15 | Homecoming, Part II

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For most of the night, I blacked out. I felt loose, almost unhinged as Jordyn pulled me to the makeshift checkerboard dance floor that had been laid down over the NLDS logo in the center of the gymnasium. Blue and white lights danced on the high ceilings while we swayed to some amped up remix of a pop song I didn't know. As Jordyn slid closer into me, she snaked her arms around my waist and under my suit jacket, brushing her fingers down my spine. We didn't fit together. Two pieces from two different puzzles.

Across the dancefloor, seated at one of the round tables dotted on the edges of the gym, Kaia sat engrossed in a conversation with that hack Jackson. She laughed at something he said, placing her hand delicately on his knee. I'd never seen her laugh like that, brilliant and bright like little stars twinkling on a clear night, and it made something in my stomach flutter. When she looked up, her eyes met mine, and all the light in her dimmed.

Something stirred in me. Something sick and uncomfortable, and it took hold of me as I spun Jordyn around, pulling her backside into my waist and working my hands down her sides. I leaned down and just when I felt the skin of her neck against my lips, I looked up again. Kaia was gone.

Jordyn unwound herself from me and placed her hands on my forearms. "I'm just going to run to the bathroom before they announce Homecoming King and Queen."

Despite the fact that there was no way for Jordyn to know how much of the senior class voted for her (or I, for that matter), the anticipation in her voice was apparent enough. Before they announce us as king and queen.

I took a few deep breaths to swallow down my high before undoubtedly having to get up on the makeshift stage at the front of the gymnasium and keep it together while standing next to Principal Maddox. A crowd had begun to gather on the dancefloor while Principal Maddox in her librarian loafers and her black and white dress pitter-pattered across the stage like a penguin. I was flanked by Chris and Anthony, but Jordyn was uncharacteristically absent. I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.

"I'll cut right to the chase." The microphone feedback screeched as she tried to pull it down to her height. "It's time to announce this year's homecoming king and queen."

Principal Maddox gently lifted the tally card out of the envelope. Her smile should have been the first indicator, but the downward spiral of my dissipating high had my head in a fog. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind until it was too late - Jordyn's name was not on that card. "It is my pleasure to announce that your Homecoming Queen for this year's senior class is Kaia Greene!"

There was cheering, and maybe that only added to the shellshock. A lot of cheering. Sure, the field hockey team adored their captain, but Kaia's stature as a generally likable person extended beyond her teammates. Just because her and I were consistently at odds didn't mean that she had that kind of relationship with anyone else. It was just me.

If she was as shocked as I was, she didn't show it. The sequins on her two-piece outfit flickered under the lights as she walked across the stage to Principal Maddox. As she turned to face the rest of us peasants, the sliver of tanned skin that separated her top and her skirt was more apparent, showing off abs that half the guys on my team wished they had.

My name was definitely called next, but I was on another plane of existence. One where maybe I liked seeing Kaia up there. Maybe she belonged up there. Maybe I wanted to be up there with her.

"Dude," Chris slapped my arm. "Get your royal ass up there."

And in a rush of unjustified adrenaline, I did.

The crown they gave me was almost laughable, and not because it was cheap plastic, but because putting it on my head was a confirmation that nobody in that room needed. I had been, and always would be, the king. But I glanced over at Kaia, and the tiara fit her so perfectly, it looked like it had always been hers too.

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