Unfortunately, Cory and I were still required to attend the Homecoming Game and Dance as they decided not to completely wipe us from the Court after our entrance fiasco. Instead, we both received after school detention—I got one week, Cory got two because he actually had the profane word written on him.

Cory knew that would happen too. He insisted on being the FUCK, knowing that person would likely get in more trouble, which was sweet of him.

The Homecoming Game was about as boring as one would imagine. Everyone on the Court was forced to sit in the first row of bleachers and during halftime we all had to stand on the field while Principal Newtown announced each of us to the attendees like we were show ponies. Luckily I had Sean and Cory beside me the whole time.

Cory and I snuck off to his car probably three times throughout the game to smoke. Gabi came with us the last time. We invited Sean, but each time he just shook his head, giving me an extra curious and disapproving side-eye. At one point, while I was in Cory's car, he texted me.

From: Sean

Everything ok with you and Cory?

After hitting the joint and passing it back to Cory, I replied.

To: Sean

Yeah, definitely. Why?

From: Sean

Nothing, I guess. You guys just seem closer and idk if I trust him.

I almost laughed out loud. Of all the guys who could hurt me, Cory was probably the least to be concerned about. I couldn't tell Sean why though. It wasn't my secret to tell.

From: Sean

I just don't want you getting into trouble, Al.

To: Sean

I trust him. And I cause my own trouble, Seany ;) You know that.

We ended up beating San Ramon by 9 points and of course Blake was acting—and being treated—like he'd won the Superbowl. My favorite part of the game was watching Ezra interview Blake for the school newspaper on the field during halftime. At the end of the interview, they exchanged a bro hug that seemed genuine. Like they respected one another. I was a little baked at the time, so maybe that's why I smiled so wide. But still, it was wholesome to witness two worlds, colliding.

I met up with Rachel and Lindsay after the game ended. We were all riding back to Lindsay's house to get ready for the dance, and Rachel scolded me the second she saw my face.

"Seriously, Allie, you're high?" she said as one finger reached out to touch the skin beneath my left eye, pulling it down slightly. I assumed the white around my blue irises were spidering with red webs.

I smacked her hand away. "Got to stay entertained somehow because God knows football doesn't do it."

We almost made it to Lindsay's car when I heard my name called from a voice I did not want to engage with.

We all stopped walking at the sound. Rachel and Lindsay turned to look at him, but I stayed still, focusing on Linds' car, wishing I was already in it and we were on our way to her house.

That wasn't the case though.

"Go to the car," I told them on a sigh. "I'll be right there."

Both of them did as I said before I turned to see him jogging toward me, finally slowing to a walk as he neared.

"Hey," he said, his deep voice a little breathless. My lower body tingled and I narrowed my eyes at my internal, uncontrollable reaction.

I blinked hard and tried to focus. "Hi."

He cracked his knuckles and closed more space between us. It took all my power to not step back or forward. My mind wanted to be away, but my body wanted to be close. "You looked good out there today."

I forced a smile. "I stood in one place on the football field for five minutes, but sure."

Spencer ran a hand through his silky brown hair, clearly trying to stay collected. He smiled softly. "You still looked good, Allie."

I nodded simply and bit my lip before quickly releasing it. I knew it turned him on and I was too high at the moment to be able to handle him making any advances toward me.

"It seemed like you had a good time yesterday at the rally." He smirked.

This, I laughed at. "Yeah. A week of detention, but worth it."

He chuckled deeply in response to my own laughter, and then his deep blue eyes turned cobalt. I knew this eye. It was the eye color of lust. I watched his fingers itch against his palm, like he was resisting the urge to reach out to me.

Before he could indulge himself, I took a small step back and jerked my head towards Lindsay's car behind me. "I should go."

His hands stilled and his eyes calmed slightly as he nodded. "For sure. You're going to the dance tonight though, right?"

I did a small, quick curtsy. "As a Whitewood Princess, I am required to attend."

He let out one of my favorite laughs of his. It was unhindered by any thought or emotion. It was just an authentic laugh. "Then, I'll see you there, Princess Allison."

Princess.

Despite the clench in the back of my jaw, I pushed out a smile. "See you there, Spencer."

The Homecoming Dance itself was definitely more exciting than the game. Rachel, Lindsay, and I got ready and then went over to Sean's house. He was hosting a lot of the basketball guys. I invited Cory, since technically he was my date. Sean invited Casey too, but she was too busy setting up the gym for the dance—not like any of us were complaining too much about her absence. At least, I wasn't.

