"Cinder!" A boy skipped to the playground. "Let's play pirates! I'll be Captain Carswell! That's... that's... a- ale- something!"

"Alliteration, Carswell," Cinder called out.

"Hey!" he cried indignantly. "You don't call me Carswell! Call me Captain, or Captain Carswell, but not Carswell!"

"Sure... Carswell." Cinder smirked.

"Stop! Or- or, I'll make you walk the plank!"

Cinder swung around the bars. "I don't see a plank. Besides, Crescent calls you Carswell, and you don't mind."

Carswell huffed. "Well, you're not Cress!"

"I know! You like-like her! You let her call you Carswell, and you even gave her a nickname!"

Carswell wrinkled his nose, though Cinder thought his face was a bit pink. "No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't!"

"Cinder," sang a musical voice.

A grunt.

"Cinder!" Winter tried again.

A muffled groan.

"Wake up, Cinder! It's the first day of fourth grade!"

No response.

"If you don't get up, I'm going to steal all your cargo jeans."

Cinder bounced out of bed. "No!"

Winter laughed. "That's what gets you out of bed?"

Cinder shrugged. "Dunno. Go away so I can change."

"Into one of your cargo jeans?"

"Go away!"

"Don't make us late!"

"Cinder."

She looked up from her blueprint of the inside of a motor. "What."

"Help."

"With what."

"My chart." Iko waved a hand at the paper spread out in front of her.

"It's called a blueprint."

"Yeah, yeah. I need your help."

"No, you don't. We're not doing anything to it, just studying it."

"Oh." Iko's attention was on her phone. "Why are we studying it, again?"

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Stop texting in class and maybe you'll know."

Iko sighed dramatically. "But who's going to organize all the outings for us? Besides, you could always tell me after class."

"I'm not going anywhere. And we're building a robot in class tomorrow."

"And?"

"So I'm studying blueprints I borrowed from the teacher."

"And what does that have to do with class?"

Cinder looked exasperated. "So we can build it successfully tomorrow!"

"I'm pretty sure, Cinder," Iko replied without looking up from her phone, "that Mrs. Jackson wouldn't ask us to build a motor from scratch."

"Well, maybe I want to know more."

"Well, maybe we should just go out for ice cream. I'm pretty sure that I can get us a double date, or maybe a triple date if we invite Scarlet or someone-"

"Well, no."

Sigh. "You're no fun."

"Cinder." Scarlet nudged her chair.

"Hush."

This time a kick was involved. "Cinder."

"Hush."

"Cinder!" A pencil flew onto her desk.

"I'm taking an online test!" Cinder snapped.

"Yeah, I know, and I need to borrow your eraser. I'm trying to sketch, you know."

Cinder glared at Scarlet, twisting around in her computer chair. "Yes, and it's on my desk, right here. You can get it yourself."

"No. I'm clearly sprawled on your bed."

"Well then, don't use it."

"Fine then."

"You."

"Who?"

"You."

"Who, Jacin? Don't tell me you haven't memorized the names of everyone in homeroom after two trimester."

Jacin glared at Cinder, who grinned back, unfazed.

"Kate?"

"No. Can I-"

Cinder made a great show of turning around. "Amy, I think Jacin has something to say to you!"

"Cinder!" Jacin hissed.

Cinder feigned surprise. "Oh, so you do know my name! Ah, too late, Amy wants to know what you want to say," she said, gesturing at the girl in question.

"You know she has a crush on me!"

"Exactly."

"I'm going to kill you."

"Amy might kill you if you don't stop talking to me this instant and start talking to her."

"Um, Cinder?"

"Yeah?"

"You're good at statistics, right?"

"I'm decent at it, I suppose-"

"Decent for you is better than anyone else. You watch football critically, don't you?"

"Well, no, I wouldn't say that-"

"What happened to the last Super Bowl that we watched at Thorne's house? You were pretty critical then."

"I'd prefer the term analytical, Wolf."

"Fine, analytical. You are a natural tactician."

"Thanks for the ego boost, I suppose, but why are you talking about this?"

"Well, you see, our head coach is on leave, and we've got a game coming up. It's not a big game, but the team isn't really listening to the assistant coach, so I'd appreciate it if you come and, you know, coach us a bit."

"What?"

"I know it's a lot to ask of you, but I'd really appreciate the help, and you know, it might look good on college applications?"

"Um, maybe? I'll think about it, alright?"

"Thanks! We have practice today afterschool. I'll see you around!"

"Why did I involve myself with the varsity football team again?"

"Cinder?" Cress mumbled from underneath her blankets.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering…"

"A dangerous pastime, if you ask me," Cinder teased.

Cress huffed at her roomate. "I was wondering if you'd consider building a computer with me."

Cinder blinked. "Huh?"

Cress sat up in bed, tossing her long braid to one side. "Well, you could design a sleeker, lighter, prettier, I don't know, better computer, and I'll do some programming."

"And what is this for, exactly?"

"Well, I wanted to do this just for fun…"

"Are you kidding me?"

Cress looked down, face red. "I mean, I thought it would be a nice project-"

"No, it's brilliant! But, you know, we shouldn't waste all that money and time on some purely recreational idea. What if we submit it to some contest or fair?"

Cress lit up. "Oh, you really think we can do that? It was always a childish dream of mine, especially around the time I was in foster homes. I guess I just ever found the person willing to work with me."

Cinder offered Cress a sympathetic half-smile. "Before my mom found me I was very much the same way. Now, come on, let's make this dream of ours come true."

"Sweetheart?"

"Cut it out, babe."

"No, love."

"Stop it, darling."

Kai pouted his lips. "Se-lene."

"Kai-to."

"Stop being so childish, hon. You're packing up your college dorm. Act like an adult."

"Says the one lying on my bed, sneaking pictures of me, and being extremely helpful to me."

Kai smirked. "Sarcasm suits you, my dear. Don't think for one moment, though, that I want you to pack slowly. You're moving with me, remember?"

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Yes, darling."

"Ha! You lose! You called me darling already! Find a different pet name!"

"No. Help me pack."

With an exaggerated sad baby face, Kai plopped down to look through Cinder's belongings. "Hey, check out this picture of us at prom!"

"Kai."

"You looked beautiful that day. You know, you're still beautiful. More beautiful than ever."

"Quit talking and help me, Kai."

"You're quite perfect, you know. I'd only change one thing about you."

Cinder frowned. "What?"

"Your last name."

Cinder dropped a picture frame. "What?"

"Marry me."

He's trying to be calm, Cinder realized, but he's fiddling nervously. "I'll consider it."

Kai drooped dejectedly. "What would it take to convince you to marry me?"

"Us getting all this packed up and out the door in an hour."

They finished in half an hour.

AN: Can you believe it's been almost a year since the posting of Of Clothes and Books? Apologies for being MIA for so long! Our tempo kind of got messed up when the end of the last school year and the summer and the beginning of a new school year rolled around. As always, we would appreciate hearing your thoughts. Still open to suggestions for future stories!