Courtney was not going to see the sky as a metaphor. Was the sky dark and gray and ominous? Yes. Was it this way despite it being Southern California and rain clouds like this were a rarity? Also yes. Was this shift in weather completely unpredictable? Yes, yes, and yes.

But she was not going to take the weather as a metaphor for the coming day.

"What are you doing?" her father asked her.

"Not taking the weather as a metaphor," Courtney said, hovering on the front steps, aware that she could hear light raindrops falling.

"Well in case that metaphor becomes personified you should take this."

When her father held out an umbrella to her, Courtney inspected it as if there was a deeper meaning to the object than what it appeared. Which in the perspective of someone who had been denying the weather was a metaphor this wasn't completely bizarre.

No, it was completely bizarre. She was being weird and needed to stop.

"Thanks."

She snatched the umbrella and hurried to her car. Was it starting to rain? Yes. But that simply meant the upper atmosphere had changed and that didn't mean anything to Courtney's life.

Correction, it meant that things needed to be rearranged because gym classes would be inside today. Inside where Courtney planned to work for all of first period. The weather was not a metaphor!

At a stop light, Courtney pulled up a number and called it, setting her phone on speaker.

"What is it?" Miguel answered.

Some would have thought the dark clouds outside would be the dictation of his mood but Courtney knew by now that greetings to people close to him were superfluous.

"The weather isn't a metaphor," Courtney said.

"I didn't think it was. Anything else?"

"This means we need to find a space big enough to work in this morning."

"Ah, the net and leaves."

"Yes. Do you think if we raised the back curtains we could lay it out on the stage?"

"It's possible. But the stage is less than half the size of the gym."

Freaking aliens! Courtney sent a sharp glare to the sky.

"You know I think it's really inconsiderate of the weather to be messing with my plans like this."

"Is the weather a metaphor or personified? I think you need to decide which it is," Miguel said.

"You don't think the weather is complex enough to be both."

"I think it would clarify how much weight you're putting on something you have zero control over."

It was a solid point. But if the weather wasn't to blame that meant she couldn't curse the sky later on when something happened.

Nothing was going to happen, it would all be fine. Nuts! Had she just jinxed it? Did this mean something would happen? Was it because she thought of cursing the sky, as dramatic as that sounded and would look?

When one plan fails reevaluate and create another. There, no reason to curse the sky, nothing had gone wrong. Yet.

Dang! Why had she thought that?

"You're quiet," Miguel said. "Are you overthinking or giving the subject too much consideration."

"More consideration than the weather is giving me."

"Okay, the weather is personified. I'm glad we got that cleared up, even if the sky isn't."

"Yes, one problem solved. Now all the rest need to be dealt with."

"Get to school and we'll figure it out."

Courtney nodded. Which since it wasn't FaceTime and he couldn't see her was a completely pointless gesture.

"Okay."

As she parked her car, she spotted a lone figure amidst the pockets of people meandering into the school. She felt a soft smile form. One look at that curly head and I'm mush. Oh boy, what is this boy doing to me?

Courtney retrieved all her items from her backseat and strode towards where Micah sat on a bench. Seeing her, he popped up and hurried over, taking the box from her arms.

"Hi," she said. "You're here early when you don't need to be."

"I feel like I haven't seen you all week."

"So you abandoned sleep and a comfortable bed to see me? Wow! I must be something special."

Micah smiled at her while his cheeks pinked. "You didn't know?"

At his genuine, yet teasing question, Courtney felt her heart flutter. What is this? Is everything becoming personified today? Her heart wasn't a butterfly, it needed to stop flapping its nonexistent wings.

"Come on," she said. "I have a day of prep ahead and can't waste a minute of it swooning over my boyfriend."

"You'd swoon over me?"

"Yes, but in a graceful way."

Laughing, Micah followed alongside her as she directed them to the Council Room. Inside, she found Miguel looking ready to give a press conference and Lynn prepared to take on the world's problems. So it wasn't the world's problems but Homecoming they would be taking on but still, the energy was appreciated. Courtney clapped her hands and then put them on her hips.

"Okay team," she said. "Let's solve the world's problems."

*******

Was Courtney mad that she had to sit at the anchor desk and run the voting for Homecoming court?

Of course not. It was her job and therefore an honor to do it...

