Chapter 19 - House of Cards

One Day Until Prom

“Alright everyone,” Zoey announced to the group of twenty students surrounding her. “This year’s senior prom theme is Kings and Queens. We have two hours to transform this less-than-sterile cafeteria into a casino hotel. Jessica, your group has wall decor. Olivia, your group has posters. Amanda, your group has table settings. Peggy, you have table setup. Dee, you have the balloon arch. If anyone needs to lift something heavy, we have Tyler and some of the football team here too. I have to coordinate with the games vendor. Let’s get to work!”

The group of students broke into groups and headed to different corners of the cafeteria. 

Zoey stood there with her clipboard looking proud, and scanned the cafeteria to see everyone getting to work. Lance stood there in front of her in a cute dress. Zoey had a few tasks she could work on with her. 

But, before Zoey was able to talk to Lance, however, Olivia came up to her. “Simone, wanna help with posters? I can hold the ladder for you.”

“Sure!” Lance gleefully accepted.

Zoey was a little perturbed. She wanted to spend time with Simone and maybe talk about tomorrow, but once again Olivia got in the way.

Zoey heard a pop. She looked to see Deanna staring right at her, holding the remnants of a balloon. Zoey raised her arms while giving her a “quit fucking around” look.

Deanna looked over at Lance and Olivia who were both giggling while hanging posters. Lance was on top of the ladder taping up poster-sized king and queen playing cards, and Olivia was holding it steady. Deanna decided to inject some chaos into that saccharine display. “Hey guys,” she called out to Olivia and Lance, “Zoey wanted that poster over there.” She pointed at the opposite wall of the cafeteria. 

“Oh, sure,” Lance said, peeling the poster from the wall. He got down, and Olivia picked up the ladder and walked to the other side of the cafeteria where Deanna had pointed.

Meanwhile, Zoey saw Mack, Francine, and Christopher coming towards her.

“Hey Zo,” Mack announced, “we were about to head out.”

“You’re not going to stay and help set up?” Zoey looked disappointed at the loss of labor.

“Well, technically this isn't my prom,” Mack chuckled.

“But you’re coming to it,” She countered.

“What about you?” Zoey asked, looking at Christopher.

“I’m not on the prom committee,” Christopher replied.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t volunteer,” Zoey appealed to the three. "Please! A bunch of my volunteers had to stay late for track practice." 

“Christopher is already driving me and Francine home,” Mack interrupted.

“Sorry, I’m begging. We’re understaffed. I need help. I even had to resort to asking Dee to help…” Zoey glanced up to see Lance putting a poster up in the wrong spot. Zoey felt like she was losing control of the situation. “Simone, wait.” She walked over to Olivia and him. “It was supposed to be over there.”

“I thought you said…” Lance questioned.

Deanna came over to turn up the heat. “Geez, Zoey, just ‘cause Olivia asked out Simone doesn’t mean you have to be a bitch to both of them.”

Zoey turned to face Deanna. “This has nothing to do with-” Zoey started.

“Apparently she’s pissed she lost to Olivia, ” Dee snickered.

“Dee, stop!” Olivia demanded. “We’re all cool.”

“Not what I heard.” Dee smiled. “I heard she only wanted to take Simone to prom because she was nominated prom queen.”

“You know that’s not true,” Zoey corrected. “Sure, I’m disappointed because we were supposed to go together.”

“What do you mean ‘supposed to go together?’” Olivia asked with a puzzled look on her face.

“We never had that arrangement,” Lance said. “I waited-”

“Guys, stop. Dee is making all of this shit up to get us to fight,” Zoey pleaded. As she said that, she noticed they had spectators gathering around them, including Mack and her friends.

“All right, Zoey,” Deanna said loud enough for the whole group to hear. “Enough's enough. This isn't cool anymore. Olivia likes this girl. And you gotta stop this whole bet thing,” Deanna said with an evil grin.

Zoey opened her eyes wide. She hadn’t expected Deanna to sacrifice her own position on the bet to make herself lose.

“A bet?” Olivia asked.

“Zoey said she could make anyone prom queen, and - Lance - was the one picked," Dee gleefully pointed at a quivering Lance. "She took Lance and dressed him up like this to fool everyone. People have feelings, Zo,” She said with disdain.

“That’s not fair,” Olivia interjected. “She’s transgender. Leave her alone.”

“He is not transgender. He’s a regular boy. In a dress.”

