‘Thanks,’ she replies coldly, not giving Tiffany the satisfaction.

‘Though it’s funny –’ she ploughs on, her voice climbing up an octave – ‘Ethan said he could have sworn he saw my name against those results. Can you imagine? He said it was like they changed before his very eyes! Whatever could have caused such a thing?’

Chase sighs. ‘Let’s save ourselves the time, shall we? Yes, I changed the results. But you already know that, don’t you? That’s why you’re over here doing this silly little routine.’

Tiffany’s smile twists into something more sinister. ‘So you admit it then?’

‘I saw that you’d won practically every single category. So, yeah. I fixed it.’

‘I wouldn’t expect anything less from our resident hacker.’ She says it like he’s a criminal. ‘You really care that much about some silly little poll? Kind of sad, isn’t it?’

‘Almost as sad as creating fake accounts to vote for yourself.’

Tiffany scoffs. ‘It’s always accusations with you, isn’t it?’

‘No smoke without fire.’

‘And yet you never have any proof.’ She shrugs. ‘Doesn’t matter anyway. I’m still gonna win Prom Queen. That’s why we did that vote by paper ballot. So your meddling cyber fingers can’t get at the results. Democracy in action!’

‘You really think I care about who’s crowned tonight?’ Chase laughs. ‘I mean, it would have been nice to see Kellen and Rhys make history. The first same-sex couple to take the crowns! A real friend would bow out of the competition. Be an ally. Let them have it. I mean, Rhys is your best friend, isn’t he? Or is that just for the likes?’

‘Of course he’s my friend,’ Tiffany snarls. ‘And that’s exactly why I’m giving them fair competition. That’s the problem with people like you. You want everything handed to you. Well, not in my world. I’m not going to patronize them by letting them win.’

‘No, far better to steal the crowns from under them,’ Chase says. ‘I’m sure you’ve already found a way to do that.’ He’s really on a roll today. I hate to give Tiffany credit, but she’s hard to go toe to toe with. ‘So what was it this time? Blackmailed Mr Harrington? Bribed half the student body?’

‘How dare you –’

The sound of the double doors opening interrupts them and we all turn to see a tall Black woman striding into the room.

‘For what reason is it this hot?’ she demands of nobody in particular, and the hall falls silent. Tiffany glares at Chase before sweeping back to her table.

Miss Madzikanda has a way of commanding a room just with her presence. She’s the ‘head games mistress’ (which is rich-people talk for ‘PE teacher’) and she’s always been my favourite because she’s the only teacher at Oakbrook that doesn’t play favourites. It’s rumoured she was on scholarship back when she was a student here, and I think that’s why she doesn’t bend to the rich kids. She’s a hard-ass for sure, but she’s a hard-ass to everyone.