Ms. Cinder's Prince: A Middleton Prep Novella Read online

  Ms. Cinder’s Prince

  A Middleton Prep Novella

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  MS. CINDER'S PRINCE

  First edition. May 25, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 Laura Ann.

  Written by Laura Ann.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  By Laura Ann

  DEDICATION

  Acknowledgements

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  Author Note

  NEWSLETTER

  A HOME FOR THE UGLY DUCKLING

  About The Author

  By Laura Ann

  DEDICATION

  To my Curly Sue, who is

  Always and forever pushing

  Me to put my ideas to paper.

  Love You Always.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to the crew at LDS Beta Readers.

  Your dedication and willingness to help is what

  Makes a project like this doable.

  Also to Victorine at

  Blue Valley Author Services

  For the beautiful cover.

  CHAPTER 1

  Charlotte took a moment to admire the sparkly sheen on her ballet flats. Her love of shoes was well known to her friends and colleagues and these were some of her favorites. Bringing her right foot over her opposite knee, Charlotte pulled off the shoe and started to rub her foot. “One of these days, I will be smart enough to buy shoes that won’t leave me aching,” she mumbled to herself.

  She set her foot down and kicked off the other shoe. Ahhh, freedom. Wiggling her toes, Charlotte relished in the feel for a few moments. Back to work. Standing up, she began to clean the mess left by her students.

  Teaching at Middleton Prep was a dream come true for Charlotte. She had only been at the school for two years, but had already settled in quite nicely. The private academy taught all grade levels, K-12, but its pricey tuition meant the number of students in each class were small and manageable. Having a smaller classroom allowed her to do all her favorite crafts and activities with the children.

  Her pleasant thoughts were brought to a screeching halt when she arrived at a group of desks covered in glitter. She didn’t need to look at the name tags on the desks to remember who sat there. Andrew and Jackson Tremain were some of the most difficult boys she had ever encountered. With a deep sigh, she grabbed a towel and started to brush the glitter into the garbage can. What in this world? It wasn’t moving.

  She set down the trash can and her towel and tentatively touched the desk, it felt firm and smooth, and no glitter stuck to her finger. “Oh no!” she exclaimed. The glitter had been spread over a layer of glue and it was already dry. “You have got to be kidding me!” She groaned. “Now what?” Straightening, she headed towards the door. She quickly walked down the hallway, towards her friend Rory’s classroom in another wing of the school.

  “Oh!” Charlotte gasped as she came around a corner and nearly collided with someone. Her hand flew to her chest, as if the gesture had the power to calm her rapid heartbeat. Looking up, she blanched when she realized who was standing in front of her.

  “Sorry,” Christian mumbled. His face was fiery red and his eyes darted everywhere but directly at her.

  “It was my fault, I was lost in my thoughts.” She spoke quietly, too nervous to speak stronger.

  He stuffed his hands in his front pockets and Charlotte felt herself start to heat up as she noticed the lean muscles in his arms from the movement.

  He nodded at her, “Okay, well, I gotta...yeah...” With a duck of his head, he hurried around her and took off down the hall.

  She turned to watch him go, she couldn’t help herself. Sadness crept over her at his quick departure. He is so handsome and so sweet. But he’s always in such a hurry to get away from me. I wish I knew why. With a sinking heart, she turned back towards her original destination and continued.

  After a soft knock, she peeked her head in the door of the science lab. “Rory?” Her voice echoed through the room. “Are you in here?”

  “Yeah! Whatcha need?” The mid sized woman poked her head out of the closest she was rummaging through. Her golden hair had been wadded into a bun and held with a pencil on top of her head and her signature red lipstick was starting to fade for the day. “Oh! Charlotte! Hey! What’s up?”

  “I need a little help. I have a mess on one of the desks that needs to be cleaned up and was hoping you had a solution up your little sleeve of science tricks.”

  “Tremain brothers are at it again, huh?” Rory gave a knowing smirk.

  “Well, I’m sure they...” She tried to think of a nice way to speak of them, but nothing was coming to mind. “Yes.” She finally conceded.

  Rory laughed. “Those two are the bane of every teacher in this school, and their mother is just as bad. Ugh. It stinks they’re so young. We’ll have to deal with them all for waaayyy too long.

  “I’m sure they’ll get better as they get older.” Charlotte said.

  “One can only hope. So...what did they do?”

  “Well, as best I can tell, they spread a layer of glue on their desks and then put glitter on it. Which is now dried into a sheet of glitter. It could be considered a nice piece of art if it wasn’t on the school’s property.”

  “Niiiice. Well, that’s actually a pretty easy fix. Heat and water. Softens the glue and you should be able to peel it up.”

  “Sweet!. So, can I use a rag with hot water? Or do I need something warmer, like a blow dryer?”

  Rory shrugged, “I’d start with the rag. If it doesn’t work, try blowing the hot air over the rag to keep it warm. Something to scrape with would probably help too. Might make the job easier. So does walking around barefoot, I’m sure.” She grinned at Charlotte and tipped her head towards her feet.

