Chapter 39 #2
“Thank you.” My cheeks are on fire. Good thing the lighting in here is dim. “Did you come with anyone?” I know I sound desperate, but I don’t care. Gahhhh, what is wrong with me? I so badly want him to say no, but how selfish does that make me?
Zeke looks back at me with one mournful, long expression, while couples dance or make out around us.
Zeke shakes his head. “No.”
I hate that my body sags with relief. “Zeke, I—”
But I’ll never know what I was going to say, because the song ends, and Brian and Cassidy step up to the podium. Oh my holy fudge, as Zeke would say. I think it’s time.
A hush falls over the gym. Suzy’s heels click-click-click against the floor as she rushes over to me and grabs my arm.
“It’s happening!”
Suzy’s grip is too tight, but I only take her hand and squeeze back.
“Ladies and gentleman!” Cassidy beams. “You look incredible tonight.” Everyone cheers.
Cassidy is wearing a floor-length yellow dress covered in sequins, and her brilliant smile is just as flashy.
Her blonde hair is done up in a braid crown.
“Thank you all so much for coming out to Monte Ville’s beautiful Homecoming dance.
The decorators have outdone themselves, haven’t they? ”
A cheer goes up, and I clap along. Suzy is tense beside me.
“It do be slappin’, Cass.” Brian grins at her, and she rolls her eyes.
His sequined black bowtie glitters brighter than Cassidy’s dress.
“And now it’s time to announce our Homecoming royalty!
The votes have been cast, and the race was closer than I ever would’ve guessed.
Would you like to meet your King and Queen? ”
The cheers are so loud I nearly cover my ears. I spot Brielle off to the right, surrounded by her friends, her arm looped through Noah’s elbow. She raises a flute of some fizzy drink in my direction, a sly smile on her face. Brielle hands her drink to Noah then heads up to the podium.
“What is she doing?” Suzy growls.
Zeke steps a little closer to me, as if to protect me from her, and it makes my heart melt a little more.
Brielle ascends the steps to the stage and walks across it with a confident stride until she’s standing next to a surprised Cassidy.
“They haven’t announced the winners yet!” Suzy whispers. People around us murmur.
“I’m so sorry, Cassidy and Brian,” Brielle says.
“But before you announce our Homecoming royalty, I have something to say. Is that all right?” Brielle turns on the charm, smiling her brightest. Her dress is a pretty pastel pink with a flowing skirt that’s just on the side of too short.
Her strappy silver heels are so tall I wonder how she can walk, let alone dance.
Brian’s grin freezes, and Cassidy stutters, “Oh, um, well normally we—”
Brielle steals the mic from her and plows ahead. “You should all know that Callie Carter has been lying to everyone. And it’s not too late to change your vote. Oh, no, though the results have been hidden, students are still allowed to place votes up until the winner is announced. Isn’t that right?”
Cassidy pauses but then grudgingly nods her head.
I freeze, and all heads turn to look at me. My stomach churns with a mass of nerves. Brielle couldn’t know . . . This is just a final desperate ploy to make sure she wins. I try and fail to comfort myself with lies.
Suzy squeezes my arm, and Zeke steps so close that our shoulders brush.
Brielle grins. She holds up a notebook. A sparkly pink notebook. My heart drops. No . . .
“Callie Carter made a contract with Ezekiel Harris,” Brielle says, triumph in her voice. “A contract in which they would pretend to be friends.” She pauses, and whispers travel through the gym in a wave. I blink, stunned. I don’t know what to do.
Brielle smiles. “Callie faked a friendship with Zeke, and he got her more votes for Queen. I don’t think someone who is willing to stoop so low should actually win, do you?”
Students stare at me with disgust on their faces, some with pity. Several tap away on their phones, and I think I know what they’re doing. I shrink in on myself.
The way Brielle puts it makes it sound so awful, so low. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. I see Noah standing off to the side. He stares at me, disgusted. I feel . . . shame.
“Callie has been lying to all of us all semester long,” Brielle says. “She’s manipulated and lied to work her way up to the crown. And shy, sweet, innocent Zeke Harris isn’t so sweet and innocent after all. He went along with it to deceive everyone.”
I swallow. The hostile stares around me increase, and students step back until it’s just me, Suzy, and Zeke in a circle.
I haven’t yet seen Mom, who’s chaperoning tonight, but I do now.
She’s standing at the edge of the crowd wearing a tight red dress, her lips painted a shade to match.
