When Perfect Meets Crazy novel Chapter 12

I liked school. How could I not? I had the best grades in my year. Teachers loved me. I never got in trouble and although I was freakishly smart, I still sat at the top of the social pyramid. I was an all-rounder like I was raised to be. There was little to not like. On days like today, however, I found myself nursing a strong dislike for the establishment that forced me to know the walking headache that was Claire Evans. Royal pain in the ass did not come close to embodying her.

Under normal circumstances, I could tolerate her. I had learned to. Our friendship circles overlapped enough to ensure that and unlike most people, I knew she wasn’t all hearts-and-flowers like she pretended to be. I had experienced it first-hand but confronting her would’ve been dirty and ugly. She would’ve painted herself as the helpless victim while I would come off as the wicked stepsister who didn’t want her at the ball. It was just easier to do the right thing; pretend to put our grievances behind me.

“I’m just saying, we should totally...”

She flashed a wide all-encompassing smile that had me immediately tuning her out. My gaze wandered about the coffee shop and I found myself wondering just how I had gotten stuck in prom committee. Ah... yes, the awards.

I sighed.

Claire Anne High had a tradition of hosting an award ceremony before prom. It was supposed to take the edge off. The stress. The expectations. The finality. Like most schools, we give the normal yearbook awards but unlike most schools, Claire Anne High makes a big deal of it. The fact that there was a semi-formal ceremony dedicated to handing out fancy trophies to the title holders said it all. It was all in good fun though. The only problem was, almost every year, the prom committee would create a new award for someone who had been outstanding in remarkable way that just didn’t fit into any of the pre-established categories.

Last year, we had only one new category; Best Supporting Actress. She was pretty and funny with shiny voluminous hair that everyone envied. Claire claimed it was thanks to her Iranian heritage. Cue my eye roll. She also happened to be best friends with the girl who won Most Admirable. The reason she got Best Supporting Actress was because of that and because she was everybody’s friend. She was the approachable kind of person everyone got along with but also knew to never mess with. Like an eccentric aunt with the scathing tongue of a hardened sailor. Personally, I liked her. It also helped that she couldn’t stand Claire.

This year unfortunately, I qualified for the unknown category. The nicknames the rest of the school had for me but thought I didn’t know of alone made it very clear; Have-it-all Avy, The Fixer, Madam President, Romanoff. Claire already bagged Most Admirable which meant I had no contenders. No one to distract them with. Every other person fit in a category in ways that I didn’t. That was the reason I signed up to be part of the committee. So I could shut down any talk of honoring me, nip it in the proverbial bud seeing as my mom was definitely not going to approve of an award for something entirely non-academically oriented. Being at the top of the social pyramid was fine but getting awarded for it was unacceptable.

“...so really, that’s why we shouldn’t have a band,” she concluded, sitting back like she just delivered an all-important lecture.

Cue one of my infamous eye rolls. Choosing a DJ over a band did not, by any stretch of imagination, warrant this emergency meeting nor her five-minute monologue. Definitely not when every other person had already agreed on band.

“So what do you suggest we have instead, Claire?” the Chair of the committee, Louise, asked.

“I’m just saying.” She shrugged her dainty shoulders, utilizing the full force of her wide innocent looking eyes. “We’ve been doing the same thing for years. We should switch it up. Get innovative.”

I’d die first before admitting defeat to Claire Evans so I pasted a smile on my face and pretended I wasn’t fantasizing about slapping her so hard her teeth would come loose.

“You’ve said that already,” I pointed out. “We heard you the first time. The question is do you have any actual ideas?”

It was only for a fraction of a second but her eyes narrowed in irritation.

“A few, yes but I don’t think I should make the choice for everyone. You should all get to air your views too,” she replied, smiling with all the innocence of a week old baby.

It was all I could do not to scoff. Pull up a chair, Lucifer. Takes notes from a real pro. This was really all just because we made the decision without her. Never mind that it wasn’t our fault she was out sick the day we voted. It was just one vote anyway and the votes for band had been almost unanimous. We were having a DJ for prom anyways, so it was only fair.

“Well, since you’re so concerned about our opinions I feel like I should remind you that we already made a choice. Band.” My voice was liberally coated with saccharine.

I was in no mood for her ploys.

Her smile wobbled as she surreptitiously bared her teeth at me. If she wasn’t absolutely serious about becoming a surgeon, I’d have recommended she try a career in acting. She was that good.

“Okay, Claire. Do you have a DJ in mind?” Louise stepped in placatively. Her gaze met mine in silent communication over Claire’s shoulder. She was tired and at her wits end, it said. “One that is within our price range.”

I couldn’t help but snicker. Claire came from money. A lot of it and she never let us forget it. Ever. I had nothing against her parents’ wealth but there was a limit to how much name dropping you could do before it started to get annoying. Everyone at Claire Anne was wealthy by normal standards but, of course, there would always be the much wealthier ones.

It was time to step in. The meeting had gone on for long enough and I had a party to prepare for. While Claire could run circles around Louise with her double-edged words and innocent smile, she couldn’t around me.

“Claire,” I began. I clasped my hands on the table top and met her gaze. “We voted on this already. You weren’t there to vote. We understand that so you get till midnight to come up with an option. Like Louise said, one that’s within the budget. You’re going to Greg’s party, right? You can tell Emily and Louise by then,” I proffered. Avy to the rescue, as always. “Whoever you come up with though, keep in mind that we’ll still have to vote.”

Louise flashed me a look of gratitude. She had to pick her brother up from his ballet class and she was already running late thanks to the Claire’s antics.