  Looking down, she realized she had forgotten to put her shoes back on before leaving the classroom. She groaned inwardly. No wonder Christian is always in such a hurry to get away from me. I’m a mess! “Guess we’ll test out that theory huh?” She forced a giggle to hide her humiliation. “My feet were hurting earlier and obviously I forgot to put the shoes back on. Thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate your help.” Charlotte smiled her gratitude and opened the door.

  “Anytime. Let me know if it doesn’t work for some reason and I’ll see if I can figure out another solution.” She stepped back inside the closet and went back to digging for whatever it was she needed.

  “Great! Thanks!” With a wave, she headed down the hall to her classroom.

  CHRISTIAN QUICKLY SHUT the door behind him once he reached his classroom and leaned against it. Taking a deep breath he fought to cool the burning in his cheeks and ears. She is so beautiful and all I could do was say ‘sorry’? Argh! He berated himself and shook his head at his idiocy. I can’t think straight when I look at her—He stopped for a moment and brought her picture to mind. Long hair so blonde it nearly glowed white, soft, petal pink lips, dark, blue eyes that looked as deep as any ocean. He groaned as he felt his temperature spike. How am I ever going to manage to ask her on a date? I’d probably be tongue tied all night. Plus she’s as kind as she is beautiful, there is no way I deserve a woman like her.


  With a growl of frustration he pushed up and headed towards his desk. Papers were stacked everywhere and he fought the desire to sigh. It didn’t matter what he did, he was never able to keep his work area organized. All it took was five minutes and it looked like a disaster zone. He sat down in his chair and rolled it to the desk. Shuffling through everything, he found tomorrow’s folder of test papers. He chuckled when he thought of his students’ groaning when he warned them of their impending doom. Their section on Napoleon had just finished and it was time to see what knowledge they retained.

  Adding the folder to his briefcase and grabbing last week’s tests to add to his score chart, he stood and decided to head home early. A sound out the window caught his attention and he walked over to see what it was. The football team was practicing. Nash was standing on the sidelines, his giant presence dwarfing everything around him.

  That’s the type of guy the girls go for. Strong, athletic... Pushing his glasses up his nose, Christian slumped in discouragement. At six feet tall, he wasn’t by any means short, but compared to Nash he looked downright scrawny. The muscle he exercised most was his brain. His love of history inspired his thick black glasses and daily bowties. Not to mention his unruly hair, that always seemed in need of trimming. He spent his spare time reading biographies or historical texts. I doubt Mss. Cinders would find ‘100 Unknown Details About the Berlin Wall’ interesting. Nothing about that would capture the attention of someone as beautiful and sweet as Ms. Cinders. Perhaps Piper could... His thought trailed off. Piper wasn’t here. The school’s librarian was a great friend to him, but she was home right now helping her sick father.

  Shaking his head, he turned and headed toward the door.

  CHAPTER 2

  “So, I forgot to ask last night if the heat and water worked?” Rory asked around a mouthful of applesauce.

  “It did. Thank you for suggesting it.” Charlotte smiled. She was glad the students all had the same lunch hour, so she was able to enjoy eating with teachers who taught different grades from hers.

  Rory gave her a salute and put her focus back on her turkey sandwich.

  Lucy slipped into the seat at Charlotte’s left with a sigh.

  “Is everything alright?” Charlotte asked, her brows furrowed with concern.

  “What?” Lucy asked. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I’m just worried about Piper. She’s been gone several weeks now and I’m ready to have her back.”

  “Here, here!” Rory chimed in.

  Charlotte nodded. She also missed the cute librarian. Her eyes cut over to Nash, sitting by himself at a table. He looked sad. “Poor Nash. He looks lonely.”

  Lucy smiled then leaned into the table, like she was going to give away a secret. “He’s been driving down and visiting Piper every weekend; helping out with her dad.”

  “Huh...you’d never know he had it in him to be so sweet.” Rory narrowed her eyes and studied the silent man in the corner.

  “I think it’s wonderful.” Charlotte said softly. At least someone’s dreams are coming true.

  Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but the doors burst opened and Mrs. Merryweather bustled in before she could speak. “Oh good! Most of you are here!”

  All heads in the lounge turned her way. She cleared her throat. “As you all know, Thanksgiving is next week-”

  She was interrupted with a loud cheer from a table of teachers, which was followed by laughs from all the others.

  “Yes, yes, we are all excited. Now...right after Thanksgiving we jump into December. Just as we have in past years, we will be doing our Secret Teacher Santas.”

  The sound of men groaning and women twittering interrupted her yet again.

  With a sigh, Mrs. Merryweather put two fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. The noise abruptly stopped and all eyes were back on her. “Now, we will be drawing names. But before we do this, let’s remember the rules. This is meant to be a fun way to lighten up the holiday. So please take it as such. No getting someone something you wouldn’t want others to see.” She gave a pointed stare at a table of male teachers who were known for pranks. “You may choose to do an act of service or get a little gift for them as often as you would like during the month, but everyone must participate at least once a week. Our Holiday Party will be right after school gets out and we will reveal the secret santas at that time. Thank you.”

