Monday rolled around, and Cooper, Daniel, and Kwan walked into the school and went straight to their first class of the day.

Celine Grandeur, out of the corner of her eye, caught the three boys slipping into the room. She rose to her feet and smiled, looking at the rest of the class. "Good morning everyone." She greeted her class as they echoed a dull morning greeting.

"We have three new exchange students for the remainder of the school year," She turned towards the three new classmates, pushing her black hair to her back as her dark brown eyes scanned the room.  "You can introduce yourselves and tell us a little where you are from."

Daniel gave a small wave as he looked around the classroom. "Hi, I'm Daniel Cunningham, I'm Cooper's younger brother, only by a year though. I uh, like chess and fencing and horseback riding." He greeted awkwardly, trying to come up with the right greeting since he was use to saying his whole title and full birth name for formality.

Cooper threw his brother a sympathetic look before turning back to the class. "I'm Cooper Cunningham, I am the oldest in my family of six. We are new to the whole school thing, we were homeschooled our whole life. So forgive us in advance if we seem a bit awkward and out of place, our only knowledge is from the media." He greeted, shoving his hands in his pockets and earning a laugh from a few of his classmates.

Kwan grinned a wide grin as he looked around the classroom. "Greetings, I'm Kwan Cheong," He put his arms around Daniel and Copper. "I am Cooper's best mate, and a mate is Daniel's. I enjoy traveling and eating food, totally foodie when it comes to why I live to travel. I could probably start a food blog but that seems like a lot of work and I'm not lazy, it just seems -" His face flushed a bit as he rubbed the nape of his neck. "So, um, yeah, hello,"

"Thank you, that was a very nice introduction. You three may go back to the three empty seats." Celine turned towards the three boys. "You three may go back to the three empty seats." She instructed as they compiled.

Sabrina turned around, twisting a piece of hair around her finger as her eyes focused on the trio. "It is wonderful to have some new additions to our school. If you need anything just ask me, I'm Sabrina di Matteo." She flashed her smile, offering out her hand.

Kwan figured he ought to speak up for Daniel and Cooper and quickly shook her hand. "That is very nice of you Miss di Matteo -" He said politely only to be cut off, which he wasn't too happy about.

Sabrina put her hand up, stopping them from saying another word. "Sabrina is fine. Miss di Matteo seems too formal and we could end up becoming great friends." She kept her smile on her red lips and winked.

Daniel nodded, glancing at Cooper and Kwan before looking back at Sabrina. "If you insist, Sabrina." He forced a similar smile, sitting down in his seat and pulling out his textbooks.

Lacy rolled her eyes, burning holes unto the back of Sabrina's head. 'Already trying to dig her claws into the new kids without letting me have a chance to make a connection,' She frowned, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest.

Celine cleared her throat at how Sabrina had to just latch onto the new kids like she always did. "Sabrina, you can talk after class. I do not want phones, passing papers, or whispering. Class is for learning, nothing more, nothing less." She firmly explained. "Please pull out your books while I find mine." She said rummaging through her desk.

She snapped her fingers to get their attention after opening the textbook she had set on her desk. "All right class, let's get on to our studies. Open your calculus books to page two hundred and fifty-three, picking up where we left off Friday." She declared turning towards the board, grabbing a piece of chalk she wrote what they were to be studying out on the board.

〰♛〰

Near the end of class, the school secretary, Xena Richardson came on the intercom in every classroom. "Good morning everyone. I am happy to announce I finally picked out our theme for prom at the end of the next month!" Her perky voice greeted the whole school, pushing her platinum blonde bangs from her face and her blue eyes sparkled.

"Many thanks to Ariana Green and her ideas for this year's senior prom! I have decided to go with the Cinderella-themed prom since she has always been my favorite princess. Of course, this will be much different than before. Ariana created a website that will make those who wish to run for prom king and queen anonymously under a username you create. You will be picked by your responses on topics I and others post which you will reply to after you log in. Replying is only meant for those running, making it fair for anyone to join."

"Then on Friday, every two weeks, we will have a public reading of the questions and answers with those who I choose to represent those who entered. So, you can better understand who you want to vote for prom queen and king. This will start tomorrow and last three months before the prom is to start. That is when voting will happen and on the night of prom, the queen and king will be announced by the number of votes given anonymously."

"However there is another twist: it will be a masquerade ball so no one knows who anyone is until the prom queen and king have heir special dance together. How romantic, huh? Super cute."

"The final game will be on Wednesday, then senior prom will be on Thursday and lastly, Friday, you all will graduate. We are doing things a little differently this year too to see if we can avoid the same mistakes that happened last year. That was a mess and we do not need a repeat either."

