Homecoming Queen
It was a bright and sunny day. The wind was freshly cold as usual and the white fluffy clouds drifted aimlessly in the blue sky, having no destination and not needing it either.
It was a nice day...or it would've been if it wasn't for the people around chatting and making useless unnecessary noise, not talking about anything necessarily important.
I was in the school's amphitheater today, sitting at a vantage position that kind of gave me a bird's eye view of the whole place and the sports department building standing about a hundred meters away from me.
The amphitheater was almost crowded today, unsurprisingly. Students, especially sophomores, sat huddled together in their so-called 'cliques', idly chatting.
I didn't know if it was an American culture thing, but from where I was from, students in high school didn't segregate into organized groups based on their shared preferences.
Sure, they were friend groups and all that but it wasn't like it was around here. But you know, it was America, segregation was kinda like it's thing...
Whispers, if you could even call them that, caught my attention, and focusing my gaze on one particular area, near the bottom, I could see Jackie and the cheerleading squad occasionally glancing at me, decked in their full shells.
I even made eye contact with Jackie. She smiled mockingly at me, harrumphed, and then turned her gaze away as she gossiped excitedly with her squad.
A chuckle leaked out of my mouth at this and I couldn't help but look at her with a little pity. If only she knew that if it wasn't for me, she'd have her head telekinetically sawed off tomorrow.
And that after today, she wouldn't have any of her cherished popularity anymore. Ignorance was truly bliss...
My attention left her area as I saw a group of students in casual and graphic clothing, with their school bags, chatting as they came out of the sports building and cut across the stage to one of the stone benches.
One guy in particular among them, a tall thin guy with shaggy brown hair, brown almost droopy eyes, fresh stubble, and an above-average face, smiled when he made eye contact with me.
He excused himself from his friends and climbed over to me with his black bag hanging from his shoulders.
His stripped blue and black sweater with a black graphic t-shirt that had a green lantern ring on it underneath, his baggy denim jeans, his Walkman headset, and his black and white sneakers gave him the stereotypical nerdy look.
Just the guy I was waiting for...
"Hi, Xander." He greeted me with a smile, his clear voice a little deepened, and sat down next to me after I scooted over, feeling the tinge of pain from my aching muscles.
"Hi Zack," I nodded at him with a smile. "What good news do you bring?"
"Well, after you gave me the 'gifts' it was very very easy to convince them to vote for the right person," He started, a little cheerfully.
"And because of how the unpopular vastly outnumber the popular in this school, with a majority of them hating Jackie to their bones, it was a breeze convincing the rest to throw their votes the other way.
"So, judging by my calculations, it's safe to say she'll win by a landslide, it wouldn't even be a fair fight." He finished in an assuring tone.
"You're absolutely sure?" I raised an eyebrow at his confidence, a smile on my face, and he nodded hard.
"Oh totally. Trust me, you're gonna enjoy the look on Jackie's face when the results come out." He assured me confidently, making an 'O' with his fingers.
"Neat. I knew you were the right guy for the job. Thanks, man." I said gratefully with a smile, patting his shoulder gently.
He looked down at my palm on his shoulder and smiled awkwardly, a sheepish look on his face.
"Don't sweat it. It's the least I can do for her now that I've seen her being herself again," He said with a reminiscent smile. "It's nice seeing her being original again."
I nodded without saying anything and the conversation ended as more and more people drove into the amphitheater.
From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Zach scratching the back of his head, a shy look on his face as he opened his mouth, hesitant to tell me something.
"Uhm ah...Xander." He called and so I turned my head to face him.
"What?"
"I...was maybe wondering if I could maybe...get your number or something?" He asked shyly, a little nervous, unable to properly look me in the eye.
My eyebrows lifted at his weird behavior. My number? Did he want to be friends or something?
If so that was cool with me but why was he making it weird? Why the hell was he behaving like a guy who had finally gotten the courage to ask his crush her number?
...Wait, oh c'mon...
I nearly facepalmed as I suddenly remembered one teeny tiny detail of Zach. Zach was...gay.
I had to stop the cringe that was creeping on my face as the realization set in...I was getting fucking hit on by a guy.
This had never happened to me before. How was I supposed to react?
Looking at his expectant gaze, it was my turn to smile awkwardly as I struggled to find the appropriate words to say.
"...Uhm, listen Zach...how about another time?" I managed to squeeze out and a look of understanding dawned on his face, his mouth thinning into a wry smile as he looked down.
"Nah it's okay. I understand. It's not like this is my first time or anything," He laughed quietly, in a self-depreciating manner. "But we're still cool right?" He turned to look at me with a forced happy smile.
"Yeah of course man," I stopped another cringe from forming as my eyes caught a familiar figure approaching the notice board from the sides. "Look, the principal is here with the results."
His brown eyes immediately shifted from me to my dad as he walked towards the notice board with a couple of papers in hand, wearing his usual black suit and tie with that hard look on his face.
"Yeah. I'm gonna go check it out." He said and got up to leave with fresh excitement flashing on his face.
Everyone seated stood up also and moved towards my dad, talking loudly, as he stopped in front of the board and clipped one of the papers to it.
