None of the Above(4)

I pressed close against him and his hands started inching downward. “Later,” I said, feeling eyes on us. But I kissed him to let him know it was a promise, not a brush-off. If tonight wasn’t going to be the night—one week after my eighteenth birthday, with a limo to ourselves and no curfew—when was?

Before I knew it, the music stopped and Principal McCafferty got up behind a microphone to announce the Homecoming Court. Faith and I brought Sam and Matt over to where Vee was sitting again, and we each took one of her hands. Her back was ramrod straight as she watched Principal McCafferty.

“The two Duchesses of the Court are Faith Wu and Jessica Riley.”

I whooped and gave Faith a huge hug, surprised to find that I was just the slightest bit disappointed. Princess usually went to a junior—that’s what Vee had been last year. So I didn’t make Court. I almost wished that people hadn’t mentioned voting for me, because as Aunt Carla always said, low expectations were the key to a happy life.

But I didn’t have much time to think about it all, because suddenly Principal McCafferty announced the Dukes. And one of them was Bruce.

WTF?

Vee’s hand squeezed mine in a death grip as Bruce went up to collect his sash. I looked over at her in the disco-ball light, and saw her face freeze. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “King and Queen aren’t always a couple.” Even though Bruce was QB1, most people thought he was kind of a jerk. I never quite understood what Vee saw in him.

As expected, Prince and Princess were both juniors. As they went up to be crowned, they seemed so happy I felt a little catch in my throat. I leaned into Sam, who pressed a kiss into the top of my head.

“You’re up next,” I whispered to Vee, and the side of her mouth went up a fraction of an inch. I noticed a tiny little bit of her hairdo coming out, and I reached up to tuck a strand back into place. So I actually felt her freeze when Principal McCafferty announced in a delighted, booming voice:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m happy to announce your Homecoming King and Queen: Mr. Samuel Wilmington and Ms. Kristin Lattimer!”

My first thought was: Did she read the index card wrong?

But then my track teammates all went crazy, yelling, “Go, Krissy! Go, Krissy!” As Sam pulled me up to the stage, I looked out at the sea of smiling and cheering people, and felt awesome and as if I wanted to puke all at once, kind of like the high I get at the end of a race when I know I’ve won my heat and I’m still flying inside.

Then there was a special song for the Court only, and as I watched Bruce dance stiffly with a bemused Jessica Riley, I glanced back to our table, where Vee sat wearing a stuck-on smile.

“Do you think they only elected me because Vee broke her leg?” I mumbled into Sam’s neck as we danced.

“No way. They voted for you because you’re awesome. And you actually act like other people exist when you’re walking down the hallway. Why are you friends with her again?”

“Sam!” I gave him a little elbow. In some ways, Sam couldn’t really understand. He hadn’t moved to our school district until high school, and never saw the way people walked on eggshells around me after my mom’s diagnosis. Vee and Faith had been the only ones who made me feel normal. “This isn’t right. I should abdicate.” The initial high was fading, and I was starting to feel the wrongness of the moment, like the little aches and pains that settle in after a race is finished.

“What, you think she’s going to feel better about it if you give her that tiara out of pity?”

He was right. When Faith came over after the Royal Dance, I burrowed my face into her neck, not wanting to come up for air. “We’d better go see Vee.”

As we made a beeline back to our table, I lagged behind, not sure what to say. Faith, however, was the sympathy queen. “Oh, Vee. It’s so unfair. Why couldn’t they have had the vote last week?”

Vee’s stuck-on smile was back, or maybe it had never left. “Don’t make such a big deal,” she said. “I mean, it’s not like it’s prom or anything.”

“You should be wearing this tiara, not me,” I said.

“Don’t be silly.” She laughed, and it sounded canned. “I’m just happy for you. It’s not like you get to dress up very often.”

Bruce came over with a sour look on his face. He yanked his sash over his head and left it in a crumple on the table. “All right, we got that crap done with. When can we go get the real party started?” Our school had set up a dry post-Homecoming bash in the gym, but the real fun would happen at Andy Sullivan’s house. Rumor had it he’d gotten four kegs and the keys to his parents’ liquor stash.

The rest of the dance was a blur of congratulations and sweaty dance numbers. When Sam and I stepped out just before midnight, the cool night air felt like heaven. Sam flipped his phone to find Andy Sullivan’s address, but I put my hand on his arm. I didn’t want to face Vee. Or the people who had voted for me. “Can we wait to go to the party?”

I didn’t have to ask him twice.

We had another helping of champagne in the limo, and then Sam convinced the driver to park at the golf course.

“Alone at last,” he said, when the privacy window went up. A few seconds later, the door slammed and we heard the driver outside, talking on his cell phone.