As Philip headed to his first class, he and his friends passed two separate couples that were making out at the side of the hallway. The guy in each relationship was holding a colorful sign and some balloons or a stuffed animal. Ugh...homecoming, he thought, rolling his eyes. It was so pointless, in his opinion. In fact, there were times when Philip thought that high school relationships in general were pointless.

"See you later, Philip," Theo said with a smile as she turned into her classroom. Philip smiled back.

...What was I thinking about? Whatever.

Philip, Stephen, and Georges walked into their government class and took their seats next to each other.

"Did you understand the homework for this class?" Georges asked Philip.

"I had to," Philip sighed. "Have you met my dad?" Georges nodded.

"Oui, I understand. My papa would kill Adrienne and I if we got lower than a B in history."

"You guys actually did the homework?" Stephen snorted. "You know it was just extra credit, right?"

"Our parents aren't as chill as yours, you know," Philip said. Stephen just rolled his eyes as the bell rang.

Class went on like normal, with Philip taking notes on everything the teacher said and Stephen falling asleep after twenty minutes. For the last five minutes of class, the teacher let them do what they liked, so the boys just talked. In the middle of their conversation, Stephen's eyes widened, then narrowed in disgust.

"Ugh, don't look now," Stephen mumbled. He spoke too late, however, as Philip and Georges both looked up at the girl who was approaching them. She wore a short, gray dress that barely covered her rear, and a green and blue flannel over it. She appeared taller than she actually was because of her two-inch heels. Her hair was a mass of vibrant orange coils, which was surprisingly not dyed. She had freckles covering her nose and cheeks, but many of them had been covered by perfectly applied makeup. Just by looking at her, many could guess that she was popular, which she was. She was also one of the worst human beings on the planet to most people, especially Stephen. Her name: Mary Jefferson.

"Hello, boys!" Mary greeted with a strained smile and a valley girl accent. The look on her face quickly turned flirty when she faced Stephen. "Hi, Stephen." He avoided her gaze, choosing to read his book instead. Mary cleared her throat and continued, "Are you going to homecoming?" Stephen didn't even bother answering while Philip and Georges shrugged, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "Well, you should go."

"Um...why?" Philip wondered.

"Because," Mary spoke as if the answer was obvious, "everyone who goes to homecoming has the chance to be invited to my party next month!"

Stephen sighed, "Why do you think we would want to go?" Mary perked up at Stephen's voice.

"Well, you and your friends never seem to do anything fun, so I thought-"

"We have plenty of fun without you trying to sleep with me." Mary blushed and gasped in mock surprise.

"Stephen Schuyler! How could you even insinuate that?" Stephen flipped the page in his book.

"It's really obvious. Also, I'm not as rich as you think I am."

"Stephen, you don't think I like you because of your money, do you?"

"I don't think. I know."

"Well, you...you..." Mary sputtered, then huffed in frustration. "Ugh, why are you such an ass to me?"

"You were an ass first."

"I know you don't think that," Mary smirked.

"You wanna bet?"

"I'll get the truth out of you one of these days, Honey!" Mary winked, twirled, and strutted off. Stephen exhaled and dropped his head onto the desk.

"She just gets crazier every year, doesn't she?"

"She is obsessed with you, dude," Philip agreed.

"I'm not even the richest one in the school, so why me?"

"I'm sorry, ami," Georges said.

"It's not your fault. You can't stop her just because you're cousins."

"Second cousins."

"Whatever." Stephen ran his hand through his hair. "The thing is, I don't even know if I..." He bit his lip.

"What?" Philip asked.

"Nothing. I'm definitely not going to homecoming now." Philip glanced at Georges, and they shared the same concerned look. It was unusual for Stephen not to say how he felt about something, especially if it involved Mary.

"...Yeah, me neither," Philip finally said.

"Really? You aren't going to ask Theo this year?" Philip's face burned and his stomach filled with butterflies.

"Wha-no. No. She doesn't even-We would just go as friends anyway so...no." Georges and Stephen began laughing. "Shut up!"

"Dude, just ask her out."

"You've been in love with her since fifth grade," Georges mentioned. Philip didn't respond. Thankfully, he never had to. The bell rang, and he hurried to his next class.

None of Philip's friends were in his second class, but Theo was in his third hour, chemistry. Ironic. After they sat next to each other at the lab table, Philip struggled to find his words before he finally asked, "So, have you thought about going to homecoming?" Theo raised an eyebrow at him, studying him with intelligent eyes. He blushed under her gaze.

"Not really," Theo said. "But Adrienne brought it up last hour. She said that she might go, but she wants me to go with her. I think I might, at least for a little while."

"Ah, okay." Philip hadn't actually been expecting Theo to actually want to go to a school dance. She wasn't one to be in crowded areas, and none of them had bothered going to homecoming the past two years, anyway. "Yeah, Georges will probably go if Adrienne is going. I think Stephen and I are just going to hang-"

"You should come, too."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, you and Stephen. It won't be nearly as much fun unless we're all there. Besides, Georges and Adrienne will actually be dancing and having fun, and Stephen will be standing in a corner on his phone, so who am I supposed to talk to?"

"Uh..." Philip cleared his throat and composed himself. "Yeah, maybe. Oh, but Stephen was really set on not going, and I wouldn't want to leave him alone..." Theo nodded, though she seemed a bit disappointed.

"I understand. It's a shame, though." Philip couldn't stand the frown on Theo's beauti-on Theo's face.

"I mean," Philip hurried to say, "I can try to convince Stephen to go."

"Would you?"

The way Theo's eyes lit up made Philip continue, "Yeah, sure. I guess I wouldn't mind going."

"Cool," was all Theo said, but hearing that and seeing her smile was enough to make Philip feel happy.

Well then, Philip thought as class started, I guess I'm going to homecoming.