Most Likely to Succeed

His words hit me like a slap in the face. “I didn’t screw up the election,” I protested. “I had nothing to do with it. Ms. Yates wouldn’t let me work on the election staff because I’m part of the senior class. That’s exactly why the election got screwed up, if you ask me.”

“But you were still in charge,” Aidan said. “You were supposed to tell the staff what to do, and somehow they didn’t get the message. When that happens in business, someone at the top resigns so confidence in the organization can be restored.”

“You’re resigning?” I was astonished. Aidan was way too proud of his position to let go so easily.

“No,” he said. “Not me.”

“Me?” I squealed. “You’re asking me to resign?”

“Yes.”

This made no sense. I was counting on entering “student council vice president” on my college applications, and Aidan knew it.

“I don’t understand this,” I said. “Maybe you’re taking this too far because I’m your girlfriend, and you don’t want to be seen as soft on me. But Aidan, there’s something to be said for that sometimes. We’re not in a corporation. We’re in high school, and I am your girlfriend. You seem to be forgetting that a lot lately.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t be my girlfriend.” At the shocked look on my face, he blinked and said, “We need to take a break and find out.”

I’d been wrapped up in what he was saying to me, trying to maneuver out of his anger. But as he uttered these words, suddenly I became aware again of a good portion of the student body moving all around us. Football players streamed out of the team buses, lugging bags of equipment into the locker room. Members of the marching band wearing bright tank tops and their uniform pants, or plaid shorts and their military-style uniform coats, honked obnoxiously on their instruments as they walked to the band room. Sawyer’s majorette followed them, swinging her sequined butt.

But Sawyer hadn’t left yet. He might be able to hear what Aidan and I were saying. He could certainly see Aidan scowling down at me like an outraged teacher.

I asked carefully, “You want us to take a break because you’re mad about the election? It was a mistake, Aidan.”

“Not just because of that. I’ve been thinking about this for a while. We’ve been partners for a long time. I’m not convinced we’re such a good match, in our personal lives or in student council.”

Oh, now I understood. I managed to mumble, “So, when I fucked up the Superlatives election, that was the last straw.”

He winced at my curse word, but he said firmly, “Yes.”

“Which you found out about from Ms. Yates at lunch.”

“Right,” he said more uncertainly.

“That’s why you came to my house this afternoon.” My voice was rising, and Aidan was glancing around to see who was listening, but I didn’t care anymore. “You’d already decided you would tell me tonight that you wanted to ‘take a break’ ”—I made finger quotes—“but you wanted to get your recommendation letter for Columbia from my mother first. And you wanted to screw me one last time!”

He reached out for me. I never knew what he intended to do—hug me, hit me. Most likely he meant to slap a hand over my mouth to silence me. But he looked so angry that adrenaline rushed through my veins. Necessary or not, I jumped backward, out of his reach.

He crossed his arms and glowered at me. Nothing made him madder than me getting angry with him. “This is exactly why you need to resign. Using that language and talking about your sex life in the school parking lot!”

“My sex life!” I exclaimed. “Weren’t you there?”

He looked up at the dark blue sky, gathering self-control. Then he said, “Don’t try to argue your way out of this. I’m not changing my mind.”

“Your mind?” I asked. “Since when does a student council president get to decide that other elected officials should resign?”

“That’s what’s best for the school,” he said.

“I’m not resigning.” Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. What would my mother say?

“We’ll see, after I talk to Ms. Yates again,” Aidan sneered.

“And after I talk to the parliamentarian,” I shot back. “There are rules for trying to make your girlfriend resign just because you’ve broken up with her.”

“Oh.” Aidan rolled his eyes and shot me the bird.

Speechless for the first time, I stared at him, trying to get my head around the fact that my longtime boyfriend, the one I’d thought I would marry, had broken up with me and was now shooting me the bird. If that’s how mature he wanted this breakup to be, I wished I had my mother’s entire container of homemade cookies to throw at him one by one.

Finally I said, “Thanks for confirming that I’ve wasted the last three years with you.”

He stalked away. A few band members who’d stopped to witness our fight were watching me and talking behind their hands.

I wondered if Sawyer was listening. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of turning to look.

No, I took the only possible course of action in this situation. Blinking back tears, I went off in search of Harper and Tia.

5

WAY ACROSS THE PARKING LOT, Will stood beside one of the band buses. He wore his uniform pants but had already ditched his coat. He pulled his T-shirt off over his head, wadded the cotton into a ball, and reached upward with it.