Hey, it's BETA.

I feel like this chapter has too much OC action. To be fair, it's just the usual four; Lucille, Stella, Maddi, and (of course) Juliette. I dunno. I'm probably just overreacting.

Anyways, enjoy!

Jo's POV

If there's one thing I hate more than school dances, it's getting ready for school dances. Everyone makes such a big deal out of it. It's not like we're, I don't know, going to prom or anything like that. I also don't get why we need two hours to get ready. It hardly takes me ten minutes to get ready for school.

"This isn't just a dance, Jo." Lucille explains after I vent my annoyance out to her. "This is the dance. We have to dress our best. It's an unspoken rule. Now please stay still."

Lucille is doing something complicated-looking to my hair since she was, unsurprisingly, the first to finish getting ready. Maybe because she's used to putting on makeup and making herself look gorgeous. I mean, she does this kind of thing every single day.

I do have to admit though; Lucille looks exceptionally good today. She straightened her hair and is wearing a pink and green floral dress with thin straps. Her brown belt matches her brown heeled boots perfectly. Of course, I don't mention that to her. I'd rather not get into a deep conversation over the glory of belts.

Instead I finger my silver heart-shaped necklace. I still can't believe my mom gave it to me. Not only does it look expensive, but I don't wear jewellery that often.

I hear the door creak open and I know that Stella has finally exited the bathroom. I swear she's been in there for the past hour.

"How do I look?" she asks and does a little complimentary spin.

"Gorgeous," Lucille gushes as I give Stella a thumbs up.

Stella looks very different, and it's not just because she's all dressed up in her off-the-shoulder mint green dress and white flats. It's not her curled hair (which is not in its usual pigtails) either. It takes me a moment, but then it hits me. Stella's actually wearing contacts! She hates contacts more than I hate school dances.

"My eyes feel weird," She says as if to prove my point.

Then Maddi walks in. She's still wearing her Cheerios t-shirt and blue sweatpants. I'll bet my life that Lucille is frowning at this.

"Which tuque should I wear?" She asks, holding two up. Both of them are black but one is studded and the other isn't.

"Definitely the studded one," Stella replies.

Maddi nods and walks away.

"How was she able to convince you to let her wear a tuque to the dance?" I ask Lucille with interest. I know that Lucille was very anti-tuque-wearing. I also know that Maddi is very anti-letting-anyone-see-her-without-a-tuque. I'm not sure how she's able to do this since we're not even allowed to wear hats in school but whatever.

Lucille holds up a pair of black pumps. "Maddi said she'd wear these," she says with a shrug.

I resist the urge to laugh. Maddi in heels? She can be so stupid sometimes. No matter how many times Lucille says no to you, when the time comes she'll say yes because she is way too nice to do otherwise.

A few minutes later, Maddi returns in a strapless magenta dress with black lace and a giant black bow in the center. Her hair is left down in her usual messy blonde waves and she is wearing the studded tuque like we requested.

"You look great!" Lucille smiles and Stella and I agree.

Maddi beams. "I feel great!"

I feel nauseous. When it comes down to it, Maddi can be pretty girly when she wants to be. And by that I mean when she's not skateboarding or hanging out with the Ryans. Or me, I suppose.

"There! Jo, your hair has now officially been curled to perfection!" Lucille is beaming from ear to ear. I can't remember the last time she's been this happy.

"Wow, Jo. You look amazing," Maddi says.

"Like a princess," Stella adds.

"More like a girl resisting the urge to vomit," I mutter to myself before standing up and stretching. I feel like I've been sitting in that chair for years.

Lucille purses her lips. "Something is not quite right."

"Is it her shoes?" Stella asks.

"Hey! Don't diss my shoes!" I snap, staring down at them. They're purple and, unlike everyone else's, not the kind you would normally wear with a dress. But so what? If they honestly thought I was going to wear heels or something, they were kidding themselves.

"No...not the skate shoes..." Lucille disappears into her closet and reappears a few seconds later with something hidden behind her back.

"Close your eyes."

I roll my eyes but close them anyway. I feel messing with my hair again and I assume she's putting a flower or headband in it or something.

"Okay...now open your eyes!"

It's...a tiara.

Wait, what?

I blink. Lucille just put a silver tiara in my hair and she expects me to wear it. In public.

You have got to be freakin' kidding me.

