Kyla's POV

"Vote for Kyla for prom queen." My friends chant as we pass out cookies. All I have to do is smile and thank the students who promise to vote for me. The only thing I should be worrying about is getting sore cheeks from all this smiling and my competition who decided to start kissing boys who promise to vote for her – yes it was only on the cheek, but those red lip stains on the boys' cheeks were like a badge against me.

I should be enjoying this time but I'm just exhausted. It's with a lot of effort that I smile at potential voters, that I keep a positive presence in the school. The only way I could make it through the day was with regular breaks away from everyone.

I'd found an alcove in a quiet part of the school and frequently took a moment to myself.

This was the last day to campaign as the vote opened tomorrow before the prom on Saturday. Only two days left to find out if all this work was worth it. God, I hope I win this, it's not like I have anything else left to look forward to. No, my hopes of Holly taking me back are slim to none. She won't even look at me when we pass in the hallways, and I think she's changed her shifts at work because we haven't even crossed paths there. Prom queen is the one thing I have left now.

Excusing myself from my friends again I head straight to my hiding spot. Here I allow myself to show the misery that I have to hide from the world. I don't cry anymore, the tears dried up days ago, now I just sit here feeling numb. Wondering how I got to this stage. A month ago my world was amazing now everything just feels fake.

People rarely passed through this hallway, it was too far from the lunch room, that I was surprised when I heard voices coming up the hallway. Tucking further into the shadows of the alcove allowed me to still see and hear, but made me near invisible unless you knew where to look.

The footsteps paused when their voices were close enough for me to hear their words clearly. "So, what do you think of Holly's little announcement?"

At the sound of Holly's name I poke my head out enough to see who's there. A few metres down the corridor I see Holly's two friends Tanya and Laurie, the latter has stopped to tie her shoe laces.

Laurie pulls the new bow on her laces and stands up before answering. "A little surprized, to be honest. I never would have guessed that she's a lesbian but now as I think about it, it makes sense, you know?"

What? Holly told her friends? How much did she tell them? Surely she wouldn't out me?

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I've got nothing against her being gay, I just wish she felt she could have told us sooner. We don't have long left before we graduate and go on to different colleges." Tanya confesses.

"That's been bothering me since she told us. What made her suddenly decide to tell us now? Something has got to have happened in the past month. She's been quieter lately, fainting sickness and headaches a lot." Laurie observes. Wow, Holly has some good friends if they've noticed something is different, my so-called friends certainly haven't, it's all superficial talk about prom.

"You don't think she was seeing someone do you and they broke up?" Tanya asked.

"That's exactly what I think. My money is on that girl going to school with us. She didn't tell us so we wouldn't quiz her every time she looked at another girl."

"So, the next question is, who is this mysterious girl that has left Holly's heart in pieces?" Tanya questioned. Oh, this sounds dangerous. My heart starts beating fast.

"I don't know but I plan to find out and have words with whoever it is."

"At least she agreed to go to prom now. I thought we were going to have to personally stuff her into a dress and carry her to prom. It wouldn't be the same without her."

The voices faded away as did the footsteps. I relaxed my muscles, not realising how much I had tensed up when I heard what they were saying.

I can't believe Holly had the courage to come out to her friends. She was always the braver one of the two of us. Hearing her friends accept her and go out of their way to include her makes me feel a little jealous. Do I have anyone in my life who would do the same for me? Yes all my friends were helping my campaign but were they really my friends. I'd known most of them since kindergarten but I don't think it was by choice they became my friends. I remember talking to a lot of kids then but I was only allowed play dates with certain people. Networking from a young age. It all seems very fake, we don't talk about hopes and dreams, God forbid I like something outside of the group consensus. I couldn't wait to go away to college and not see the lot of them for months at a time. College. Guess that's another thing ruined at the moment. Holly and I were meant to go together. We'd even planned on being roommates. Now that dream doesn't seem as bright as it once did.

Other than my job, college was the one thing I got to pick out for myself against my mothers continued disagreement over my choice. That was probably part of the reason I let her take control of my prom queen campaign. She's talked about prom for as far back as I can remember. It's always been her dream for me to win.

Wait, it's always been her dream.

But does that mean it's not become mine as well?

My hidden alcove suddenly seems like it's getting smaller. I can't be in this environment any longer, surrounded by fake people and being fake myself. I need to get out of this school.