Like the Homecoming Game's wholesome moment between Blake and Ezra, I caught a moment between Liam and Rachel that made me smile. He had asked her to be his date to the dance, but there wasn't anything incredibly official about it. It wasn't like they planned to match or anything.

At one point, though, I saw him grab her hand and whisper in her ear. After she nodded, he pulled her out onto the porch from the living room we were all in. They disappeared down the stairs and I made an excuse to step outside for some air.

I secretly watched from behind a pillar on the porch as he took her out onto Sean's lawn and then pulled out a very small and simple purple corsage, perfectly matching her lacy, purple dress.

"How did you know the color?" I heard Rachel say with a laugh.

"I have my ways," Liam replied and I could hear the smile in his voice.

Lindsay. Only a week prior, I had gotten to Lindsay's car before Rachel during lunch and Lindsay said that Liam asked her what color dress Rachel was wearing to Homecoming.

I smiled to myself and went back inside. Good job, Liam. Big brownie points.

"Allie, there you are! It's picture time!" Lisa, Sean's Mom, yelled when I walked back into the kitchen. My mom was there now too. There were group pictures, solo pictures, date pictures, couple pictures, too many pictures.

"You look really pretty, Al," Sean said to me, squeezing my waist after Lisa and Mom made us take about five hundred pictures together.

I looked down at my off-the-shoulder, fitted, yellow dress and shrugged. "Eh, I do alright."

He let out a kind laugh.

I fixed the collar of his navy suit jacket. "You clean up nice, though. Casey will be happy."

He pushed me hands off his collar and began to fix it himself. "Casey? Happy? You're asking for a miracle, Carson."

Now I laughed, before eyeing him slyly. "Well, given the likely chance she's not, you got any liquor we can at least numb the pain with?"

Sean and I were able to subtly snag Liam, Rachel, Lindsay, and Cory down to his basement to take a few shots each of some shitty tequila Steven had dropped off for Sean earlier today.

I was already feeling tipsy when we walked into the Homecoming Dance. What was once a gym with a basketball court and full-rise bleachers was now a dance floor, DJ and stage, photo booth, seating area and buffet, with areas for standing to socialize.

I spent most of the night roaming around with Lindsay by my side, seeing as Rachel and Liam were practically inseparable. We danced with the girls in our friend group, including Rory, who was more than ready for a physical crown to add to her psychological one.

At one point, we chatted with Cory and all his friends—mostly stoners, who were only there to make fun of the fact that he was actually on the Court. Cory let me hit a pen he snuck in and then I was flying high as a kite.

We also had the occasional run-in with Casey, which was less than pleasant.

"This looks amazing, Casey," I told her one time. Even though the gym did look amazing, my voice held nothing but sarcasm.

"No thanks to you," she shot back with a twisted smile.

We also ran into Blake and I congratulated him on his big win. He had clearly pregamed hard as he swayed and slightly slurred when he hugged and thanked me.

It was no surprise when the King and Queen were finally announced that the winners were Blake Adams and Rory Prescott. They had their King and Queen slow dance for about a minute before the DJ invited everyone else to join.

That's when I felt a pair of hands land on my waist that made me turn around. I practically spun away and out of them. Because I knew those hands.

Spencer was standing there, looking handsome as hell, as usual. He reached out his hand and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a new hand rested on his forearm, pushing it away from me.

Cory smiled lightly at Spencer. "Sorry, bro. This dance is for Whitewood Royalty."

Before neither Spencer nor I could say anything else, Cory had an arm around my shoulders as he moved me gently onto the dance floor. He shifted his hands into mine so he could spin me elegantly, making me laugh, before pulling me into him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I placed my hands at the nape of his neck gently as we began to rock.

"What was that?" I asked him, not daring to look in the direction we came from, where I knew Spencer was still standing, likely glaring at us.

Cory smirked. "What do you mean?"

I shook my head at him. "Pushing Spencer off. Whitewood Royalty?"

Cory smiled wickedly. "Oh. Well. For one, this is the King and Queen's dance so, in my opinion, as Prince and Princess this past week, we should be dancing together."

Princess.

"And two?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Well, that's obvious," he said with a laugh. "Spencer isn't your crush. And I can't have you slow dancing with Spencer in front of your crush."

"I don't have a crush," I reminded Cory with slanted eyes. "But the guy you're speaking of, he's not here. So it really doesn't matter anyway."

I'd done a good job of, overall, ignoring the fact that Tyler was MIA. Still, every time the gym door opened, I looked to see who was coming in. Every time I finished a conversation, I'd scan the crowd. Every time I felt eyes looking at me, I immediately met them.

But, every door, every scan, every pair of eyes. None of them held Tyler.

