I walked up the school steps as Baba hit the gas behind me and peeled out of the driveway. My glazed eyes replayed what I'd been doing all weekend: running through CrusadEon Online as Tireya, a now-level thirty Exemplar Valiant.

On my way to homeroom, I blinked out of my thoughts to see Salah clad in an aqua blue hijab, long-sleeved blouse, and skinny jeans a few paces ahead of me. I put a skip to my step.

"Salah!" I greeted. The girl turned around and waved, stopping momentarily for me to catch up. "You're early today."

"Of course, I'm early today," Salah said, raising an eyebrow at the comment.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused, as we entered homeroom.

Ameena waved us over from her desk, an open notebook in hand. Salah and I went straight for her, weaving through other students to reach her.

"I need help with this," Ameena said, her eyes searching Salah's and then landing on mine with desperation. "Today's quiz is going over this."

"Oh my God," I fumbled back and hit my desk. "I forgot about the quiz," I whispered, tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

"What?" Salah said, for once, speechless.

Ameena looked over her desk, eyes wide. "No way. I never thought I'd be the one to remind you."

A cold rush came over me, and my chest tightened. I fell into a heap onto the floor, holding my head in her hands.

"Inaya!" Ameena and Salah bolted from their seats to sit beside me.

But I barely heard them. How could I have forgotten the precalculus quiz today? Yes, I'd been doing all the homework, but I'd barely studied all week!

Valentino walked over, and his eyes landed on my stricken form. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, and he knelt with Salah and Ameena, too.

"Hey? What's up?"

I was never going to be valedictorian if I messed up.

"She forgot today's the day of the precalculus quiz," Salah said, moving away so Valentino could get closer.

"That's today!?" Valentino's voice couldn't contain his shock, and he narrowed his eyes a bit before he chuckled. "Oh, damn, I forgot, too."

I looked over at him and laughed, momentarily forgetting how bad things could be if I did poorly on the quiz. Of course, he forgot. He was with me—er, with Tireya—the whole weekend.

"I don't feel so bad knowing I'm not alone," I joked.

Valentino broke into a grin and stood with me. Salah and Ameena only shook their heads, then went to their proper seating positions for attendance.

But it didn't take long for me to return to my state of worry. I had precalculus before my lunch period, while Valentino had it after—not that I planned on helping him with the answers. The scheduling meant I wouldn't have a spare lunch period to study; I'd have to sneak in glances at my precalculus notebook during English and Earth Science.

As I followed Salah and Ameena out of homeroom, I felt her eyes prick. My future as valedictorian would fall flat if I scored less than a 96.

* * *

I walked out of my precalculus class and headed straight for my locker. My biryani lunch would serve as my only comfort until the dread of the quiz left me. I knew the formulas, but some of my answers just didn't look right.

In the cafeteria, I caught sight of Annok somewhere in the crowd of students. I was hesitant to walk up to her—she was with friends I'd never had classes with—but I struck up a conversation.

"Hey," I said. Her two friends glanced at me and then to the Tupperware in my hands. I reminded myself it was okay.

"Hi, Inaya. Did that exam take the color out of you?"

I briefly smiled. "Just a bit." Noticing Annok had her duffel bag with her, I added, "Hey, how's Marly?"

"Oh, he's perfect. As soon as I got home, I reinforced his eyeballs with stitches, so he's as good as new now. Thanks again for helping me the other day, Inaya. Your superglue gave him the gift of sight for his big reveal."

"No problem! Glad I could help."

Feeling better than before, I waved goodbye and went to the microwave. I didn't care that the bottom of the plate was dirty when my lunch warmed up. The heaps of spicy rice and chicken disappeared into my mouth within minutes. And in Annok's words, I was sure color returned to me along with it.

I noticed Valentino and some of his soccer teammates settling down two tables ahead of me. For a second, I felt bad I hadn't mentioned my lunch to him, but I also thought it was a little useless when he had other friends to spend time with. He's also the reason you screwed up today. I put away the container and pulled out a book from my English class. No, I'm the reason I screwed up today.

I went up to the library to return the books I borrowed and read Othello for the rest of the lunch period. There was no surprise Valentino sitting next to me this time, and honestly, I was relieved. I didn't think I'd be able to follow a self-imposed rule of don't-talk-to-Valentino-for-your-own-good.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully until, at homeroom, Mrs. Asaka kept the class from going home.

