King and Queen.

The MC took the paper in her hand and looked like she was reading it again. In her place I’d do the same. I’d be mortified if I happened to read the names wrong out loud.

“First, this year’s Prom Queen is…”

“Don’t they announce the king first?” Noelle asked. I was thinking the same.

“Isabelle Brooks from class 3! Congratulations! Come on up here, Isabelle!”

“Oh! Oh wow!” Isabelle looked shocked at first but then started laughing excitedly.

“Congrats, Isabelle!”

“Congrats!”

“Congratulations!”

The girls cheered for her and patted her on the back as she began to make her way to the stage.

“Thanks! I’ll be right back, guys!” she said. I gave her a victory sign.

“Okay, but seriously, why announce the queen first?” Sarah asked. “That’s usually what people care about.”

“Who knows? Maybe the king is someone really unexpected this time and they’re playing with the suspense,” Thomas said with a shrug.

Why did that give me a bad feeling?

We watched Isabelle get on stage. Even with so many people watching her, she didn’t seem uncomfortable. She was given a bouquet of flowers and they put a tiara on her head as people cheered and clapped.

“And finally, the last award of the night. This year’s title of Prom King goes to…”

Please no…

“Oliver Brooks! Congratulations!”

Fuck all of you.

Everyone at the table laughed. Well, no, not everyone at the table. Everyone in the damn gym.

“Congrats, dude,” Thomas said, smirking.

“Shut up.”

“Come on, love! They’re waiting for you!” Grace said, pushing me towards the stage.

“You’ll pay for this…” I told them.

“Hey, we didn’t do anything,” Sarah said, raising her hands. “You earned it, Mr. Popular.”

I sighed and began to make my way towards the stage. They really were waiting for me, after all. I felt my face and my ears burning, my heart beating painfully quickly. Even though people laughed, they were also cheering, clapping and giving me genuine smiles of encouragement.

…

I could tell because I was looking at them, looking at their faces. If this had happened the way I was before, I would’ve assumed it was all a prank to make fun of me. Now, it was more like I was part of the joke rather than the butt of it.

Because yeah, it had to be a joke. Let’s get the twins elected as king and queen! Something like that. Well, it was done already, and if I wanted to be a performer, then I’d have to get used to pleasing the crowds.

I raised my head and walked with a straight back. I greeted my classmates on the way to the stage, laughing and shaking my head. Once up there, I was given a cheap plastic crown and… a pretty decent analog watch with a metal strap. Oh wow. I didn’t know there was an actual gift that came with this.

“Once more, congratulations to your Prom King and Queen. Please, give them a round of applause!”

As the people cheered, Isabelle and I glanced at each other awkwardly, then decided to just go along with it.

“Is there anything you’d like to say? Any words to share with your people?” the MC asked, offering us the mic.

Isabelle was quick to take it. “Thank you everyone! This really means a lot to me, because now that I’m on this stage with my brother beside me…” she put an arm around my shoulder and grinned at the audience. “I can tell you all to subscribe to our channel! We upload three times a week! We’ve got music covers, originals and random videos of our cat! And you all better remember this guy’s name because he’s going to be famous and you’ll be able to brag you went to school with him! And like the videos, dammit! It helps the algorithm!”

Everyone laughed and cheered hard. We heard whistling and exaggerated chants of ‘Oliver, we love you!’ and ‘Sign my bra!’. There was also some humorous booing of the shameless self-plug.

“And what about our new king? Do you have something to say?”

Should I do it? There was something I wanted to say, but… There was a heavy pressure in my chest. The atmosphere was good, people were laughing and having a good time. If I went for it and said what I wanted… Would I ruin that? Should I just go for a standard thank you and leave it at that?

…

Oh, fuck it.

I grabbed the mic and looked at the audience with a frown. Then, I said, “Really? With my sister? Y’all are weird.”

I thanked every star in the sky that made people laugh as I intended. If they hadn't, the memory would have crushed me for the rest of my life.

We got off the stage and after a few more congratulations, everyone let the matter go. The bit was over and everyone went on with their evening. I was glad.

Our group gathered again, meaning my girlfriends, Isabelle, Thomas, Kevin, Lena and Amanda. We couldn’t find Mark, but he said over text he’d go home on his own in just a bit. He congratulated us on the award, too.

“You think he hooked up with someone?” Kevin asked, grinning. Sadly, it earned him an elbow on the ribs from his girlfriend.

“...” Amanda smiled wryly, but didn’t comment on it. Instead, she shook her head and brightened her smile. “Hey, everyone? Sorry for being such a downer tonight. Thank you for convincing me to come. I’m glad I didn’t miss it.”

“Let’s have lunch tomorrow, okay?” Lena told her. “We’ll talk properly.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll be there if you’ll have us,” Mila said.

“Of course! Alice, Noelle, you come too if you want,” Amanda told them.

“Thank you. I’d be happy to.”

“I’ll be there,” Noelle said. “How does 2:00 pm sound?”

“Perfect. I’m gonna wake up late tomorrow,” Amanda said.

“So, uh…” Kevin cleared his throat. “Do you guys, um… feel like leaving?”

“Yes.”

It was unanimous.

“We brought you here, so we’ll drive you,” I told them. Made sure to check with Diana earlier, too. She was the one actually driving, after all.

“Hey,” Thomas said. “M-Mind if we pick up Maria?”

“Way ahead of you, dude,” I told him.

“Thanks.”

We’d had enough of prom. It was time to leave, and I wasn’t the only one eager.

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