Page 2 of The Prom King & The Ice Queen

I’d worked hard for my spot at the top and at some point April had given in. Or maybe we’d both compromised. Either way, here we are, sharing the space at the top of the social hierarchy. It’s worked well for both of us for years…

Until Shane broke up with April.

Stupid Shane.

He’s the worst sort of moron, which is perfectly fitting for April. But his breaking up with April has toppled the balance we had going on. For whatever reason, April saw her relationship status as a coup. Why? No idea. I’d never actually cared to have a boyfriend, and certainly not one of the losers from this high school.

But, that was what April thought so it didn’t matter. The moment she joined me in singlehood, her competitive streak started to come out in weird ways.

She’d always made slight snubs about my job and the fact that I don’t have a car, but lately she’s been going out of her way to call attention to the fact that I never order food when we all go out to eat or that I tend to skip outings that cost money.

I’d been hoping she and Shane would get back together again so we could all go back to normal, but after all the drama she’d caused when the new girl first arrived and she’d thought Shane had a thing for her…

Well, let’s just say someone really ought to teach April a lesson about holding your hand close to your chest.

April was about as subtle as a sledgehammer with her jealousy, which only served to make Shane cockier than ever, and her rudeness to the new girl now had her at odds with Leo because Addie is now dating Leo’s long lost…brother? Uncle? No one seems to know.

Doesn’t matter. Anyway, this sucks for April because she’d set her sights on Leo and had high hopes that he’d take Shane’s place by her side.

To be fair, Leo is the guy that half the school wishes they could call boyfriend. Which is all the more reason April was nuts for thinking she had a chance.

He’s a player, plain and simple. He’ll hook up with girls but everyone knows he doesn’t do labels.

And why anyone would want him as a boyfriend?

My nose automatically wrinkles in disgust at the thought.

It’s beyond me.

“Here he comes,” Brittany murmurs to April.

I catch sight of the idiot Shane coming through the doors of the cafeteria with his fellow morons, Leo and Zack. I’m not sure which ‘he’ she’s referring to, but they all head straight toward us.

Callie’s boyfriend Maverick follows them, so clearly they’d just had some football meeting or practice or whatever. Maverick peels off to go say hi to Callie and the others, which is a shame because he’s one of the few people I actually like at this table.

Maybe the only one.

For the record, Maverick is not lumped in as one of Shane and Leo’s idiot friends, even though they are sorta friends. Or teammates, at least. But Maverick also works with me and the others in the Princess Troupe—a group that goes around and performs at little kids’ parties and babysits at big events and formal functions.

We’re a staple at local parties and it’s a good gig, for the most part. The money is better than I’d make at a fast food joint or bagging groceries, that’s for sure. The tips are so good, I don’t mind working the occasional late-night event like the one I’d worked last night. I might be a zombie today, but I made enough to cover groceries for the week and have a little cash to spare. So, there’s that.

The worst part is having to work functions for people like the Barons. Especially when I know Leo and his buddies will be there.

Like this upcoming birthday party April’s been whining about.

Is it wrong that I was happy to hear that April hadn’t been invited?

Maybe. But my job is hard enough to perform when Leo and his friends are around, and they typically ignore me like they do the rest of the hired help. But April…she definitely wouldn’t ignore me. She’d take every opportunity to laugh at me.

Which is easy to do when I’m prancing around in a princess costume.

“Ladies,” Leo drawls in that smug, condescending way of his when he reaches the table. We’ve all been sitting at this same table and in the same seats for more than three years now. Every day is the same. And like clockwork, Leo slides into his seat across from me at the head of the table.

My work-friend Callie once told me that from where she sat we looked like a king and queen ruling over our minions. That had cracked me up.

Maybe there’s some truth to it, but only in the sense that we each have a level of clout that we’ve worked hard for. And by ‘work hard’ I mean, I worked hard. He was born to it. The grandson and heir of the local tycoon, Rudolph Barons, Leo’s never had to work for anything.

Okay fine, maybe I inherited some of my parents’ bitterness toward the rich and privileged in this town.

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