Hey guys!

Here's the official twelfth chappie of HCD! It's pretty interesting if you ask me. Then again I wrote it so...

Hope you like it!

Jo's POV

I hate to admit it, but this Crush Day dance isn't all that bad.

The decorations are okay (although that's probably because I helped with them), the snacks are edible (you can't go wrong with chips and soda), and the songs don't make me want to rip my ears off despite the fact that 85% of them were sang by annoying boy bands.

Austin's okay. While he is a total nerd, he's also kind of funny. I will admit that I have laughed at a couple of his jokes. You know, the ones that actually made sense. He's also kind of cute, which is a bonus.

As for Juliette, well, I haven't seen much of her since the whole 'apology' thing. In fact, I haven't seen any of her at all, which is strange since I would assume she'd be the center of attention with that dress someone glitter puked on.

I try not to think too much about it. I mean, who cares what Juliette's up to? Probably rubbing noses with Gabe in a corner or something equally gross.

Gag. This is why I try not to think about it.

"Hey," I tap Austin on the shoulder. "I'm going to go over to the snack table. Do you want anything?"

"Well, I am feeling quite parched. A beverage would be delightful, thank you."

See? This is what I mean when I say he's a total nerd.

"O-kay?" I shake my head, "I'll be right back."

Making my way to the snack table, I spot Stella snacking on some carrots. I wave at her and she waves back.

"Hey, Jo!" She greets me. "Are you having fun?"

I shrug. "I've been to worse school dances than this one so…yeah." I smile. "I'm having a pretty good time…don't tell anyone I said that though."

Stella smiles and nods as she peers over my shoulder. "Look, there's Juliette."

"What, where?" I spin around and spot her talking to someone who kind of looks like Jake. I doubt it's him though because, well, he's Jake. Gabe is nowhere in sight.

She turns our direction and smirks. From this distance it's hard to tell whether it's a 'hey best friend' smirk or a 'you're such a loser' smirk. Either way, she still makes me want to barf.

"Ah! My eyes! It's so blinding! It burns!"

Stella cocks her head. "What? Juliette's dress?"

"No, Juliette's face."

Stella rolls her eyes. "Come on, Jo. Just because she's mean to you doesn't mean you have to be mean back. It's like lying or revenge. You know what they say, two wrongs don't make a right."

Okay, Stella and I have known each other for at least four years. How is it possible that she still doesn't get me?

I scoop some of the red punch into a plastic cup and take a sip. "I don't even know what's going on between the two of us anymore. She came up to me earlier. Told me she was sorry and wanted to be friends or whatever. Stupid, right?"

Stella shrugs. "I don't know, Jo. Maybe she was being genuine. I mean, people can change."

I snort. "Yeah, people can. If you haven't noticed, Juliette isn't human. Nobody can be that pretty and perfect and a total jerk at the same time. She forgives me about as much as I love this dress." I pour a second cup of punch for Austin.

"Stop cracking jokes about your dress," Stella scolds. "You look amazing."

"Yeah, yeah. 'Like a princess'," I roll my eyes. I really don't feel like talking to her anymore so I wave goodbye and walk back to the bench where I left Austin. He isn't there.

"Austin?" I put our drinks down on the bench and look around. He's nowhere in sight.

Okay, he did not just ditch me, did he?

No. Austin wouldn't do that. He's too nice. He probably…I don't know…just went to the bathroom or got lost or something. What? It makes sense. After all, he doesn't actually go to our school.

I feel a tap on my shoulder a spin around, hoping that it's Austin. It's not. Instead, it's Gabe. Go figure.

"What?" I ask coldly. I'm in no mood to talk to Gabe right now.

"Have you seen my girlfriend? Long brown hair, sparkly dress. It's not very hard to miss her."

Like I don't know what Juliette looks like. I turn back to where Stella and I last saw her talking to not-Jake. She's no longer there.

"Nope."

"Oh." Gabe actually looks kind of upset. Not that I care or anything. Serves him right for dating a girl who treats me like trash. I already having to deal with all the constant jokes Gabe himself makes about me.

Speaking of which…throughout the entire thirty seconds Gabe and I have been talking to each other, he hasn't cracked a single joke. Why hasn't he cracked a single joke? I mean, I'm wearing a stinkin' dress for crying out loud!

A sudden change in heart for Juliette is bad enough, but a sudden change in heart for Gabe is near-impossible. The only reason why he wouldn't make fun of me was, well, if I wasn't me.

Last time I checked, I was still me. Unless he doesn't recognize me in this dress and mask, but that's just—

….And he doesn't recognize me in this dress and mask, does he?

Dang it. My own enemy doesn't recognize me. You'd think my height and voice would be a dead giveaway. I guess I could use this to my advantage though. Somehow….

"This song is dedicated to all those lovely couples out there," the DJ puts on a slow song I don't recognize.

