sea of students. Fearing the worst, she looked up to see if there was a bucket of red paint on one of the rafters above her head, but there was nothing. She bowed her head for them to crown her, then accepted the robe and bouquet of flowers, slipping her arm through Zach’s. She curtsied and he bowed to the loud cheers, and then they moved to the back with the freshman and sophomore royalty to wait for the King and Queen of the senior class.
All Annabelle could do was look down at Claire, who was staring up at her with dark, burning fury.
Naturally, Trevor was the Homecoming King, and Claudia the Homecoming Queen. Annabelle joined the others in her applause, but she felt too numb to cheer. She couldn’t get Claire’s face out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried.
She was Homecoming Princess?
How had that happened?
Who on earth had voted for her?
As soon as the mandatory dance with Zach was over, she hurried to her table with her bouquet of flowers and started dismantling it with trembling fingers.
“What are you doing?” Erin asked, shocked.
“I don’t deserve this,” Annabelle told her, shaking her head. “Claire should have been Homecoming Princess, not—“
“Oh, Annabelle, I’m not surprised at all that you won,” Claire said, appearing at her right with Claudia. Her eyes were cold, but her tone light. “After the fiasco at the party, everyone knows your name. It’s only natural that they would vote for you.”
It would have been easier if Claire had slapped her. She forced a smile and shrugged, feeling tears in her eyes. “I’m sure you’re right. It just doesn’t make sense. I don’t know anybody.” She tugged one of the flowers out of the bouquet and handed it to Claire. “Here.” Claire took it slowly, and around the table, Annabelle passed out flowers to the rest of the girls, who were all staring at her in surprise.
When she was done, she looked back at Claire, still shaking. Her friend’s expression was cool, but it looked like some of her anger had faded.
For the rest of the night, Annabelle stayed at Trevor’s side. When it was finally time to go home, she couldn’t bring herself to join in the festivities with everyone else, so she pretended to be tired and burrowed her face in Trevor’s shoulder. Finally, mercifully, the limo stopped in front of the houses and they climbed out, waving goodbye to their friends. Trevor walked her to her door and when he started to lean down to kiss her goodnight, she quickly dodged him and bid him goodnight, hurrying into the silent house. She knew it was cruel, but she couldn’t think about kissing Trevor. Not after everything that had happened that night. She just wanted to go upstairs and take off her dress and climb into bed.
She had just finished pulling out the bobby pins from her hair when she heard the soft tap on her window. Her heart skipped into her throat as she jumped to her feet, practically diving for the curtains. She threw them apart, an ache forming in her chest at the sight of Will looking back at her. She opened the window quickly, stepping back to allow him entrance.
As soon as his feet touched the ground she flung herself into his arms, sobbing.
He held her tightly, gently guiding her to the bed. They sat together on the edge of it, Annabelle sobbing into his vest. The thought of her makeup ruining his white shirt made her finally pull away, burying her face in her hands. She felt his hand lightly fall away from her back.
“So she didn’t take it well,” Will drawled.
“She’s going to turn everyone against me,” Annabelle whispered brokenly. “She’s going to make it so no one talks to me ever again. She’s—“
“Powerless. Your entire class voted for you, Belle. That means they know you. They like you. You’re not going to be alone. Even if she tries something, it’s not going to work. They chose you over her. And she’s probably kicking herself for putting you on display at the big game the day before Homecoming. She’s just taking it out on you.”
Despite it all, she felt her heart seize. Even though she knew Will had been at the football game the night before, she hadn’t thought about Will seeing the cheer. She hadn’t thought about him being there for Claire to so publicly declare that she was Trevor’s girlfriend. After Trevor getting hurt, and