The Cinderella Plan

Caleb reached for another star and their arms touched again. “Sorry about that. It’s a little crowded in here.”

He turned to Nikki next to him and asked her to move over. Her chair scraped across the wooden floor maybe a whole two inches. Caleb gave her a quizzical look. The child busied herself with cutting out a star.

He bent close to Anne’s ear and whispered, “Is something going on that you and I don’t know about?”

She shrugged, unable to say anything because all her senses honed in on Caleb’s nearness that brought his scent wafting to her nose. His warm breath fanned her skin below her ear until it became hot and cold at the same time.

“Guys, give us some room here,” Caleb said after he nearly elbowed Anne in the side while reaching for another star. “Maybe one of you could work at the other table or I could—”

Nikki shot to her feet, toppling over her chair in her haste. “I’ll move. You can stay put.”

After the girl took her paper and scissors and parked herself at the other table with Billy, Dylan and Jeremy, Caleb righted Nikki’s chair, then moved it around so he could scoot his down. Disappointment fluttered through Anne now that she had breathing room.

“I tried, Anne,” Gina whispered.

Anne peered at the girl. “Tried what?”

Gina tossed her head in the direction of Caleb. “You know, to help you with Caleb.”

“Help me?” Her question squeaked out louder than Anne had intended. A few people, including Caleb, glanced her way. She edged toward Gina and lowered her voice, asking, “What are you all up to?”

“Oh, nothing. Just helping a friend get what she wants.” Gina straightened away from her, winked again and resumed working.

Short of making a scene Anne didn’t think she would get anything else out of Gina—like what in the world was she up to. But she knew now that the girl thought she had a crush on Caleb—which she did. Embarrassment burned her cheeks as she thought of who else might think that. She hoped Caleb was clueless. If she thought he realized how she felt, she would—she wasn’t sure what she would do.

While reaching for the glitter, she chanced a look toward Caleb, and just at that moment, he lifted his head. He smiled at her. Warmth flushed her. When his gaze caught hers and held it, she didn’t look at what she was doing. Her fingers fumbled. The jar tipped over, scattering silver glitter all over the table, completely outdoing Caleb’s earlier sloppiness.

The sound of the plastic container rolling off the table and bouncing on the floor dominated the sudden silence. Caleb peered away, breaking his visual hold while she saw the mess she’d made and cringed. Leaping to her feet, she tried to clean up all the glitter. Caleb rose, too. Her hands shook as she swept the silver sprinkles into a pile while he scooped them up into the jar. She felt as though she were all thumbs, not able to do anything right when she was in his presence. She’d never had this problem before meeting Caleb Williams. What must he think of her?

“No harm done,” Caleb said, setting the jar back on the table, minus just a little silver glitter.

“You know, Anne, that’s not a bad idea for us to sprinkle glitter all around,” Gina said. “It adds a special touch to the room.”

“You didn’t say that when I spilled some,” Caleb interjected with humor in his voice.

“Yeah, I like it, Gina,” Tiffany said while the guys groaned.

“There’ll be enough swords and dragons for you all, so a little glitter won’t hurt,” Nikki said to the boys.

“A little!” Jeremy snorted. “I’ll be tracking this all over the place. Mom won’t let me in the house.”

Anne noticed Dylan lower his head and appear as though what he was cutting out was the most fascinating activity he could do. He hung out on the fringe, much as she had done while growing up.

“A little glitter never hurt anyone. It makes the world sparkle.” Nikki took the glitter she was working with and tossed some at Jeremy.

He jumped back, his chair crashing to the floor. He grabbed the jar that had begun this whole episode, cupped his hand and poured some into it. He started around the table to get at Nikki. She shrieked and ran to Caleb.

Laughing, he sidestepped at the exact second Jeremy threw the silver glitter at Nikki, who managed to leap away, too. The sparkles caught the light and gleamed as they floated to the floor.

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