Page 55 of Falling Into You

“I... you did?”

“Yeah! Like an idiot! Because you turned out to be a loser!” Owen shot back.

A couple of girls nearby laughed and started whispering behind their hands. Jacob pulled Owen a few feet to the side and lowered his voice.

“I do like her!” he said. “It’s just... it’s complicated, Owen. Just let me go talk to her.” Past Owen’s shoulder, he could see the squad getting ready to run out on the field. “Come on. The squad needs me.”

“I really don’t think they do,” Owen said, then looked him up and down like he was a piece of crumpled trash. “And I know my sister doesn’t.”

Wow. Okay, that hurt. Owen finally walked away, having so spectacularly dropped the mic, and as Jacob watched him go the announcer came back on the PA.

“And now, your mighty Lumberjack cheerleaders!”

Rory led the squad out onto the field, smile on, pom-poms waving above her head. Jacob’s stomach dropped. It was official. He’d missed his chance. Now all he could do was stand here and watch.

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t a disaster, but it wasn’t pretty. Whatever Rory had said to him about reconfiguring everything and being fine without him was clearly a fabrication. Because the solution that she and the squad had come to was not a reconfiguration. They basically did the routine, just without him there. So every formation that was supposed to look even and symmetrical looked lopsided. And only Carlos and Gwen did the stunts, so the pyramids were half built and there was a flyer on the right side of the squad while, on the left, Rory simply stayed on the ground. The crowd could tell something was wrong, as evidenced by the ripple of confused whispers from above.

When it was finally over, two excruciating minutes later, the squad held their final positions for only half a second before giving a lackluster final cheer and jogging off. Rory grabbed her stuff and sprinted for the school as the paradefloats began to line up just off the track. She ran right past Jacob, and it was all he could do to keep from reaching out and grabbing her arm. But she was moving too fast. A girl on a mission.

Not so fast, though, that he didn’t notice the streak of frustrated tears running down her face.

Rory

Rory’s heart pounded so hard, she felt ill. The parade around the field had gone fine. She had been paired with Dylan Markstrom, which was a relief, and they’d done their best mugging for the crowd while the wind tried to blow them right off the top of their red-and-gold float. She’d worn her varsity jacket over her red silk gown and just prayed that it didn’t start raining. If it did, this dress was toast.

Now, as they stood on the stage at the center of the field waiting for Principal Toohey to announce the winners of king and queen, Rory was jacketless and her prayers had shifted. Now she was just hoping against hope that she did not win. Because Tucker was one hundred percent going to be king, and the last thing she wanted to have to do was stand up there next to him and pretend like she didn’t want to smack his smug little face.

Really, all she wanted to do was go home, put on a pair ofsweatpants, and huddle under the covers with the lights off. This day was not going at all as planned—which she’d come to terms with back when plan A fell through. But she’d really been counting on executing plan B. Instead, the weather, Jacob, her parents not showing up, and then that horrendous halftime performance... the universedefinitelyhad it in for her. And she still had to go to the dance tonight. If there was one thing Rory Graham knew for sure, it was that she was in no mood to party.

“Every one of the students up here on this stage represents Woodmont High to the highest possible standard,” the principal was saying, “with their grades, their spirit, their participation in clubs and sports, and their positive attitudes.”

Rory’s gaze slid toward Tucker, who stood at the far end of the stage. He looked so freaking self-satisfied. She couldn’t believe that at this time last week she had been walking down the school halls with that jerk’s arm around her.

“Let’s give them a round of applause!” the principal called out.

The crowd cheered. Rory shivered. The man really was dragging this out for as long as humanly possible. Was he incapable of feeling the cold?

“But there can be only one king and one queen,” he continued once the noise died down. “So without further ado...” He pulled a card out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket, which he wore over a red wool sweater and tie. “Thisyear’s homecoming king and queen are...”

Rory closed her eyes.Not me, not me, not me.

“Rory Graham and Tucker Panagopoulos!”

Her eyes popped open. The crowd went wild. Cora Larsen, the senior girl next to Rory, wrapped her in a hug.

“Come on up here, Rory!” the principal called.

Rory’s vision swam a bit as she approached the front of the stage. Tucker was already there and somehow already had his crown on. It looked perfect on him. He was born to be homecoming king, with that square jaw and those broad shoulders. She should have been happy. Ecstatic, even. But all she felt was panic and regret.

When she reached the microphone, the principal placed the queen’s tiara atop her head. It was gold with little red rhinestones and matched her dress perfectly. The little combs on the sides bit into her scalp as it was pressed down. She could see Layla and Gwen and the rest of the squad applauding and jumping up and down. Tucker looked at her like he couldn’t have been more in love with her.

He reached over and hugged her, whispering in her ear, “See, Rory? It was meant to be. You and me.”

And then, before she could even formulate a response, he slipped his hands around her waist and kissed her.

Jacob

Well. So. That was that. The perfect couple with their perfect crowns, right there on the stage, kissing for everyone to see. Jacob shoved his hands into the pockets of his soccer jacket and clenched his jaw. He wasn’t really sure why he’d stuck around this long, but he wished he hadn’t.