“Hey, lovelies.” I overcompensate for my nausea by linking my arms through theirs and leading us across the quad, trying not to get bogged down in my ugly thoughts. “Heather, you nervous at all?”

“Mostly just excited,” she says serenely, and I want to hate her so badly that I almost do. “I used to be in all the plays in junior high, and I’ve been missing performing, so this is really nice.”

“Me too.” Sabrina widens her eyes to a comic degree and brings her fists to her chest. “I can’t wait to get that baton twirling in my hands again.”

“Your routine is going to be epic,” I agree. “I assume your sequined leotard is underneath that outfit?”

“You know it.”

Heather shakes her head, smiling. “You two were definitely meant to become friends.”

We find seats inside, and thankfully, Lucas is nowhere to be found. Next to me, Heather is texting him, but there aren’t any free seats near us, and hopefully that won’t be changing any time soon.

The room quiets down as Hoffman takes the stage. “Welcome, everybody, to the seventh annual Camden Academy Talent Show!” There’s lots of applause, some whistling, and an a cappella outburst that does not portend good things to come. “Can we have everyone named Michael please stand up?”

A few confused looks are exchanged, but finally, a few guys stand up, including one I recognize from Rumson.

“Great, thank you—that concludes the Mike check.”

The groans drown out whatever few laughs there might’ve been, but Hoffman doesn’t look remotely fazed. “We have so many great acts to come tonight, so let’s get started! Quite literally kicking us off, as always, we have the Camden Academy Dance Team, led by Captain Ashleigh Cartwright!”

The cheering goes wild as the team gets into position, and Ash is front and center, looking absolutely stunning—her warm brown skin glows with glitter, her long dark curls are gathered on her head, and her white crop top shows off abs that belong in a museum. Landon’s hollering is the loudest, and I turn to see him sitting at the back with Matt, Salem, Jenna, Isabel, Priya, and Sebastian Giang, the hot basketball player from the club fair. It’s weird to see Salem sitting with that crowd, but at least I can pretend for a minute that it’s because he wants to hang out with his roommate and not because he’s going to abandon me completely for his hot, popular girlfriend.