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Hayley gaveme a ride home after school. Jake had refused to talk to me since our argument in the morning, so I really didn’t relish the idea of another awkwardly silent drive home with him. It helped that Hayley’s car smelt like vanilla and she had great taste in music.

“Jake is such a jerk,” Hayley said, as we walked up the steps to my house. I’d been worrying about his reaction to the posters the whole car trip home. I was so upset over the entire thing that a part of me didn’t even want to go to the selection ceremony that night.

“I know he’s upset you, but that boy has done enough damage for one day,” Hayley continued. “This competition is supposed to be fun, and it’s your last night as a contestant, so I think you should enjoy yourself. Tonight should be a Jake-free night.”

I smiled at her support. I felt so lucky that I had such a good friend who looked out for me. “But what if he sees me enjoying myself on the live episode. Isn’t it selfish of me to even go tonight?”

“I think he’s selfish for making you feel bad for things that are beyond your control.”

I opened the front door and Hayley walked past me and into the house. She immediately started heading up the stairs to my room. She had spent so much time at our house that it was almost as much hers as it was mine.

“So, no worrying about Jake tonight, huh?” I said.

“No worrying about Jake tonight,” she replied with a smile.

I followed her up the stairs, feeling a sense of relief at the decision. I wasn’t sure if I could really push Jake from my mind for the entire evening, but I was ready to try my best to distract myself from him. He said he understood when I told him I was doing my best to get out of the competition. I shouldn’t be punishing myself when he turned around and got angry with me for it.

Hayley let herself into my room and threw herself onto my bed. “Man, school was hectic today,” she said.

“Yeah,” I agreed, sitting next to her.

“Everyone was going crazy about the episode last night. They loved it.”

The idea that hundreds of people had watched the episode and were still talking about it made me desperately want to hide myself under the bed covers. The posters were bad enough, but people had also wanted to speak to me about the show all day. I’d tried to avoid it as much as I could, but it was hard to ignore questions when some of them came from your teachers.

“You should have seen Laurie’s face when she got to school and saw the Cadi posters this morning,” Hayley said. “It was pretty much the highlight of my year. People are totally shipping you and Cole together.”

“I don’t know about that,” I replied.

“Well, I do. I told you; you guys have chemistry.”

I shook my head at her. “And I told you; we hate each other.”

“Whatever,” Hayley replied. “Deny it all you want.”

“I will.”

Hayley lifted her eyes to the ceiling but smiled. “So, what time do you have to be at Cole’s for the selection ceremony tonight?”

“At seven,” I replied.

Hayley bolted off the bed and went straight to my closet. “That doesn’t give us much time,” she said, a hint of panic in her voice.

“We have three hours!”

“Like I said, not much time!”

I laughed and took her spot on the bed.

Hayley wasn’t kidding when she told me we didn’t have much time. She somehow managed to fill every minute of the next three hours preparing me for the selection ceremony. She wouldn’t let me look in the mirror as she did my makeup, and she refused to let me argue with her over the dress she chose for me to wear. It was far too clingy for my liking, but she refused to let me wear anything else.

When she was finally finished dolling me up, she looked me over with a satisfied smile.

“You can look in the mirror now,” she said.

“Finally,” I grumbled.

When I went to stand in front of the mirror, I let out a gasp. The dress Hayley had chosen was figure hugging, but it clung to me in all the right places, and I was surprised by how much I liked the way it looked. My makeup was fierce, and she’d slicked my hair back in a low ponytail that somehow managed to make me look elegant.