Not like other girls

Chapter 3

"Jules! Someone nominated you for prom queen!"

My mouth fell open, "No." My first reaction was denial- Prom Queen was just a beauty pageant wasn't it?

"We gotta get you out of it!" Addie says immediately, frantically texting whoever delivered the news.

"Wait, woah, Jules is that such a bad thing? I mean I get if you don't wanna do it but no reason to freak." Georgia says, brows furrowed as Addie types at top speed.

"It's sexist." Me and Addie say at the same time.

Georgia's eyebrows go up, "Girl, there's a prom king, and it's based completely on who the people want to have a little crown on their head- if you ask me the only bad part is the gross disregard of proper political terms." She paused, eating popcorn, "Prom Popular Vote Queen, doesn't work- prom president, that's got a ring to it."

I stopped for a second, grasping for a response, Addie beat me to it, "It'd be nice if it worked that way but people just vote for whoever's hottest, it's a total Miss America shit show."

Georgia shook her head, "Adds, think of our school, we've got a pretty damn lose social structure- we're not a Disney movie, don't let Walt trick you into thinking the bitchy girl is always Queen."

I thought about it, I was well known at our school, I was in a lot of clubs, people new me, I featured prominently in 'humans of RHS' but was I a popular kid? I mean, by definition, sure, I knew people- but not in any other way, I didn't have an exclusive lunch table or a group of minions, no one wanted to be me, I just knew people.

Georgia sighed, "Think of the people who are 'popular'. Lorenzo will probably get prom king, he's not an model, he's just a battle of the bands legend, people give him a crown just to laugh because he's so chill and his speech will probably be epic." She looked at us like the point was clear, "People recognize the stupidity of idea and vote for whoever will make the best joke out of it, simple."

Addie stopped, "Yeah, you're right." She laughed, "Lorenzo would be a sick prom king."

"I think Jacob and Cooper really killed it at battle of the bands, though- I've never seen someone sing Alright, look fucking intense as hell, and simultaneously jump like eight feet in the air every step." I chuckled, remembering the performance.

Addie laughed, "The real star was that highlighter dude playing the sax- I don't know what he was on but I'll have some."

I went back to scrolling through textposts, Georgia was right of course, but I felt a little responsible anyway, what if I won? Had to make a joke speech worth the hype? People did it so effortlessly, Lorenzo, Jacob, Cooper, Phillip, the were easily legends. Am I?

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"Have you seen the new Humans of RHS post?" Addie asked.

"Nah, hit me up fam, that page's my shit." I smirked. RHS was Riden High School, humans of RHS was a knock off but doubly as interesting to them as humans of NewYork- it was funny as hell sometimes, just kinda awesome other times.

It was a picture of Elizabeth Wells studying way early in the morning, sunlight pouring through the windows onto her blond hair- it was an amazing photo as always. The caption read "Senior year is like cilantro, it's this thin little leaf so you don't think it'll be that bad and then you bite into it and you're like 'oh shit'." I laughed, "Legendary."

"Gimme." Georgia demanded, snatching the phone eagerly. Georgia had cinnamon skin and big, dark eyes. Her mother was white as wonder bread, but her dad was Brazilian, and it showed. Put up against her mother you were at once surprised how different they looked and how similar, their coloring aside they were identical; tall, long limbed, lean, with a face carved with precision, artful cheek bones and a swooping nose, only the lips were changed in the generation.

It was hard not to admire Georgia's beauty, long lashes and legs and a little sprinkle of freckles over her cheeks- she was gorgeous. Also, frankly, her hair slayed more than anyone Juliet knew, she let it grow out into an Afro and it framed her face perfectly.

She smiled, "Oh Liz, couldn't be more right, although you can't quite compare high school to cilantro, cilantro is amazing."

"Fair enough." Addie smiled, "Hey Sar says she can come- she'll be here in like ten minutes apparently."

Sarhenthia lived pretty close, and Juliet was always guilty hitching rides from her, taking her across town and then leaving her for her ten minute drive home, but she knew her mother would always do it- she was the most generous person to ever live when it came to vehicular matters.

"I refuse to take advantage of her mom today- someone punch me if I get a ride home with her." I announced.

"Can- do." Addie replied, not looking up from her phone. Addie was a small girl, maybe 5'3" or maybe 5'2", but she was sure as hell a statement. She had a round face with a button nose and deep set eyes, somewhere along the line she was Taiwanese, and she looked vaguely like a feminine Gerard Way- the short pink hair topping it off. She wore black lace tights and old denim high-waisted shorts, a colorful horizontal-pin-stripe crop top floating right about the hem. She was fit, definition on almost all of her from abs to calves. Juliet wished she was confident enough to wear half of what she wore, pink monster fur cropped jackets, big black heels, her closet was an experience. In fact, she made a lot of her clothes.

The more you thought about it you would see that Juliet surrounded herself with all the people she wished she was, the confidence, the fuck-you-I-do-what-I-want attitude, the ambition and intrigue radiating off her friend group was palpable.

As for Juliet, well, she tried.