Page 15 of The Prom King & The Ice Queen

“Funny,” he says after a beat. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“I didn’t—” I stop because…I did. Of course I did.

But not like that! I’m not a thief, just a gullible idiot. I’m staring at him, mute and…and angry. Fury courses through me hot and sharp as a knife as it really truly hits me.

What April did…

If she’d succeeded…

The wind rushes out of me and I clap a hand to my mouth.

If she’d succeeded, she would have turned me into a thief. A criminal. And my so-called friends at school might think that’s hilarious, but the sheriff’s department? They’d take one look at dad’s name, they’d see my house and the way I was raised…

I don’t want to cry. I never cry. But the thought of how close I just came to losing everything I’d worked for has me stifling a sob.

I can’t even tell if it’s anger or fear, or something else. I feel like an idiot, which I hate. But there’s betrayal there too. April and I might not be BFFs but turning me into a thief?

And Leo….he actually believes it. He thinks I freakin’ stole his grandmother’s ring. He probably thinks I saw an easy score. Because I am the help, right? That’s how he and his friends see me when I work these parties.

The bitterness I’ve been raised in makes my lungs feel like they’re full of acid as I turn away from Leo and his phony concern.

“Hey…” His voice is gentler than I’ve ever heard it. “It’s fine, Savannah. No one knows what you did.”

What you did.

What I did?

What I did was be stupid enough to listen to anything April said. What I did was make the mistake of being anywhere near that girl or this guy…

You don’t belong in their world. How many times has my mother said that to me when I’d come home from a football game or a house party?

She was usually drunk when she said it. Drunk and mean.

She’s said it countless times, and I always rolled my eyes. I always took it as a challenge. She didn’t think I could fit in with the rich and popular? Well, I’d show her.

But right here and right now…

You don’t belong in their world.

I’ve had glimpses of it before, moments where I feel like an alien amidst a different species as my friends whine about Daddy cutting off their credit cards as punishment while I’m sitting there wondering if I have enough tips saved up for a new tube of toothpaste.

So yeah, I’ve had moments where I’ve heard my mom’s words and wondered if she was right.

But I’ve never understood what she was saying so well as I do today.

I don’t belong in this world. I should never have set out to prove her wrong. I should never have wasted so much time and energy trying to trick that crowd into thinking I’m one of them.

No, not just one of them. I’m the queen of the popular crew. I’m their leader—and that’s why April’s coming after me. To take me down. To steal my crown.

Leo’s hand on my shoulder makes me flinch. For a second there I’d almost forgotten about him. My head feels like it might explode from the anger and the bitterness that’s turning my thoughts toxic.

“It’s all going to be okay, Savannah,” Leo says. And…seriously? Is he serious right now?

He sounds like some sort of hero in a movie. Like all of a sudden I’m going to forget that he’s an entitled, shallow ass with more ego than brains. Like, suddenly Leo is my knight in shining armor.

Uh, no. I don’t think so.

I shrug off his hand. “You didn’t have to do that.”

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