Chapter 8
Eight
No flipping way. Did you see what happened in French class? The drama going down is NUTS. And I know drama.
Text message from Nicole Becks to Chelsea Connors.
I close my locker with a click, chemistry equations going through my head along with a certain brown-skinned boy who makes me laugh and helps me be myself in a way that very few can.
I give my head a shake. We are so not right for each other, and I am so not going there.
He doesn’t even want to make friends, let alone a girlfriend. I’d be crazy to go after him.
Suzy walks through the hallway towards me, and her head is down, posture slumped. Her hair is tied halfway up with a red ribbon that matches her striped shirt. Suzy twists the latch on her locker, trying to get the numbers right, but it’s not working, and she slams her fist against it.
“Suzy! What’s wrong?” Gently, I remove Suzy’s hand from the lock and twist it to the right numbers. I get it open, and Suzy stares inside. She doesn’t move to grab anything or dig past the messiness that is Suzy’s locker. Honestly, it stresses me out just looking at the mess.
There are posters of the members of our favorite band, BTS, alongside post-it notes with jokes we wrote to each other over the years sticking to the walls.
A cute burgundy jacket I bought for her birthday last year hangs from a hook, books are haphazardly stacked in a pile, and an emergency stash of peanut butter M&Ms sits on the top shelf.
I grab the bag of M&Ms, open it, and offer one to her. Suzy shakes her head.
“What happened?” I ask, replacing the candy before my fingers turn blue.
Suzy’s black eyes are completely dejected. “I can’t run for Homecoming Queen.”
I pause. “What? Why not? They already announced your name.”
Students flow around us. The hallway is crowded, the chatter loud. We’re in between classes, and everyone is rushing not to be late.
Suzy rests her forehead against the open locker door. “Principal Melrose just saw me in her office. Apparently someone told her that I was cheating on a test. They even had a photo of me pulling out my phone during the test to prove it.”
I hesitate. “But that’s not true, right?”
Suzy sighs and runs a hand down her face.
“Of course not. The pic is obviously doctored. I think I remember the incident, too. It was a hard test in French class. But I was grabbing chapstick out of my backpack, not my phone.” Suzy squeezes her eyes shut.
“And now I can’t run. According to Principal Melrose, the Homecoming Queen needs to be an exemplary student with model behavior.
She wouldn’t change her mind no matter what I said. ”
My stomach sinks. “But, but . . . there’s got to be something we can do. This means so much to you. We’ll fight it.” I put a hand on her back, wanting to help so badly.
“There’s nothing to fight. Principal Melrose already told Cassidy and Brian to take my name out of the running.” Suzy closes her eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just Homecoming Queen.”
“It is a big deal. It’s important to you,” I say. “One of us was going to beat Brielle.” And I would prefer it to be you, I don’t add.
Suzy looks up, the sadness in her eyes turning to fire. She takes the bag of M&Ms from me and pops an orange one in her mouth. She chews furiously for a second. “I know who gave that picture to Principal Melrose. It was Brielle. Of course. I’m such an idiot.”
“We don’t know for sure . . .” I trail off, even though I think Suzy’s right.
“I do know it.” Suzy looks straight at my eyes with that intense dark stare of hers.
“Because this is exactly what happened with me and Brielle in middle school. Well.” She rolls her eyes.
“Not exactly. There wasn’t Homecoming crown on the line back then.
I saw Brielle cheating for real, and I told the teacher.
I even snapped a pic of it with my phone so I could have proof.
I was just trying to do the right thing, I wasn’t trying to be a snitch. ”
“I know,” I say. “I remember when that happened. Brielle was pissed.”
The hallway is emptying as more students head to class, and the late bell dings overhead.
Suzy nods. “Somehow Brielle found out that it was me who told.”
“Suzy, I’m so sorry. She shouldn’t have . . . she had no right . . .” My fists clench at my sides. “We’ll tell Principal Melrose the truth. They have to let you run!”
Suzy sighs. “We can try. But I think it’s already too late.
My name is already off the website.” Suzy taps away on her phone and pulls up the site where the voting is being recorded.
Not many people have put in their votes yet, but Brielle’s already up to fifty.
I am at a bare dozen. And now Suzy’s name is gone.
Anger burns in my chest. “I hate that girl. I hate her so much.”
“Who are we talking about?” Brielle’s sugary sweet voice floats down the rapidly emptying hallway. I look up to see her waltzing toward us, Katrina close behind. No sign of Noah, so at least there’s that.
I glare at her. “You lied.”
Brielle only smiles. “All’s fair in love and Homecoming.” She winks, and my anger morphs into rage.
“I’m going to run for Queen,” I say. “And I’m going to win. There is nothing you can do to take my name out of the running.”
Brielle only smiles and looks me up and down. “Good luck with that.” Katrina laughs and follows Brielle down the now deserted hallway.
I glare after her, seething. Suzy shuts her locker, and we start our walk down the hallway, me to calculus and Suzy to art.
“Did you mean that?” Suzy asks.
“What?”
“You’re going to keep your name in the running?”
I look back at Suzy, and her eyes are full of hope.
“I am. You’re going to help me run, and when I win, it will be like both of us are winning.
” I stare after Brielle, sauntering down the hallway, acting like the win is already in the bag.
“We are going to take her down, and I know exactly how we’re going to do it.
” I think back on the words I said to Zeke during tutoring.
At our school, the nerds outnumber the popular kids.