The Next 9 Days and What I Did to Fill Them

A list by Cameron Morgan

Homework - 14 times (teachers didn't seem to care about homecoming festivities)

Dress shop - 4 times

Eat cereal for dinner because Mom tried to cook - 2.5 times

Peek through blinds to see if Zach's were opened (they weren't) - 11 times

See Tina's car at the Goode house - 8 times

Ask Mom what I should do - 3 times

Talk to Zach - 0 times

Mom said I should try and talk to Zach. I said she was being ridiculous.

Then, Mom said I should ask Kate what was going on. I ignored this suggestion.

Clearly, Tina didn't want Zach to be friends with me and clearly, she took precedence over me. I shouldn't really have been surprised, at least not after seeing the number of photos Zach had of her in his room.

My friends refused to believe they were together. I assured them firsthand that she had left her mark in Zach's room, that she was always next door, and that they were always hanging out during school hours.

Macey always pointed out that we had never seen them kiss, hold hands, or be affectionate. I pointed out he had once walked into class with lipgloss on his face. She waved that away as a technicality.

The bottom line was that Tina had cut me out of Zach's life like I was some crusty, life-threatening tumor. We still sat next to each other in biology, but he didn't speak to me and I sure as hell didn't speak to him. I tried not to let it show how much it bothered me.

Realistically though, it was obvious how much it got to me. I was sulky and snappy, bitter and bitchy. I was never in the mood to hang out, and whenever Josh asked, I always made up some excuse as to why I couldn't. As a result, he and DeeDee had been spending a lot of time together which was a silver lining considering she was the happiest I had seen ever seen her.

My friends and I had picked apart the situation with Zach over and over together, sometimes over sleepovers, other times over dress shopping. We had been doing a lot of that lately-the dress shopping-partially because Macey was so picky and partially because I had no clue what to buy.

Now, we were smooshed together in the Niemann Marcus family fitting room, bumping each other with our elbows and kneeing each other in the back as we attempted to squeeze into the dresses we had picked.

"Did I gain a million pounds?" Bex groaned as she tried to squeeze her head through the stretching fabric of a dark blue dress. She kind of looked like she was getting consumed by an anaconda from the top down.

"Bex I think you grabbed my dress…" Liz offered. We turned to look at her and saw she was wearing the exact same dress, only it hung loosely off of her like a jersey.

We all burst out laughing. Bex and Liz were the most opposite in height of our entire friend group. While Liz was basically the size of a kindergartner, Bex was tall, lean, and about 98% muscle. Seeing them try on each other's clothes looked like something out of a comedy skit.

Once the two of them had scrambled into their perspective dresses, and Macey had zipped me up, the four of us looked at our reflection in the two-wall mirror.

"All these dresses are starting to look the same to me," I admitted. This one reminded me of the one before it, and the one before that. "Should I just buy this one?"

In the mirror, Bex's eyes moved from her own reflection to mine. She appraised me like she was a pawn star and I was a 1970 refurbished bedside table. I felt violated. She turned to look at me in person, her nose scrunched, and her ponytail swinging as she shook her head. "Mmm-mmm."

I groaned, yanking the zipped down as best I could, which mostly included contorting my body in an extremely concerning C shape. "This sucks, I hate this," I whined scooping my clothes out from under the plethora of dresses that littered the floor. I pulled my Gallagher hoodie on over my head, my face appearing on the other side twisted in a frown. When I saw the dresses Bex and Liz had on, it immediately reformed into a smile.

They had both changed from the matching blue dresses. Liz looked like a fairy, in a soft pink dress that flowed out in a wispy, fluffy fan. And Bex. Bex could've easily passed for some sort of Victoria's Secret supermodel in the tight, black midi dress she had picked.

"Holy shit," Macey squealed, at the exact same time I falsettoed, "You guuu-uuuuu-uuuuys!"

It was obvious they absolutely had to get these dresses. They looked beautiful, and after weeks of scouring every single department store within a 40-mile radius of Roseville, it was obvious these were perfect for them.

After a brief group squeal which consisted of us happily jumping up and down in the fitting room, Bex and Liz hurried out of the dresses and collected their discarded ones to go to the cashier and check out. Macey and I hung back, tackling our own pile of rejected selections.

"I don't think I can keep dress shopping," I groaned, holding up probably my worst option yet. The dress was a hideous shade of orange, made of some sort of crushed velvet, and was only like two inches from exposing my entire butt. My only excuse for picking it out was that I was so unbelievably tired of shopping that my judgment had momentarily lapsed. But now, looking at it again, I couldn't even begin to guesstimate what I had been thinking.

