SAVANNAH
I nearly bumped into Tyler the second I opened my door to head outside and wait for Mom by the car. He was standing there, right by the steps, leaning against the wall like he’d been waiting for me. I stopped in my tracks, blinking at him in surprise. My heart raced, unsure if this was a good moment for a conversation.
"Hey," Tyler said, his voice soft but warm as he pushed himself off the wall. I nodded at him, still processing his presence.
"Hey," I replied, hesitating a bit before stepping closer.
He let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his messy hair. "I just wanted to say... I'm sorry, Savannah. For how everything went down."
I bit my lip, unsure how to respond. "It’s fine," I said, trying to keep my voice neutral. It was fine, but there was a lot more running through my mind than I was ready to admit.
Tyler stepped forward, his eyes searching mine. "But have you... have you forgiven me?"
I nodded quickly, almost automatically. "Yeah. I’ve forgiven you. Really, I have."
There was a long, awkward pause between us. He smiled faintly and opened his arms, offering me an embrace. "Come here then," he said, the hopeful look in his eyes making me feel a little guilty.
But I shook my head, not even realizing how firm the motion was until I saw his face fall. It was a look I didn’t want to see, like I had just crushed something he’d been holding on to.
"Sorry," I mumbled, trying to avoid his gaze. "I can’t. It’s not that I don’t appreciate you, Tyler, but I think... I think we should just stay friends."
Tyler's expression froze for a moment, and then he nodded slowly, his face softening with understanding, even if there was a hint of disappointment there. "Is it because of what happened?" he asked quietly.
I shook my head quickly. "No, it’s not that. You actually made me think about going to the gym, and I’m grateful for that. I really am. It’ll help me, help my health. So... thank you for that."
He smiled, a little sad but still genuine. "Alright. Friends it is." He seemed to wrestle with his emotions for a moment before his smile grew. "I’ll see you around, Savannah."
I nodded and gave him a small wave as he turned and walked away. I watched him go, feeling a weight lifting from my shoulders.
Just then, I heard the sound of the door opening and Mom walked out.
We got in the car, and Mom immediately turned to me, her eyes sharp. "I saw you talking to someone. Tyler, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, it was Tyler."
"So, what did you tell him?" she asked, her voice casual but laced with curiosity.
I shrugged. "I told him I think we should just stay friends."
Mom raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything else for a beat. "Good. I think that's for the best."
I nodded, feeling relieved. We both fell into a quiet lull before she asked, "What about the party yesterday? How did it go?"
I felt my cheeks heat up. "It was fine," I said, trying to keep it light. "Blake brought me home and kissed me on the porch when we got here." I paused, trying to act casual about it. "He asked me to sleep over, but I told him I hadn't told you."
Mom seemed pleased by that, and she didn’t push for more details. Instead, she smiled softly and nodded. "Well, you didn’t do anything wrong. But just remember to always be honest with me."
I nodded, suddenly feeling like I was walking a fine line with my mom. We didn’t really talk about everything, and sometimes I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. There was a lot going on in my life that I didn’t know how to explain to her.
By the time we reached school, the morning sun was high, and the campus buzzed with students rushing to class. Mom parked the car, and I grabbed my bag.
"Have a good day, sweetie," she said, giving me a soft smile before driving off.
I waved her goodbye and began walking toward the main building. As I neared the entrance, I saw a crowd gathered near the bulletin board by the principal’s office. Curious, I moved toward them, wanting to check out what was going on. We hadn’t had a test recently, so it must have been an announcement.
Standing behind the crowd, I waited for them to disperse a bit, hoping to get a better look at whatever was posted. Just as I was about to step forward, I heard a voice call my name.
"Hey!"
I turned, surprised to see Alyssa walking toward me, her expression strangely kind. I blinked, unsure if I had heard her correctly. She was smiling, but it didn’t seem like the mocking kind of smile she usually gave me.
"Yeah?" I replied, raising an eyebrow.
Alyssa looked sheepish, almost apologetic. "I just... I wanted to say I’m sorry for everything that happened before. You know, the bullying, all of it. I was a jerk, and I was wondering if you could find it in your heart to forgive me... I mean, us?"
I stood frozen for a moment, not sure how to respond. Was this really happening? Alyssa, apologizing?
I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded, unsure of whether to say anything more.
Alyssa seemed to take that as acceptance, because she quickly added, "And, um, we really need your help with something." She hesitated before continuing. "Blake... he removed our names from the club list. Could you, like, talk to him? Ask him to add us back? The anniversary’s coming up, and not being on the list means we can’t participate."
I blinked, processing her words. I had heard of the club before. It was some exclusive, elite group, mostly popular students from our school and a couple of others from nearby schools. I didn’t know much about it, but it was clear from Alyssa’s tone that getting kicked off the list was a big deal.
I nodded slowly, still a little dazed by her sudden change in attitude. "I’ll see what I can do," I said, unsure of how to approach Blake on this.
Alyssa smiled, relief flooding her face. She then wrapped her arms around me in an awkward hug before pulling away.
"Thanks, Savannah. Really. You’re a lifesaver." She turned and walked away before I could say anything else.
As the crowd finally dispersed, I moved up to the bulletin board to see what had been posted. But before I could get close enough, Madison’s voice rang out from behind me.
"Hey, prom queen."
I spun around, startled to hear her of all people calling me that. I blinked a couple of times, still trying to make sense of the situation.
Jennifer stood beside her, eyeing me with something that looked like... admiration?
"Did she got her shape fixed," Jennifer said, looking me up and down. I wasn’t sure whether she was about to start a fight or praise me.
"Damn, I see why you’re the prom queen," Madison added, her eyes wide. "Who would have thought you were smoking sexy?"
I froze, unsure if this was some sort of joke. But when I looked around, I saw that it wasn’t. The popular girls were staring at me like I was some kind of prized treasure. It was like the world had just flipped upside down.
"Wait—what? Prom queen?" I asked, genuinely confused.
They all gasped, looking at me like I had just asked the most ridiculous question.
"You, of course!" they all shouted in unison.
I took a step back, trying to process what they were saying. "What?"
Alyssa winked at me from the other side of the hall and added, "And Blake Armstrong is the Prom King."
I blinked. "What?!"