I choke out a sob, “I need my dad to come back, Rhett. That’s what I want. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about finding a replacement for him. I shouldn’t need a replacement for a man who’s still alive. He’s supposed to be here.”

“I’ll figure something out. I’ll talk to Coach and see if I can leave the locker room at halftime to be with you. I want to be with you, Kinsley. Okay?”

I swipe my tears off my cheeks before reaching for some toilet paper to blow my nose. It’s not the least bit attractive, but I don’t really care. “Don’t worry about it,” I tell him. “I didn’t want to go in the first place. Betty has me on the schedule anyway. It’s a really busy night for the diner.”

I lie about the last part. Betty insisted I take the weekend off to do normal high school activities. Little does she know, now that I’ve made the homecoming court, I’m planning on staying home.

“Don’t lie to me, Kinsley.”

I push Rhett out of the way, but he doesn’t budge. “What is your problem?”

“I’m not going to let you do this. You deserve to be on the court, whether the crown ends up on your head or not. I already know you’re not working. You have no reason not to show up to the game.”

“And how would you know my schedule?”

He turns his head away from me, and I know this next part is going to be interesting. “Because I’m the one who made sure it happened. I went in there the other day and asked Betty to give you the time off. With Fall Fest the following weekend, I figured you’d try to work through homecoming to make up the difference.”

I’m shocked—completely and utterly shocked. It’s a sweet gesture, but he has no right going behind my back like that. He doesn’t understand how much money I’m losing by taking two weekends off in a row. Not to mention I’m spending a lot of the money that needs to be put towards bills on two outfits to wear to some stupid football game and dance.

I was defeated when I left the cafeteria, then sad when I came in the bathroom stall, but now I’m just pissed off. I’m over it. I’m over the idea of being queen of a school that never accepted me until I started dating their star athlete. “I’m going home.”

“You just got here.”

“And it was a mistake coming in.” I push around him, realizing we have an audience as at least ten other girls listen to our conversation while they pretend to fix their hair in front of the mirrors.

“Sunny, wait. Please.”

“I can’t.”

“Stay here, then. Talk to me. You know I can’t leave. I’ll get benched if I skip.”

Right now, I want to be far away from him. I’m mad at him for not accepting Carson when I need him, and I’m mad that I even have to choose Carson in the first place. But the one I’m the most angry with could be almost anywhere in the world right now—my father.

Rhett continues to plead with me the entire way to the lobby, but nothing he could say would ever convince me to stay—not when I feel this low. When I glance back at the school, he’s still there watching me leave with his hands against the glass of the door. I don’t have a good view of his face, but even from here, I can tell how disappointed he is.

By the time I get home, I’m still trying to calm myself down. Carson’s getting out of his car, and I quickly check to see if my red eyes are still puffy. He catches me looking in the mirror, even though I try to hide it. He taps on the window, nodding his head toward the house—my signal that he wants me to go inside with him.

“Where were you?” he asks, as I get out of my car.

“School. It was a big mistake.”

“Still not feeling well?”

I shake my head. “I’m okay. It’s been a bad day though—they nominated me for homecoming court. Now I have all these responsibilities and outfits to buy. It’s ridiculous.”

“Don’t most girls go ape shit for that stuff?”

“I’m not most girls, I guess.”

We walk up the stairs to the apartment, side by side. He unlocks the door, and pushes it open, allowing me to go inside first. After we dump our stuff in our rooms, we both end up on opposite ends of the couch, like usual.

“Wanna tell me about it?”

“Not much to tell.”

He raises his eyebrows, not buying my answer at all. “You don’t cry unless you’re upset.”

I grab the throw pillow next to me, hugging it close to my body. “Rhett and I argued after Mandi said some stuff at lunch. Long story short, it was one giant disagreement and here I am.”

“What did you argue about?”

I chew on my lip, not sure I want to open this can of worms, but it’s Carson, and we’ve had talks like these so many times before—even if he wasn’t normally part of the problem. “You mostly. I told him I was considering asking you to be my escort.”

“I don’t imagine that went over well.”

“It didn’t,” I tell him, still able to hear Rhett’s disappointment as he spoke to me in the bathroom stall.

He taps my leg with his foot, forcing me to look at him. When I do, his warm brown eyes swallow me up when he says, “You know I’ll do it. If you want me there, all you have to do is ask.”

I look away, suddenly interested in the stitching of the pillow I’m holding. “Thanks, I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet. I told Rhett I wasn’t going to go if you weren’t with me. He didn’t like that either.”

“Wow, you did have a rough afternoon. Why don’t we go to the mall? Retail therapy always helps.”

I’m hesitant, but I do need a dress at the very least. “You actually want to go shopping? Isn’t that torture for you? Wyatt used to moan and groan when I’d ask him to take me.”

He stares at me, rolling his eyes. “Wyatt’s high maintenance, but I’m here to help you. You need clothes don’t you?”

“Yes, I need a dress for the dance and a business suit for the game. I still don’t know why we have to look like a bunch of secretaries at a football game, but it’s tradition.”

“See, you need shit. So, if you want to go, lets do it.”

I smile, thankful he volunteered himself. Chances are, I wouldn’t have ever gone on my own. “Okay, but when you’ve had enough, just say the words, and we can leave.”

“I promise I’ll survive.”

The mall is pretty empty considering it’s only one o’clock in the afternoon on a school day. We even get a parking spot close to the main entrance. “Where do you want to go first?” Carson asks, as he walks around the back end of his car.

“I have no idea. First place we come to, I guess.”

We cross the parking lot, and walk with purpose down the corridor inside the mall. Carson laughs when the first store is in front of us. “I’m not sure this is going to cut it.”

“Okay, let me rephrase that. First store that sells dresses.” We’re standing in front of Hot Topic of all places. The exact opposite of what I’m looking for.

After walking for a couple more minutes, we’re inside Macy’s, heading toward the juniors’ department. I browse the racks, and once I have three choices in my hands, we find the nearest dressing room.

There’s a chair next to the entrance, and Carson plops into it. “Go for it,” he says. “Toss’em out to me if you don’t like them.”

“How are you so good at this? It almost seems like you like shopping.”

He smiles. “I like shopping with you, Kins. There’s a difference. Plus, you forget I have three older sisters. I’ve been through this show more than once.”

“I’ll hurry,” I tell him, as I slip inside the first dressing room. I wish I had enough time to make something of my own, but with work and school, plus my assignments, I’ll never get it done in time.

I unzip the first dress, a bright blue taffeta with a halter style neck. Stepping into it, I pull it up and over my hips, but when I pull the zipper up, it’s a little too snug.

A full-length, black satin dress is next. The fabric is cool against my skin, even giving me goosebumps as it trails down my legs to the floor. Right away I know it’s not the one. This too, goes back on the hanger.