Sophie Smith is a foster girl who's bounced around from state to state, "looking for her forever family," but Sophie's not stupid. She knows she doesn't have one. Her newest family, the Evanses, seem nice, but Sophie knows they don't really want her...
"I can't go to Homecoming with you," I whispered, staring at my feet. I hadn't told anybody I was coming here, not even Evie, who had invited Ty over to do who knows what, and Ethan was over at Tanya's house. So much for the guys instigating stuff - it was a good thing that Edward and Doug were out.
"You - what? Why not?" Dylan frowned at me. "You were so excited..."
"I just can't, okay?" I shouted at him, tears filling my eyes. "So go find somebody you deserve, somebody prettier and better than me, because I can't go to Homecoming with you."
Because of Dylan's popularity, news of our "breakup," even if we had never even really been together, spread like wildfire. So the next day, Friday, the day of the Homecoming game, I got to watch all the cheerleaders "wish Dylan good luck," which was, evidently, what they called throwing themselves against Dylan.
I didn't go to the Homecoming game. It hurt too much. But Evie wouldn't let me miss Homecoming. I had never been before, because I hadn't been as close with my other foster families, and since this was my senior year, it was my last chance. Evie wouldn't let me miss it over Dylan, even if she had no idea what had happened, although she did think it had something to do with Tanya.
And to be fair, Tanya hadn't said anything about me not going to Homecoming. She'd just said I couldn't go to Homecoming with Dylan.
The boys won the game, so I was happy for them, but I'd somehow made Ethan upset with me anyway. He spent the night at Dylan's house, claiming I had broken Dylan's heart. Did he not realize I'd broken my own heart, too?
It physically hurt my soul on Saturday when we started getting ready for Homecoming four hours early. Evie insisted we go to her favorite salon - "Tanya's probably at home," she said snidely, "just doing loose curls or some shit," - and I got some highlights and some curls in my shoulder-length light brown hair, and Evie, upset by my lack of enthusiasm, had her hair done up into a glamorous bun, complete with one of her biological mother's old diamond hair pins. She looked beautiful, but I couldn't bring myself to care.
Next we went to the nail salon, where I just got a nude nail polish to go with my dress, and Evie, once more upset with me, got a glittery silver nail polish to go with the eye shadow she planned on applying once we returned home.
When we went home, we only had two hours left, and anxiety was rising in me. What if Tanya got mad that I'd found the loophole in her plans? What if she broke Ethan's heart and framed me for it anyway?
"Maybe I shouldn't go to Homecoming," I told Evie as she was doing my makeup, eyeing my dress nervously.
"You're going to Homecoming," Evie said in a no-nonsense voice. "Just because Dylan will be there doesn't mean you have to miss it entirely."
My heart clenched.
"Dylan's going?"
"Yeah, he got a date," frowned Evie. "Didn't you hear?"
"Who with?"
"Renee, the head cheerleader," Evie sighed. "I'm so sorry, but please don't cry, I just applied your mascara."
I didn't have any tears left inside of me, so I obeyed Evie.
Edward nearly threw a fit when he saw Evie's dress, a short, flirty royal blue dress with a skirt that flared out and didn't even reach Evie's knees. Not to mention the V-neck, which just barely exposed the sides of Evie's breasts, but thankfully they were upheld by the silver belt that matched her eye shadow and her strappy heels.
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