Her eyes flicked to Noah, and my stomach dropped before she even spoke.
“You didn’t tell him?”
Noah went still.
The chant blurred around me.
I pulled my hand from his. “Tell me what?”
Noah looked at me, and for the first time that night, he looked more afraid of me than the crowd.
“I was going to tell you after.”
“After what?”
He took a breath. “I entered us for Prom Court.”
The chant faded into a dull noise.
“You put our names in? Together? Without asking me?”
His eyes lowered. “I thought it would be good.”
“For whom, Noah?”
He looked back up. “For you. For us.”
I shook my head. “Noah.”
“I thought you deserved to be on that ballot like everybody else.”
“And I deserved to know before I became part of your plan,” I said. “You don’t get to decide when I’m brave.”
His face crumpled a little.
“It was my name,” I said.
He went quiet.
Chad stepped closer, his smile returning. “Wait. You two are actually on the ballot?”
Nathan laughed under his breath. “That’s rough.”
Noah turned toward them. “Back off.”
I touched his arm. “No.”
He looked at me.
I faced Chad and Nathan myself.
My voice shook, but I didn’t let it disappear.
“You’ve been waiting all night for me to feel stupid,” I said. “Congratulations. I do.”
The circle went quiet.
Then I added, “But I would still rather be me in this dress than you begging a room to laugh with you.”
That’s when the speakers crackled, and the music cut out.
***
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?”
Dr. Morrison stood on the stage with a microphone. He scanned the room, taking in the circle, the phones, Chad’s face, Noah beside me, and me in the green dress I’d suddenly never been more aware of wearing.
Then he looked straight at us.
“Damien. Noah. Please come up here.”
The crowd parted.
“We’re in trouble,” I whispered.
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Noah said.
