We pull up to the Walcott and everyone piles out. The whole place is strung with twinkle lights crisscrossing over the ceiling like the sky is enchanted. The walls inside the ballroom are hung with giant cardboard waves painted in blue glitter, and there’s a bubble machine at the entrance. “It’s so whimsical!” Ava squeals when she sees it, and then she’s twirling and we all follow her in.

There’s a buffet table, large platters of chicken and salad and risotto no one is touching, and a bowl of punch that—if teen movies are to be believed—I should stay far away from. Sophie Piznarski is at a table scattered with cookies and brownies, and she’s holding a basket of muffins, offering it to everyone who walks by. It’s like student council forgot we’d all be too nervous to eat. But maybe that’s just me. Andrew will probably eat three whole chickens and still be hungry.

Sophie holds the basket out to us. “Don’t forget to vote for King and Queen!”

“Can you actually vote in a monarchy?” I ask, and Hannah laughs and then her face hardens again like she’s not sure if she’s allowed to think I’m funny right now.

Danielle makes us stop at the table, her laser-beam eyes making it clear who we’re supposed to vote for. I write down Hannah’s name, a silent apology that she can’t see. The guys keep walking and sit down at one of the tables on the edge of the dance floor. And it is so weird to see Andrew and Dean together.

“Did you make these?” Danielle asks, picking up a cookie.

“No, they’re from Green Mountain,” Sophie answers, and Danielle drops the cookie back into the basket. Sophie frowns. “You don’t have to eat one.”

I reach into the basket and pull out a blueberry muffin to be polite, but I know I’m too anxious to eat it.

“I’m saving up for Taco Bell later.” Ava wobbles on her heels. “If I drink any more coca-kale-a, I think I might puke.”

“She only needs to fit into her dress long enough for Ryder to take it off her,” Danielle says.

Sophie sets down the muffin basket. “Wait, are you guys are going to . . . you know?”

“Gross,” Ava says.

Danielle raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’d say odds are in his favor.”

“Okay, can I tell you guys something though?” Ava lowers her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Ryder is actually kinda the worst in bed. It’s like he just copies all this awful stuff from porn and doesn’t care if I’m even into it.”

“You watch porn?” I ask. I was too scared to even google sex tips on my phone. Maybe I should have gone to Ava for advice all along.

“Everyone watches porn,” Ava says. “Sometimes you have to get things done yourself.”