Only one day until this year's Halloween dance, Aaron placed his name on the ballot last minute. If we both took a jab at who would win, we would have predicted Cece and Jeremy, especially after finding Cece and the jock boys taping my face all over the school lockers that evening. It was one of my seventh-grade photos. The one was hanging in my house. The nerdy seventh-grade photograph. The one picture I swore Cece would never get ahold of it until at least this day. It would never leave my house. No one would ever know about my fat, nerdy persona. My face slipped out of Cece's tiny, porcelain fingertips and into the hands of every student at the school as laughter rumbled through the air.

"Okay, Cece," I snarled, pushing past the faux bodyguard boys as I slapped my page in her face. "What. Is. Your. problem?"

"Problem?" she cooed. "What kind of problem? I see no problem with this. I see a problem with your thick, boil-filled face in this photo." Her hands balanced the large stack of my face as she pointed out my flaws. "It looks like you still have a few, too."

I gasped, sucking in air through my teeth as Jeremy pushed me to the front. "Hey, Emily," he squealed. "I heard you were practically begging to kiss Nick Graphner." He puckered his lips. "Did he taste good?" Brennan added for shits and giggles, but I avoided both as I took a better look at the page in my hand. It read, and I quote:

"Vote Emily Hart for Prom Queen. She enjoys kissing nerdy boys for pleasure."

A fake lip print replaced my big lips, and my fat, overly tanned, and boil-filled face was hideous with a photoshopped crown on top of my oversized head. I was mad.

"Brennan," I snapped. "First, you know we've kissed, right?" Brennan ridiculed playing things fresh as he handed out another page to someone nearby. The boy smirked, and I brushed it off. "Second, I do not know how you got my seventh-grade photo, but shit just got real." Cece and the boys chuckled as she stepped forward.

"Have you ever heard about the internet, Emily? It works miracles when you need something like this." She showed me my photo in her google search and laughed again.

My lips pouted as I adjusted my bag on my shoulder, pushing against Jeremy's side. I was angry, and I knew who was responsible. Cece stood three rows of lockers away with her goons, but instead of shouting at her further, I went for Aaron, standing in front of my photo, pouting.

"This is all your fault, too," I yelled, making Aaron jump. Everyone in the hallway coiled their heads again. Being Cece, she trotted over towards us with a stuccoed smile.

"Dorkis did nothing. It was all my idea." She laughed. Her eyes craned, Aaron.

"I can't believe you. Everything is just a big joke."
Aaron pulled off the lockers and grabbed his books as he left. I knew I messed up big time. Everything had gone to shit, and it was my fault. Everyone stared at me, watching me.  

A single tear ran down my face. I walked off to my locker, trying to avoid everyone's gaze, but I made the stupid mistake of staring into the eyes of my schoolmates.  

There was an awkward silence in the hallway as we each exchanged looks. "Emily fucking Hart, who will vote for you now?" Cece was laughing as she spoke.

Mr. Harriman appeared from beyond the men's restroom, taking in my dorky photograph. "Why is Emily still in the poll? No one is even going to vote for her." Cece snarled.

I flipped the bird in her direction. She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. Very mature.

"I saw that, Emily. Any more nonsense, and I will have you pulled from the polls," Mr. Harriman stated. I couldn't believe it. I didn't see him lift his head from the concrete floor. How did he know?

"You know I see everything," he said as if he read my mind.

I ignored everyone, pushing my way through the hallway off to class, watching Jeremy and Brennan make cross eyes at me.

Cece trailed behind me, half smirking. I wanted so badly to slap that smirk off her smug face. Cece ceases to amaze me.

I picked up my pace. Cece did too. "Emily, why are you going so fast?" she chuckled.
"Did you kiss a nerd?"

I kept going. Why did it have to be Cece? "Emily, where are you going?"

I halted in the hallway next to Mr. Davis' office. "Would you give the bad bitch act a rest? I'm tired of you picking on me, Cece." I raised my tone and kept walking.

Cece faked a yawn. "You don't honestly think I give a shit, do you?" she declared. "You're the one who torments everyone, from what I understand."

I snorted. "You don't pay attention, do you?"

She faked another yawn, patting her mouth with her fingers. "I just see what I want to."

I rolled my eyes and entered the classroom as the first-period bell rang. I found Aaron sitting in his seat, scribbling something in pen on his desk.

"Aaron," I called from the doorway.

His eyes widened as his head shot up, and he held up a piece of paper that read: Emily, I'm sorry, as he looked at me with the saddest puppy dog eyes ever.

"It wasn't your fault. It was the bitch of pride rock."

He laughed. "Good try, but that was horrible," he smiled.

"What about Buzz-light-bitch?"

"Nope."

"What about tinker-bitch?"

He laughed again.

"That's better."

"So, about earlier. I'm sorry," I replied. It came out more like a question. Aaron stared up at me. I expected his answer.

"You want to go to prom with me?" he asked.

I wasn't expecting that. "I'll have to think about that," I replied. The fact was, I wanted to ask Aaron out first, but I held back out of fear.

He smirked. "I'll take that." I sat next to his and laid my head on my desk. Luckily, the day didn't get worse.