  She bustled over to the closest person and held out a large can full of folded papers. After they had chosen a paper she moved on from person to person, until she reached the table with Charlotte and her friends.

  “Hello my dears. Here Rory, you go first. Now you Lucy.” Her gaze shifted to Charlotte and her eyes sparkled. “And now you my dear. Reach really deep now.”

  Charlotte was confused at the instructions, but pushed her hand nearly to the bottom of the can.

  “Almost there, yes. Perfect. Grab it and I’ll move on.”

  Charlotte quickly grabbed the paper closest to her hand and pulled it out. What was that about? It’s almost as if...No. That’s silly. She shook her head and opened the paper.

  Christian Prince: High School History Teacher Rm H104

  She gasped, her free hand flying to cover the sound.

  “What? Is something wrong?” Rory looked at her. “Did you get someone awful?” Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “Did you get Miranda? We could leave her something she deserves. You know, like a snake in her desk.”

  “Rory!” Charlotte exclaimed. “That would be so mean!” It didn’t matter that Miranda was the rudest woman on staff, Charlotte would have never been able to do something so daring.

  Lucy laughed. “Let the punishment fit the crime. That woman is driving me nuts; walking around like she owns the place.”

  “And every man in it.” Rory added.

  “Still, I couldn’t do something like that.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll help, then you won’t actually have to do it.” Rory’s eyes twinkled with mischief.

  “Well, it doesn’t matter because I didn’t get her.”

  “Oh. Then who did you get?” Lucy tried to lean over and look at the paper but Charlotte quickly crushed it in her fist.

  “I- uh- we’re not supposed to tell, remember?” She could feel her cheeks heating and knew she needed to change the subject.

  Lucy put her hands up in a placating gesture. “Okay, okay. I won’t push. But it must be good. You’re cheeks are glowing.” She smiled.

  Rory also smiled but didn’t comment, much to Charlotte’s relief.

  “Yes, well...ho-how are your science classes going Rory?” She put a bite of apple in her mouth and tried to slip the paper into her pocket without anyone noticing.

  Rory’s eyes narrowed and she cocked her head to the side. Charlotte tried hard not to fidget, but it was difficult with her friend eyeing her like one of her science experiments.

  “If that’s how you want to play it, okay. I’ll go along.” She winked and continued. “Things aren’t too bad. I have a couple of trouble makers in senior chemistry, but there’s at least one every year. Let’s just hope they don’t blow anything up before I can get them graduated.”

  Charlotte felt the tension drain from her shoulders as they all chuckled at the comment. Thank you, Rory. She plastered a fake smile on her face as she continued to listen to her friends banter back and forth. I’ll worry about Christian later.

  “SECRET SANTAS? YOU do this every year?” Christian asked Mrs. Merryweather. Christian had grabbed a quick lunch in the cafeteria and was heading back to his room to grade this morning’s test when the secretary had stopped him in the hall.

  “Yes. Every year.”

  He eyed her warily. Her smile looked innocent enough, but Mrs. Merryweather often knew more than she should. He rubbed his hand over his face in frustration. Ugh. Just one more thing to have to put on the calendar. “Okay. Let me have one of those.” He put his palm up.

  “Oh no, dear, you must choose yourself. This is to b
e your decision, not mine.” She held the can out.

  “I’m not sure why it matters-”

  “Of course it matters!” She tapped her foot impatiently.

  “Uh...right.” He cleared his throat. “You’re right.” What in this world? Reaching into the can, he grabbed a name quickly.

  “Make sure you really want that one, dear.” She said.

  “Uh...yep.” He held it up. “This is the one I want. Thanks.” He turned and started back down the hall to his classroom. When he glanced over his shoulder to check on the secretary, she was gone. Wow. She moves faster than I would have thought. Facing ahead, he screeched to a halt. Dang it! Walking directly towards him was Miranda.

  He frantically looked around, but couldn’t spot a good hiding place, plus, by the smile on her pouty lips, he could tell she had spotted him. Groaning, he started walking as quickly as he dared with a tray full of fries and a burger in his hands. He ducked his head down and hoped he could speed by with nothing more than a small greeting.

  “Well hello, Christian.” Her voice purred.

  He gave a small chin tilt and kept walking.

  However, Miranda had other ideas. She stepped directly in front of him, cutting off his path. He swerved, but she countered with a sidestep. Realizing there was no way out, he stopped a few feet away.

  She chuckled low and husky. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were trying to avoid me.”

  Then obviously you don’t know better. “Uh..I- uh....I’m just heading back to my room for lunch. Need to grade a quiz, you know.” He cleared his throat and stood tall, his face stoic.

  Before he could move, Miranda stepped up close and started walking two fingers up his chest. He stumbled backward at her touch, nearly dropping his tray.

  “Did you want any help?” She asked, looking up through her eyelashes.