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Of course, she wasn’t wrong. Though many of the photos were blurry—Ava had posted pictures that others had submitted through the anonymous box—there were quite a few good ones, like Connor beaming down at me while I looked at the flowers. Or the photo taken a second before he pressed his lips to mine.
Trying not to grin like an idiot, I saved them all to my cell phone. “Team Consie,” I echoed, looking at the hashtag. “I like it.”
“Ilike your dress,” Rachel said as she turned to me, giving my outfit a nod of approval. “Madison came through, huh?”
The dress was a soft baby pink, off the shoulder with a hemline falling a smidge above my knees. There was a bit of tulle too, and though it was a little scratchy against my skin, it gave the dress a perfect amount of puffiness.
When I picked out the dress, we still put off the conversation about our friendship. It seemed like there were things she needed to come to terms with first before we could talk things out, and I understood that. But for me, even though our years of friendship had been lost, buried under years of hurt, I could finally look at my old best friend and feel okay.
She was a bit like Connor—so wrapped up in the popularity of it all, but I had a feeling that things would change for her.
And even though things weren’t like they were, I knew that if Jade waged war with Madison for picking Connor’s side, I’d be right behind my old best friend, pitchfork ready.
I pushed to my feet and dusted my palms down the front of my dress. I wore my white sneakers, because Maisie Matthews in heels was a safety hazard, and with my hair curled, I felt perfectly myself. Just the dolled-up version. “Anyone have the time?”
“Connor will be here in ten,” Jozie answered from the doorway, holding a coffee mug in her hand. Even from here, I could see the rolling steam. “And then Mom will assault the two of you with photos, so get ready.”
“Please,I’llbe assaulting you with the camera,” Ava said, flashing me a wink. “Brentwood wants some inside pics of their new favorite couple.”
I gave her a look that consisted of pressed lips and raised eyebrows.
Ava sighed. “One photo.”
“And then…”
“And no more articles on the two of you without permission,” she muttered, slouching her shoulders. “Not that I’d ever do that.”
“Except for this morning.”
When Ava and Rachel showed up to the house to get ready, the first thing Ava did was show me the article as well as all the photos everyone had taken of Connor and me. Thus, our new rules had been born.
Rachel chimed in. “In her defense, you kind of owed it to her. You kept it a secret from us literally until the day the whole school got to find out.”
“That’s why you had one pass. Now, we’re practicing boundaries.”
I didn’t want Brentwood High glorifying our relationship the way they glorified his and Jade’s. They worshipped it so much that they couldn’t even tell that it wasn’t real, and I didn’t want that. Navigating whatever the future with Connor looked like, I wanted to do that privately. Just him and me.
And maybe I’d let Ava take photos here and there.
“I’m pretty sure Jade is still going to win homecoming queen,” Ava said, peering at her phone screen. “Everyone casted their votes before school let out yesterday, so I’m assuming they all still voted for her.”
Rachel reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “I can’t believe Connor pulled out of the running.”
Yeah,thatnews had shocked the entirety of Brentwood High. Ava had dropped the bomb last night on Babble—with Connor’s permission—and from what she’d said, the responses hadn’t stopped coming in, all summarizing inWTF.
I didn’t blame them. Connor quitting homecoming court the day before crowning? Blasphemy. But he was taking his life into his own hands, living his life for himself and on his terms, and I was happy for him.
“Maybe Landon will win, then. He’d be a great homecoming king.” Rachel helped me put in a pair of teardrop earrings Ava had picked out. “Thank you for being there for me,” I told them, sentimental all over again. “And for not hating me for keeping secrets.”
“If anything, I’m mad at Connor,” Rachel said with a frown. “How can he ask you to lie to your best friends?”
“Not a lie,” Ava corrected, patting my shoulder. “But we’re always here for you, Maisie. No matter what.”
I’d struck gold when Ava and Rachel had welcomed me into their friendship duo—it was something I always thought of, but now, more than ever, Iknewit. They were two people in the whole world who would always have my back. And even though we didn’t have a decade of friendship under our belt like I’d had with Madison, it didn’t make it any less special.
“Oh my goodness.” Mom appeared over Jozie’s shoulder and put a hand to her mouth. “You three look so beautiful!”
“Waterworks alert,” Jozie muttered, and ducked out of reach when Mom tried to slap her. “Hey, hey, careful. I’ve got coffee.”