Macey sighed, hanging up a beautiful dress ("It's cheaply made," she had said when we tried to convince her to get it. "I wouldn't be caught dead in something with these seams."). "You're telling me," she said morosely. "I may just give up."

We had finished collecting our clothes and had just pushed the door of the fitting room open when Macey skidded to a halt. I hadn't been paying attention and ended up tackling her Roseville football team style.

"Macey what the hell?"

She stuck a hand up in the air to silence me then extended it in front of us. I followed the glossed french tip in the direction it was pointing and immediately understood. There, hanging up on the go-back rack was one of the prettiest dresses I had ever seen.

It was a deep shade of emerald green, with a high collar and a completely open back. I hadn't seen anything even remotely like it inside the store, it must have been the last one.

"That color is going to look amazing on you," Macey declared, scooping the dresses out of my hand. "Try it on right now."

I obeyed because, well, I really wanted to. During all our dress shopping days I had never had a dress that was truly me. This was the first and hopefully the winner.

Please be my size, please be my size.

I fumbled with the tag, cheered in victory when it was my size, then faltered a little when I saw the price. Then, remembering how I would literally rather get hit by a bus than looking for another dress, I brought it into the fitting room anyway and scrambled into it.

It was beautiful. No, that was an understatement. It was gorgeous. The material was silk and clung to my body in all the right places. The open back was a bit low, and normally being that exposed would make me nervous, but when I turned to inspect the dress from all angles it was so pretty I didn't care.

In my haste, I hadn't shut the door all the way and Macey pushed it open. She gawked at me, then her face broke out into the biggest smile I'd ever seen. "Cammie." She legitimately sounded like a proud mom watching her kid score a goal for the first time. "It looks stunning on you."

She pushed on my shoulder so that I could give her a 360 and when she saw the low back she whooped in surprise. It was definitely cheeky, low enough to expose my back dimples, and would require some pretty innovative thinking with low-rise spandex.

After surveying me from all possible angles and insisting that if I didn't get this dress I'd be dead to her, I hurried out of it and brought it out to the cash register. The check-out lady was just bagging up Liz's stuff when we arrived and cooed her praises at me when I set the dress down on the counter. She probably worked on commission, I thought, and would say anything to sell a dress this expensive. But when Liz and Bex also chimed in about how much they loved it, I knew I had made the right call.

Swiping my card kind of hurt-the dress was worth two and a half weeks' worth of my allowance-but I was beaming by the time we walked out of the store.

"Wow, I can't believe we did it. Only one dress left to find," I marveled proudly.

Bex rolled her eyes and jutted a thumb in Macey's direction. "Nah, this is everyone. She's gonna end up getting a custom dress."

"She does this every year," Liz chimed in. "Wastes like two weeks looking for a dress then uses the family stylist to get one that meets her standards."

Macey stuck her tongue out at both of them but for maybe the first time ever, looked a little embarrassed. I always forget how important Macey's family really is and it's time when I hear things like family stylist that I'm really brought back to reality.

We were weaving our way out of the Roseville mall now and were almost at the parking lot when we ran into a group of girls with Tina at the head. She skidded to a stop in front of us and broke into a giant smile.

"Hey girls!" She chirped. She was swinging an Hermes shopping bag back and forth on her arm as if we wouldn't notice the bright orange asset on our own. "Doing some hoco shopping?"

"Mmm-hmm," Macey said curtly. She had taken it upon herself to be pretty short with Tina recently. I warned her she absolutely better not be doing it on my behalf (because honestly, that was just unnecessary) but every time I said this she insisted that she was acting like that for personal reasons (none of which she could ever really name though).

Jamie Goldberg rushed forward excitedly and peered into our bags. "Oooh, what color is everyone wearing? I wonder if our dresses will all look good in pictures."

So far our homecoming group was pretty big, almost 22 people total when you tallied up the dates. It would definitely be hard to all coordinate photos. As the three of us rattled off the color of our new dresses, Tina turned towards Macey.

"I'm getting a custom dress this year too I think," she beamed. "My dad got a huge promotion at work and we're-" she extended the Hermes bag into Macey's face, "-celebrating."

Macey, who had more designer bracelets and rings stacked on her hands than anyone else I had ever met, didn't take the bait. "That's really cool T, I can't wait to see it!"

Tina smiled and peered into our bags one more time. "Super pretty guys!"