I groan. If there's one think I've learned from the few school dances I've been to, it's that the last thing you ever want to do is to be standing in the middle of the dance floor without somebody to dance with. Like what I'm doing right now.

I turn to walk away but Gabe tugs on my arm. "Hey, wanna dance?"

He's kidding himself. Please tell me he's freakin' kidding himself. Last time we danced together was at that stupid cotillion and he freaked out the first time because I admitted that I liked it a little more than I probably should have.

I was in, what, sixth grade when that happened? When I was stupid enough to consider Gabe crush worthy. I have matured a lot since then. I am not dancing with Gabe and if he knew who I was, he wouldn't dance with me either.

On the other hand, Juliette would freak if she saw us together. And that would make me feel good on the inside. Besides, I doubt I'll bump into Austin any time soon.

"Sure. Let's dance." The song is only going to be about three minutes anyway. I doubt anything big can happen within that short time period.

I awkward wrap my arms around his neck (the first time I've ever done it while not trying to strangle him) and he touches my waist. It's so believably awkward, but at the same time there's something nice about it.

He grabs my hand and tries a couple of spins to make things more interesting, causing me to giggle. Yes, I actually giggle. Lame, right? But I can't help myself. It's like sixth grade all over again.

Sixth grade…

I had a small crush on him back then, but I'm totally over it now. Why wouldn't I be? It's been years, Gabe is a jerk, he also has a girlfriend, and I don't care.

I don't.

"Are you okay?" Gabe asks.

I nod. Just in deep thought on how I don't have a crush on you. If did then I would be melting over how brown his eyes are. Which I'm not, even though they remind me of chocolate and I can't stop staring into them.

And he stares back.

And it's weird. And it's awkward. And I love it so much that I pull him closer.

And then I guess I got caught up in the moment, because I have no idea what the heck happened next. But I bet you do.

"Oh my gosh," I breath when he pushes me away. What the heck did I just do? "I-I got to go!"

"Wait—"

I ignore Gabe as I run. Suddenly, wearing skate shoes felt like an even better decision than it did before. I doubt I would have been able to run even half the speed that I did if I had worn heels. Not even a quarter of the speed.

I run until I reach a dead end. I never realized how big the gym was until now. Sighing, I sit down on the bench below the balcony and bury my head in my hands. I could have sworn I heard Gabe call my name after that, but I probably just imagined it.

"Jo, are you okay? You look…worried."

I look up. Juliette steps out of the darkness beneath the white balcony. She has a small cup of gummy worms in her hand.

I groan. Why is it always either Gabe or Juliette showing up at the wrong moments? While I still hate Juliette, I can't help but feel a little guilty about what happened. I mean, Gabe is her boyfriend.

Juliette looks at me thoughtfully. "What are you thinking about?" she asks.

"Nothing!" I say a little too quickly, so I add, "I'm looking for my date. Have you seen him? His name is Austin and—"

"Never heard of him," Juliette stands up. "But if you're looking for someone, I heard they installed a telescope on the balcony. I'm sure you will be able to spot him from there."

Juliette grabs my wrist before I can protest. She drags me across the gym, up the balcony steps and to the telescope. Without much of an option, I look through it.

"I don't see—" I stop mid-sentence as I turn to see Juliette glaring down at me. All guilt I once felt diminishes instantly.

"And. She's. Back."

In retrospect, I probably should have seen this coming. This is Juliette we're talking about. Even if she did decide to forgive me, she definitely would not go as far as to help me even if I begged her. Which I would never do.

"Congratulations, Jo Keener." Juliette sneers, clapping sarcastically. "You have successfully made it onto my hate list."

I roll my eyes. I've been on her 'hate list' since day one. "I thought we were done with this. You said you wanted to be my friend."

"I also said I was a Sagittarius so Gabe and I would be compatible."

"What?"

"Nothing's more compatible with a Sagittarius than another Sagittarius. Uh duh! Don't you know your star signs?"

"Again Juliette…what?"

"Never mind." Juliette rolls her eyes. "Anyway, let's face it Jo; I'm an amazing actress."

More like a big, fat liar.

"What do you want, Juliette?" I huff.

"For you to get a clue!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb!" Juliette shoves me. "What part of 'back off my boyfriend' don't you understand?"

Oh my gosh. Not this again. "I don't—"

"'Like Gabe?' Puh-lease Jo! Give me a break! Everyone knows that you do. Denying it won't change anything!"

"Is that why you brought me up here. To yell at me for 'liking' you boyfriend? Because, if that's all then I'm leaving. I don't care about you or Gabe or anyone else who thinks that I like him. Because I don't."

"You're not leaving till I'm done!" Juliette kicks the balcony and the stair go crashing down.

What the actual heck? It's like she planned and rehearsed this entire thing. Actually, knowing Juliette, she probably did plan and rehearse this entire thing.

