She leans close and kisses Dana tenderly on the lips, and they stay that way for a lingering moment before they both turn to look back at us. The boys and I smile widely at them.
“So, you two are official huh?” Blair asks with a twinkle in his mischievous green eyes.
“Absolutely!” Laura confirms, giving Dana’s hand a squeeze as she winks at her. “She’s my girl, and I’m keeping her!”
Dana blushes and beams so happily, and it warms my heart. “Good! That’s so good. I could not be happier for you both.”
“Me too,” Laura sighs with a smile, “the only person who’s serious pissed about this is Victoria. I think she’s just mad that Dana isn’t pining for her anymore. Not that she ever cared.”
“Well, she’s right. I can’t stand Victoria, and you are the only woman I want,” Dana agrees. “And no one here cares if Victoria is mad. She ca
n be mad all she wants, as long as she leaves us all the hell alone.”
“She’s never going to do that. She isn’t capable of it,” Wills says darkly.
“I just wish Astor would come to his right mind,” Blair says.
“Yeah, if she wasn’t with him, he’d probably be with us. I miss him,” Wills replies with some dejection.
I miss him too, but I’m not going to say it out loud. I’m too mad at him still. He chose Victoria over us, and I’m not about to forget that.
“Hey, Teddy!” I hear my name and I turn to see a group of the unexpected party guests standing near me. Since my true identity has come out for a second time, I suddenly have no end of friends at the school.
“We wanted to tell you that we’re going to vote for you in the Valentine’s theme race!” one of the girls says exuberantly. Her friends nod excitedly in agreement with her. She laughs, and her friends laugh with her.
“Well thanks, ladies. I appreciate it,” I tell them with a smile.
“Just so you know, so many people are voting for you,” the girl tells me as if she’s giving me an inside scoop.
I thank her again and they leave, going off to join some of the others.
“You know, it’s one thing we can’t cheat on. Everyone is going to vote, and that’s going to be that. In the meantime, though, no matter what the theme ends up being, I know I’ve got the auction and the crown at the dance in the bag.”
“We’re getting rainbow togas,” Dana confides in me. “Laura and I want to show a little pride when we come to the dance.”
“Oh, I love that!” I encourage them. “I have to win the theme first, so don’t buy togas until after the vote.” I laugh a little.
“You’ll win! I know you’re going to win!” Laura assures me. “People have been tired of Victoria ruling over this school for so long. They’re ready for a fresh new face to lead the students, and you’re the perfect candidate.”
“I hope so.” I smile.
Laura looks at me curiously then. “Who are you going to the dance with?” she asks, looking from Blair to Wills.
I slide my hands into both of their arms as they stand on either side of me. “Both of them, of course. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
More of the students at the party come up and tell me that they’re voting for my Valentine’s theme, and it bolsters my confidence. That trend continues the next day, everywhere I go.
I didn’t even realize the vote was such a big deal, but anytime I’m in a hallway, people stop me and tell me they’re voting for me.
When I’m in class, people start passing me notes or whispering to me that they’re voting for me. It’s such a surprise. I thought that most of the students didn’t like me; a residual effect of semesters past. Ever since I came back with Wills and Blair from winter break, it seems like I can suddenly do no wrong. Well, save for Astor and Victoria. She’s become relentless in her pursuit of the Valentine’s dance crown, but it just comes across as desperate.
Too bad for her, she’s already lost, and she doesn’t even know it.
She elbows me as we walk out of class one afternoon later in the week, and gives me a cold, hard stare. “I know you’re trying to rally the troops around school, but it’s not going to work. People will tell you to your face that they’re going to vote for you, but they won’t. They’re all going to stay loyal to me because I am with Astor, and no one crosses Astor Hawthorne.”
I just smile a little and shake my head. “I know you believe that, but this school isn’t yours anymore, Victoria. You’re about to find that out the hard way.”
I leave her fuming at me. I don’t care how mad she gets. Nothing she can do affects me any longer, and she knows it.