Her auburn hair forms a bouncy cloud of curls.
She’s transfixed by Brielle, her mouth open in horror.
“Shall I go on?” Brielle says. Cassidy and Brian do nothing to stop her as Brielle flips open the notebook and begins to read. “Rule number 1: We must eat lunch together three out of five days of the week. Rule number 2 . . .”
Mortification rips through me. Shame and embarrassment take their turns clawing through my stomach. I gulp and blink back tears. I’m not quite successful, so I hurriedly swipe underneath my eyes.
Why does Mom have to be here to see my humiliation? Nothing I ever do will be good enough for her, not after this. Not after the whole school has seen the real me.
Brielle continues until she’s read the whole contract in front of everyone. This is my worst nightmare. My whole soul is bared before the school, every rotten piece of me for them to see.
“Callie,” Zeke whispers. His fingers brush mine, like he wants to take my hand, but he doesn’t.
“You’re all a bunch of idiots.”
I look up. That wasn’t Brielle’s voice. Brielle stands in front of the mic, looking stunned.
I glance over the crowd, and Emma is standing tall, her black hair pulled up into one high bun with a few dangling ringlets.
Her dress is a lacy black skirt and a black and pink striped corset that matches the bubblegum she’s chewing.
Taylor stands at her left, staring at the lights on the ceiling.
Tina is on Emma’s right, her eyes turned toward her lime green converse shoes.
“You heard me.” Emma’s heavily lined eyes glare at the crowd. “Who cares what Callie did? We’re all idiots to even worry about this kind of stuff.” She hops up on stage beside Brielle and grabs the mic. Brielle lets go without a fight, stunned.
Cassidy stutters and reaches for the mic, but Brian holds up a hand to stop her.
“If Callie felt like she had to lie to us to keep her social status,” Emma says, “to win this stupid crown, it’s our fault, not hers.” Emma’s eyes find mine, and she nods. I’m filled with immense gratitude.
“We could all stand to be a little more like Callie, to treat people the way she does,” Emma says.
“Popular, nerd. Who cares about it all? Callie looks at people, not the label. If you can’t see that, then vote for Brielle.
But really, does a jerk like her deserve to win?
Someone who shouts secrets to the world, not caring who she humiliates?
This kind of behavior is exactly what’s wrong with our school. ”
Brielle makes a grab for the mic, but Emma steps out of reach and holds up a hand to fend her off.
“Maybe Callie doesn’t deserve to win after lying like that.
But I do know this: Callie really cares about people, about us.
She invited me and my group of friends to a party on a yacht and stayed with us the whole time, making sure we were okay.
That’s more than I can say about any of you. ”
Murmurs run through the crowd, and I wonder if Emma has stepped a tad too far.
She plows ahead, seeming to not notice. “So what if Callie doesn’t win the crown? Who cares? But Brielle sure doesn’t deserve it. That’s all I have to say.” Emma drops the mic with a screech and gets off the stage. I catch her eye as she’s descending and mouth thank you. Emma nods.
The whispers in the gym fly out of control.
Cassidy looks horrified that this has gotten away from her so badly, but Brian looks like he’s trying to hold in a laugh.
Suzy grips my arm. Mom still has a look of horror on her face, and finally she turns to look at me.
I force myself to meet her eyes, to smile and nod. I take a deep breath.
I know what I have to do.
I move Suzy’s hand from my arm, and she looks at me, stunned. I smile and step forward. The crowd parts for me like I have a disease. Suddenly the steps to the stage are before me, and I lift my skirt and climb them one by one. I look out over the crowd, and nerves twirl in my stomach.
I pick up the fallen mic. There are a thousand faces shining back at me from the bright overhead lights.
Mom watches from the sidelines, her face worried.
Brielle looks shocked, as do half of the people in the audience.
The other half are curious, whispering to each other, wondering what I’m going to say.
I glance at Cassidy and Brian, and she waves a hand. “Go on.”
Suddenly, my nerves vanish. I know exactly what to say. “Thank you, Emma. But what Brielle said is true,” I say, and people gasp. Some of them boo. Many pull out their phones and start filming. Mom frowns. Likely she was hoping that I would deny everything Brielle said, not confirm it.
Maybe I don’t want to care what they think anymore. Maybe all along, Caroline was right. It’s what I think of myself that matters most.
I meet Suzy’s eyes, and she gives me an encouraging nod. I glance at Zeke’s sincere expression filled with concern for me. I just hope that what I’m about to say doesn’t hurt him.