Olivia looked at Zoey, then to Lance, then back at Zoey again. “Is this true?”

“Yeah,” Zoey mumbled.

Olivia turned back to Lance. “Did you know about this?”

“Of course he knew about this,” Dee answered for him. “I have his duffle bag. He changes back and forth before and after school to-”

“Dee, stop.” Olivia interrupted. “Simone?”

Lance looked down at his feet. “Yeah.”

“You were pretending? This whole time? This was all a bet?”

Lance was silent. He couldn’t bring himself to look Olivia in the eyes.

“Fucking, hell, Zoey!” Olivia was furious. “How did you convince her - him - to do this?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Yes, it does,” Deanna snickered.

“Shut up!” Both Zoey and Olivia yelled at Deanna.

“Answer me, Zo,” Olivia pressed. “Forcing a boy to be a girl. Playing it off as if he was trans. That’s twisted.” 

Lance felt like he wanted to die.  In this moment he wished he was trans so he could set the record straight and make this whole thing go away.

Zoey wanted to answer that she thought Lance actually liked it, but rather than out him like that, she told the truth. “I may have bribed him,” she said sheepishly.

“Bribed him? With what?” Olivia was shouting now. 

“With…a car,” Zoey practically whispered.

“A car?” Mack suddenly cried out. “With what money?”

“Grandma’s inheritance.”

“Fuck, Zoey!” Mack yelled. “Dammit! Lance, I thought you were doing this for you. All this so you could get a fucking car?”

“It’s not like that,” Lance pleaded. “I mean, it started off that way, but that’s not why I kept doing it.”

“I can’t believe the two of you,” Mack growled with disgust. She turned to Christopher and Francine. “Let’s go.”

Lance looked at Olivia but she turned away. 

Deanna snickered at Lance. “You didn’t really think all of these girls fell in love with the real you, did you? Oh, you did?”

Lance suddenly ran out of the cafeteria, crying.

The remaining students gathered at the scene were silent. Zoey couldn’t look at anyone, Olivia was hurt, and Dee stood there with a satisfied smirk on her face.

Tyler broke the silence. “Wait - she's a dude?” 

* * *

Lance managed to flag down Christopher before he drove away. He needed a ride home.

"Could I please get a ride home?" Lance softly asked Christopher. I don't have any other way."

Christopher glanced at the passengers in his car before nodding for Lance to get in. It was awkward to sit in the same car with Christopher, Mack and Francine. They all rode in silence. It was impossible to ignore the elephant in the room - or rather the liar in the backseat. Lance was relieved he was the first stop.

When they pulled up to Lance’s house, he got out of the car and ran inside. He half expected someone to follow him. He needed to be with someone, but instead he buried his head in his pillow and cried. Eventually he stripped out of his school clothes and returned to his home clothes.

Dad came home and noticed his son was crying. He offered an ear, but Lance didn’t want to talk about it.

Another hour or so passed and Lance heard the doorbell ring. He heard his dad’s deep voice mixed with a younger feminine voice. A few seconds later there was a knock on Lance’s door. 

“Lance,” Dad announced, “you have a guest.”

Lance didn’t acknowledge him. The door opened and Mack walked into the room, closing the door behind her.

Lance stood up for his guest and looked at her, confused. “Did he recognize you?”

“No,” she said. “I made sure to put on makeup before I came over so I’d avoid him recognizing me. I introduced myself as Zoey’s sister regardless.  But everything that’s happened and you're worried that your dad will find out I pretended to be you twice?”

Lance shrugged as he had no answer.  When you get used to hiding, it becomes habit forming. “You look nice.”

“I look like Zoey,” Mack scoffed. “Are you ready to talk?”

“I dunno,” he replied. “Everyone is angry at me - including you.”

“Yes,” she confirmed. “I’m angrier at Zoey. But I’m more disappointed in you.”

“Mack, I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to fool everyone. I even forgot about the stupid car.”

“This isn’t about the car, Lance. This is about you. The only reason I helped you was for you.”

Lance sighed. Disappointing Mack hurt more than making her angry. “I got so wrapped up in being Simone, I kinda forgot why I was doing it in the first place. Zoey promised me popularity. I got it. She promised me I’d no longer have to follow in my sister’s shadow. I got to be my sister for six weeks. Yeah, she promised the car too, but somewhere deep down, I think I was already hooked before she even suggested it. I know you knew about the bet, but I’m also sorry for lying to Francine and Olivia. I lied to everyone.”

