Tales Untold

Yeah, I'm a Stalker

Professor Snape scared the stars out of Kai, but that didn't stop him from staring at the cute Slytherin girl across the dungeon. The greasy-haired teacher had told Kai a thousand times that if he didn't start paying attention in class, he would fail his O.W.L.'s. It was a frightening prospect for Kai, but his eyes could not stop looking at her.

Suddenly, the girl looked up, saw him staring, and glared at Kai. He blushed the bright shade of red that his potion had turned to, and looked down at his failed project. He was busted

It's not like Kai had never noticed the girl before. He had gone to school with Cinder Lihn for the past five years, and had still never had a proper conversation with her. It wasn't much his fault either. Gryffindor and Slytherin had never been friends, and every time Kai brought Cinder up with his best friend, Thorne, he had become furious.

"You can't go around making moon eyes at a freaking Slytherin, for luna's sake!" Thorne had yelled after Kai had asked him for his potion notes for the gazillionth time.

Yeah, his friends thought he was crazy, but Kai was determined. He looked back down at his shrinking potion, and decided to give up. It had turned coral, and smelled of burned rubber, causing his classmates to glare at him.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Prince, for staring at Lihn the entire class period," Snape sneered. "If you think that you will be able to pass my class just because your father is the minister of magic, then think again. I don't care about young teen celebrities, got it Prince?"

"Yes, sir." Kai growled under his breath, blushing a furious shade of red. It was one thing for Snape to call him out for sucking at potions, it was another to announce to the class that he had been staring at Cinder.

Thorne leaned across their shared desk and gagged, having accidentally smelled Kai's potion. "You know I hate the guy," Thorne whispered mockingly, "but he has a point."

Kai glared at his best friend. Thorne shrugged and got back to his own potion, only slightly better than Kai's.

Finally, the bell rang, and Kai dashed out of the class as fast as he could... But not fast enough.

"Hey, Prince!" A hand grabbed Kai's backpack and he turned around, coming face to face with none other than Cinder.

Kai blushed. "Oh, hey, I'm actually kinda, um, busy. I'll catch you another time. Bye!" Kai began to walk forward, but was seized yet again by Cinder. "Hey, I don't want to hex you or anything, but I don't appreciate stalkers. Goodbye."

Cinder scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh please," she laughed, "if I were to stalk someone, it wouldn't be you, but I do have a question."

Giving up on trying to run away, Kai raised his hands in the air. "Okay, fine. Shoot." Kai deadpanned, trying to act nonchalant, even reaching back to lean on a desk that wasn't there. He stumbled awkwardly, hoping Cinder hadn't seen, and crossed his arms.

"Why do you keep staring at me in class?" Cinder raised an eyebrow. Kai blushed unsure what to say. He thought he had been pretty low-key about it, and had only been caught by her a few times. That was no big deal, right?

Kai huffed, "I just sometimes look off into the distance when I'm in deep thought, and sometimes my eyes just happen to look at you." Kai said, pretending to be exasperated, while his insides were screaming at him to run.

"Since when does a Gryffindor think?" Cinder rolled her eyes.  "Anyway, do you mean always?" Cinder questioned, "Because you stare at me all the time. In Potions, Care of magical Creatures, at mealtimes, in the hallway. It's a bit creepy."

Yep, Kai's insides were burning with humiliation. He felt like he was in the wrong house, seeing as the only thing going through his mind was, 'Run!'

No, Kai was in Gryffindor for a reason, and that meant that he would put on his brave face and talk to Cinder like a man... or blubber like a fool, because that's all that came out when Kai opened his mouth.

"I, um, argh-gah blah muh ger oh meh, yeah." Kai blushed, unable to form a complete sentence. Or any words. Dang, this was not going well.

Cinder tilted her head to the side and squinted her eyes. "Are you okay?" She asked in a concerned tone, as if talking to a distressed three year old.

Crap. Now she thought he was a blubbering fool who couldn't string two words together. Just great. He needed to get it together before he started talking to her again and accidentally said something totally bizarre, like asking her to marry him or something. His chances were not looking good.

Kai inhaled deeply, and then smiled his most charming smile. It was the smile that made most girls swoon over him, but not Cinder. "Yeah, I'm fine," Kai said, "how are you?"

What on Luna was wrong with him? How are you? Kai internally slapped himself at his stupidity, then looked at Cinder to see her reaction. She had a soft smile on her face and let out a small chuckle.

"I guess I'm good," Cinder laughed, rolling her eyes. Kai's stomach did a backflip at the sound of her tinkling laugh. He couldn't control his thoughts. His mind began racing. "Well," Cinder took a step back, "if that's all, I gotta go meet up with my friends. It's lunch." Cinder pointed her thumb backwards, towards the great hall.

Kai was frozen as Cinder turned around and began to walk away. His heart pounded, and in a moment of complete stupidity, Kai blurted out, "Will you go out with me?" except he said it so fast that it sounded like he had moaned.

Cinder turned around. "Excuse me?" she asked, tilting her head again. Stars, she was so adorable when she did that. It reminded him of a puppy. No, that was really creepy. She was just so mesmerizing that Kai's thought got kinda fuzzy. Yeah, I'm a stalker.

It took Kai a moment to realize that she had asked him a question. Then a few more to remember what it had been. In an unexpected moment of courage, Kai ran his hand through his hair and looked Cinder dead in the eyes, "Will you go out with me?"

Cinder's face didn't reveal anything as she thought over Kai's words. She still had her head tilted, but now had a slight frown. Kai's palms had begun to sweat. What if she said no? What if she laughed at him and then hexed him.

Suddenly Kai had a horrifying vision of Cinder turning into the muggle version of a witch and hexing him into oblivion. Maybe her friends would even join in, and then there would be no more Kai for the world.

"Sure," Cinder said, snapping Kai out of his thoughts.

"Wait, what?" Kai asked, unsure whether or not he had heard her correctly.

Cinder rolled her eyes. "I said sure." Cinder smirked at Kai, "I guess I'll see you around, Prince." and with that, she turned and walked towards the great hall.

Kai stood there, dumbstruck. Had Cinder Lihn really just agreed to go out on a date with him? He straightened up, a grin covering his face from ear to ear. Nothing could possibly bring him down from his joy, nothing at-

"Prince!" Snape snapped at the end of the dungeon hallway.

Except maybe that.