Your Crown Has Nothing to Do with Me

Then it was time for informal photos.

I started toward Blake, wanting to talk to him.

Tyler had his camera raised and waved me off. "Claire, you're blocking the shot."

I backed into the shade of a tree and watched everyone have a good time without me.

Solo shots. Two-person shots. Even a three-person shot with the timer set.

Nobody thought to call me over.

A little way off, Madison posed for her solo shots.

My boyfriend normally acted like the world revolved around him. Now he circled her with a camera, tirelessly hunting for the perfect angle.

I'd been his girlfriend for three years, yet I'd never known he could take photos.

Watching him fuss over her, I suddenly realized how stupid I'd been to keep waiting.

I stood up, brushed the grass off my skirt, and left without looking back.

There weren't many people in the classroom. Two girls in the front row were deep in conversation and didn't notice me come in.

"Honestly, the frat president and the sorority president? Was there ever any doubt they'd win Cutest Couple? Blake and Madison were made for each other!"

"Not for a second. Put them together, and every head in the room turns. They were homecoming king and queen last year, and people chanted for them all night."

"Tyler's hot too. On the field, he's second only to Blake!"

"Right, right. It's a shame, though. He's declared himself Madison's knight. Says he's protecting his queen."

"Wait, doesn't Blake have a girlfriend? What's her name... Claire?"

"I think I've heard of her. The quiet one who's always trailing behind them."

"Is she really his girlfriend? She looks more like Madison's tagalong. She doesn't fit in with that crowd at all..."

They weren't wrong.

Since homecoming last year, everyone on campus had assumed Blake and Madison were the golden couple.

Nobody remembered I was his actual girlfriend. Blake himself didn't care, either.

I didn't want to sit through another minute of it. I picked up my books and walked past them.

The conversation stopped dead behind me. Somebody sucked in a breath.

I skipped the senior ball that night, but I couldn't just forget about the pin, so I ended up at the ballroom door, hoping to catch Blake alone.

As I passed the restrooms, I heard laughter through the gap in the door. Then I heard my own name.

"Real talk, Blake. How did Claire end up as your girlfriend?"

A voice I didn't recognize teased, "She's like a decoration at every party. She stands in the corner and says nothing."

"Hey, she makes the Dean's List every semester. Straight A's," someone else said in a mock-serious voice, egging them on.

"So what? She's a nerd," the first voice said with a laugh. "Blake and Madison? That's a match made in heaven! Blake and Claire? Ha! It looks like community service."

I stood outside listening. The room wasn't soundproof, so every word carried.

Then Blake spoke, and my heart jumped. "Don't talk about her like that."

The laughter stopped. Everyone waited to hear what he'd say next.

"Claire isn't the kind of person who lights up a room the way Madison does. That's true. She's... she's just not made for parties and stuff like that," he said. "That's why we usually do our own thing."

They were on him in a second.

"Come on, Blake. Claire isn't even in the same league as Madison!"

"You should just get with Madison already. I can see the way she looks at you!"

Blake laughed. He didn't argue.

"Honestly, I only started dating Claire because of a bet. Someone said a nerd like her would never go for me... Then I found out she's actually all right.

"As a girl, though... no, she doesn't have much going for her. But that doesn't stop me from appreciating her."

Somebody cut him off. "Come on. How many times have you actually taken her anywhere?"

I didn't hear anything after that. I don't even remember how I got away from the door.

I drifted out onto an empty road like a ghost.

The moment the darkness closed completely around me, whatever was holding me together broke.

I sank to the ground and cried as quietly as I could.

I had thought Blake was with me because he understood the quiet in me.

All I'd ever been was a way for him to pass the time. He'd only approached me in the first place because of a bet.

All at once, I thought about the holidays he hadn't shown up for and how he'd never actually stopped texting other girls.

My hand rose to my collar before I could stop it.

Nothing there. The pin was gone.