Page 36 of The Lookback

“I don’t,” I say. “You can’tmakesomeone vote.”

Denise takes a step toward me, her pointer finger out and wagging. “But?—”

“If you want me to vote, you’ll have to do something for me.”

“What?” She finally stops, one eyebrow arched.

I may have won the vote by our class, but Denise is the most qualified person at our school. There must be a lot of people who voted for her. “You tell everyone that the girl who got thesecond-most votes won.”

“Whoa,” Tommy says. “You can’t do that.”

I spin toward him. “Why not?”

“Because she didn’t say it was tied for the girls, just for the boys.”

Denise is shaking her head. “It’s not tied for the girls. You won by a landslide.”

“See?” Tommy asks.

“Who cares?” I ask. “Who got the second most?”

Denise blushes bright pink.

“Come on. Who is it?” It has to be her, right? It’s got to be.

She shakes her head silently.

“Mandy, come on,” Tommy says. “You can’t ask her to do that.”

“It was you,” I say. “I’m sure it was. You can be the prom princess instead, and no one else needs to know.”

“But they will know,” Denise insists. “They will.”

“Did anyone other than you even see the ballots?” I ask. “There’s no way that they could possibly?—”

“Five people voted for me,” she practically shouts. “Five people, and they were all other girls. You got twenty-eight. It wasn’t even remotely close.”

My mouth snaps closed.

“See?” Tommy says. “No offense Denise, but it has to be Mandy.”

“This is so dumb,” I say. “And furthermore, if you won’t be the prom princess, then I’m not voting to break the tie for the prince.” I fold my arms over my chest.

“By your own logic,” Tommy says, “you should vote for someone. No one will ever know you were the tiebreaker.”

I spin around. “You and Denise will.”

He splutters. “Like I’d tell anyone.”

“What about her?” I point.

“If she tells a soul, I’ll tell everyone she only got five votes to your twenty-nine.” Tommy’s smile is diabolical.

“It was twenty-eight, and who even cares how many votes she got?” I ask. “She won’t care about people knowing that.”

“You should have voted for yourself,” he says. “Then it would have been twenty-nine. I’m quite sure Denise was one of those five votes for herself, and I think she does care.”

It’s clear from her face and the way all the blood has drained away that she will care, and possibly that she also voted for herself.

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