Page 98 of It's in the Contract
I stand. “I should?—”
Suzy turns her head to follow my gaze. “Yeah.” She smiles. “You should.”
I turn back to her. “You sure?”
“We’re good, girl.” She pulls out her phone and starts texting.
I walk across the dance floor. A slow song comes on, but I hardly even register it. Zeke’s here. But did he come alone? If he asked someone else to the dance after me, I don’t know if I could handle it.
I am bursting at the seams with love for this boy, and I think I broke his heart.
I stop when I’m in front of Zeke, leaving some distance between us. We’re close enough to talk, but far enough away that we won’t accidentally touch and scramble my brain.
“Hey,” I say, and that’s all, because Zeke brings out all the awkward, gangly parts of my personality that I try so hard to hide. And somehow he still likes me.
Liked?
“Hey.” Zeke smiles sadly. “It’s good to see you. Your calculus quiz go okay?”
He’s just concerned about my grades. My heart falls. “Yeah. It went well.”
Zeke steps a little closer. “I hear that the mathletes are still accepting applicants for their big tournament coming up.”
I open my mouth to automatically reject the suggestion. “I’ll think about it,” is what comes out instead.
Zeke smiles, and I smile back.
Someone bumps into me from behind, and I stumble forward. For a horrible moment, I’m falling through space, my ankle still too weak to compensate for the jostling. I move my arms to brace myself for the fall?—
But Zeke catches me, and I collapse against his chest. His strong arms wrap around my back and hold me close. I pause for a moment in his arms.
I clear my throat and quickly right myself.
“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.
