Chapter 57: Heavy Is The Head
As Mrs. Delacroix opened the envelope and retrieved the paper within, the paraders looked on, some hopeful, some in resignation, and the others with a confident light in their eyes.
Afterall, Homecoming King and Queen were selected based off the most involved and valuable students over the course of the entire Spirit Week by the teachers of the PTA and most especially, student committee themselves.
That said, two individuals looked wholly ignorant of the building air of anticipation that the drama teacher was purposefully orchestrating as she slowly unfurled said paper.
"You know, I’ve never been princess carried by any other man asides my dad," Clarissa amusedly whispered to Aiden, her eyelashes coquettishly fluttering.
"Great. As if he didn’t already have me on his hit list." he sarcastically remarked.
"What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him though, right?" she winked at him, a glint of playfulness in her hazel irises.
"You’re gonna break your old man’s heart, Clarissa." Aiden replied, his head shaking slightly in amusement.
A few seconds later, Mrs. Delacroix raised her mic to her lips after she’d seen the names and spoke;
"And Your Homecoming King and Queen is..."
The entire stadium seemed to hold their breaths in a mix of curious anticipation...
"Aiden North and Lizzie Montgomery!"
... the entire school erupted in jubilatory cheers and applause.
Lizzie was already squealing in excitement as the rest of the paraders congratulatorily clapped, even though some of them were pretty stumped they hadn’t won.
Still, it was just basic courtesy to at least show some respect to those who won.
As for Aiden, his expression was more confused than he was stunned, his olive-green irises flickering from side to side.
The fuck did they mean he was Homecoming King?
Sure, he was well aware of how pivotal he’d been in this year’s Spirit Week, but so was Casper and Kevin and so many others he couldn’t even bother to begin listing out.
Besides, he had never once entertained the possibility of ever winning such a socialite event so his befuddlement was even more apparent.
Heck, given how busy he generally was, he hadn’t even had the time or bandwidth to even think about the idea of it.
In fact, he’d argue that if it wasn’t for Clarissa’s sake, he’d probably be up in the stands and clapping in mild amusement whilst mulling over more important things.
Speaking of Clarissa...
The lady was currently laughing her ass off as she studied his reaction, beads of tears already forming on her eyelids.
"You should see your face right now! Absolutely meme worthy!" she soon let out, followed by yet again another burst of laughter.
In fact, the queen bee would’ve probably taken a picture of him, if not for the fact that she found out just a couple days back that he wasn’t a fan of his picture being taken without his permission.
"Now go!" she playfully shoved him out as the applauds continued to ripple across the venue!
At this point, a wry smile settled on the youth’s visage as he let out a resigned sigh. Then he slowly made his way over to the little platform placed just before the Hoco Placard.
Soon enough, Mrs. Delacroix had placed the cheap crown on his and Lizzie’s head as she congratulated both students.
Then she left the stage for them as more and more applauds continued to be showered upon them, the gesture only getting louder by the minute.
Now standing next to Lizzie whom was constantly stealing glances at him, seemingly in hopes that he would say something or acknowledge her, Aiden simply let out another resigned sigh.
As a result, she ended up being the one talking to him.
"Sad Clarissa’s not your queen?" she playfully nudged an elbow at him with an arched brow.
"More like worried about how I’m going to explain this to my Pops when I get home..." Aiden honestly replied, a couple fingers pinching at his brows.
’He’s gonna be so ecstatic, that man.’ he inwardly remarked.
Clearly, that wasn’t the answer Lizzie had hoped for, hence why she didn’t have a response prepared.
As a result, she only managed to let out an almost dismissive;
"Oh. I see."
Soon, she glanced backwards at the queen bee whom was currently beaming despite having lost the title.
Lizzie had expected more of a faux reaction of joy or courtesy from her given she hadn’t just lost the title, but had happened to lose it in her final year of high school.
But as a fellow lady, she could easily pick out when her gender was being fake and when they were being real.
Right now, all her senses were telling her that Clarissa was genuinely happy despite having lost the title.
And for the life of her, she couldn’t seem to wrap her head around why, hence why she couldn’t help but feel... envious, of the lady.