“The only person you lied to is yourself.”

“What? I don’t get it.”

“Lance, forget about the prom for a second. Pretend you weren’t just humiliated a few hours ago. Let’s say tomorrow is a regular school day. Who do you want to go as? The meek boy I met six weeks ago who let Zoey push him around? Or the girl who befriended everyone, and got nominated for prom queen? The one who actually suggested places to go with Francine and me.  The one who made not one, but two girls fall in love with her.”

“I liked that girl. But she’s not real.”

“Yes, she is.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Simone is a real person in California.”

“I’m not talking about your sister. I’m talking about you. At some point, you stopped pretending to be your sister. It was just you. The girl I’m talking about is you.”

Lance was quiet. He knew what she was insinuating. He shook his head. “Mack, I’m not trans. I can’t be trans.”

“Why not?”

“Because I like girls.”

“Um, hello? You were courted by two lesbians. Why can’t you be one too? Remember the advice you gave that girl two weeks ago? Yeah, a trans woman gave that advice.”

“I can’t be trans. Trans people don’t dress up like the opposite gender for a stupid bet. They do it because they want to.”

“You just told me you were doing this because you wanted to, not because Zoey bribed you.”

“I can’t be trans,” Lance repeated, shaking his head. “I mean. I can’t. What would happen to me? To my family? To my life?”

“I can’t answer that. But I know you’ll be happier if you accept who you actually are. Whoever you decide that is.”

“How do you know who I’m supposed to be? Maybe I’m supposed to be that meek boy.”

“I talked to your sister.”

“You talked to Simone? When? How?”

“The night of the party. She called to talk to you. She saw through my voice disguise. I told her the truth. We’ve been talking occasionally over the past three weeks.”

“You and Simone have been talking to each other? You told her the truth? How much of it? Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t she tell me?”

“We were both waiting for you to admit your own truth to one of us.”

“Oh my God. What did she say?”

“She said that you were always happiest when you pretended to be her sister.”

Lance sat down on his bed shaking his head. This was a lot for him to take in. “That was such a long time ago. I barely remember it. We’d play dress up a lot. My dad hated that. I wanted to hang out with Simone’s friends. They didn’t want a boy around. I….” he started sobbing, “I wanted to be a girl so much. There were nights I’d wish I would wake up as Simone’s identical twin sister.”

Mack sat down next to Lance and gave him a hug.

“After a while, and after trying to please my dad, I just sorta forgot. I resigned myself to being the meek boy that was too much a boy to hang out with girls, and too girly to hang out with boys.” After a few moments of sobs, Lance pulled away and looked at Mack. “Mack, I think I'm trans.”

She then buried her head into Mack’s shoulder and cried. 

“It’s OK, Lance.” Mack held Lance tight and rubbed her back while she cried. “You’re just now realizing who you truly are.”

“You knew?” Lance asked, pulling away.

“I had a hunch. I tested you every chance I could. When you came over that first time, I saw someone who was lost. I vowed to make sure my sister didn’t take advantage of you.”

“She didn’t.”

“I know. She brought the real girl out of you. So did all of your other friends.”

“My friends,” Lance sadly echoed. “After today I doubt I have any friends anymore. So, what now? I’m not sure I can face the school after what happened.”

“It’s completely up to you. If you want to go to the prom, then go.” Mack stood up. “I should get going. Zoey is going to wonder where her car went. And legally I’m not allowed to drive without an adult yet.”

“Thank you, Mack,” Lance said through sniffles.

As Mack stood at Lance’s bedroom door she looked back at her. “There is one silver lining.”

“What’s that?” Lance asked, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

“You didn’t lie to me or to anyone else. You were a girl this entire time. I’m just happy you finally see that.”

* * *

Lance’s dad checked the time on his watch. He determined it was time to head out. He walked down the hallway and knocked on his son’s door. He opened it a smidge to stick his head into the room. “Lance?”

“Yeah, Dad?” Lance answered.

He looked over at his son. 

Lance was sitting on his bed, reading what looked like a textbook. He was wearing a hoodie and skinny jeans. When he subconsciously brushed his shaggy hair back behind his ear, an earring was visible, as well as glittery pink painted nails. 

He knew he would have to confront Lance about this at some point. He was afraid of Lance’s reaction. “Hey sport, I’m running out. I’ll be back in a couple hours. I actually have a surprise for you.”