The five girls (Tina swinging her ponytail as usual) sauntered off in the opposite direction. The minute they were out of earshot, Macey turned her icy blue eyes toward us and scrunched up her face. "What was that about?"

Admittedly it was a pretty weird interaction, even for Tina and those girls. We shrugged and headed towards the exit once again. If there was one thing I had learned since coming to Roseville it was that some people were just too unpredictable to read.

With homecoming steadily approaching my Mom was constantly in a frenzy. If she wasn't sitting in on some meetings for her principal-y duties, she was running around helping the student president and party committee pick decorations for the dance. I had barely seen her around the house, so when she appeared at my doorway with two Trader Joe's frozen meals and a bottle of wine, I was glad for some time alone with her.

"You can have one glass," she told me as we migrated downstairs to the couch. A Harry Potter marathon was going on on the SCYFY channel and Mom kept it in the background as we curled into the cushions and poured ourselves each a glass of Cab. We had both seen all the movies so many times I could practically recite them in my sleep but I still liked the fact that Mom watched the marathons every time they came on.

"Mmmmm," I breathed happily as I scooped a bite of bolognese into my mouth. All hail Joe, that talented little Trader, and all his frozen meals. Mom seconded my sound of contentedness and then turned to me. "So how are you doing kiddo? I feel like we haven't gotten a chance to catch up that much lately."

The bite of food I had devoured was still steaming hot and I had it sitting on my tongue as I desperately fanned air onto it. I finally managed to swallow it. "I mean not much has been really going on lately, honestly. School's been pretty easy-I guess they sort of stopped riding us so hard since we're seniors. Cross country has been terrible as per-I don't know why I even run as a sport-I'm such a masochist. And all of us are really just getting ready for homecoming at this point. I think Macey is getting her final dress soon."

Mom chuckled shaking her head. 'That girl is something else, I swear. Chet was talking about how many dresses she had been running through and Alice had to remind him he goes through ten suits before he finds one he likes. She's just like her dad," Mom said.

I laughed too because it was true. As much as they both would like to deny it, Macey and her dad, Chet, were too of the highest maintenance-demanding people in Roseville. I actually saw them both throw away bottled water at a football game because it (and I quote) tasted too bottled.

"Have you seen her dress?" I asked excitedly. "It's insane."

"Have you seen the bill?" Mom countered. "It's insane." '

We both burst out laughing. When I finally caught my breath I took a sip of my wine and turned to my mom. "Speaking of dresses though, Mom. Seriously thank you. I love mine so much and I know it wasn't necessarily cheap or anything."

She waved her hands in the air whimsically as if whooshing away my gratitude. "Please," she assured me. "I'm so glad you get to experience at least one normal school dance. I can't wait for you to drop some jaws in that dress."

When I had shown Mom the dress I had gotten she absolutely freaked the hell out. She jumped up and down squealing a lot like my friends had and then practically forced me to put it on for her right away. She wanted to take photos of me in it but then I reminded her that that was pointless and she should at least wait until the day of the dance so I could have my hair and make-up done and eventually she conceded. She then proceeded to call Kate over and make me twirl a million times for them.

Kate's reaction was equally as amusing. She gasped dramatically and put her hands over her mouth all movie-like. Seriously, you would think I was showing them my wedding gown with the way they were behaving. "It's gorgeous Cammie. You're gorgeous!" Kate breathed. After my sixth twirl, the world was sort of spinning and I had to hold onto the table to avoid falling over. A weird look clouded over her face and she glanced out the window.

I followed her gaze and found her staring at her house. No one was home-where Zach was was a mystery to me considering I hadn't spoken to him in days-but still, she was glaring frustratedly in that direction. As quickly as it happened, the look was replaced with a cheery smile. I tore my eyes away from the Goode house and pushed down the questions that were running through my mind.

Sidebar: Here are the questions if anyone is curious.

Where is Zach anyway?

What color are he and Tina gonna wear?

Why did Kate look so annoyed and sad?

Does she know why Zach won't be my friend anymore?

Can I suffer from vertigo from doing too many dress twirls?

So basically, the feedback for the dress was good. This was awesome news considering that I loved it and the purchase was actually nonrefundable so I would need people to like it anyway.

As if reading my thoughts and knowing where my mind had wandered, Mom's face changed a little. She speared a bolognese noodle onto her fork and twirled it a couple of times but made no move to take a bite. "So," she began, and instantly I knew where this was going.

"Mom," I warned. "Don't ask, seriously."

