the prom queen

chapter one

k e e f e   s e n c e n

after chemistry, half way through the school day, it was finally time for lunch. although keefe had slept through most of the class, he was still relieved to have a break from class. he swung his backpack over his shoulder and headed down the hallway to the cafeteria. today was taco tuesday and he could hear his tummy rumbling, craving the delicious spicy meat.
once he arrived and spotted his usual lunch table he noticed an open seat next to his bestfriend, fitz. right where his girlfriend, biana, sat was an empty space. biana was never late to lunch and he had seen her earlier that day so he knew she was at school. he was about to shrug it off when he heard laughter coming from behind him. "biana?"
the dark haired girl turned revealing to be, in fact, his girlfriend. why was she sitting at a different table? talking to her best friends, maruca and stina heks, the gossipers of foxfire high. the smile from her face converted to a frown and she pulled him aside, in the center of the room. "i think we should talk." she started.
the whole room when silent, everyone trying to overhear their schools most desirable couple's conversation. keefe, starting to get uncomfortable with the silence, crossed his arms and looked to his friends for assurance. they looked just as nervous as he did, excluding fitz who probably knew of his sisters plans for him. "what i'm trying to say is...i think we should see other people."
keefe stood still and furrowed his brows. he was sure he'd heard her wrong. there was no way she was breaking up with him in the middle of the cafeteria, in front of the whole grade. and definitely not two weeks before prom. "you're seriously breaking up with me?" he asks, confirming he'd heard correctly.
biana shoots a look of annoyance at her friends who are trying their best to contain their laughter. no one had ever broken up with HIM before. keefe had always done the dumping. he'd never been on the receiving end of it. "we've been dating for four years, keefe. almost four years! don't you wanna...i don't know mix it up a little?" her eyes drift to a nearby table. he followed her stare...and his gaze landed on tam. tam song, the "bad boy" of the senior class. he'd gotten silver highlights over spring break making him more "irresistible" to the girls.
his jaw hardened, not because he was sad or mad, but because he was completely blind sighted. keefe and biana were foxfire highs "it couple" and they were pretty much guaranteed the spots of prom king and queen. and keefe knew for a fact that biana liked that status just as much as he did. keefe lowered his voice to a whisper, took her hand in his, and tried to reason with her "biana we can't break up. let's just wait until after prom. if you still want to break up after that then fine we're done."
biana slipped her hand out of his and pulled it back to her side. "sorry keefe." she said not sounding apologetic whatsoever. biana returned to stina and maruca, who were laughing their butts off and by the time she reached their table, so was she. keefe balled his hands into fists and was ready to storm over and give that girl a piece of his mind before hearing his fathers voice in his head "never cause a scene". defeated, keefe returned to his table across the room. before passing the trash cans he slipped on a banana and fell flat on his face on the hard floor. the whole room erupted in laughter and he saw as everyone got up and pointed at him. he felt all of the stares watch him get up, cross the room, and disappear into the sea of tables.
keefe grumbled as he slid into his seat beside his bestfriends, fitz vacker and dex dizznee. he was pissed off and was having a mediocre day until a few minutes ago. "so what're you gonna do now?" fitz asked.
keefe and fitz didn't exactly have the best friendship. it wasn't the kind you'd see in the movies. some would call it a toxic friendship but he'd learned to live with it after years of being told who his friends should be. see fitz was who was considered to be in his "type of people". snobby, rich, and selfish. dex on the other hand was one of the few exceptions in the foxfire popular group. he as sweet, selfless, smart, and supportive. he was a little nerdy, but since his parents were rich and legacies at foxfire he was given an automatic pass into the entitled rich kids club. at least that's what he called it. "i don't know fitz you tell me. she's your sister. couldn't you have given me a little heads up?"
"i didn't know she was gonna dump you." he said very unconvincingly.
"it's not like she can do any better. tam isn't even relevant. what does he have that i don't? a bad attitude? i mean i can't believe this girl." keefe started on his rant. "she would be nothing without me. i picked out her clothes, helped her with school work, and brought her into the right crowd when she moved here in 9th grade. now she's dumped me now that i'm useless to her."
"hey watch it." fitz snapped "she's still my sister. but dude, you know she's one of the hottest girls in the grade, if not the hottest. don't tell her i said that." he looked to dex. "she could get any guy in this school without lifting a finger. biana's funny, smart, and gorgeous. i'm not sure you can do any better before prom night."
"don't listen to him keefe, you deserve much better. biana's a jerk. no offense, fitz." dex assured him. "you don't need her to be voted prom king, i'm sure plenty of people will vote for you with or without her."
"let's be realistic here dex." fitz cut in. "couples have way higher chances of getting voted than singles. and biana dating tam, which i over heard her talking about on the phone this morning, helps his case."
"so you did know." keefe stated.
fitz waved it off and continued. "i'm just saying there's no way you're winning prom king without a girlfriend to run with. even if you did get a girlfriend, that would be willing to date you after the most influential girl in this school did, she wouldn't be better than biana who's been the queen bee around here for years. which means no one would vote for another girl over her."
"no. there's no way people would choose biana over me. i could turn any regular girl here into a star in a minute." keefe said.
"wanna bet on it?" fitz asked with a devilish look on his face.
"this is not a good idea." dex worried.
"what are the terms?" keefe questioned.
"you have to turn the girl of my choosing into the next prom queen of foxfire high or else you have to shave your whole head."
keefe and dex gasped simultaneously and dex turned to look at keefe with wide eyes. "keefe listen, you can't do this. you love your hair. you cannot agree to this bet. i don't want you rushing into any rash decisions." dex rambled.
keefe stuck out his hand and smirked. "alright golden boy, do your worst." the boys shook on their bet and fitz started his decision making process. scanning the room, keefe could tell he was looking for the most helpless girl out there. he was praying fitz wouldn't choose linh, she was a sweet girl but not even keefe could help her.
keefe groaned when fitz's face twisted into a wicked smile. "perfect..." fitz mumbled. keefe followed his gaze to the back of the room where a blonde haired girl with a hoodie pulled over her head was reading a book by herself. keefe didn't recognize her at first glance and needed a reminder of who this girl was.
"and who is that?" keefe inquired, gesturing to the direction fitz was looking in. he tried peering under her hoodie but there were many heads sitting in front of the mysterious girl.
"that my friend is the one and only sophie foster." fitz grinned evily.
he internally groaned. sophie foster was a new student this year and no one really talked to her. why anyone would transfer schools senior year, keefe had no idea but all he knew about her was that she was known as the weird loner girl that had no friends. keefe had heard people call her goth or rude but from the few times he'd seen her, sophie looked pretty sweet.
"no way. you've gotta choose someone else. even linh would be better than sophie. c'mon fitz we both know she would be impossible to work with." he whinned.
"hey i didn't make the rules." fitz raised his hands in defense.
"actually you did." dex pointed out.
"shut it dizznee." fitz hissed.
keefe knew fitz was setting him up to fail, but he was not letting both vackers get the best of him. "alright you're on." keefe agreed. he knew this wasn't going to be easy but he never liked things that came too easy.
he climbed out of his chair, walked to the back of the room, and stood in front of sophie. keefe was aware of the attention he'd brought over to her table as he sat down next to her and smirked. "sup. i'm keefe."