“OK, Dad.”

Lance’s dad was about to walk back into the hallway when he turned back to him. “Son, I want to know what’s been going on with you.”

Lance looked up from her Chemistry book in fear. What does her dad know? “I’m fine, Dad. I’m just doing homework.”

“You’ve been crying.”

“No, I haven’t,” Lance lied, rubbing dried tears from her cheeks and realizing her fingers had makeup on them. “It’s nothing. Just school drama. Nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

“You’re not being bullied again are you?”

“No, nothing like that.” Lance realized she should’ve lied.

“Lance, are you gay?”

Lance was taken by surprise. “Gay? No,” she said. Then she remembered what she and Mack talked about. She was likely a lesbian. What she did know is, she couldn't deal with this discussion right now. “Umm... It’s complicated, Dad.”

“OK, fine,” the elder Biggs tersely responded. “But I want to talk about it when I get back.”

“OK, Dad,” Lance reluctantly agreed.

Lance watched Dad walk out of the room, and a minute later heard him leave the house. She listened until his car pulled away before she got up and locked the bedroom door.

She shoved her backpack off the bed. It was hiding a sundress she had retrieved from Simone’s room earlier. It was white and yellow, and too short for school, but just looking at it made her happy. She needed to be happy. She got out of her boy clothes, put clean girl underwear on, and then pulled the dress over her head. 

As she looked in the mirror, she day-dreamed about being able to wear this around town and at the beach during the summer.

But she couldn’t get this afternoon’s events out of her mind. She was humiliated in front of her friends. Which friends were going to invite her to the beach now? How was she going to face school Monday? Hell, how was she going to face prom tomorrow?

She sat back on her bed and curled up, arms wrapped around a pillow. 

“Things were so much easier before we moved,” she whispered. Things were simpler. When she didn’t know what transgender was. When nobody was angry at her. She wasn’t embroiled in lies and deception. Hell, nobody even knew she existed. Hanging out in Simone’s shadow was safe, it was comfortable.

Lance could no longer put off talking to her dad. He knew something was up. Lance was not looking forward to his reaction. He always told her to “be a man.” He wouldn’t understand any of this.

What if he kicked her out? She had no money. No car. Where could she go? Zoey’s house? No, she didn’t want to burden Zoey’s family and possibly get her parents pissed at everyone as well. It seemed the only safe place was her old home - in California.

The thought of home pulled her in and made her more and more homesick for the life she had. She wanted to go home. Simone would know what to do. Mom would hug Lance and tell her everything would be alright. She wished she could just hop on a plane and fly back to California where everything made sense.

Lance then heard a knock at the front door. She looked through the window and saw Tyler standing on the porch. Curious, she slid open the window. “Tyler? What do you want? How do you even know where I live?”

“I wanted to apologize,” he said, walking over to the window to face Lance.

“Apologize?”

“For how I treated you at the party. I, um, may have gotten carried away.”

“Carried away? Tyler, you were all over me. You forced your tongue down my throat!”

“It was just heavy petting.”

“No, it was sexual assault, you asshole.”

“Whoa, whoa, let’s not label things. I was drunk. Dee forced- Sorry, Zoey said not to make excuses.”

“Why are you really here? Did Zoey send you?”

“No. I saw what happened this afternoon. I just wanted to make sure we’re cool.”

“Cool?”

“Like bros. No homo.”

“What?” Lance scoffed. “You came here worried because you thought - I thought - you might be gay?”

“I’m not gay,” Tyler said defiantly.

“Ok. But, you don’t have to convince me.”

“I mean… you are hot. For a dude in a dress. No offense.”

“None taken. Listen Tyler. I’m going through a lot of shit right now.”

“Oh. Right. Hey, I also came to give you a heads-up about Deanna.”

“What about her?”

“Well, she’s planning on humiliating you at prom.”

“She wants to humiliate me further? Didn’t she do enough damage this afternoon?”

“She wants the whole school to see. She wanted me to help her. But she’s way out of line. I came here to warn you instead.”

Lance was at a loss of words. Hearing Deanna was still out to get her, made her want to curl up into a ball and die. She already wanted to run home before this news. But now? Now, home was all that was on her mind. She couldn’t show up to school anymore, let alone prom. What else could she do? Where else could she go?

“I’m sorry,” Tyler stressed, seeing Lance deep in thought. “I’ll let you go. I just wanted to say sorry. I’m in your debt. Anything you need. You just ask.”

