Alexis's job to make sure that all of the Princes would be there, and none of the ten Prince Charmings would have a date to Homecoming, either, as a general rule amongst the female population of Jamestown High. That meant that they were free for the taking all night long, for the Cinderella Game contestants, of course.

Chelsea stepped out of the car and walked to the line at the entrance, where she was allowed to move closer to the front, perks of being part of the Cinderella Game. Every girl in the school knew what was going on, and they had all chosen their favorite to win.

When she got inside, Chelsea was aware of people staring at her. She didn't mind, just looked around for Ash. The decorated gym was dark and dim lights swung from the ceiling, other circles of light dancing across the walls and floor as the music pounded.

Alexis approached Chelsea and smiled, pulling out her phone. "Dark blue shirt, white tie, and the first slow song is on at eight," she said quickly. "I have to go find the others, good luck!"

Chelsea knew her job wasn't made much easier, but she was grateful for the help. She slipped through the crowd of dancing people, waving to her friends and desperately looking for Ash. She only had about ten minutes before the first slow song.

Girls subtly tipped their heads in generally the same direction, guiding her towards Ash, helping Chelsea out as the girls rooting for the other contestants did for them. Everyone loved watching the Cinderella Game aunfold, and wanted their little part in it. Chelsea followed their directions, and finally spotted Ash standing by the sideline, without a girl to dance with. She quickly moved over to him and smiled.

"Hi!" Chelsea said brightly. Reilly had told her it would be better to talk to him for a moment before asking him to dance, if possible, and that was what she was going to do.

"Hey," Ash responded, smiling dimly.

"There're a lot of people here, aren't there?" She tried, not knowing what to say to him. Ash nodded absently, and Chelsea bit her lip, seeing that she only had a minute left before the promised slow song. Time for stage two of the plan: flirting. She looked up at Ash, continuing to bite her lip softly, until she got his attention, and then she gave him a tiny, shy-seeming smile, twisting a strand of her curled hair around her finger. "I like your shirt," she said softly, smiling at him.

It was perfectly timed. The slow song started before he had a chance to respond, and Chelsea's face lit up with a wide smile. "I love this song! Will you dance with me?" she asked, grabbing his hand.

Ash had no choice but to say yes, and Chelsea swallowed her nervousness, knowing that her assumed confidence was the only thing making this work right now. She set her arms on his shoulders and he put his hands on her waist, and they swayed slowly to the music. Chelsea was glad for the fact that she wasn't expected to say anything to him right then, partly because she didn't know what to say and partly because she knew she was going to stutter if she tried to talk.

She noticed that Ash was looking at her weirdly and flashed him a quick smile.

"Do I know you?" He asked, confused.

Chelsea's heart stopped in panic. "I, um, no?" She stuttered, pausing in her dancing. "Why?"

Ash tilted his head, squinting as he looked at her. "You just look familiar," he said.