I waved my hand behind Cory's head and changed the subject. "So are you having fun tonight?"

Cory offered me a real smile, one that I hadn't seen in almost two weeks. Since we sat together at the beach and told each other secrets. "Yeah, actually. I am having a good time."

I smiled back at him and tightened my arms around his neck, leaning into his chest.

His chin rested against the top of my forehead.

"I was really upset about being nominated for Homecoming Court," I confessed. "Like, I yelled at Sean."

Cory laughed in the back of his throat but didn't say anything.

"But now, I'm really glad this happened," I continued, before pulling away and looking into Cory's eyes. I saw memories in them.

I saw Ezra sleeping in Gabi's passenger seat. I saw Gabi's amazed gaze as I gave her my number. I saw Casey's face, dark purple with raging embarrassment. Sean's eyes, bright brown with malignant care.

"I'm really glad I got to be the joke with you."

Cory arms moved from waist up to the middle of my back, where he squeezed me in a hug that nearly suffocated me. At the same time, he whispered, "You have no idea how glad I am, too."

I hugged him back until I couldn't breathe anymore and forced us apart. As the song ended, I asked, "So, are you going to Rory's party?"

Naturally, Queen Rory had already planned on having an after party.

Cory took a step away from me, but kept my hand in his so he could dramatically bow and kiss the top of it, like we were truly royals.

I let my head fall back and laughed.

He then stepped forward and placed my hand back at my side. "Even if I was invited, that sounds like fucking hell."

I nodded. "Yeah. It does. It will be."

Cory placed his hands gently on the sides of my neck. "Hey, call me if you need anything, okay?"

I nodded placed my hands on top of his and squeezed. "Yeah. Same. Call me if you need anything."

Cory smiled before leaning forward and planting a kiss on my hairline. Then we both separated and he walked away, towards his friends who were already at the door, waiting to leave and go smoke and party.

I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling oddly exposed. I moved quickly towards one side of the gym, but was stopped midway.

"Hey."

There were tears in my eyes, but I turned to him anyway.

"Hi," I said with a smile.

"Allie, what happened?" His concern was instant.

"Nothing. Nothing bad," I promised as my body began to curl toward him. "I'm just really happy right now."

Sean's hand went to my hair while the other grabbed my waist. "Then why are you crying."

"Because, I didn't realize, I didn't know..."

Sean pulled me in for a hug and I held in the sob that threatened to escape. What did I do to deserve this life? To have these people in it?

"I'm sorry for cussing you out about the nomination."

Sean pulled away, laughing. "So you had fun."

My eyes twinkled as my tears retreated and my mask found its rightful place on my face again. "I mean, I wouldn't say fun."

He rolled his eyes.

More sincerely I said, "But it was a good week."

It really had been. Even with detention. I thought this week would make me feel more like a joke. It did the opposite though. I somehow felt better about myself today than I did last Saturday. I felt stronger. I felt seen. By people I would've never expected to have ever even spoken to.

People who had seen me in only one light. But now valued me for who I was, not what I looked like.

Sadly, that feeling didn't last long.

* * *

Rory's party was wild. She preordered a large sheet cake that said Homecoming Queen. She got a piñata specifically for her and Blake to break open. They each had their own personal coolers that were decked out with King & Queen decorations and drawings.

I was wasted within an hour and spent most of the night dodging Spencer and Landon, both of whom were eyeing me like prey to be caught or a prize to be won.

The feeling of being seen for who I was began to seem like a distant concept I had made up in a dream.

Landon caught up to me first, shortly after midnight. His arm encircled my waist from behind, pulling my back into his chest. One hand rested dangerously close to my pelvis as he leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Hi, Princess."

It was a teasing voice that made my skin crawl. The smell of gin on his breath flooded my nose. I forced out a giggle. "Hi, Landon."

"I like this dress on you," he murmured, his hand on my lower waist inching down even further as the other ran up my side, his fingers brushing against my breast until they landed on my shoulder, caressing the exposed skin there. "I think I'd like it better on my bedroom floor though."

I resisted an eye roll at the cliché line, but when his finger ran across my collarbone my body betrayed me. Landon felt the shudder run through me, the fidgety twitch that sparked in my knees.

He chuckled, his warm breath fanning across my ear. "Want to get out of here?"

I was drunk. I was tired of running. And I knew Landon wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted.

Give them what they want. Then you have nothing to lose.

My usual smirk came to life on my lips as I turned my head towards him, making eye contact. Our faces only inches apart.

I nodded.

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A/N: Hope y'all enjoyed!!! Don't forget to VOTE and comment!