"Believe me, I know we all want to leave," she said, spreading her tired gaze around the room, "but I have an announcement. As you know, this is the last year for you—well, most of you anyway—which means two things: prom and graduation."

The class fell into a buzz, and I could've sworn Elsa and Jamie looked my way. Or maybe it was Valentino's way.

"I'm glad you're all excited, but we need to clarify some things. The principal has made the rule that students with grades lower than a grade of 70 will be unable to participate in prom, so now's not the time to catch a case of senioritis."

The class chatter died down a little since their slipping grades had already painted them as victims of senioritis. I felt a bit guilty, too.

Mrs. Asaka continued, "Now that that's out of the way, all classes need to vote on a theme for prom. The two possible options are 'Winter Wonderland' and 'Carnival.' Please use the screens at your desk to vote before you go home today. Or do so by homeroom tomorrow morning at the latest. Dismissed."

I turned to face Salah and Ameena immediately, and the two girls leaned forward in response. I was surprised when Valentino turned to us, too.

"So, what are you guys gonna choose?" he asked before we could say anything. His bright, curious eyes were mainly on me.

"Um." His attention made me bite my bottom lip to stave off a pleased smile. "Wait. We can still vote if we don't go, right?" I asked.

"I don't see why not," Ameena said.

"Are you planning on not going?" Salah asked with an eyebrow arched.

I could see my mom definitely not letting me go for some religious reason. And Baba would agree because he always agreed with Mama.

"Well, because of religion I wouldn't be able to," I said.

Valentino frowned just the slightest.

"My parents definitely won't let me." Salah then wrinkled her nose. "Plus, it's just going to be loud music and smelly boys, so it's not a total loss."

"But the whole dressing up part of prom sounds fun," I said. That, and I also would like to see Valentino dressed up.

"You guys, I was thinking of going...." Ameena trailed off.

"Really?" I said, leaning back on my chair. I really hoped Valentino couldn't read my thoughts. "Your parents must be super chill."

"Maybe Ameena has someone to take her," Salah winked.

Ameena went red. Seeing her so embarrassed, I decided to change the subject.

"I wish we could have a Muslim version of prom," I sighed.

"What would that look like?" Valentino asked.

"Basically, an all-girls party," Salah answered for me. "And an all-guys party for the dudes."

Valentino's head tilted slightly to the side. "Oh. Okay."

I wondered what was going on behind those blue eyes of his. Probably thinking about who his prom date would be. Someone who wasn't me. I cleared my throat to ignore the pain in my chest at the thought of him going with someone else.

"Let's vote." I turned around to tap the screen built into the desk. The question popped up at once. I tapped one of the options and then hit submit. I turned back to the three. "I voted Winter Wonderland."

"I'm going to vote Carnival and ruin everyone's options to dress," Salah said confidently.

"That's what an evil clown would say," Valentino said. Ameena and I giggled.

Salah flipped the end of her multicolored hijab. "A beautiful clown, you mean. I'm running this circus."

"I'll vote for Winter Wonderland, too," Ameena said, looking at her screen.

I turned to Valentino. "What theme are you going to vote for?" I asked, fighting a sudden blush at the direct question.

"It doesn't matter to me," he shrugged.

His indifference was a little weird, considering that minutes ago, he had shown an interest in what we would choose. I brushed the thought aside to ask him, "Can I choose for you then?"

"Sure."

I briefly put a hand to my cheek in deep thought. "You should vote Carnival," I finally said.

"All right." Valentino leaned back in his chair to let me get close just as the shadow of a crowd fell over him.

Elsa leaned into his side of the desk. Behind her was Jamie and Clara, which wasn't a surprise—the two girls stuck to her like superglue to fleece eyeballs—but I involuntarily moved back. I needed to put distance between me and those girls.

"Bye, Valentino," I mumbled and stood. I didn't even get to use his screen.

He looked up at the newcomers and then at me—but I had already retreated to a spot between Salah and Ameena as a shield. I could never explain it, but some sort of fear always struck me whenever those girls were around. Especially Elsa. Maybe because I thought Elsa could see my feelings for Valentino without having ever spoken a word to her about him.

"Bye!" he called out to us, though I think it was mostly directed at me.

"Bye, Inaya," Elsa echoed without familiarity.

Salah immediately began a conversation as we made our way out of the classroom.

"I heard Morrison High is letting their juniors have their version of prom," she began, but I could only let the words float around me.

One of those three would be Valentino's prom date.