“Okay, folks, listen up. Congratulations on your nominations. We’ve got a great group this year and I’m excited to see how this turns out. Now, we are a town built on tradition, and prom court is no different. However, when I took over as faculty adviser, I decided that prom court should be more than a popularity contest, so that’s why not only do the students vote, but the faculty do as well. I know what you’re thinking—there are way more students than faculty—but faculty votes count as two votes while students count as one.”

Behind me Melissa Gutierrez huffs. “That’s not very democratic or whatever.”

Mrs. Leonard smiles sweetly. “Did I say this was a democracy?”

“No, ma’am,” Melissa mumbles.

Honestly, I may not have all the staff eating out of the palm of my hand, but I’m a big enough teacher’s pet that this faculty vote thing might give me a fighting chance.

“Now, just because you were nominated does not mean you are eligible. Prom court students are held to the highest standard, so you must be passing all of your classes and on track to graduate. You are also expected to complete various tasks including community service hours, a staff appreciation project, and a school legacy project.” She hands a stack of packets to Callie Reyes, who stands up and passes them out.

When Callie passes to Hannah, she playfully kicks her boot.

“You know her?” I ask. Callie has a mean-girl reputation, and last I checked, she was on the dance team or flag-twirling crew or whatever. Definitely not the kind of girl I’d expect Hannah to be friendly with.

Hannah crosses her arms over her chest. “I guess you could say we’re friends.”

“Full of surprises,” I tell her.

“Flip to the second page of your packets,” says Mrs. Leonard. “There you will find the full list of expectations.”

PROM COURT TO-DO LIST

- 8 service hours to the approved nonprofit of your choosing

- Faculty appreciation project

- Legacy project

- Feature and interview with school TV team

- Graduation eligible

Bekah Cotter raises her hand. “Um, hi.” She turns around from her seat on the front row. “Hi, y’all. This is so neat.” She faces Mrs. Leonard again. “I was wondering if you could explain the two projects.”

“Ah, yes,” says Mrs. Leonard. “Each boy will be randomly paired with a girl and—”

Hannah’s arm shoots up. “I think you mean person? Or, like, king nominee and queen nominee?”

Mrs. Leonard’s brow furrows for a moment as she thinks about that. “Well, it is typically one king and one queen nominee . . . and, well, this year, we . . . well . . .” She motions to me and Hannah. “We have nontraditional nominees, so I suppose . . . okay . . . so.”