twenty-three
The first person Claire saw when her mom dropped her off at school the next morning was Neil.
He was sitting on the low wall in front of the gym, reading a book—but when he saw her, he stood up immediately and started in her direction. “Hey, Claire.”
His smile was so winning that she couldn’t help but smile back. “Hey, Neil. You guys are reading The Great Gatsby now?”
Neil glanced down at the book as if he’d forgotten what it was. He let out an embarrassed chuckle. “Actually, I finished it a week ago. I just didn’t want to make it obvious that I was waiting for you.” He darted her a look. It reminded her of the way Alec had looked at her all day yesterday—the kind of look she used to long for from Neil. Claire was flattered, but nothing more—which was a little surprising. If this had happened two weeks ago, she would have been over the moon.
“So,” Neil said as they climbed the stairs toward the Upper School, “have you cast your primary vote for Homecoming Court yet?”
“No. Why? When’s that due?”
“It has to be turned in by the end of the day.”
“Good to know. But to be honest, I’ve never paid much attention to the whole Homecoming Court thing.”
“Why not?”
“I guess because I was never eligible before.” Nominations for king and queen were restricted to seniors, and prince and princess were chosen from the junior class. “What’s the point of having a king or queen, anyway, when they don’t actually do anything?”
Neil shrugged as they passed the stream of students jogging back downhill from their lockers. “I think it’s like all kings and queens today. They’re figureheads, a proud tradition to rally the citizenry.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “Is that a quote from last year’s history textbook?”
“Busted,” he admitted with a grin. “But it sounded convincing, right?”
“Like Churchill himself,” Claire stated with mock reverence.
“What I was getting at,” Neil went on, “is that high schools need figureheads, too. Which is why I nominated you for Homecoming Princess.”
“You what?” Claire gasped, astonished.
“And I told all my friends to do the same.”
“You have got to be kidding me! Neil, what were you thinking? No one in this school knows I’m alive.”
“Where have you been, Claire? After that scaffolding accident, everybody knows who you are.”
Claire flushed a little. “Oh—that. Still, that doesn’t make me princess material.”
“You’re one of the most beautiful girls in this school, certainly one of the nicest, and hands down the smartest. You definitely deserve to be in the Royal Court.”
“I … don’t know what to say,” Claire replied, flustered.
“How about yes, and you’ll go with me?”
Claire’s stomach clenched. Uncertainly, she asked, “Go with you … where?”
“To the dance?” he said hopefully.
“Oh!… Oh…”
Neil’s face fell. “Okay. That’s not quite the response I was hoping for.”
They’d reached the library landing now, a few yards from Claire’s locker. She stopped and tried to gather her wits. This was the moment she’d been dreaming of for over two years! But after yesterday, everything had changed.
“Neil,” she began hesitantly, “I’m sorry, but… I think Alec and I are… I mean, he hasn’t asked me to the dance yet, but—”
Neil cut her off, holding up his hands. “Looks like it’s my turn to say ‘Oh.’ I knew you two were rehearsing a song, but I had no idea you were… Seriously, Brennan. That’s totally cool. Alec seems like a great guy … that freak-out at the mall notwithstanding.”
Claire gave him a soft smile. “Thanks.” Crap, she thought. He looked so disappointed. Despite her aversion to the whole Homecoming Princess thing, she still liked Neil and would love to go to the dance. What if Alec didn’t ask her?
Neil’s eyes were suddenly drawn to something immediately behind Claire. His mouth tightened slightly. Claire spun around to find Alec at their locker, his gaze fixed casually on the two of them. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. How long had he been standing there? He looked incredibly handsome in his faded green T-shirt and black leather jacket. She hadn’t stopped thinking about Alec since he’d dropped her off at home the evening before, when they’d exchanged another good-bye kiss at her door—a kiss equally as thrilling as the ones they’d shared atop the Ferris wheel.
Claire smiled at Alec, then whirled back to find Neil staring at them as if struggling to remain calm.
Tension crackled through the air. Claire couldn’t believe this was happening. She’d never even had one boy pay attention to her before; and now two boys liked her at the same time?
