He shakes his head, his eyes focused on the road. “Not at all. I was just curious. Because once the school finds out, they’ll be all…ahhhhh,” he says, throwing up his hands and mocking a crowd of surprised students. He does a really good job of it.
I chuckle nervously. “I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that until this very second. You’re not only going to be homecoming king, you’re like,literallyroyalty. High school royalty.”
He grimaces. “I hate it. I hate being popular. Sometimes I want to quit the football team and just be a normal person, but then I’d lose out on a full ride scholarship to college and my parents can’t afford it. They’re still paying off their own student loans.”
I reach over and put my hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”
“Normally it just is what it is, but… I feel like I should warn you.” His blue eyes flash with something like fear when he glances at me quickly before looking back at the road. “My stupid popularity can make people treat you poorly when they know you went on a date with me.”
It’s hard to picture the kids I went to school with my entire life treating me badly. I feel like I’m friends with just about everyone here. I definitely have no enemies at Brazos High School.
“We don’t have to tell anyone,” I say sweetly, letting the smile on my face betray what I really feel. Maybe going on a date with Zane was a bad idea. I don’t want to be his secret girlfriend.
“But I want to tell people,” he says. “I mean, not like some braggy jerk or anything, but if I want to hold your hand in school, I will.”
I’m so glad I’m not looking in a mirror right now because I’m pretty sure I have the cheesiest grin ever.
He reaches over and takes my hand, letting our fingers twine together on top of the center console. The touch of his hand on mine sends a warmth up my entire arm, and when it hits my chest it sends my heartbeat on overdrive.
“We are going to be homecoming king and queen,” I say, looking up at him. “Maybe people will expect that we’ll start dating.”
He parks and cuts the engine. The traffic was heavy this morning so we don’t have much time to sit around and talk before we need to get to class. As soon as he opens his truck door, two football players run up to him, smacking into him the way guys do. They launch into some talk about football scouts and colleges and apparently another website did an article on Zane’s incredible abilities as a running back.
I walk over to his side of the truck and give him a quick wave. “See you after school,” I say because Zane and I have no classes together, plus he has a different lunch period than I do. Even if we wanted to hold hands in the hallways, it would be tricky to even find each other.
He gives me an apologetic look because he’s surrounded by his friends. I wink, to let him know it doesn’t bother me. I know I’m not his official girlfriend yet, but I still don’t want to give him vibes that I’m some brat who doesn’t want him to have friends outside of me. Besides, the more time he spends away from the, the fonder his heart will grow. Isn’t that how that saying goes?
I head into the school and look for Krissy so I can blow her mind when I tell her about my impromptu date last night. I had been too hyped up on excitement and swoony feelings last night to text her when I got home from my date. But now that I’ve had time to process it all, I am ready for a full on gushing session with my best friend.
Maybe later today I’ll tell my big sister and let her squeal and freak out on the phone.
Mark Caputo nods at me as he walks down the hallway. “I’m still voting for you, Zara!” he calls out.
That’s weird.
Another girl, a freshman I think, smiles at me as she passes me near the water fountain. “You’ve got my vote.”
“Thanks,” I mumble. Why are people telling me this? I already know I’ve got everyone’s votes. It’s tradition. It’s the exact reason why I didn’t even bother making posters even though Krissy decided to make her own.
An overwhelming dread fills my stomach. Wait a minute… now that I take a moment to look around the hallways, I notice they look much differently than they did yesterday. Krissy’s pink and glittery posters are spaced out so there is one poster on the wall after every four classrooms. The boys’ posters aren’t as organized and are taped haphazardly around the school, mostly near the cafeteria and athletic hallways. Yesterday, I only saw a couple of those new posters for that girl who decided to run against me.
But now, the hallways are different. This Andrea girl has filled the walls with her professionally printed, glossy posters. They are stacked three high, from floor to ceiling, and they cover the entire walls between my own posters. Even the fire extinguisher has a poster over it.
Who does she think she is?
I stop in front of one of my pink posters, and my blood begins to boil.
Right on top of the glittery wordsVote for Zarais the worddon’twritten with a big black marker.
That witch defaced my posters!
“Zara!” Krissy rushes up to me looking just as disgusted as I am. “I can’t believe this.”
“When did she even have time to do this?” I say.
Someone approaches us. I recognize her immediately from the posters. How could I not? They are literallyeverywhere.
“Let’s just say I had a lot of help,” Andrea says, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I guess there’s a lot of people here who think it’s wrong to vote for one person just because she thinks she deserves to win.”