Jackie and her entourage also stood up with confident smirks on their faces and ahead, Claire finally arrived, coming out of the building in her full shell with her hair styled in beach waves.
Seeing her I stood up, waved to get her attention, and started descending as my father left wordlessly, allowing the students to surround the board while some stood on the left side, outside the stage, on the small stairs near the board.
"Hey," I said as I reached her on the stage.
"Hey," She repeated and glanced at the crowded board. "Those are the results right?"
"Yeah. You wanna take a look? Who knows, there could be a surprise on it." I smiled daringly at her and she flashed me a weird suspicious look.
"...Sure." She shrugged and we both walked to the crowd.
Suddenly, gasps rang from the front of the board.
"What's wrong?" Claire asked me as she tiptoed, trying to see what the fuss was all about.
Squinting, I caught a look at the results and smiled, "The surprise." I turned to her and said. Her face filled with confusion.
"Hey isn't that Claire?"
"Yeah, it is man. Yo, make way!"
"Move, move!"
Voices and exclamations rang out as people focused on Claire, making her confusion deepen, and before she even knew it, a path had been cleared for her to walk to the front with everyone looking at her with a smile.
And the whole place quieted down.
"Let's go, Claire." Grabbing her hand as she was frozen in confusion, I pulled her to the front of the board which had a similarly frozen Jackie standing by the side of it.
Claire looked at the results and instantly her eyes widened like saucers, and her lips parted in surprise.
"...I won?" She asked, speaking to herself, her voice laced with shock.
"Yes, yes you did," I nodded at her and then turned around to face the spectating crowd. "Let's give it up for Claire guys. Your new homecoming Queen!" I exclaimed and like a bomb, the crowd exploded.
"Claire!"
"Claire!"
"Claire!"
"Claire!"
"Clair..."
Everyone started chanting, filling the whole area with praise, and this pulled her out of her shock, making her look at everyone with wide eyes as the chants reached a crescendo.
On the other side, Jackie was also brought out of her reverie and her face fell immediately, a heavy frown creeping onto it.
Her entourage had looks of disbelief and pity on their faces as they looked at Jackie who was sending heated looks at Claire and me, especially me, and I smiled mockingly at her.
"Forget about it, Jackie. C'mon, let's get out of here." One of her dark-skinned friends shook her head with a frown and grabbed Jackie's hand, pulling her out of the place with the rest of the entourage.
Claire, finally accepting reality, smiled brightly that it seemed to brighten up the place as she faced all the cheers, looking the happiest I had ever seen her be.
I nodded with a small happy smile on my face. It was all worth it...
•••
"So...should I call you your Royal Highness from now onwards or what?" I asked Claire cheekily as we walked towards her locker.
"Haha very funny." She rolled her eyes at me with a smile, her brown bag hanging from her shoulders as she waved to another passerby who showered her with praise.
Ever since school ended, wherever we passed people have been showering Claire with genuine praises or congratulating her for winning the Homecoming Queen position.
It had gotten so much that I couldn't stop myself from cringing. There was only so much praise someone could take, even for a third wheel like me...
"Amazing isn't it? That feeling of being recognized by people you don't know or have never even seen before." I remarked as we stopped in front of her locker.
"...Yeah, I guess," She paused in thought, for a few seconds as she opened her locker, and said. "To be honest, everything just feels surreal."
"Well get used to it because you're going to get a whole lot more tomorrow." I pointed out and she sighed as she packed and removed her things.
"I know, I know. It's just that, I can't help but wrap my head around how I won," She closed her locker with a thump and locked it. "Like, I didn't even do a single campaign. So how?"
"Maybe someone did for you? Who knows?" I shrugged at her as she looked at my face with slightly confused eyes, smiling mysteriously.
Turns out, all one had to for a cheerleader to win an election was to bribe the 'nerds' with old vintage comics and get them to do spread the propaganda.
And luckily for me, the old Xander had a whole box of those tucked away in the basement...
Looking at my face, she frowned slightly, crossing her arms on her chest as her grey eyes squinted at me.
She stared at me suspiciously, like this, for a while and then smiled knowingly as her eyes glinted in understanding.
"You did something didn't you?"
"Who knows?" I shrugged cooly.
"...But why? I thought I told you I didn't care about stuff like this anymore?"
"Well obviously you do, even if it's very little now. And besides, it's been a while since I've seen you this happy. So I figured why not?
"One, you get to be happy, since I'm sure this was like one of your high school dreams, and two, Jackie's attitude would be knocked down a peg. A double win don't you agree?" I explained nonchalantly as I clutched one of the handles of my bag.
Claire didn't answer and just stared at my face with a calm gaze and then suddenly, she drew close and enveloped me into a deep hug, pressing her head into the fabric of my black t-shirt, ignoring all those who stared.
"...Thank you, thank you so much..." She whispered emotionally as she tightened the hug.
"You're welcome, Claire," I replied as I reciprocated the hug, patting her head gently.
...Hopefully, my pessimism wouldn't be right for a change... and there would be no danger tomorrow...
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KingSeyer
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