Not So Cinderella

Chapter 3

Ella's POV

Finally! AP Calc was over and Ella couldn't wait to get out. It was unbearably stifling sitting next to Logan, not like his constant staring helped. She trudged over to her next class, computer programming, and took a seat in the front row. A bag was dropped on the floor next to her, a bag with a very familiar look to it.

"Hey Princess." If he wasn't king of the school, with the whole student body groveling at his feet, he would have earned himself a nice looking shiner. Princess wasn't a name she went by. Ever. Even her family knew better than to taunt her with such a degrading name.

Princess was the symbol of a well-bred lady with a pedigree, something Ella lacked. It was afternoon tea with a devilishly handsome waiter attending your every need while you waited for a Prince Charming to sweep you off your feet. As she said before, Prince Charming doesn't exist.

"What did you call me?" Ella made sure to keep her voice a steady neutral but he could sense her irritation. "Aww. You don't like my nickname for you? Princess." He sneered at her and as he moved to sit she pushed her leg out a little to shift his chair. He didn't even know what hit him.

Heads turned at the loud noise and gasps of astonishment filled the room. The Logan Ashford was sitting on the floor, face the perfect picture of bewilderment. "What happened? I thought Prince Charming was supposed to be the epitome of grace, calm, and poise." Ella gave him a little smirk which he gaped at before regaining his composure. A smooth little smile graced his face, a smile she didn't like in the slightest.

"Aww. I had no idea you were so fond of me Princess." Ella's eyebrows knit together, 'fond? Just where did that crazy idea come from? I called him a player and just pushed his chair out from under him. Where did this idea of fondness come into play?'

"Excuse me?"

"Oh don't deny it Princess. Why else would I be 'Prince Charming'?"

Well played, she'd give him that much, but she had a nice repertoire of witty comebacks for every scenario. This area slightly lacked compared to others but was good enough to blow him away.

"Prince Charming is an over statement, something you haven't earned yet. A Prince Charming is kind, graceful, elegant, poised, selfless, all traits you seem to be lacking. Not that any of this matters, Prince Charming doesn't exist." her statement was flat, albeit bitter, and she turned her attention away from him. Too many emotions boiled at the surface of my features, she could feel it, and these weren't emotions she wished to display to anyone.

Ella was assigned computer number 05 and was immediately given an assignment, the school website wished to expand and, as the top student, she was granted the responsibility of crafting an app for the students to use: homepage for the school, links to teachers' sites with assignments, sports blogs, etc. It was a big project for a first assignment but she was proud to say she was one of the more promising programmers in the class.

"Hey, Princess!" a little whisper came from the desk over. Ella groaned and whipped her head in his direction, "What do you want?" She was so busy designing the app that she didn't notice who got computer 06. "Wow! You answered me! Great, now help me." Ella frowned and looked over to his desktop before looking him straight in the eye and questioning him, "This is the easiest assignment Mr. McKinley could possibly assign anyone! It only took my half an hour to finish in my freshman year yet you're in the wrong program! I thought the students in our school were supposed to be tech savvy." He shrugged off her insult, "Are you gonna help me or not?"

Ella pulled up her old file and sent it to his desktop before opening it to click on a video. "Watch it. This is from my freshman year, a step by step instruction on how to finish this assignment," He sent her a look that asked 'Why in the name of the Holy Father would you do that to yourself!?' She sent him a smirk, "It was extra credit."

She turned back to her own assignment and sighed, this app would be a pain in the ass, maybe a good month before she came up with something decent. She finished typing a good fourth of a page of ideas before she stopped. The school was known for its class and elegance which should be something displayed in the design since certain features will be available to parents but Ella had close to nothing. She didn't fit in enough for this job.

"Pst! Hey Princess!" She turned a scowl in his direction and hissed out, "What?" He smiled, "My foot got caught in this cord and pulled it out, was it important?" Her head whipped over to her screen, completely black. Ella jumped up, enraged at his stupidity, "What the hell is wrong with you!? I can't believe you would be so stupid! I had over three pages for a draft design and almost half a page on ideas for content! I haven't saved it yet!"

She was trembling and ready for an hour long lecture on how his stupidity was a setback for the rest of mankind when a voice called out, "Ms. Ackerman! I can't believe you would yell at the new student! Take your seat, you're a good student so I'd rather not punish you but do control yourself." Mouth agape Ella took her seat. Logan snickered away next to her and she turned a steely gaze his way before smiling and mouthing, "Don't think I'll let you get away with this." He cast her his own pearly white grin, "Bring it Princess."

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The rest of the class passed in a stone cold silence that stemmed from the two seated at computer 05 and 06. Looks of concern were exchanged before the whole incident was shrugged off at the first chimes of the bell. First break came after third period and Ella, like usual, sat and waited until the room cleared out before heading to the library. This was, after all, the only spot most students avoided like the plague. She sighed and rolled her shoulders, stiff from hunching over the computer, and looked forward to unwinding at the library. More importantly, in silence.

She must have jinxed it with that thought as a, "Hey, Princess!" echoed through the moderately empty hall. 'This has to be the butt end of some horrible joke. He has two classes with me and takes the time to find me. How much money is riding on this?' She reluctantly turned to look at him.

"Where you going? Can I come?" He sent her a smile probably expecting positive results since his pearly whites usually had all the girl's weak at the knees.

"Library."

He balked and almost came to a complete stop, "The library? How boring can you get? Let's do something funner."

Her eye had a small muscle spasm at his blatant disregard for proper grammar, mainly that 'funner' wasn't a legit word. She was no grammar Nazi but that was a pet peeve. "As I remember you wanted to hang with me not the other way around."

"Surely there's something better to do!"

"Library or you leave. Take it or leave it."

That little grin on his face set off red lights. She looked a bit concerned as to what could possibly be playing in his head, "So I can hang with you."

Damn. She'd been played.

A/N

Another chapter complete! The picture (If it shows) is how I see Ella. Typing on a laptop is more convenient. I now know that this story has about 1301 words on it! It could be longer, sorry.

I'll update as I get free time.

Sorry for typos.

Thanks for reading!