At the same time, her coronation as Homecoming Queen, suddenly felt hollow and worthless.
...
...
...
The night was young by the time the students had relocated to the school park.
With most of the props and banners from the day before still around, save for most the booths which had been torn down--with the exception of the game and picture booths, the area had been transformed into a venue fit for the Homecoming Party.
A lot of the picnic tables and chairs were still around, as was the main service station which had been repurposed to serve as a serve-yourself-buffet.
Still, a committee member was put in place to prevent the gluttons from overdoing it.
That said, a row of festive lights had also been hung all around, zigzagging overhead from banner to tree, and tree to banner, resulting in the park grounds being well illuminated.
As for the central layout of the park, a deep red carpet had been placed down, allowing for students who wanted to take the dance floor an avenue to do so.
Yet again, it was under supervision, and this time, from the teachers. Given what some of the teens could get up to... and had gotten up to in previous years, it was only natural that they were on high alert.
In any case, the venue was lively, teens conversing, laughing, eating and playing games as the mingled with one another.
The student committee and PTA had also opted to settle for a simple waltz tune playing softly through the speakers which had placed around the venue the day before.
Given the session musicians had flaked on them yet again, it was the best they could ’manage’.
Still, most teens were complaining about the shitty music as most weren’t interested in slow dancing until the time for the Homecoming Dance came around.
Not that it stopped Casper and Daisy from taking the dancefloor.
Considering they’d missed out on last year’s Prom dance due to the youth been halfway across the country, they were currently making up for it.
’How cute...’ Aiden inwardly remarked as he glanced at them.
That said, the youth was currently on his way to the service counter when he noticed Benjamin walking over from there.
"Your Highness," the chubby friend teased as he walked past to which Aiden shook his head amusedly and responded in kind;
"Lazy Panda."
Benjamin laughed at that, to which he then pointed at his plate, his russet-brown irises glinting as he twirled around;
"These muffins are to die for, and you should have some!"
"Still won’t compare to mine though!" he added smugly as he waved his friend off.
Chuckling a bit at that, Aiden opted to take Benjamin’s advice as he filled up his plate and proceeded to walk back towards the venue.
As he did, he noticed Theo playing whack-a-mole at one of the booths, a couple of their classmates around him as he continued to rack up a new high score.
Glad to see their newest buddy socializing a bit, Aiden nodded like a proud father as he kept walking.
From across the venue, he soon spotted Larry whom was currently in a low discussion with Mrs. Delacroix... probably trying to convince her to allow them play a different song for the dance.
Still, it wasn’t the youth’s first rodeo with them so Aiden could only manage to offer him his blessings from afar;
’Godspeed, buddy. She won’t be budging anytime soon.’
As for Clyde,
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown, so where’s yours?" he amusedly asked as Aiden walked past him, his gaze resting on his crownless head.
Currently, the youth was about to snap his date and her friends whom were already posing and taking pictures of their own by the wooden arch fitted with faux ivy.
In response, the coal-haired youth rolled his eyes in amusement and simply pointed in a peculiar lady’s direction.
Naturally, Clyde’s eyes followed, his gaze landing on a giggling Clarissa who currently had his crown edged sideways on her head as she engaged in a mundane conversation with her girls.
"You know, if I didn’t know you, I’d assume there was something going on between you two already." Clyde casually remarked.
"Though, I can’t help but wonder how you intend to beat the allegations after that stunt you both pulled on the field." he added in intrigue, a light smile touching his lips.
"What allegations are there to beat if there are no allegations to level?" Aiden replied, his head tilted slightly, his smile relaxed and his features unperturbed as he continued walking.
To that, Clyde simply chuckled and returned his attention to his date and her friends, and Aiden found a chair to settle into as he munched on his snacks.
And just like that, the party continued, a sense of reverie in the air. Soon enough, it was time for the Homecoming Dance.
However, just as Mrs. Delacroix proceeded to inform the students, a bead of water landed on her forehead.
Then, a couple more fell, landing on several more heads.
Before the rain had even managed to gather momentum--which was in the seconds by the way--Aiden’s system did what it knew best.
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[Ding!]
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