This Prom Queen is winning out of spite.
Since the dawn of internet video, the AV Club of Van Buren High has hosted a reality show for twenty lucky seniors to compete for the coveted titles of Prom King and Queen. Self-imposed social outcast, Aspen...
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For most of my life, I'd found it difficult to talk to my peers that I didn't know. But now, I didn't have a choice. On Monday, I was bombarded with people recognizing my face in the hallway, going on about the kiss I'd shared with Hailey, telling me that it was one of the hottest moments they'd watched in Senior Standoff. With each comment, my mind slipped back to what Asher had told me about how many guys would be touching themselves to it. I desperately hoped he wasn't right, but I wondered if every boy that mentioned it had. The thought made my skin crawl.
The only silver lining was that it helped my game.
After a weekend of voting, the first rankings from the fan favorite polls had been posted. Hailey and Ben topped the list, with Scarlet and Ky trailing closely in second place. Meanwhile, Asher and I had been launched to fifth place. It was better than I'd hoped.
Asher, on the other hand, didn't seem to care. Instead, when I told him, he shifted the conversation to an invitation to join him and his friends for lunch.
We hang out in the usual place during lunch. Come sit with us.
It beat sitting in my lone corner of the cafeteria. Ky hadn't sat with me since the first day, which I understood. He had a game to worry about now, and living his glamorous, popular lifestyle was a part of that. I didn't fault him for it.
While I was leaving the cafeteria with a bottle of tea and bag of chips in hand, Hailey stopped me.
"Aspen!" she yelled out over the cacophony of voices before I could place my hand on the door.
"Yeah?" I asked, turning back to her.
"Do you and Asher want to come sit with us? You're a part of the game, after all. You're kind of part of our group, now," she said.
It was a foreign offering of friendship I hadn't expected from her. I almost laughed in her face, imagining spending my lunch period listening to her prattle on about whatever impressive subjects the rest of us were deemed too unworthy to experience. Asher sure as hell wouldn't want to spend his at a table with Ky.
And he was going to be my ticket out of it.
"I can ask him, but you know how he is. I doubt he'll want to," I said.
With my free hand, I shot him a text message riddled with typos. My hands had always been too small to balance my phone while reaching the far side of the keyboard with one hand.
Aspen Faust: Hsiley invited us yo sit with them.
His reply came a second later, pulling laughter out of me.
Asher Brandt: Christ even autocorrect isnt saving your ass. I'll be up in a minute.
I stared at my phone, dumbfounded. He couldn't be serious.
