Part 1Your Crown Has Nothing to Do with Me

On yearbook photo day, I went over and stood next to my boyfriend, Blake Whitmore.

Madison Vance, the cheer captain and sorority president, showed up late, and the crowd parted for her without being asked. A path opened straight to Blake, who stood dead center.

"What took you so long? You just turned every head in the place."

Blake smiled softly and pulled her into the spot beside him.

I was pushed out of the frame. Tyler Brooks, my friend since childhood, caught my arm.

"Claire, don't fight Madison for the spot. She's the main character today."

Then he traded places with me and took the spot next to her.

The crowd started whooping. The fraternity president stood on one side and the vice president on the other, with Madison safely between them.

When the group shot was done, the whooping started up again.

Blake and Madison had won Cutest Couple in this year's yearbook by a landslide.

A hairline crack opened inside my chest, and the cold seeped through it.

I was the one dating Blake. Everyone had voted for them anyway.

Out on the lawn, the photographer guided the two of them through one close pose after another.

Then he called out to us. "Mr. President, where's your fraternity pin? Put it on your queen!"

My hand went to the Greek-letter pin over my heart.

Blake looked over at me and jogged toward me.

"Babe, let me borrow it. Don't be stingy."

He took my wrist and moved my hand aside, then removed the pin he'd fastened there himself three years ago.

People around us started murmuring.

"Oh, that's her. Claire. Blake's girlfriend."

"I never even noticed her... She really doesn't stand out."

Something in me went hollow, and my hands closed into fists.

Your moment of glory has nothing to do with me.

So from now on, my life has nothing to do with you.

* * *

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.