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I choked on a sip of water and grinned because Ella’s romanticism was off the charts in the most adorable way. “Storm the castle?”
“Yeah, you know”—she waved her hand as she spoke—“a ‘take no prisoners claiming of the heart’ kind of event perfect for sweeping someone off their feet. It’s kinda like . . .”
Ella’s voice faded into the background as my pulse thumped in my veins and my thoughts drifted. Not once had she ever mentioned wanting a jock or a Royal or someone with muscles larger than brains. This whole time I’d been focused on all the wrong things, thinking I wasn’t good enough, when in fact, Ella valued intelligence, I knew she did. Her own grades and her admission to Columbia proved it.
Suddenly, everything clicked into place—all the things Ella said about love and what she was looking for. Ella wanted a screen-worthy romance. A fairytale. A prince. Someone who would swoop in and steal her heart with a grand gesture she didn’t see coming, all because Adam had shattered it to pieces earlier this year.
I’d heard the rumors he cheated, but I hadn’t believed them until now. Because when you held a diamond in your hand, you don’t throw it away for a stone. And Ella was nothing short of a diamond. If he broke her heart like everyone claimed, she’d be hesitant to put it on the line again, unless she was completely sure. Unless someone proved to her they were worthy and would never break it again.
And she was right. The masquerade ball was the perfect place to make a move. I just needed to figure out the best way to storm the castle and steal her heart.
The library smelled of old paper, coffee, and pencil shavings—an odd but comforting combination. Somewhere in the background, a printer buzzed to life, drowning out the guy typing several stations down from mine. My butt ached from sitting in one of the hard plastic chairs where I’d spent the last four hours streaming and researching the most popular romance and teen love flicks.
But it paid off, because I finally knew what I needed to do.
With tired eyes, I closed my laptop, hoping I could stave off the whopper of a headache I felt blooming at my temples.
“Knock, knock.” My head jerked at the sound of Scarlett’s voice.
I glanced up to see her and Penelope sinking down into the chairs across from me, a welcome sight because it would be good to run my idea by someone.
“How’d you know I was here?” I asked.
Scarlett grinned. “Thorne told me you sent him a text saying you were doing research on how to storm the castle in the library. Which made zero sense but sounded exciting, so we decided to check it out.”
“What exactly is ‘storm the castle’ research?” Penelope asked with narrowed eyes, and I nearly laughed.
“How do I explain it?” I rubbed the back of my neck as I turned more fully to face them. “Ella’s a romantic at heart, and she has this notion of wanting a guy that will do something big to sweep her off her feet, like in the movies.”
“A screen-worthy romance,” Scarlett confirmed.
“Exactly. So I figured, why not do a little research since I have no clue what the characters in these romances actuallydoto win the girl.”
“And?”
My mouth flattened into a grim line because I knew what I needed to do, even if the idea of it made me uncomfortable. “There were a lot of different things, but there seemed to be a common theme among a lot of them.”
“Which is . . .? You’re keeping us in suspense here.” Penelope waved me on, eyes bright.
“I need a makeover,” I blurted.
Penelope and Scarlett exchanged a look before Scarlett leaned in closer, her voice low as she said, “Barry, are you sure—”
“Positive.” I’d never been surer of anything in my life, actually. “It’s the perfect thing, and Ella will never see it coming. Plus, it comes directly from the Cinderella playbook.”
“Cinderella had a playbook?” Scarlett scrunched her nose.
“I don’t know,” Penelope hedged, shifting in her seat. “I mean, are you sure changing your appearance for her is the best way to win her over? Shouldn’t you just be you?”
“Yeah, look at P.” Scarlett motioned to her. “She won Topher over without changing a thing about herself.”
I shot her a dark look. “Again, that was after she pretended to be someone else for weeks. Someone who wasn’t a social pariah at school.” I shifted my gaze to Penelope. “No offense.”
“But Topher still fell in love with me for me.”
“And Ella will, too. Heck, she already likes me enough to hook me up with her sister. At the very least, she thinks of me as a friend, but I need something to make her see me in a new light. I need something romantic. Drastic. And with the masquerade ball approaching, it’d be the perfect setting.”
She’d pretty much said so herself.