"I saw that little 'interaction' you just had with Gabe," Juliette begins circling me.

"So?" My voice sounds a lot weaker than usual.

"YOU KISSED MY BOYFRIEND!" she shrieks. "You kissed my boyfriend! Don't tell me you don't like him because I doubt you did it for fun!"

So she knows. Great…

I try to protest, but I can't. I mean, I seriously can't. For the first time in possibly forever, Juliette is right.

I didn't kiss Gabe for fun. That's just weird. I also didn't kiss him because I hate him. That makes absolutely no sense. So why did I kiss him?

I want so badly to say it was to make Juliette jealous. Which is true. That's the reason why I danced with Gabe in the first place. But at the same time I know there was another reason why I did it.

A reason I'm still incapable of putting into words.

"I also saw him push you away. And do you know why he pushed you away?" She pauses as if she actually expects me to answer her. I don't, of course. "He pushed you away because—let me break this down so your little brain can comprehend what I'm about so say—he doesn't like you. He never did and he obviously never will!"

I hate to admit it, but her words actually kind of hurt. "What makes you so sure?" I hiss at her. I'm really trying hard not to freak out and punch her in the face, but she makes it so flippin' difficult.

Juliette lets out a harsh laugh. "Because you are a loser. No boy would ever like you even if you paid them. Just look how long Austin stuck around before moving on to another girl. Clearly he doesn't like you anymore than Gabe does!"

Austin? Why is she talking about Austin? I look over the balcony again and, what do you know? He's there. In plain view. With another girl. He was probably with her this entire time.

Gosh. I'm such an idiot.

I turn back to Juliette, trying not to let my face show that I'm surprised by this Austin discovery. "So a couple of guys don't like me. What are you really trying to prove?"

"That you are a freak." Juliette replies simply.

I roll my eyes. That's it? "I'm a freak? If you wanna see something freaky, try looking in the mirror!"

Just like that, Juliette snaps. Like, completely snaps. I mean, my insult wasn't even that good, yet it still causes her to go completely insane. And by insane I mean she slaps me across the face. Or maybe she scratched me. A mixture of both? I don't know. Either way, it hurt. A lot.

I feel my cheek and lips. No blood, thank goodness. There is, however, something written on the palm of my hand. While I can't remember when I wrote it, I know it must have been me because it's written in my signature messy scrawl.

You must fight for the one you love.

My fortune. The one that made absolutely no sense when I first looked at it. The one that's now crystal clear.

The one I can totally see myself tattooing on my neck in the future.

"Alright! That's it!"

To heck with playing nice with Juliette. This little ball of fury is just about ready to explode.

Within seconds, a fight between Juliette and I breaks out on the balcony.

No, I'm not just talking insults. I mean a full, blowout brawl with kicking, and punching, and scratching, and hair pulling. You know, like in those stupid reality shows. If we didn't gather a crowd before, we definitely did now.

"Juliette? Is that you up there?"

"With…Jo?!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"You're ruining my dance!"

You'd think by now a teacher would notice the commotion and put a stop to this, but apparently they either don't care, are too dumb to realize that there are two girls beating the heck out of each other on a giant fake balcony, or they ditched the dance before it even began.

Juliette rips the tiara out of my hair. "Ha! Now who's the pretty little princess?"

Okay, fighting me is one thing, but no one touches a girl's tiara. No matter how stupid they look in it.

"Giving that back!" I scream, attempting to grab it from her. Unfortunately I miss because, let's face it, Juliette is much taller than me even without the heels. Her shoes just make it all the more impossible.

Juliette glares down at me. Saying that she looks crazy would be an understatement. She has much more injuries than I do, her hair is sticking out in all directions, and the hem of her dress is torn.

"Why don't you just give up, Jo?"

Because winners never quit. Duh! "Why are you so jealous just because I have a crush on Gabe?!"

A series of gasps is heard from below, causing me to roll my eyes. I lean over the balcony. "Puh-lease! Like you didn't already know that!" I'm extra careful not to make eye contact with Gabe. I don't want to add anything more to my bowl of mixed emotions.

"Can't you see it's over?" Juliette blows a strand of her dark hair out of her face. "You had your chance to forfeit and now you've lost. Game over. I've won!"

That reminds me of the fight I had with Gabe a while ago. He told me that I look at life like it's a stupid game that I can't control. He was right about one thing. Reality is out of my control. On the other hand, life is just one big video game.

"And I've always been the better player."

Juliette looks at me, confused. "What?"

I take this as my opportunity to slap the tiara out of her hands. It seemed smart at the moment, but as I watch the tiara fly through the sky, I realize that I probably should have thought this through.

"No!"

Juliette and I lean over the balcony, watching as my tiara plummets to its potential doom.

That's all for now. Hope enjoyed.

Peace out!

~BETA :D