Jasmine thinking it looks damn good shouldn’t have any effect on me, but the heat crawling up my skin would suggest it does. Still, I force myself to shake it and think about what I want.

And I thought it looked pretty damn good too.

I never do this. I’m the opposite of lonely; pretty much every decision in my life involves a consultation with my mom, or Shannon, or both. This would be me, and only me, making a choice, alongside someone who isn’t gonna be there on the first day of school when people see it for the first time.

Me.

“Yeah,” I say, getting to my feet and holding out a hand to Jasmine. “I’m doing it.”

She takes my hand and grins as I pull her up. “Good. Because I already made the appointment, and it’s in fifteen minutes.”

“Jasmine!”

“It takes time to get an opening there!” she says, holding up her hands in the universal gesture of innocence. “I wasn’t gonna make you go if you didn’t want to.”

“Hmph.” I turn back to the mirror and put the wig on one last time, just to make sure.

I look really freaking good.

“Fine,” I say, taking it off and putting it back on the mannequin while Jasmine puts back the wigs she’d been sporting. “Let’s go change my life or whatever.”

Chapter Fourteen

NOW

It takes forever to get through the swarm of congratulatory partiers once we arrive at Ferris’s. Everyone wants a piece of Chase—a picture, an autograph, a hug, a kiss on the cheek.… I can’t imagine what else they’d be looking for if he were single, but he made very clear at the game that he isn’t, and I walk through the crowd feeling like I’m wearing a full-body halo.

“Sorry it’s such a circus,” he murmurs to me when yet another guy comes over and claps a meaty hand on his shoulder. It seems like every athlete at Stratford has come out for this, whether they’re into football or not. News travels fast. I had to set my phone to Do Not Disturb because it was lighting up with notifications from every single social media app. People aren’t just cheering on the team’s win or Chase’s record; they’re sharing videos of him asking me to the dance, of me responding, of their heart-eye emojis and dreams of finding a guy like that.

It’s not like I’m unused to getting some attention, but this is seriously next-level. Even Shannon’s completely out-of-control sweet sixteen didn’t storm social media like this, and she had performers from Cirque du Soleil.