"The website will be posted on the bulletin board along with any other information you will need. Don't take anything to heart this is for all fun and winning, whether you do or don't, it isn't a big deal."

"Those who run for prom queen and the king will need to put their real name when you sign up and a week before prom starts, you will submit pictures of the outfit you will be wearing and if you make any alterations on the day, please let me know. This will be for my eyes only. You can send it to my email which will also be on the board. Thank you for this PSA, now get back to those books." She pressed the button and the call ended.

Celine turned towards the class and smiled. "I can tell many of you are excited beyond belief, but I do not want you to sacrifice the last three months of school to put everything into winning." She said, hearing the bell. "Class dismissed."

"All right, Steph," Ariana grabbed her friend's arm tightly as she walked toward the door. "I signed you up and before you say anything, you are running for prom queen." She squealed with utter excitement and joy.

"Ariana," Stephoné sighed heavily, not understanding why she would do such a thing. "How could you? You didn't even ask me if I wanted to run or not." She exclaimed softly. "I don't want to run, I don't want to be prom queen."

Ariana had seen that coming and was prepared. "Steph, it is all anonymous, they won't know its you until the grand revel after the first dance. You have bluntly of time to muster up any courage you can, I mean, who knows what can happen in three months?" She nudged Stephoné's arm with a smile.

Stephoné crossed her arms over her chest and then rubbed her upper arms. "What username did you give me and what did you say?"  She sighed heavily, letting her arms fall to her sides like limp noodles.

Ariana pulled out her phone and pulled it up showing it to William and Stephoné. "Cinderella? Ironic huh? I gave a small bio merely saying how if you get picked you will show that money or power is what changes the world but a spark of an idea and dedication to bring it to life. You did say that at our school's New Year's Eve party."

William raised his eyebrows at what she had said. "Cinderella? Really? Out of everything you chose the theme as a user name for Steph? I don't know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing." He admitted bouncing the pros and cons in his head.

"Good thing." Ariana quickly added, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "Stephoné can understand Cinderella. She's kind and patience, dutiful, soft spoken and super sweet. Sabrina is like the evil stepmother and Lacy is one of the evil stepsisters but I wouldn't say Kiki is, she's never gone anything hurtful."

Stephoné shook her head, stopping in her tracks. "I won't win, thought. I'm not getting my hopes up. I don't even want to go through with this. You should have asked me before you go and do this-this is huge mistake, Ariana!" She waved her hands in the air.

Ariana placed her hands on her hips, raising the corner of her lip slightly up while furrowing her brows. "You have months to prepare and you have us as your backup to help you. Even if you don't win, it doesn't matter, right? It is mostly for fun and to make memories." She explained, shaking her head.

Stephoné stopped and looked at her best friend and her brother. "It is a chance to try, I suppose . If I can muster enough courage to get out of my comfort zone, it may do me some good." She pushed her hair behind her ear and then tugged at her sleeves.

Ariana was so proud of her friend and how she finally gave in. "I'm so thrilled you've finally come around at the idea." She squealed, walking past Cooper, Daniel, and Kwan, who were talking about prom.

Daniel's eyes lit up as he thought about the prom theme. "Cooper, that would be the perfect test for you! Think of it as a test run, a trial, and use what you learn to improve!" He exclaimed, his eyes shining.

Cooper stopped and pulled on his backpack on one shoulder. "Isn't that a bit risky? I am a real prince and running for this prom king. Why would anyone vote for me when they don't know me?" He asked, putting one hand on his strap.

"Risky?" Kwan laughed, resting his arm on Cooper's shoulders. "How is it risky Cooper? Didn't you hear how it is anonymous? It is all for fun and who knows what may happen?" He nudged his friend, pulling out his phone and walking up to the board, getting the website off.

Cooper leaned over and looked at what he was writing. "Prince Charming? That is ironic seeing as it is a Cinderella Theme, and wouldn't that make people want to vote for me?"

Kwan laughed once again, he found that amusing. "There may be that chance. But didn't you hear the secretary? Everyone who enters will be giving opinions on topics, and if people don't like the answers I doubt they would pick them just because of their title." He explained, gently hitting his friend's arm.

"I see your point." Cooper finally agreed, slowly warming up to the thought of running. "It doesn't sound like a bad idea, and could kinda be fun, but . . ." He sighed heavily, leaning against the wall.

Daniel shook his head, jabbing his finger at him. "No buts, Coop. It is fun and you should try it. The chance of winning is slim and what harm could come from running for prom king anonymously?" He pointed out, shrugging his shoulders.

Daniel also joined in with the begging. It would be a great experience, and who could pass it up? "Come on Cooper, say yes. We deserve to have a little fun while we run from certain death." He said in a sweet tone but his face was dead serious.

