Tales Untold

The Heartstopper

The end of the world was supposed to be a terrible thing, but for Cinder it was beautiful. It was the color of copper that you could never seem to look away from. Feathers of black in a messy mop. A heartstopping smile that appeared to glitter.

Kaito Prince was the boy that every girl dreamed of, though he never seemed to want any of them. He was top of every class, the most popular kid in the entire school. He was the kind of boy who- however nice he was- would never stop and consider a girl like Cinder.

Maybe it was the way he talked; slow, yet firm and with a sense of humor. Maybe it was his smile; bright as the sun and never spread thin. Maybe it was his unconditional kindness that he shared with every person he came across.

Talk of Kai and how great he was was entirely endless. Every girl was slightly in love with Kai, and some were even in fanclubs of his. Cinder was supposedly one of the only survivors of his charm, though secretly she was just as taken by him as the rest of them.

It was something about his eyes that made it so impossible for Cinder to breathe. She never dared to look at them, because every time she did she felt her heart literally stop. She was scared to stare into his eyes for fear that she may never be able to look away,

Cinder was the quiet girl, the one who no one ever really saw. She was smart and sassy, though kept mostly to herself. Her only friend was Carswell Thorne who was known as the biggest flirt in the entire school, though still loved by nearly everybody (according to him).

The end of the semester was fast approaching, and Cinder was trying her hardest to avoid Kai. She talked to him pretty regularly (him being good friends with Thorne) and she was beginning to wonder how much longer she would last until she confessed her feelings for him.

On this particular day, Cinder was trying her best to avoid any eye contact with the heartstopper when the teacher asked the students to pair up. It was generally a hard thing for Cinder, not having Thorne in the class with her and no one else that she felt comfortable asking to be her partner.

Cinder stood in the corner of the biology classroom, staring at the floor. She was generally very good at going unnoticed, but it seemed that her luck had finally run out.

A hand tapped Cinder on the shoulder, and she turned to stare into those paralyzing copper eyes. She immediately looked down, not wanting to get lost inside of them and make herself out to be the fool she was.

"Want to be my partner?" Kai asked innocently, gesturing to his worksheet. Cinder felt her mouth go dry, her tongue twisting into knots. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. She settled on nodding in response.

"Great," Kai replied cheerily, motioning to the table she was standing next to and plopping down in a chair.

Cinder sat down across from him, her hands trembling slightly. She cursed herself silently. She wasn't the girl who panicked around guys. She did not have a crush on the most attractive boy in the entire school, and she was not going to freak out.

"So what do you want to do for the diagram?" Cinder asked, glancing through the instructions while trying to calm her racing heart. "Do you just want to do the circle one, or..."

"Uh, sure," Kai responded, seemingly nervous.

They continued talking, drawing out the cell cycle perfectly. Kai maintained polite conversion with Cinder the entire time, though she never looked into his eyes.

By the end of the class they had talked about everything, from the latest star wars film to how dumb the finals were going to be. It was pleasant, and they talked as though they were best friends. Cinder never dared to look into his eyes.

"I just don't see how people can ship Reylo when he's so terrible to her," Kai whispered, tilting his head towards Cinder.

"It's like Darklina all over again," Cinder muttered, still not making eye contact.

"Dark-what?" Kai questioned, a small amount of humor and incredulity in his voice.

Cinder looked up, fast as lightning. Brown met copper, and her heart stopped. Those eyes would be the end of her world, paralyzing her.

She glanced down as fast as she could, attempting to stop the damage before it was done. "Uh, um, Darklina," Cinder murmured, her face flushing.

"Why do you always do that?" Kai whispered, bringing his face down so that it was below hers, cupping his chin.

"D-do what?" Cinder stuttered, her nerves getting the better of her. She was undeniably on edge now.

Kai gently placed a hand under her chin, making her meet his gaze. Cinder froze in shock, copper consuming her whole. She couldn't seem to look away.

"Why don't you ever look me in the eyes?" Kai's voice was low and sad. "It's like you're scared of me or something, and I don't want you to feel like that."

Cinder's eyes grew wide with shock. How could anyone be afraid of Kai? He was your classic cinnamon roll. "Wh-what?"

"Every time you look into my eyes you immediately look away. I just... I'm-"

The bell rang, signalling the end of class. Cinder felt great relief at the ear-deafening sound. She began to grab her stuff, and was just walking out the room when Kai called or to her.

"Cinder..." Kai  said, biting his lip in hesitation. "I'm sorry if I've ever done anything to offend you. I just..."

Kai seemed to be trying to say something, but appeared unable to spit it out. Cinder smiled at him glancing into his eyes. "You don't scare me." Cinder said, shaking her head slightly. "You just... um, don't worry about it."

Cinder turned and practically ran from the room. Every inch of her was on fire. She had always tried to deny her feelings for Kai, and she wasn't about to admit them now.

A noise came from behind Cinder, but she sped away without a glance back. She thought about how nervous Kai had gotten, and how he hadn't wanted her to be afraid of him. She tried to convince herself that he was just being nice, as he always was, but there was something different this time.

Maybe this time the heartstopper felt something in return.