Not Another Cinderella Story

Chapter 8 - The search for Cinderella begins

~ She could not get her big toe into it, for the shoe was too small for her. ~

"Come one, come all! Prove that you're Peyton Charming's mystery girl!"

Peyton sighed. Duncan was trying to help, but it just wasn't doing any good.

"Don't you think we should try a different approach?" Peyton asked Duncan.

He look surprised. "Why? At this rate you'd have seen a quarter of the girls that go to this school by the end of the day. Your girl has to be at least one of them."

"Yeah, but that's the thing." He sighed. "This is exactly the kind of thing that my mystery girl would avoid. She wouldn't want all this attention brought on her."

Duncan shrugged and called the next girl up in line.

Peyton had been questioning girls on the charms on the bracelet all morning and now all of lunch. He must've interviewed about a hundred girls by this point, all claiming to be his mystery girl. Not one of them had guessed the charms on the bracelet correctly.

Peyton was starting to think that he'd never find his mystery girl no matter how hard he looked for her. It seemed that she just didn't want to be found.

He remembered the night he first met her, at the party. It seemed like so long ago, and he hadn't even spent much time with her before she left him. Somehow she had affected him so much in a little less than an hour

He felt like he was in some sappy romance novel where the guy falls for the girl at first sight.

Next thing you know, they're going to make a novel about this.

Peyton only wished that he could know more about the blonde girl he danced with. Just having her charm bracelet didn't seem to be enough.

Maybe he should've convinced her to stay with him. Sure, most girls wouldn't have needed convincing - he was Peyton Charming, but she wasn't most girls.

The next girl in line walked up to the table. She was smiling from head to toe and was wearing an enormous amount of blue eye shadow. Her enormous amount of plastic jewelry also added to the fact that she looked a little too young to even be in High School. He figured this wasn't his mystery girl, but he had to let everyone have a chance.

She flattened down a stray piece of hair and opened her mouth. "A heart, a P charm, a stiletto, and a camera."

He leaned back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair, something he did when he was anxious. "Sorry, I'm afraid those weren't the right charms."

Her face fell and she broke out in tears. "But, I'm your soul mate, Peyton!"

She continued to cry and yell out nonsense, so Duncan had to personally escort her out of the cafeteria. It was crazy fans like her that made Peyton doubt his career choices.

Duncan sat back at his side at the table and turned to Peyton. "So, how about that one?"

"Dude, can't we just take a break for today?"

Duncan gasped. "What about your mystery girl? What if she's in the back of the line waiting to prove to you who she is? You can't abandon her now."

Peyton groaned and ran his hand through his hair again. This was a useless and unnecessary process to finding his girl. At this rate he'd never find her.

"Fine. Call the next girl up."

Peyton zoned out and let Duncan continue the search. He let himself be wrapped up in the memories of his first years at high school, before he became famous.