An Acute Cantarella of Romeo and Cinderella

Cantarella and Cinderella

Zander closed a large, white double door behind him to a study room and looked around at the party goers. No one noticed him, so he began walking away from the study. Then, he walked back to the study. He wanted to make sure the random girl in the pink dress was still breathing. He opened the door and peaked inside. She let out a snore. 

Zander let out a sigh of relief and closed the door. He walked around as he looked for Quinn. However, he spotted someone else. His Juliet. His Cindy. 

Cindy had long, straight pink hair that reached her waist. She had beautiful yellow eyes. Her face was round, but in a beautiful and adorable way. She was younger than Zander and his friends. She was twenty, but soon to be twenty-one. She was wearing a purple dress. And she was sitting by herself. Even from across the giant room, they still glanced at each other. 

Zander seductively smiled, but Cindy knew what his smile actually meant. She glanced at her drink and tried to remember if it tasted sweet. Of course it did, but did it taste sweeter than normal? She glanced back up, but Zander was gone. 

"Cindy," Her friend, Luzero, was standing at her side. Her smile was warm and safe. 

"Hey, can you get me some water," Cindy asked. "I've already had five glasses of juice." 

"Uhm, sure," Luzero said. "Why don't you just come with me though?" 

Cindy smiled. "Yeah, I probably should." She grabbed her glass and followed Luzero to the table with drinks. She looked around for Zander, but he was nowhere in sight. She wondered what she really wanted. What was she hoping for? Part of her did want him to kidnap her and spend time with her, but another wanted clarity. To be seen in front of everyone. To be validated. 

"Pretty great party though, huh," Luzero asked. "It'd be great if Quinn was here." 

Cindy paused. "I thought I saw her earlier." 

"Right! I saw her at the beginning of the party and that was it," Luzero said as she grabbed some water. "I don't think anyone saw her after that." Luzero noticed Cindy kept looking around. "Hey, what's wrong?" 

"Nothing. Just looking for Quinn." 

"Well," Luzero said, "her parents are still here. So she's probably around somewhere." 

Cindy placed her glass of juice down. She poured herself some water and began drinking as she more discreetly looked around for Zander. She didn't move her head around this time. She just slowly moved her eyes. She didn't want him to know. 

Cindy took a deep breath as Luzero was talking about her boy troubles. Cindy tried to make it seem like she was listening. She finished her water, and then she continued to drink her juice. 

"Hey, I'll be right back," Luzero said. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Okay," Cindy said. "I'll be here." 

After Luzero took ten steps, Cindy heard a familiar voice. 

"She can talk quite a bit can't she," Zander softly said. They had their backs to each other, Zander placed himself close enough to Cindy that she could hear him.

The voice was behind Cindy. She didn't turn around. "What do you want this time?" 

Zander smiled practically from ear to ear. "Would you believe me if I said I missed you?" 

"I..." 

"You missed me too, didn't you," Zander asked. 

Cindy stayed silent. "Why didn't you talk to me for the past two years? Did I bore you or something?" 

"No," Zander practically laughed. "I had some stuff to do. Friends to help and all. My friends are nothing like yours." 

"Quinn seems a lot like me," Cindy said. "Were you fooling around with her while you were gone?" 

Zander shook his head. "Mm-mm. No one is as interesting as you, besides, she's stupidly in love with Ryan even though Koren is totally obsessed with her." 

Cindy closed her eyes. "It's hard to keep track of your friends when I can't put faces to them."

"Don't worry about them, my dear," Zander sweetly said. He made sure no one was looking. He turned towards her and grabbed her by the waist. He placed his mouth to her ear. "It'll just be you, no one else, for the rest of the evening." 

Cindy felt suddenly drowsy. "Oh... I put my juice... down..." 

Cindy closed her eyes, and she heard Zander quietly laugh in her ear. 

~~It'll just be you, no one else, for the rest of the evening.