Miles thinks Aria should win it

The newsletter drops Thursday morning, the day before prom. Miles picks up a copy from the table outside the main office without thinking much of it, scanning it while walking down the hallway.

He finds it on page three. A small column, senior spotlight, end of year quotes. His name in bold.

Prom king contender Miles has his pick for prom queen — and it's Aria.

He stops walking.

He reads it again. Then once more. Sarah has quoted him directly, cleanly, with the casual devastation of someone who knew exactly what she was doing the whole time.

He is still staring at the page when he senses movement to his right. He looks up.

Janice is walking past. She has a copy of the newsletter in her hand, folded open to page three. She looks at him with an expression that is completely unreadable for exactly one second.

Then she raises her middle finger, holds it steady for a long moment, and walks away without breaking stride.

He watches her go.

He has approximately eighteen hours until prom.