Okay, maybe she was a little annoyed. She had a million things on her to-do list that needed to be done. It didn't matter that the whole week she'd checked off a lot of the items. That was simply the nature of to-do lists, once you crossed one thing off another thing popped up to take its place. Kinda like that weird multi-headed Greek creature. What was the name of that thing?

"Courtney."

"Hydra. What? I mean, hi!"

Smooth, Cory, super smooth.

Shelby, the broadcast director, gave Courtney a strange look. Fair, I sound like I'm in some secret organization that has infiltrated Shield. I need to stop watching so much classic Marvel.

"I wanted to tell you that after you tell people to enter their vote, the screen will cut to a countdown timer. Once it's finished you'll come back on and announce the candidates.

"Sounds good," Courtney said.

Better than my face remaining on screen for five minutes straight. I know I'm smiley but there's only so long a smile can be held before it starts to look like melting putty.

"Okay five minutes to air everyone," Shelby called to the room.

With the allotted time to do nothing but inspect her to-do list, that's what Courtney did, organizing what the fifteen-minute break time would be dedicated to, what the entire lunch break would be focused on, and how much she could get down after the final bell before she had to go home and change for the game.

"Thinking hard or just constipated?" Miguel asked.

"Are you implying that my thinking face gives off constipated vibes? If so, why haven't you told me earlier? And if you didn't intentionally tell me earlier then this friendship is done."

"Not only are you thinking hard but you're stressing as well. This shows promise for the day."

In answer to his flippant attitude towards what her day held, she spun her phone around, showing off her very long and detailed to-do list. Miguel scanned it without much of an expression. Which was rude since Courtney had poured her life's blood into it. It even had corresponding emojis for crying out loud!

"You understand we already covered all of this and we are in good shape," Miguel said.

"Good shape we might be in, but I still feel like we might be one donut away from losing it."

"It's the weather, isn't it?"

Courtney waved her hand towards the door. "Have you not seen the dark forboding clouds!"

"I have but I still believe it's the atmosphere being the atmosphere and not a prediction of the future." Miguel leaned his arms on the desk, bringing himself closer to Courtney. "What's going on, Cor? You don't stress like this. I usually do."

"A nickname. I must really be throwing you off."

Miguel replied with raised eyebrows and Courtney felt all the weight and pressure the gesture created. It took an extremely powerful man to produce this level of reaction with a single gesture. Could the world handle him? Would it be better if she took him out now? What if he chose to use his abilities for evil?

Miguel poked her forehead. "Say it."

"I might have to kill you to save the world from your powers."

Even with this declaration, Miguel said nothing but pinned her with a scrutinizing gaze. Again! This man has too much power.

"I don't want it to fail," Courtney said. "My name is on this. And the last thing my name was on was a Youtube video of me making an idiot of myself."

"And you think Homecoming could make up for that?"

"I would like to think that it could."

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"If it's about your powers, I already know, remember?"

Miguel pulled out an expression of calm exasperation. Which seemed a contradiction but again, powers.

"Whether Homecoming is perfect or not is not going to change that you are a person who people like. The video didn't change that. It might have even made some people more comfortable around you."

"Because I was someone they could mock?'

"No, you become more human to them. You're pretty intimidating."

Courtney laughed. Yes, the blonde, blue-eyed cheerleader with a perky smile was intimidating.

"I'm serious. You're kind but you're also hard-working, focused, and competent. That seems intimidating to a lot of people who don't even know what the homework is for that day."

"What you're saying sounds like a compliment, I feel like you should know that."

Miguel went with a sincere look which was somehow more unsettling than everything that came before. She'd apologize to his parents, but he needed to be ended. No one should wield this type of power. It could be devastating. But of course not to her, she was totally immune to it. Yup, she could handle it. Totally handled. It was in hand. The handle was handed to her and she handled it...

"So if Homecoming isn't perfect it will be okay?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, it will be okay."

"Places!" Shelby called out.

Miguel left. Courtney tucked away her phone and tossed her hair back, preparing herself. A girl has to look camera ready, after all. When she settled, she found a very cute cameraman watching her, smiling a little. I should toss my hair more often.

"We are live in five, four, three, two." Shelby didn't say the final one, instead pointed to the two anchors as a red light came on. When the anchors finished greeting everyone and making general announcements, Shelby pointed to Courtney.