“Anything?”

“Sure,” Tyler confirmed. “Nothing gay though,” he added.

Lance shook her head. Was she really contemplating asking him for this favor? “Tyler, drive me to the airport.”

“Airport?” he asked, surprised. “Now?”

“Yeah. I kinda gotta get out of here.” Lance grabbed a pair of flats and her purse, hiked up the hem of her dress, and climbed out of the window.

“Which one? Philly, Newark, AC? Wait, why are you climbing out the window?”

“Whichever one gets me to Los Angeles. I locked my door. It gives me more time before my dad realizes I’m gone and comes looking for me.” Lance turned around and tried to close the window behind her, only managing to get it half-way down. “Can you give me a hand here?”

“Oh, sure bro, no problem,” Tyler said as he reached around Lance and pulled hard on the window. It still didn’t budge. “I think it’s jammed,” Tyler speculated.

“Just leave it, then,” Lance said. “I want to get going.”

Tyler thought about which airport his parents usually flew out of. “So, I think you want to go to Newark. But that’s over an hour drive.”

“Are you doing anything else?”

“No.”

“Then let's go.”

“Don’t you need any luggage?”

“No. I’m going back home. To California. I just want to get as far away from this mess as quickly as possible.”

They both walked to Tyler's car. Tyler got the passenger door for her. “Oh sorry. Forgot you're a dude.” Then he ran back around to the driver's side, leaving the passenger door ajar. Lance just shook her head and chuckled at Lance’s attempt at chivalry.

Lance got in the car. It smelled like bad cologne, so Lance was forced to roll down the window.

As they started driving, Lance’s curiosity got the better of her. “So what’s up with you and Zoey and Olivia? You come off very… stalker-ish.”

“I’m not a stalker. Girls at this school just play hard to get.”

“I see,” Lance said, rolling her eyes.

“It’s a long story,” Tyler added.

“OK,” Lance said, resuming her gaze out the window.

“So, it was the Friday before spring break,” Tyler began. “Zoey and Dee were in a ‘tude because Zoey had to back out of the Cancun trip because her family was going to a lake house instead. Zoey told me she was pissed at her parents, but didn’t show that to her friends. Instead she made it seem like she didn’t want to go to Cancun anyway. That pissed Dee off.”

Lance turned to face Tyler. “All of this is because of a vacation?”

“No. So, Dee comes up to me in private. She tells me Zoey cheated on me. At first I didn’t believe her. But she keeps feeding me details. At homecoming. When I was hanging out and having fun with the guys. Apparently she slipped away and hooked up with someone else.”

Lance was silently contemplating Tyler’s story. He didn’t realize Zoey had been the one to cheat.

“So, I confronted her. I asked her if she cheated. She wasn’t quick to deny it. But then she did. She promised me we’d talk about it after spring break. I was devastated. Zoey was my first girlfriend.

Lanced nodded. She knew that feeling. God, she hated that she had something in common with Tyler.

“So I’m at the country club with my parents. My parents are good friends with the Joneses - Olivia’s parents. So, Olivia and I had known each other in passing between encounters at the country club and various football events. Olivia asks why I was so depressed. I tell her this same story and she consoles me that afternoon. Listen. We’re both guys. Right? So you know when a girl gets that close to you. You start to misinterpret those signals. We were both drinking. I thought she was coming on to me. One thing led to another and we were making out. The next day she pretends nothing happened. So, I thought she was just playing hard to get. Or maybe we were moving too fast. Only now do I realize she wasn’t.

“So after spring break you dumped Zoey?”

“Yup. The first thing Monday morning. I was so over her drama. And - I thought I had a thing going with Olivia.”

“I heard about that. That was my first day of school.”

“I don’t remember seeing you there.”

“I was…” Lance explained. “I was dressed as a boy.”

“Oh, right,” Tyler replied. He looked at Lance and his gaze drifted to Lance’s smooth bare legs. Suddenly he blushed and returned his gaze back to the road in front of them. “Sorry. I wasn’t checking you out. I’m not into dudes. No offense.”

“Tyler-” Lance paused. She was contemplating telling him the truth, but worried about whether all of this would go over Tyler’s head. She needed to keep it simple. “I’m a girl.”

“Wait. I thought you were a guy dressed as a girl.”

“I’m transgender.”

“What the hell is that?”

