Everything According to Juliana

Chapter Forty-Four: Lex

Jordan sat at his desk in French class, scrolling through his emails on his laptop. He heard Jake and Juliana giggling behind him.

"I can't believe it's October sixth already," he heard Juliana say.

"I know!" He heard Jake exclaim. "October came around so fast."

They both laughed again as Jordan was confused about what was so funny. He then watched as a new email popped up in his inbox. Vote for homecoming king and queen! He clicked on the link faster than lightning.

Homecoming king nominations came up first, and Jordan studied the nominations as if his life depended on it. He wanted to vote for himself but felt weird in doing so.

He turned around to Jake, who was writing something on a piece of paper on Juliana's desk. "Bro, is it weird if I vote for myself for homecoming king?"

Jake looked up from the paper with furrowed eyebrows. "I thought you weren't going?"

"I am," he corrected as his best friend's facial expression changed. "So, is it weird if I vote for myself?"

Juliana answered for him. "I think everyone that's nominated is going to vote for themselves."

Jordan nodded his head, turning back around in his chair. He debated between voting for him or one of his other friends on the list but then proceeded to vote for himself.

His heart stopped when his eyes landed on the nominations for homecoming queen. Brittany and Juliana's name on the list didn't come as a surprise to him after seeing them wearing the homecoming court sash around school, but when he saw Cassie's name, he fell into confusion. Not only did he not see her sporting the sash the day they were distributed, but she also hadn't mentioned her nomination to anyone.

It was like she didn't care about being nominated for queen... and she didn't.

Jordan didn't second guess his decision as he was quick to press on Cassie's name before submitting his vote. He then pulled his phone out from the pocket of his black sweatpants, pressing on Cassie's contact before typing out a text: I just saw the homecoming nominations. Why didn't you tell me you were nominated for queen?

Message: failed to deliver.

Jordan stared at his text message that had a red exclamation point beside it. He tried to send resend his text message, but the same message popped up. He put his phone on his desk, staring at the wall of the classroom in front of him. He knew there was only one answer to his confusion.

Cassie blocked him.

It made sense to him. Of course she would block him. She was staying in an abusive relationship, she didn't take his advice into consideration, and then she kissed him and walked away.

"Jordan," he heard Parker say beside him. He jumped out of his skin as he was interrupted from his thoughts. He had no idea how Parker walked across the classroom and he didn't see him. "It's your birthday and you look sad as fuck."

He shook his head in disagreement. "I'm not sad. I'm just thinking."

Parker nodded his head slowly, knowing he wasn't telling the truth. "So, are you going to ask someone to homecoming? You have six days. The clock is ticking."

"Yeah," he answered, staring at the caramel blonde across the classroom. "I know exactly who I'm asking."

Later that morning, Jordan sat down next to Cassie in cooking class, tossing his book bag onto the lab table. He avoided looking at her as he rested his head on his bag.