She sighed and dropped her bowl onto the coffee table. "Don't you think you're being a little ridiculous?"

"Mom!" My voice came out shrill cause, honestly, I couldn't even believe she would accuse me of being childish. "I asked if we could go back to being friends and he literally SAID NO. Like, are you understanding this? He straight up TOLD ME NO."

Mom rolled her eyes, tipping back her wine glass into her mouth. "Just open a dialogue, Cammie. Figure out why, tell him you miss him." She held up a finger as I moved to protest. "Shut up. Yes, you do."

I pressed my palms to my eyes and groaned. I swear, we had had this conversation a hundred times already. "I know why, Mom. Tina doesn't want us to be friends. Don't ask me why but she doesn't. And they're dating or whatever and whatever she says goes."

Mom offered me a tiny smile accompanied by a shake of her head. "I don't think that's it."

Again, I opened my mouth to disagree and she went on. "I'm gonna tell you a story."

I groaned with audible discontent. She ignored this.

"When your dad and I first started dating we used to spend every second together," she informed me. "I mean it. From the moment we met, we were getting food together between classes, studying for finals together, doing laundry together. You name it! We just clicked, and believe it or not that's a really rare thing to find."

Her eyes were suddenly clouded over with amusement at the memory, but I could see a hint of sadness behind them. I often felt so angry at the fact that Mom had found her person, only to have him yanked away from her way before his time. I would have given a literal arm and a leg if it meant that she and my dad could have just a little more time together.

"Anyway," Mom continued. "As grad school got harder and we both started working more, we obviously had less time to hang out. One day, I was running late to meet your dad for coffee in between classes cause my car wouldn't start. Some kid in my program offered to give me a ride to the coffee shop and as we were driving there your Dad was just heading back to campus. He saw me in this car with some guy and assumed the worst-we were in a new relationship and hadn't talked about being exclusive yet so I guess he just figured I was on a date or something. He got so upset he skipped his classes for the rest of the day and didn't take any of my calls." Mom laughed, shaking her head. I think I saw some tears in her eyes.

"Sounds like Dad had a flair for dramatics," I said, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Oh you have no idea," she chuckled. "And I loved him for it." She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "But he was wrong. He jumped to conclusions and instead of talking to me, he shut me out for a few days. That's a few more days we could have spent together, you see?"

Mom reached out and took my hand. She was so beautiful and strong. It hurt to see her sad. I reached over and pulled her into a hug, fighting back my own tears. She kissed the top of my head.

"But Mom," I sighed into her sweater which smelled the way she always did, cinnamon and coffee. "I'm not assuming anything. Tina and Zach are always together. She has basically moved into his room at this point. I think it's just a lost cause."

Mom's hand reached down to my face. She tilted my chin up so that I was looking into her slate-grey eyes. "It's never a lost cause kiddo," she said determinedly. "And there's always, always more to the story."

Mom's voice rang in my head the next day at school and ping-ponged into all my thoughts throughout the day. While Josh (and now DeeDee) walked me to Biology, I was filled with newfound nervous energy. I had decided to try and talk to Zach today, whether he liked it or not. Cue the celebratory symphony.

Liz was already in her seat when I walked in, which wasn't ideal because I hadn't really wanted an audience for this. If he did happen to snap my olive branch in half, I would rather it not be in front of people. Still, with a steadying deep breath, I stepped into Dr. Fibb's classroom and stopped in front of Zach's desk.

As if he knew who I was just by my shoes (he probably did, I wore the same Hokas almost every day), I felt his demeanor shift. He looked up at me slowly, his green eyes bright. "Yes?"

I glanced nervously at Liz, but she was too busy reviewing her notes from the reading with the girl sitting next to her to pay attention to me. Thank God. "Could I have a ride home today?" I heard myself saying. I swear, I was operating on autopilot.

Zach's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Because I like to go there after school. I have a tendency to live there."

Mouth twitch. Nose flare. Active resistance to laughter. "Why do you need a ride home?"

I had him engaging with me, which was more than I could have possibly imagined would happen. I had to play my next few cards right so as not to ruin the extremely delicate situation we were working with. "My check engine light is on. Mom thought we should be safe instead of sorry." (Lie).

An unconvinced grunt was my response. I waited for a beat, then two. People were slowly making their way into their seats and I knew that the bell would ring soon. If I didn't get a yes now there was no shot I would get one later. He would flee the scene the minute class was done like Edward in that one scene from Twilight.

