Page 46 of The Prom Queen Project
No matter how much I pleaded to be homeschooled, my parents didn’t listen because I never gave them a reason to. So, despite my best efforts, I returned to school on Monday and trudged through the halls, my eyes trained on my sneakers just as they had been when I walked off the bus the Friday before. Even though I never looked up and never glanced toward the sky, I could still feel the disdainful glares of the kids around me. I felt so small under the weight of their hatred. It was the same feeling I had now as I stood in front of Elliot’s friends at the lunch table, looking down in silence.
“Guys, this is Clarke.”
A slim African American girl with black eyeliner glared at me. “You’re that wannabe Prom Queen girl, right?”
“Uh, yeah. That’s me.”
“Cool. Probably not gonna vote for you, but cool.”
She sat hunched forward with her elbows propped on the table. A skeptical look danced across her features and lingered even after she had stopped talking. My throat tightened as I tried to remain emotionless.
“Okay, then.” Elliot exhaled. “Anyway, that was Dani.” He turned to point at a scrawny kid sitting on the other side of the table. “And this is—”
“Andrew?” I cut him off.
“Oh, great. The cheer captain who never gives me the time of day.”
“Do you guys know each other or something?”
“Something,” Andrew muttered angrily while shoving a French fry in his mouth. “Every year, I try out for the cheer team, and every year,Miss Pretty In Pinkpretends she doesn’t see me.”
“I wasn’t trying t—”
He held up his hand with his fingers splayed and threw one leg on top of the other. “Ugh, save it.”
“Wow,” I mumbled under my breath while sliding my tray on the table next to Elliot’s. “Your friends really know how to make a girl feel welcome.”
He squinted in their direction. “If I have to be around her, then you guys have to, too.”
“Hey!” I exclaimed, slapping his arm with the back of my hand.
“Maybe we should dump both of them,” Dani whispered.
“Works for me,” Andrew replied.
My spine stiffened. Elliot broke out into a grin, causing me to release a silent breath.Oh.It was just a joke. Of course, it was.
“If you guys dump me, who else would playZombieswith your lame asses?”
Dani shrugged. “There are some chill people on Discord.”
“You mean GlizzyGobbler and FastAndCurious? How much you wanna bet they’re both thirty-year-old incels?”
“Or ten-year-old trolls who only speak in memes,” she countered, her argument flimsy at best.
“Is that supposed to be better?”
“Ugh. Count your days, Ellie.” Andrew lowered his brow. “Count your days.”
“Ellie?” I paused. “Wait,Zombies?”
Before he could answer, Andrew spoke again. “Don’t know your boyfriend very well, do ya, Clarke? He’s a gamer.”
“Do you guys even have anything in common?” Dani prodded further.
“Uh,” I stammered. “We—I…uh—”
“She plays video games,” Elliot blurted out.