"Hi Oceanside High, in case you have a short-term memory, I'm Courtney Hart your Senior Class President."

She gave a little bow over the desk. Probably looks terrible, don't do that again.

"You've had all week to campaign for Homecoming Court, and since there were no major fights, I say everyone behaved splendidly. Yay!" She clapped and smiled at the camera. Which lucky her, had a cute smiley boy behind it. "This morning, you will be given five minutes to choose who you think should be in the running for Homecoming Court, and at tomorrow's dance the winners will be announced."

Courtney raised her phone, opening the school app. At the top, the open ballot for Homecoming Court sat waiting. She turned her phone towards the screen. Oh, should I put my hand behind it? Embrace my Youtuber moment?

She didn't but mainly it wasn't needed. On the monitor, she saw the screen appeared easy to see. Well that works, I already had my big Youtube moment, best to leave it to just one.

"When the clock on the tv shows five minutes, you type in the name of your nominee and chose them. It's that simple. Once the time is up I'll read out our Homecoming Court nominees. Good luck to everyone!"

When the monitor shifted to a countdown clock, Courtney hit the banner. As she started to type in Rosa, Rosa Martinez - senior appeared in the dropdown and Courtney selected it. Since she had no idea who to choose for King, she closed her app and waited. With a full four minutes to do nothing, she decided to not let it go to waste. She rested her chin in her hand and watched the cute camera guy. After all, how was anyone girl supposed to resist the perfect opportunity?

When Micah finished typing on his phone, he pocketed it and raised his head. Courtney grinned as he jerked back, startled by her staring. He shook his head as she wiggled her fingers at him.

"You understand he still has a job to do when that timer is done, right?" Miguel said, appearing next to Courtney.

"Are you saying that me flirting with my boyfriend might make him forget his job?"

"It's possible, he looks extremely flustered."

"I know. It's adorable."

"I feel like no one should have as much power as you do."

"Funny coming from the guy who I earlier contemplated murdering for the sake of the world's safety."

Instead of looking offended, Miguel straightened his tie and smirked. A compliment! He took that as a compliment. There is something seriously wrong with this man.

"Here, the nominees will show up in envelopes when the timer is done," Miguel said, handing her his phone.

"Okay," Shelby called out. "We're back in five, four..." Miguel disappeared and Courtney smiled at the camera. "Three, two..."

The monitor shifted to Courtney.

"And we're back and hopefully you took the five minutes to nominate someone and not get on your social media. If you did both, that is acceptable." She picked up Miguel's phone. "Now! Here are your nominees for this year's Homecoming Court! Starting with freshman court."

One by one Courtney opened the animated envelopes, reading out the four names and giving a moment after to clap for them. When she got to the seniors' list, she glanced at where Rosa stood in the back of the room. She sent her an encouraging grin.

"Your nominees for senior Homecoming Court... Julie Waller. Rosa Martinez, woohoo! Whoops. Sorry." Courtney sent an apologetic smile to the camera. She wasn't supposed to be biased but she was. It couldn't be helped Rosa was a queen who deserved a crown. "Lyla Thomas. And finally..."

The universe was laughing. Correction, the universe was cackling after having revealed the devious scheme in which the protagonist had fallen into it. Did no one else hear the universe cackling?!

Smile, Cory, you're on camera.

"And the final nominee is." Oh jeez. "Courtney Hart. A strangely familiar name!" She set Miguel's phone down and clapped. "Congratulations to all the nominees! You now have to look pretty for tonight's game where you get to walk the field during halftime! And tomorrow night we will see who will be crowned. Remember, you're all winners just one of you gets to wear plastic crowns. Have a great day everyone!"

The monitor cut back to the main anchors and Courtney dropped her head into her hands. Yes, universe I hear you laughing, you can stop now! It's no longer funny.

Whining, she was whining about being nominated when she did nothing to get it. She knew it was stupid but she didn't have time for this! She had Homecoming to prep, this would mean she'd have to attend the football game. Worse, she'd have to leave school to get ready and come back.

"Are you okay?" Micah asked.

"No, the universe is laughing."

"Should I not have nominated you then?"

Courtney raised her head and found her very endearing boyfriend looking guilty.