Finally, after a literal eternity later, Zach sighed. He rubbed his thumb along his jaw and nodded. Just as I was afraid I wouldn't be getting a verbal affirmation he mumbled, "Okay."

The minute bell rang and I leaped into my seat excitedly. Honestly, you would think I had just won the lottery or something.

Approximately 2 hours and 8 miles of my sadistic sport later, I was huffing and puffing my way through the athletic building and toward Zach's car. He was already in it, scrolling through his phone. I watched his side profile as I approached, appreciating the few rare moments I got to observe him when he didn't know I was around. Without my presence, his jaw was considerably less clenched.

Its relaxed position was reversed, however, the minute I pulled open his passenger side door. He dropped his phone into his lap and looked at me. "Hey."

"Hi," I returned, chucking my school backpack and cross-country backpack into the backseat. It settled nicely on top of all his football stuff, knocking a cleat to the floor. He looked at the cleat and then at me, but said nothing.

When I was buckled and ready to go, Zach pulled out of the lot. His music was playing and again, I was struck by how much I liked his taste. I reached over and turned the volume up.

Almost immediately Zach's hand shot out and turned the volume back down. I opened my mouth to protest-mostly I was gonna scream at him for being ridiculous-but before I could he raised his hand and stopped me.

"Hold on a second Gallagher Girl," he said shortly. He returned his hand to the steering wheel and I watched his knuckles turn white as he clenched and unclenched the leather. "I wanna say something."

I held my breath. Was this it? Was he finally gonna tell me what was going on with him? Was this awkwardness completely over?

The light in front of us turned yellow, then red, and Zach's jeep came to a halt. The fact that he wasn't driving anymore made the whole situation much more intense because now there really wasn't any excuse not to move forward with the conversation. I waited.

Zach was still looking forward as he dragged a hand down his face. "I think," he started slowly, "that when two people are friends and there's a relationship involved things sometimes can get a little weird. Without it meaning to get weird." He turned and looked at me. His eyes were so green I found myself just staring into them. "I handled things really badly and I've been acting like a jackass and you don't deserve that." A few seconds passed and he still held my gaze before adding. "You deserve great things. I'm sorry."

The light was green now but Zach didn't make any move to press the gas. In the lane next to us a car drove forward and we stayed put. I wanted to push on the subject of how his relationship with Tina made things weird between us aka did she ban him from ever seeing me, but I knew to quit while I was ahead.

Instead, I just nodded. "I'm sorry if I made things weird."

Saying sorry to Zach was something that made me want to physically throw up but considering that we were having a genuine moment and he had apologized first, it felt necessary. This seemed to be a satisfying enough response to get Zach's eyes back on the road and his jeep moving. His shoulders hiked up into a shrug. "You didn't, it was me."

We could go back and forth on this subject, but at the end of the day it was his girlfriend and his relationship who had put a ban on our friendship so clearly, I had been doing something worthy of Tina's disdain. Whatever it was, I was prepared to do a million Hail Marys and repent, as long as things just went back to normal.

There was a moment of silence as Zach pulled into our neighborhood. I pulled my knees up to my chest, which I know he hated since it meant my shoes would get his seats all dirty. But, things were going well and I didn't care. I decided to make a confession. "So glad this fake needing a ride thing worked because my next option was slashing your tires so you'd have to ride with me."

Zach snorted, shaking his head. "I hate you."

For the first time in weeks, I knew he didn't mean it.

Because the homecoming football game was such a humungous insane bonkers deal, Roseville scheduled it on the Saturday night exactly a week before the dance. By then the weather was significantly colder, the trees were sixteen different shades of orange and red, and there was a nervous buzz of energy vibrating throughout the school.

Zach and I had settled whatever tension we had on the car ride home but, while he was significantly nicer to me, it still seemed like he was going out of his way to avoid being alone with me. Tina was glued to his side like a benign tumor. I couldn't even look in his direction without her staring straight back at me. Whatever, it was fine. I didn't even really care.

The nominations for homecoming king and queen had gone out at the end of September and the list was everything we had expected.

Homecoming King Nominees:

Zachary Goode

Grant Newman

Nick Ho

Josh Abrams

Kevin Yu

Homecoming Queen Nominees:

Deirdra Elliot

Macey McHenry

Tina Walters

Elena Sotelo

Hannah Steinbeck

I think people expected me to be more upset about the fact that Josh was nominated and I wasn't but (as I explained over and over again) considering I had been going to this school for barely over a month, I knew my name wouldn't be on the list. Besides, Josh and DeeDee were so happy to be nominated I couldn't help but feel good too.