"There is no way in heck I am wearing this thing to school!" I shriek. "I have a reputation to maintain! I am Jo. Just Jo. Not Jo the freakin' princess!"

"Would you calm down?" Stella asks. "It's just for one night. Besides, with all the other kids around, no one will even notice you. Not to mention that we're going to be wearing masks..."

As if on cue, all three of my friends put their masks on at the exact same time. Stella's is white, Maddi's is black, and Lucille's is green. Maddi hands me my purple one.

I glare at them. "You guys had this all planned out, didn't you."

Stella smiles in response. "Yes, yes we did."

"I hate you."

"Whatever Jo. You can hate on us later. Right now we need to get you to Austin." Maddi says Austin in a sing-song voice before making demented-looking kissy faces at me.

As we file out of Lucille's bedroom I can't help but to take a quick peek at myself through her full view mirror. I look like a complete stranger. My hair's up, but not in its usual ponytail or messy bun. I'm wearing actual makeup (more than just mascara). It's light makeup but makeup nonetheless.

I take a closer look. Stella did a fantastic job on my eye shadow. For someone who's not allowed to wear makeup on a daily basis, she sure knows what she's doing.

As I stare at myself I start to wonder, 'maybe I'm not Jo Keener.' Maybe an alien swooped down to earth in a UFO and swapped our brains when we were asleep. No, that sound like the kind of stupid thing Jake would say, and I am far more intelligent than Jake.

"Jo! Are you coming?"

And right now my intelligence is telling me to get the heck out of Lucille's bedroom.

Juliette's POV

I am sitting outside waiting for Gabe. With much persuasion, I was able to convince him to meet me outside the school instead of picking me up at my house. Even though picking me up would be much more romantic, I need to make sure that everything is going according to plan.

At this moment, I am starting to wonder if there ever was a plan to begin with. I do not see Austin, which is strange because Austin is never late for anything. I also do not see Jo.

'Jo should easy to stop. Just look for the girl in the cheapest clothes.'

"Excuse me?" I tap the shoulder of a short with a purple mask and a tiara, "Hi, I'm Juliette. You look adorable, BTW. I was wondering if you happen to know—"

The girl removes her mask. It's Jo. Her height should have been a giveaway.

"Aw..." she says with a fake pouty face, "Gabe stood you up, didn't he? You poor thing."

I suck in my breath to hide my shock. There is no way Jo came to the dance looking better than me. I took a spa day to make myself look this good. Jo probably got a couple of amateur friends to do her hair and makeup!

"No, Gabe did not stand me up," I say calmly. If I want this to work then I have to be nice to Jo. "We decided to meet at the school. I was actually looking for you."

"Why?"

"I feel really bad about the way I've been treating you. The truth is I was jealous of you and Gabe. The two of you have such a strong relationship. I was afraid he would leave me for you."

Jo looks around suspiciously. "Drop the act, Juliette. There's no one listening to us."

"What act?" I ask innocently. "My words are genuine. I thought you were after my Gabe but alas, I was wrong. You have you own date now, do you not?"

"I do...but I still think you're insane and don't trust you!"

I take a deep breath. "You don't have to forgive me. I just want you to know that I am deeply sorry for the things I said to you, and faking my sprained ankle, and everything else that I have done wrong. I hope someday in the future we can look past our differences and become friends."

I walk away from her. Become friends? As if that is ever going to happen. After tonight, she'll probably never show her face in public again. Which is good...for the public.

I take my cell phone out of my silver clutch and tap out a quick text message to Austin.

ARE YOU STILL JO'S DATE?

I get a reply almost instantly.

YES, BUT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY WE ARE DOING THIS TO HER. SHE SEEMS LIKE A VERY NICE GIRL.

I roll my eyes. Austin is so naïve.

THAT'S WHAT SHE WANTS YOU TO THINK. SHE'S PLANNING SOMETHING AGAINST ME. SHE'S PROBABLY GOING TO HUMILIATE YOU TOO. NOW DON'T YOU DARE HAVE SECONDS THOUGHTS! STICK TO THE PLAN OR ELSE...

Send. I pause for a moment, and then add something else to prove that I am the good one and am on his side.

LUV YA AUSTIN ;) BEST COUSIN EVAH!

Gasp! DRAMA. Some serious stuff is gonna go down at this Crush Day dance.

Hope you enjoyed!

~BETA :)