Brian and Erica rounded the corner of the library and, caught in the awkwardness, shot questioning looks at Claire. After what seemed like forever, Alec gave Claire and Neil a friendly nod, then turned his attention back to his locker.
As if released from a spell, Neil shrugged good-naturedly. “See you in Concert Singers.” With a wave to Brian and Erica, he was gone.
Claire had no idea what she was supposed to do next. Kiss Alec hello? Go talk to her friends?
The first bell rang, rescuing her from either option. “Morning!” she blurted, and then raced off to her first class. It was AP bio, which, to her relief, she shared with no one.
After bio came Concert Singers, and with that came more quizzical looks from Brian and Erica. For the entire fifty-minute period, through every note of the Messiah, Claire felt them staring at her, while Neil did his best to act normal.
When the bell rang at the end of class, Erica and Brian pounced on Claire.
“Tell us everything. Now.”
“On top of the Ferris wheel, huh?” Erica nodded with approval. “That’s a good make-out spot.”
Claire blushed. She had quickly summarized yesterday for them as they helped Erica put up Homecoming posters during their break. Although she hadn’t told them everything. The day before had been so special, she wanted to keep some details to herself.
“You had mouth-to-mouth contact, and you didn’t have a vision?” Brian asked, impressed, as he grabbed a poster from the stack and handed it to Claire. “How’d you pull that off?”
“By concentrating really, really hard,” Claire confessed.
“That’s awesome!” Erica enthused. “You’re making progress.”
“So, are you guys official?” Brian asked.
“I think so.” Claire slapped the poster up against one of the stucco walls and secured it with masking tape.
“Have you told your mom?” Erica asked.
“Not yet.”
“Has he asked you to Homecoming?” Erica persisted.
“Slow down, guys! This was yesterday. We kissed. That’s all.” Although, Claire thought, it had been incredible.
Erica pulled a strip of tape from the roll that hung around her wrist like a bracelet. “Well, if you guys aren’t an official item, then what was that silent pissing contest between Alec and Neil?”
“Yeah, I’ve never seen Neil look so uncomfortable in my life,” Brian agreed.
Claire sighed. “Neil had just asked me to Homecoming. Alec might have overheard—I’m not sure.”
“Oh my God!” Erica cried. “What did you tell Neil?”
“I said no, and that I’m kind of with Alec now.”
Erica nodded. Brian groaned.
“What?” Claire said.
“You did the right thing,” Brian said, “but that sucks. You’ve wanted Neil to ask you out for, like, forever.”
“Yeah, so Alec better do the right thing and ask you to Homecoming,” Erica exclaimed with authority, “or I am going to figure out what his own personal Kryptonite is, and kill him with it.”
“That reminds me.” Brian exchanged a look with Erica. “We, uh … went shopping yesterday.”
Claire looked at them, confused. “What?”
“Oh yeah.” Erica withdrew a small bag from her backpack and handed it to Claire. “We got you something.”
The bag was from a local boutique. Claire reached inside and took out their gift: a pair of long, stretchy black gloves. “What are these for?” she said uncertainly.
“Think of them as your own personal, nonlethal Kryptonite,” Brian explained. “Fabric seems to work as a barrier to suppress your powers, just like it did for Rogue in X-Men.”
“Hopefully you can touch people now, without having to concentrate so hard,” added Erica.
Claire nodded slowly, conflicted. “Thanks, guys. It’s a good idea, and very thoughtful. But… I’ll look like a freak wearing gloves to school.”
“Not if you have company.” Grinning, Erica pulled another pair of long gloves from her backpack—these in bright pink spandex—and pulled them on, fitting them deliberately over her fingers. “It’ll be a fashion statement. We might start a new trend.”
“Or be classified as a pair of freaks.” Claire laughed and put on her own gloves. “Thanks for the solidarity, sister.” She and Erica high-fived.
“Vision?” Erica inquired, after their hands had smacked together.
“Nope.” Claire smiled happily.
“Score!” Brian cried with a satisfied nod. “But keep in mind, CB, they’ll only help with the hand-touching thing. If you go around kissing people, you’re on your own.”