Finding Cinderella

ღ Finding Cinderella (21)

ღ Finding Cinderella- 21 ღ

-Kylie-

"Wha-what are you t-talking about?" I could barely speak without stammering, and all the muscles in my body had frozen in panic.

"Answer me, Kylie. Where were you during the Valentine Ball?" he asked again. His grip on my shoulders was tightening by the second.

With my heart banging like crazy, I tried to push him away and took quick calming breaths. I couldn't let him see how nervous I was; it would only make him more suspicious otherwise.

"Why are you asking me that? I was at my house, obviously. Where else would I have been?" I answered as innocently as I could, hoping my lie could warp his ideas a little.

"You're pale and sweaty," he observed. "Are you nervous, Kylie?"

Dammit.

"No. You were just too close for my liking, okay?" I said. "Can we stop this already? This is such a waste of time."

Before I could turn away, Tristan grabbed my arm again.

"No. Don't you dare walk away without answering me." The intensity in his eyes remained, but his voice sounded urgent this time, almost desperate.

I sighed. "What else do you want to hear, T? Okay, I repeat: I stayed at my house that night. That's it. Period. Am I speaking in an alien language and that's why you can't understand me, or did you smack your head on the ceiling fan when you were a baby, which would explain why you're being such a dickhead?"

He bit his bottom lip in frustration and shook his head. "I don't believe you, Kylie."

"Fine. Don't. I gave you my answer, so this talk is over." I spun around and took fast steps away before he could notice my wobbling knees. I need to get out of here. I need to get out of here. I need to get out of here. I need to get— 

"If memory serves right, Clark told me that when he came to your house that night, you weren't there."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"And then when I called you, you said that you went out to buy something. Now, this time, you're saying you stayed at your house. Which is it, Kylie? Or were you lying this whole time?"

My breathing hitched. Shit. I'd totally forgotten that alibi!

Gulping for the hundredth time, I turned to face him. "Oh. Yes. That. Actually, I was... uh..."

"You were what, Kylie?" Tristan snapped. "Why can't you answer me right away?"

"Well, I did go out to buy something," I reasoned, fiddling with a loose thread on my shirt. "M-mints, yes. I went to buy mints, then I went straight home."

"Mints? It took you hours to buy mints?"

"A-and a bathroom cleaner, too. Because our toilet got, um—what's the word—clogged. Yeah. And then it took me hours because I walked to the store. For exercise, you know? Get some fresh air, too. E-enjoy my 'me time' under the moonlight, stuff like that..."