Now, with the homecoming football game about to start, the entire bleachers were whispering about who they thought would be named king and queen. We submitted our votes online that morning and the student council had spent all day tallying them up. In my opinion, they had taken the whole process a little too seriously. We had to log into the school website with our student ID, then answer three security questions, and finally, finally, we were able to submit our votes. A little paranoid, but apparently voter fraud ran rampant during homecoming season so I guess desperate times and all that.

To find out the results we had to sit through an entire half of a football game, which surprisingly went by in a flash. The game was pretty close, unexpected since we were predicted to go to state, but eventually, the players were jogging toward the locker rooms.

After two quick band performances from our band and the away team, the stu-co president and my mom strutted onto the field where a skinny portable microphone was set up.

"Good evening Roseville fans and thank you for joining us for our homecoming football game!" Mom shouted into the mic. The bleachers erupted into cheers. "Are you ready to meet your 2022 homecoming court?"

Again, more cheering. From either side of the field, the nominees started to march single file onto the field. The girls flanked in on the right in long dresses and the boys were on the right in suits. They all wore glittery sashes that read HOMECOMING COURT on them. Public school was honestly bizarre.

I spotted Josh at the front of the line and jumped onto my feet to wave at him. He caught my eye and waved back, nearly knocking the guy in line behind him when he came to a halt. Macey, DeeDee, and Tina were the only girls I recognized and I excitedly waved in their direction too.

Zach was bringing up the rear of the line, walking comfortably. He towered over the other nominees and looked strangely at ease under the stares of hundreds of people. Like Josh, he was still wearing his uniform and his hair was sticking to his forehead from sweat. His cheeks were still flushed from the last play.

The nominees finally came to a stop in front of us. Liz elbowed me in the side as she bounced nervously on her toes. "Gosh, I hope Macey wins!" She whispered.

"Going to homecoming with the reigning queen would be pretty cool," Preston admitted with a grin.

On the field, the stu-co president was busy reading off information about the nominees. "Nick Ho has led the lacrosse team to state three years running and has even managed to bring home the title twice. Next fall he has committed to Michigan State and plans to study finance…"

Basically, the nominees had a resume lineup I would not wanna compete against.

When she finished, the whole crowd seemed to hold their breath. She was handed an envelope by some student council member and then leaned in closer to the mic. "Our 2022 homecoming king this year is…"

Dramatic pause.

"Zachary Goode!"

The stands, the team, and especially Tina, burst into a fit of joyous applause. Zach-who honestly looked more embarrassed about the situation than happy-went down the line of male nominees and shook their hands good-naturedly before walking up to stand next to my mom and the student council president. He bowed down to accept his crown, but even then Mom had to stand on her tiptoes to place it on his head.

I stared at him, wondering if he could find me in the crowd like he had on the first game. I was probably glaring lasers in his direction, but when he finally looked up he stared straight toward Preston and Jonas and gave a modest shrug. They were sitting right next to us, so to answer my question: yeah, he definitely knew where I was sitting and was just choosing not to look over at me.

Oh, how I hope Macey wins.

"And now for the moment you have been waiting for," the student council president was saying. The crowd, which had been alive with chatter, settled down slowly. "You 2022 homecoming queen is…"

Even bigger dramatic pause.

"Tina Walters!"

Instinctively, I groaned. I don't even know why, it just slipped out. We pouted in Macey's direction (she looked more inconvenienced than disappointed) but clapped for Tina either way. When her name was announced she had put her hands to her mouth dramatically in a totally insincere Oh-My-Gosh-I-Just-Can't-Believe-This gesture.

Now she was making her way to receive her enormous crown and bouquet of flowers. Even from the stands, I could see her glaringly white teeth reflecting the stadium lights. She and my mother exchanged a few words, then Tina took hold of the microphone with two hands and adjusted it to her height.

"Roseville student body," she said with the cadence of someone who was born to speak in front of people. "Thank you so much for voting us your king and queen. I-we-," she thrust her hand out and clutched Zach's, jerking him forward. He stumbled awkwardly to her side, yanked a hand through his hair, then, remembering he had a crown on, jut his hand out to catch it as it slipped off his head. "-are so grateful for your love and support!"

"She's acting like she just won Miss America or something," Bex said lowly. I stifled a laugh but kept my eyes on Tina and Zach in the center of the field. They were still holding hands and she was still rambling on about something and Zach was still looking anywhere but where I was sitting.