“You know what, nevermind. Treat me like you would if you didn’t find out about me this afternoon.”

“So it’s OK to be attracted to you? It doesn’t make me gay?”

Lance sighed at Tyler’s hangup on being seen as gay. “I don’t know.”

“Oh,” he said, then paused for a moment in thought. “So if you’re a girl. And I’m a guy. You’re saying there’s a chance?”

“No,” Lance said, shaking her head in frustration. “Tyler, I’m a lesbian.”

“A lesbian?” Tyler echoed. “What does being in drama club have to do with anything?”

“Lesbian, not thespian!” Lance complained. “I’m attracted to girls. Only girls.”

“Ohh!” Tyler said, finally getting it. Then his face turned to disappointment. “Why are all the girls at this school lesbians?” he complained.

* * *

Zoey was nervously pacing around her room when Mack came home. 

“How was he?” Zoey asked with concern.

“How’d you know where I went?” Mack asked.

“You took my car without asking. There was really only one place you would go with a stolen car. Going on a quest to defeat orcs with Howard wasn’t one of them.”

“She saw me. We talked. I think she’s more concerned about her lies and disappointing her friends.”

“Did he say anything about me? About prom?”

“We didn’t discuss it. I was more concerned about… her… well being.”

“Then I should talk to… her?”

“You should.”

“What do I say?”

“Say what you feel. Make her know that you care more about her than your stupid bet.”

“OK.”

“And… prepare for the possibility she either won’t go to prom, or won't go with you.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Olivia was feeling very conflicted. One one hand, Simone, Lance or whatever his name was had lied to her and passed himself off as a girl. That really pissed her off. On the other hand, she was a lot of fun to hang out with. And Olivia had even fallen for him as a girl. “What if Simone isn’t trans? What if she is a boy? So he’s a feminine boy. Does it matter? I had fun with Simone. And Lance that one time. Unless that was all a lie too. How do I ever trust her again? Maybe I should at least give him a chance to tell me the full story. I’ve got to go see him and find out the truth.”

Olivia got in her car and headed over to Lance’s house. As she was driving she had more time to calm down and think about what had happened. So what if Simone was really Lance? Simone is a great person and a great friend and-”

Olivia knew what she wanted to say to Simone. She didn’t care who was behind the mask. She only cared about the person inside. Boy, girl, Simone, Lance - it didn’t matter.

* * *

Simone and her dad pulled up to the house. 

“We’re here,” he announced. He popped the trunk, got out of the car, unloaded his daughter’s suitcase, and wheeled it up to the house.

Simone casually got out of the car and retrieved her backpack and purse from the back seat. She was looking forward to seeing her twin brother and the new house. The street was dimly lit, but she noticed a feminine figure walking towards her. She figured it was just a late-night jogger until the shadowed figure spoke up.

“Simone,” the figure said.

“Yeah?” she said, squinting in the dark. She was surprised to hear her name so far from home. Who is this?

“I’m so sorry. I never should have judged and doubted you,” she cried. “I love you.” She then grabbed Simone and embraced her in a kiss.

Simone was in shock as this girl was kissing her. With tongue. The mysterious figure gently caressed Simone’s back. “Oh, wow!” she thought.  She hadn’t gotten a chance to make out with another boy in months.  And the spontaneity of this random girl really turned her on.  She gave in to the passionate embrace and kissed the stranger back.

The stranger let go of her. Simone could now see her clearly. A blonde girl around her height. Her admirer smiled. “See you tomorrow.”  She retreated back into the night.

Simone was still in a daze as Dad came out of the house. 

“Who was that walking away?” he asked.

“I…dunno,” Simone said, still reeling from the encounter. “I imagine I’m going to find out tomorrow, though.”

* * *

Zoey had parked a few houses down and was pacing. What was she going to say to Lance? Then she noticed a familiar car drive past. Lance's dad.

She ducked behind her own car and watched Dad and a feminine figure exit his car. “Is that Lance still in disguise?” she wondered. “Oh my God. Lance told his dad the truth!” At that moment, Zoey was so proud of him.

That moment quickly came to an end when Zoey spotted Olivia coming from the other end of the street. 

“What does she want?” Zoey whined.

Olivia and Lance exchanged a few inaudible words, then they embraced and kissed.

Zoey was too late. She cried as she leaned against her car. Perhaps she should just surrender and declare Olivia the winner over Lance’s heart.