Cooper knew he wasn't going to win between Kwan and Daniel's insisting. "Fine, fine, enter me in. The whole Cinderella theme sounds like it has the potential to turn into a great prom night." He caved in, sighing softly and rolling his eyes.

Daniel was thrilled, he gave his brother's shoulder a quick pat then nudged his arm. "All right, now that is settled we have a lot of planning to do. Three months will give us plenty of time to get you a costume and mask, which should be extravagant and mirror your title as Prince Charming." He plotted, tapping his fingers together as Kwan filled out the information.

Cooper rolled his eyes, glancing at his watch. "Oh goodness," He pulled out the schedule he was given. "We better get to our next class. It is across the school, we better hurry." He exclaimed, beginning to jog towards their next class, brushing past Sabrina.

Sabrina groaned as she looked down at her phone. "Someone had already taken Cinderella. That would have been the perfect username for this whole thing. It's a classic rags to riches story and who doesn't love Cinderella and her kindness and patience?" She mused, pondering ideas. "Girls think,"

Kiki glanced over at Lacy, playing with her braid. "Maybe we should stick to a fairytale theme username but one everyone knows." She suggested sheepishly.

Lacy rolled her eyes and flipped her hair to her back. "No duh Kiki, but we need to be unique. Something that will stand out. Something that will make people want to vote for Sabrina." She pondered what could be something unique that fits well with Sabrina.

Sabrina thought about it for a moment then smirked. "The White Queen." She said, tapping her finger on her cheek. "White would go well with the Cinderella theme, and I could could along the angelic round with feather wings like a Victoria Secret Angel."

Kiki clapped her hands and smiled, nodding her hear rapidly. "I like that. The White Queen sounds very fitting for you Sabrina. It's regal and white is for purity and innocent, very angelic. You are indeed a queen after all, even without the -"

"It does seem fitting," Lacy butted in, because after all, Kiki had a point. "We would be your white knights, ready to serve you since we are your friends." She proudly said, giving a mock bow but then straightened up. "I already have ideas for that costume for each of us."

Sabrina pivoted on her heels. "I have a job for you too," She began, a devious smile gracing her lips. "I want you two to find out who Cinderella is. I have to make sure they don't win, since it's clear they have the upper hand here."

Kiki crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. "Why would this Cinderella win? Just because it is this doesn't mean they will win. It could be anyone who enters who wins, so I don't think a name makes it set in stone." She inquired in a soft voice, nibbling on her lower lip.

Lacy groaned, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "Not helping Kiki." She snapped at the black-haired girl. "Most people would be inclined to vote for Cinderella wanting to keep with the theme."

"I will continue my family's legacy as prom queen even if this is a new way of doing it." Sabrina placed her hand on her cheek and mumbled. "They'll be so proud of me for once in their lives."

Kiki's smiled faltered at the change in tone in Sabrina's voice when speaking about her parents.. "We will make sure everyone votes for you by any means necessary like we did many times before." She mentioned, feeling a bit uncomfortable those words came from her mouth.

Sabrina turned back around and smirked. "Well, well, well, my sweet little Kiki is becoming more devious instead of her sweet nature." Her voice brimmed with impressive admiration for her sweet and mousy little friend.

Kiki played with her fingers, shifting her gaze to the ground. "It feels weird to be devious but it is whatever you wish for Sabrina. I will do my best to be more of a friend and follow whatever you do." She softly spoke, just wanting to fit in.

Lacy nudged Kiki harshly with her elbow, not buying it. "Devious isn't a good look on you." She patted her head, her tone condescendingly. "Just keep being sweet and kind, it's the only thing you're good at."

Sabrina glared over at Lacy, slinging her backpack over shoulder. "It doesn't matter to me as long as I win. I don't care how you make it happen, just get it done." She brushed a lock of hair from her face. "Now, let's get to class before we are late. I hear we have a sub for history because someone is having a baby. Plus tomorrow we have a test, which I am not looking forward to." She said walking down the hall, her friends following in suit.

〰♛〰♛〰♛〰♛〰♛〰♛〰

A/N:
So, I kinda deleted the previous chapter I had that was going to be chapter five just because I wasn't feeling it. Plus it wasn't even half done. I didn't have any good ideas for that one so it was best that I ditch the idea and keep up with the ones I do.

Chapter Talk:
It took a lot of pondering on how I was going to do the whole thing and how to make it unique. I picked prom because it was fitting with how I was going to end this book and move into the second. Besides, I had always wanted to go to prom just because I wanted to, but my mom said it was a waste of time and didn't let me go.

Thanks for reading!