Tales Untold

The Cards Know It

"Can I sit at your table?" Cinder asked the three girls sitting at the back of the classroom. She had always hated picking her own seats in classes— especially when she had no friends in the class itself.

The girl closest to her turned, a dreamy smile spread across her beautiful features. "Of course," The girl said in a melodic voice, swiping a lock of electric blue hair from her eyes.

"Great, thanks," Cinder muttered, pulling out the seat at the very end of the table and next to the beautiful girl. She slung her backpack across the back of the chair and pulled out a book, prepared to read through the entirety of the history lecture.

The teacher who taught the class was practically evil. She always seemed to lose the homework and failed the students who she hated— which included Cinder. Good thing there was only one term left before summer, and then Cinder would finally get away from the stupid class.

Cinder opened her book to the final chapter, and suddenly realized that her novel would not last her through the entirety of Ms. Blackburn's lecture. A sinking feeling pulled at her stomach, and Cinder suddenly couldn't bring herself to finish her book. She had loved it so much, and the disappointment at finishing it would only increase if she did it in her least favorite class.

The book in question had been something she had never really considered her taste— until Kai had given it to her. They had started shared their favorite books with one another since the beginning of their new friendship. She had introduced him to classics such a A Tale of Two Cities and Wuthering Heights while he had brought her the magical worlds of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. Cinder had never even considered reading fantasy before Kai, but now, she was hooked.

Cinder was a little weird in the fact that she had only had one friend until this past school year. It had always just been her and her cousin Winter Hayle; that is, until Winter started going out with Jacin Clay, the supposed love of her live. At first Cinder had been a little miffed by the arrangement, but while Jacin and Winter were being all lovey dovey Cinder got to be close with Jacin's friends, and they were actually cool.

She had instantly hit it off with Carswell Thorne, who she had previously considered the school's biggest JAG. She could argue with him for days and never tire of their friendly banter. After their friendship had been struck up, all of Jacin's friends had followed.

Cinder now considered all of Jacin's friends to be her own. With Thorne, it was constant debates. With Wolf it was seeing who could eat the most— and while Cinder had an impressive appetite, Wolf always won. Kinney was the one who was the most hesitant to befriend Cinder, but in the end he had caved when she presented her extensive knowledge of anything that had to do with astronomy. And then there was Kai.

Kai had been shy around Cinder at first, almost as if he was scared of her. It wasn't an uncommon reaction— guys were usually intimidated by Cinder and her rep— but he had warmed up quickly.

It was only a matter of time before Cinder and Kai were talking books, movies, politics and everything in between. Within weeks Cinder was spending more time with Kai than Winter— or any of the other guys. But they were just friends. Just really good friends who hit it off really well. Friends.

"What book are you reading?" The blue-haired girl asked, apparently not noticing Cinder's lack of reading as she absentmindedly traced her fingers across the pages.

Cinder put her bookmark back at the top of her page and flipped the book over to reveal the cover. She enjoyed the aesthetics of the cover with it's beautiful red and gold swirls and the ludicrous font, but the story itself had been something else. Something she had never expected.