Played For A Fool

Confession

Cinder sighed, flopping down on her mattress. She couldn't go to school for the next three days, due to her concussion. She had slept a lot on Saturday and Sunday, and all of her friends came and visited her.

When Scarlet had come to visit Cinder on Saturday, she said a few choice words before sitting down and hugging her. After that, they had laughed, and told jokes. Apparently, she had seen the delivery guy again, and talked to him, but had yet to go out with him, saying that her grandmother wouldn't approve of her dating someone five years older, and she respected that. Scarlet had then asked Cinder about Kai, causing her to blush, but not give out any details.

Iko was a different story. She came in and didn't even ask about Cinder's injury before demanding to know who the guy was. She was furious that Cinder had yet to tell Iko about Kai. She had promised to tell Iko ASAP, but had left her hanging for days. Cinder made her promise, not to tell a soul, before telling her Kai had been there for her the past few days. It wasn't lying, exactly, just not telling her the whole truth, knowing that Iko would make a big deal over the smallest of things.

After Cinder's exhausting afternoon with Scar and Iko, Thorne had come to see her. He had also used some colorful language, asking her how she got hurt, why she had rushed out the night before, and then asking if she was okay. His bloodshot eyes bore into her as he told her how worried he had been, though she could tell he couldn't remember much more of the night than she had, due to his intoxication.

Sunday morning had brought a surprise for Cinder. Cress came to visit her, flushed from her encounter with Thorne, when he had let her in. They chatted a bit, and Cinder found that she was liking Cress more and more. Cress told her about all of her latest hacking projects, and Cinder could tell that she had been dying to talk to someone. Cinder understood the way she felt, realizing that she and Cress were more similar than she had thought.

Dr. Darnel had limped in after Cress, though it was only to see how she was doing. He had told her that she could return to school on Thursday, but would have to take it easy for a bit.

And then there was Kai. He hadn't only visited her one time, but had been with her every second she didn't have a visitor. He was there when she ate, or slept, or even just layed there, only going home at night. He had talked with her and held her hand, but hadn't kissed her again.

It was odd to Cinder. She hadn't seen Kai for days, and now he was there with her, as though she were the only thing in his world. They got along together better than Cinder would have ever guessed, seeing how she had thought they were complete opposites. Getting to know Kai had showed her how similar they really were.

Both Cinder and Kai were orphans now, though technically Kai was almost an adult, it was still hard. They both had a sassy and sarcastic sense of humor too, which made talking fun. They got along like peas in a pod, and their personalities complemented each other in a gratifying sort of way.

On this particular day, Kai had even stopped in to see Cinder before going to school. He was upset that he wouldn't be able to keep her company, but he had missed four days of school, and had a lot to catch up on. Cinder was mad that she would fall behind, yet again, after just barely catching up from all she had missed, but Kai had promised he would help her to catch up.

Cinder was bored out of her mind. She wasn't able to do anything, except lay there and sleep. Dr. Darnel had told her that if she wanted to go back to school, she would have to spend the next few days doing absolutely nothing. It had been fine when her friends would come and visit her, but now she was all alone, only having her thoughts to keep her company.

It wasn't a good thing for her to just sit and think. Cinder had drowned all of her sorrow into working, and staying busy all the time. Being with only her thoughts made her remember the death of her sister, and her shady childhood she was always trying to forget.