All's Fair in Love and HoCo (ONC 2022)

Chapter One: So Disappointing

Under the sharp gaze of my best friend Briana, I studied my outfit in the mirror. The Black Watch tartan mini skirt she'd brought for me stopped midthigh, and my navy crop top and knee-high socks matched it perfectly. If we were walking in downtown Edelweiss, I'd be fine. Well, unless Bri's mom was with us—she'd undoubtedly find something snarky to say about the skirt's shortness. But we weren't downtown. We were in Edelweiss High School's locker room, a light scent of cleaner lingering in the air and much better than it smelled last night after cross country practice.

I lifted my arms. The shirt crept up almost to the bottom of my ribcage, so I tugged it down, frowning. Maybe I should just stick with the white mom jeans. The shirt was less likely to be deemed unacceptable when paired with them. Stupid sexist dress code.

"Em," Bri said with a sigh, "I think you'll be fine. The only teacher who might dress code you is Frau Ehrhardt. If she does, just switch back to the jeans. You look too good not to wear it. Which makes me wonder..." She raised an eyebrow. "Why did you want to borrow the skirt again?"

Knowing Bri would be pissed off, I took a deep breath and braced myself for the impending lecture. "I'm interviewing the football team for the Homecoming edition of Warrior Words. I have too much going on during school, so after school is my only option." Unless I gave up lunch, which probably wouldn't bode well for cross country this week. Not that it really mattered.

"You're going to miss practice?" Her tone matched her mother's look whenever I wore anything more revealing than a nun's habit. Thank God my mom wasn't as much of a prude.

"Only today," I answered, as if that would make my absence better. "I think I can knock it out in one day, but I won't meet Friday's deadline otherwise, and I can't afford a bad grade."

"Whatever." Bri rolled her eyes. "It's not like you're really there when you're at practice anyway. You don't even try." Ouch.

Bri was so freaking competitive. In everything. She could probably still win any race while carrying a thirty-pound weight. The only way I would place was if all my competitors ran with broken legs. Shin splints made every race and practice difficult for me. Sometimes it was almost torture, but I tried to push through it. Still, it wasn't good enough for Bri. She always pushed me to do better. Not showing up to practice was absolute failure to her.

I resisted the urge to say something catty. "I'll be there tomorrow, and I'll do the best I can."

She narrowed her brown eyes at me. "But you're missing qualification day. If you don't race today, you won't get to compete on Saturday."

"There's no way I'll be able to shave two minutes off my time with these shin splints. I'm not missing anything today and we both know I wasn't going to qualify for this weekend anyway, but maybe, just maybe, a day of rest might help me."

I noticed a colorful flyer hanging on the bathroom stall and walked over to it. Homecoming Dance tickets on sale, starting next week. $25 per person. The dance was a little over three weeks away.

I didn't attend last year's. My ex-boyfriend couldn't go because his parents had been worried about their move being delayed again because of quarantine and I hadn't wanted to attend when the dance would be held entirely outside. I've lived in Germany long enough to know that October usually means cold and rain, and I had no desire to be outside in a short dress in those kinds of elements. It had been a good call because the rain had been unrelenting that week.

"So, do you want to go to Homecoming?" I asked, grateful for the opportunity to change the subject. "We can go together if no one asks us to it."

Bri shrugged. "There's a meet that day. It's in K-town, so it's not far, but you know me. Cross country is my priority."

Cross country was my way to stay in shape and have some semblance of a social life outside of school. "I'm not missing this dance for anything. So much has been taken from us because of the pandemic. I want the life I had freshman year back." Really, I just wanted regular life back. "Are you going to run for queen?"

Bri scoffed. "Why would I do that? I don't even know if I'm going to the dance."

She was pretty enough and we kind of looked alike. Well, we both had long, dark hair, though hers was straighter. I was about two inches taller, but she was a little more muscular. People often mistook us for one another.

"You should run. You have as much of a chance as anyone else now that Emily Tanner has moved away."

Bri rolled her eyes. "That's so lame. I'm not going to campaign for Homecoming Queen. What about you?"

"Well, I'm not going to campaign, but I'm also not going to balk at it if I'm nominated. I probably won't have another chance at my next school. No one's gonna know me senior year." I wasn't looking forward to moving, but that was life when your dad was in the army. This was the longest place we'd lived since I was in preschool.

"You don't have a chance here, either." She stepped in front of the mirror and pushed her lips into a pout as she inspected her lipstick, a pale pink today.

"Who do you think will win?" I was curious, especially since she was adamant about my hopeless prospects.

"It's rigged. Riley Jones will win King because his mom is the student council sponsor. For queen, I'm not sure. Probably Tiffani Morales or one of the other cheerleaders."

But Emily Tanner hadn't been a cheerleader. She'd been one of Edelweiss' star athletes. She'd also campaigned hard for those two homecoming wins, often starting on the first day of school. Just about every girl in our class had been happy when she announced she was PCS-ing back to the States.

And Riley. He was perfect. He was one of those people who had it all—brains, brawn, and beauty. Even with all that, somehow, he was still nice. "Riley might win because everyone likes him, but I think it's a free-for-all for queen."

"I don't like Riley." Bri lifted her backpack from the hook it was hanging on. "I think he's a jerk."

In the three years I'd lived here, I'd never experienced or witnessed Riley being a jerk. Granted, all my interactions with him had been from afar. The boy didn't know I existed, even though we'd shared a few honors classes and currently had a class together each day. Bri, on the other hand, had been gently rejected by him Freshman year. She'd thought they were "talking." From what I'd heard in the rumor mill, he'd thought he was helping her with geometry. She'd had no time for him since.

Bri eyed me with suspicion. "So, are you interviewing Riley afterschool?"

I nodded. He was definitely on the list. He was the varsity quarterback after all. I could only hope I wouldn't trip or be tongue-tied in his presence.

"You like him, don't you?"

The warning bell saved me from having to answer. I plastered a smile on my face. "I'll see you at lunch. We're meeting in the commons and then going to the PX, right?" I knew we were going to the food court there with some of the girls from the team, so I continued out the door as she confirmed our plans. Anything to avoid the uncomfortable conversation that was Riley Jones.