Somehow, I made it through chemistry without freaking out, but when Harper arrived at her locker next to mine, all bets were off.

“He actually has my phone!” I whisper yelled in her ear as she spun the dial with her combination. “I saw it.”

She stopped. “I knew he had to be telling the truth. It makes sense.”

I nodded quickly. “He won’t let it out of his sight. He’s determined to find out who it belongs to.”

“So he’s not about to turn it into the lost and found, huh?” she said

I shook my head. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Harper blinked at me.

“What?” I said.

She gave me a small smile, paired with a shrug. “Why don’t you just tell him it’s yours?”

I blinked back at her. “Are you serious? Looking like this?” I motioned toward my clothes, my hair.

Lena came up behind me. “You know you’re like the only person in the universe who thinks you’re not cute, right? Guys love the sweatpants and messy bun look. It says you’re low maintenance. It says ‘Netflix and chill.’ It says, ‘I’ll eat a Big Mac with you without worrying about calories.’”

The corners of Harper’s mouth twitched.

I gawked at Lena, dumbfounded. “Yeah, I don’t think so. It just says ‘hot mess.’ I don’t know a thing about makeup or fashion.”

Rey came up to us next. “Does Baller929,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper, “or should I say Jesse,” she went back to talking, “even care about all that stuff?”

“What guy doesn’t?” I asked. “I mean, we’re in high school. That’s all guys care about. How hot a girl is.”

It’s why Lindsay and Courtney were cheerleaders and killed themselves to make the squad in the first place. It’s also why they spent so much time on their appearance, shopping, and worrying about what people thought of them.

Lena took a step closer. “Most guys, yes. But every once in a blue moon, there is a guy who is like college-level mature and looks beyond all that.”

“Sign me up,” Harper said.

I shut my locker and started walking with them. I was supposed to be going in the opposite direction to computer class, but I couldn’t face my instant messenger. Not yet.

Rey’s face turned dreamy like she was thinking of someone just like Lena had said.

Lena shrugged. “I just think that if you’ve known him for a year, then you should trust Je—him—to not be a jerk.”

“It’s not as easy as it sounds,” I said. “I wish I could just talk to him first.” Without the pressure of being face to face.

An excited smile came over Rey’s face. “Can we call him PC for short? You know, in case, he’s around?”

I rolled my eyes but smiled back. “Sure. Any idea how we’ll get my phone back in the meantime?” I asked, but I had a feeling I already knew what they were going to say.

Lena, of course, was the one to say it out loud. “You know you have to tell him eventually, right?”

I groaned, turned around, and walked to class.

“We love you,” Harper called.

When I got to computer class, I didn’t even bother pretending I was doing the assignment.

I went straight to my email, looking over my shoulder every so often to make sure the teacher was still focused solely on her own computer screen.

But she never looked up.

I logged in, and I froze as I saw my inbox.

From: Baller929

Subject: You forgot something at Homecoming

It had been sent that night.

Then another message.

From: Baller929

Subject: Will I ever find out who you are?

That one had been sent yesterday.

I opened them right away, my eyes poring over every word on the bright screen in front of me.

Hey Cinderella,

You just left. You were literally here one moment then gone the next. I hope you’re okay.

I can’t believe I got to meet you tonight. This was the best night ever, including last year’s championship.

Sometimes I’d think you were too good to be true, that it was somebody pulling a prank on me, but tonight just made it all real.

I have to see you again. We didn’t get nearly enough time to hang out. For me to slowly take off that mask and finally see you underneath it.

Seeing you leave, wanting to go after you, was one of the hardest things ever. But then your phone went off, and I knew I’d get to see you again.

I’ll hold onto it for you. Tell me when and where, and I’ll be there to give it back to you.

Jesse

He’d signed it Jesse. Not Baller929.

Jesse.

I opened his next email.

Hey Cinderella,

Did the evil stepsisters get to you?

It’s weird not being able to talk to you at a moment’s notice. Get a reply back from you just like that.

Did you know you won the Homecoming costume contest? Everyone went crazy about it. And since they saw us together, they keep asking me who was that girl with me? Surely, she doesn’t go to our school.

But I wasn’t able to tell them.

I just keep thinking about that. I hope you know that you can trust me. You have nothing to hide. No matter what, I’ll always be your friend. You’ve been a great one this past year.

Jesse

I read those two emails over and over again until I realized that class would be over in fifteen minutes and I hadn’t even started on today’s assignment.

I kept the window open in the background. It was reassuring to see his words on the screen as I worked.

I finished just as the warning bell rang, and then I logged off and turned off the computer since it was the end of the day.

The class gathered at the front of the classroom, waiting for the principal to finish going through the afternoon announcements and the final bell of the day to ring.

“The boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball teams play again this Friday. Please come out and support them as they lead the Knights to victory this fall.”

Normally, I ignored those types of announcements, but now that I knew that Jesse was a varsity basketball player at my school, I wanted to be there for him.

Would it be as another face in the crowd?

Or as his best friend, Ella Reyes?

I grabbed a snack from the kitchen and went straight to my desk. Even though I was home alone, I shut the door. Courtney and Lindsay were still at cheer practice, and Sophia was working late. The chores could wait an hour or two.

I logged onto my email, determined to write Jesse back.

Weird how fast he’d gone from Baller929 in my head to Jesse.

I stopped, my fingers hovering above the keyboard, when I saw I’d gotten another email from him.

From: Baller929

Subject: Today

Hey Cinderella,

I’m not gonna lie. Today went different than I thought it would. You see, I thought you’d come up to me in the hallway and say you were TheRealCinderella, that you were the girl I spent Saturday night with at Homecoming.

I kept waiting for you.

You never showed up. I’m trying to figure out why. I just hope that you see that you’re my closest friend, and it would mean the world to me to finally get to tell you that in person.

You already know that I deal with a lot of pressure from my dad/coach, from my team, and the whole school. It’s a lot of weight on my shoulders, and you’re the only one who listens to me, who pushes me to go for my dreams, not everyone else’s.

If you want to go back to just being online friends, I understand.

Just say the word, and I’ll turn in your phone to the lost and found in the counselor’s office.

Jesse

My chest tightened. Go back to being friends? I wasn’t completely sure how I felt about that. I started typing.

Jesse,

Do you know I love that name? I love knowing your name.

I was about to tell you mine that night at the dance. I was so close to taking off the mask and showing you who I am.

But then I had to leave.

I had to go back to reality. My life.

I want you to know, I’m not who you think I am. You probably have this image of me in your head. The same beautiful girl from the dance.

That’s not me.

You’d never recognize me at school.

You’re co-captain of the varsity basketball team. The team that wins championships year after year.

I’m just another girl.

I guess that’s why this is hard.

You’re my closest friend too. And for a long time, my only friend.

I’ll never forget that.

As for my phone, I’m not sure I’m ready to get it back just yet.

Don’t turn it into the lost and found. I trust you. I’m just not ready yet.

TheRealCinderella

I sighed, reading over that again before finally hitting send.

It felt like things between us were going fast, and I could hardly keep up. Like when you’re running down a steep hill, and your own momentum carries you forward even as your brain tells your legs to slow down.

Slow down before you fall, hard.

I closed my email and got to work on my project. The presentation was in a few days, and I knew now more than ever that I needed that scholarship.

But first, I needed to win. And to win, this presentation had to be better than everyone else’s project at the fair.

I started typing.