"No, it's fine."

"I thought it might make you happy. Who doesn't want to win a crown?"

Me.

"True! And I do look good in one. Thanks. Though I didn't nominate you, does that make me a terrible girlfriend?"

"No, you'd be the only one nominating me."

"Saying that does make me sound like a terrible girlfriend. I should have been the one to see you as royalty."

"It's a plastic crown."

"That is true." Courtney checked the time. Half an hour. Then fifteen minutes at break. Forty-five for lunch. Two hours after school. Possibly an extremely late night or early morning tomorrow. "I have to get going."

"Can I help? It seems I did something wrong with nominating you."

"You and 35% of the school, so don't worry my displeasure isn't fully on you."

She smiled as she stood, which considering the mass weight she felt on her shoulders, compounded with the limited time was an impressive feat. Maybe she should become one of the crazy intense weightlifting people. I mean if she could stand up with this crushing pressure on her there was no limit to her capabilities.

"I can at least fix my percentage," Micah said. "Where are we going?"

"Council Room, we have the world to conquer."

*****

10:15

Micah:
Where are you?

Courtney:
Council Room

Micah:
Working 

Courtney:
Yes

Micah:
I'll join you.

12:45

Micah:
You're not at your table.

Courtney:
Working.

Micah:
Need lunch?

Courtney:
Yes please.

Squad Goals🏅
Aubrey:
Where are you guys at?

Squad Goals🏅
Lynn:
Council room, ironing leaves and attaching them to pins.

Squad Goals🏅
Aubrey:
You had me at ironing. We're coming.

Squad Goals🏅
Kimber:
Heading over now. I'm dragging Nathan along as well

Squad Goals🏅
Rosie:
I'll round everyone up. See you there.

2:15

Lynn:
Will you be okay without us until after practice?

Courtney:
Yup

Lynn:
If everyone is looking good we could come earlier

Courtney:
👍

Courtney pocketed her phone as she left her history class. She peered up at the sky as she headed towards the Council Room. Cloudy but not as rainy-seeming. Retrieving her phone, she checked the weather. No rain in the future. The weather wasn't going to personify on her.

One hour to attach all the leaves to the net.

An hour for lighting, hanging the net, setting up the column trees, hiding the bleachers with the set pieces, and covering the basketball hoops.

Home to get ready for the game.

Eat something.

Game.

Bed.

Early morning, finalizing.

"Courtney."

Courtney saved the list in her head as she glanced back to see Max coming towards her.

"Do you have a second?" Max asked.

Courtney kept moving. Keep up, Max, I ain't stopping.

"I have five so make it quick," Courtney said.

Max gave a small chuckle.

"Nope, that wasn't a joke. You're going to have to talk fast."

"Oh." Max paused and Courtney continued walking. Max caught up to her again "Okay. Look about Monday... I wanted to apologize for what I said. I should have talked to you instead of insulting you."

"Any reason you're telling me this now and not any other day this week?"

Max shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. Look at that, one day when it actually seems sensible to wear that jacket in Southern California.

"Before I talked to you again," Max said. "I wanted to see if I could practice what you'd taught me on my own. What you said made sense and I figured if I wanted to make something work I would have to prove it to myself before I could prove it to you."

"I approve. Now you can prove it to me. You're coming with me to work on Homecoming. Unless you have somewhere else you have to be."

"What?"

Again, Max's surprise had her stopping but Courtney didn't have time to stop. With being nominated, it threw her timeline out of wack and she knew she couldn't waste a minute.

"I'm helping you?" Max asked.

"Yup. You want to prove you can follow instructions and work with people, girls who you will be on the squad with, nows your chance."

Courtney shot her a look. It didn't do any fatal damage since Max didn't see it, too focused on the ground.

"Okay."

"Great, let's see what you got."

Courtney strode into the Council Room, scanned who was there, and then clapped her hands together, getting everyone's attention.

"All right everyone, we have two hours before most of us have to prep for tonight's game. This is how it's going to go down."

Did it go down as Courtney planned? No.

Did it go down in the sense that things got done? Yes.

Was the net she ordered the right one? Yes.

Was that net the one that was delivered? No.

Was Courtney going to make the net work? Yes.

Did the leaves get attached to the net within its time slot of an hour? No.

Did they get attached? Yes.

Did the theater lights get taken down efficiently? No.

Did they get taken down eventually? Yes.

Did they get attached to the bleachers in the right place? Luckily yes.

Did Courtney yell at anyone for slacking off? No.

Did she feel like yelling at people for slacking off? Of course not, she was not that kind of person, she'd never in a million years dreamed of yelling at someone while wildly failing her arms to accentuate her frustration.

Okay... she was going to leave that marked as a no, she didn't yell at anyone but felt like it. Keyword being she didn't.

Were any of the other pieces such as the set backdrops and columns going to be in place before she had to leave? No.

Were they shifted to the next day's list? Yes. Which was getting longer.

Did Courtney want to cheer when the net was ready to be hung above the gym? Yes.

Did she cheer loudly? You bet your booty she did.

"Are you ready to see this magic?" Courtney asked Miguel.

He didn't look ready for magic, but that was natural he was an old man and therefore that meant he'd lost his sense of whimsy years ago. Most likely in middle school. Middle school did steal the magic from many.

"It's a gym," Miguel said. "Magic does not happen here."

"Try telling that to any team who has ever expressed a surprising win."

"Let's get this over with." He checked his watch. Of course, he checked it with the air of a politician with an event to get to. "Everyone needs a chance to shower and get ready for the game. Including you, you're walking the field during halftime with the other Homecoming nominees."

"Way to steal all my anticipation."

"If it was that easily stolen it must not have been that strong."

Ignoring him, which should have been her first instinct, Courtney focused on the students plus faculty members there for supervision, waiting for her final instruction.

"Okay! Let's hoist this victory flag!"

With Coach Ramirez along with the main handyman, Hank, overseeing everyone, the net slowly lifted off the floor. Coach called out instructions and Hank raced around to assist weak ends, but Courtney remained immobile, watching as her idea became a reality.

The messy-looking blob that had been a limp net covered in fabric leaves rose, the leaves dangling down. Foot by foot the light of the gym dimmed as the unimpressive ceiling became covered with a canopy of vibrant leaves in shades of mustard, gold, bronze, and maroon.

Courtney reached out and squeezed Miguel's wrist. She felt him look at her but she couldn't tear her eyes away.

A dream planned out and completed, was there any better more satisfying feeling? No.

Did Courtney plan to hold onto this feeling for a while? Hell yes.

When the net hung secure, Coach Ramirez called out. "I think this is your moment, Cory."

With everyone watching her, Courtney walked under the sky of fluttering leaves. Sounds dramatic but magic often is dramatic in the unreal sense. Biting her lip to keep her smile was breaking her cheeks, she turn a slow turn.

They'd done it, they'd really done it.

Courtney savored the perfect giddiness of the moment.

As she turned in one more circle, something overhead snapped.

Someone screamed.

Coach yelled.

Hank bellowed.

Courtney jerked around as another snap sounded and gasped as pain sliced up her ankle. Before she could even catch her breath, the net fell on her.

She hit the gym floor, her head smacking against the wood and stars burst in her vision. Shouts and stampeding of feet rang in her ears but only one thought came through clearly: Miguel was wrong for once, I was right, the weather was a metaphor.

**********************************************************************

Crushed coconuts, this is crazy! 😱

*puts out hand and feels a plop*

Does anyone else feel rain? *shields eyes* Wait, is that... a thunderstorm on the way? 😁 No, it can't be. That would awful. This is definitely not foreboding at all. 😁

I mean, you can comment here and argue with me if you like, about the direction the story is taking. I'll definitely get some giggles out of it. 💭💬🗯🤭

Am I secretly evil?

No. I think at this point it's out in the open and you've literally had years or books to come to grasp with it. I even think I've already mentioned this in another author's note so there's no excuse for you.

Is my name being Joy a misdirection?

Yes but also technically no, as there is the term killjoy. Though please don't break that up or else the meaning becomes something completely different... though probably what all of you are thinking at this moment...

You know, I'm going to throw a question at you to distract you and flee for my life rethinking my decision of letting my evil side be so openly known.

Question: what type of fruit are you? And you better have a dissertation to back it up.

Me: a lemon, I'm cheery looking but as you clearly know now I have a hidden side. 😏 But I'm tasty in desserts!

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