My stomach does a nose dive, crashing into a churning mess at my feet as a horrifying scenario plays out in my mind: Cai and I walk into the student council meeting, and he introduces me as his VP. He tells me I have a “special” uniform for the position. He then presents me with my Interstellar Space Diplomat uniform. I die of embarrassment, and the last sound I hear is the cackling of my peers before I drift off into oblivion.

My voice cracks as I ask, “You…you wouldn’t actually tell anyone?”

Cai shrugs, as if this wasn’t a dire situation. “I guess we’ll just have to see, Commander.” He slaps the locker, as if to say good talk and heads off.

I want to scream. But instead the sound just reverberates throughout my body, causing me to shake slightly as I stand frozen in place. This is going to be the worst day of my life. He’s going to tell. There’s no way he will keep this to himself. It’s too good. Oh God, what if they start showing up at work? They’ll come in hoards just to laugh at me and throw their Total Eclipse Tater Tots and Milky Way Milkshakes at my head. I shake my head to dislodge the image and sigh. Maybe Cai was just messing with me. Jocks love to inflict that kind of psychological torture on the nerds. It’s just a very unfortunate and inevitable high school tradition.

The whole way to the meeting, I trail behind Cai, making sure to keep at least a ten-foot distance between us. When I finally enter the classroom, Cai has already taken his seat, his arm slung over his girlfriend, Crystal Robinson. Crystal is class treasurer—yet another score for the popular crew.

Cai meets my eyes and smirks. He holds up a hand to his head, his pointer and pinky finger out to mimic the horns on my Interstellar helmet. I look away and find a seat at the front of the room. The whispering around the room is deafening, despite being totally normal for a classroom full of students that haven’t been called to order. But maybe I’m just being paranoid. Cai moves past me to stand at the front of the room, and everyone immediately quiets down. He always leads these things like he’s a coach giving a speech to his team in the locker rooms just before the big game.

“Thanks, everyone, for being on time,” Cai says. “I’m really excited to work with all of you to make this year as awesome as it can be.” He begins talking about the different upcoming events like Spirit Week, Homecoming, the Thanksgiving Ball, and the like, but I can only half listen as the cogs in my head are churning in an attempt to figure out what game he’s playing. Maybe he’s in this for the long haul; he wants to make it as painful as possible for me. He wants to drop the bomb when I least expect it.

“Rowan.” I hear him say my name and my head snaps up. Oh no, here it is. No way he could have the restraint to hold back this kind of secret. He wouldn’t really just announce, “And by the way, fellow students, your VP Rowan spends most of his after-school time working at the world’s lamest laser tag arcade.” They’ll lose what little respect they may have for me, which isn’t much to begin with. I shut my eyes and wait for the laughter. “Can you pass around a sign-in sheet?” he finally says. I breathe out heavily through my nose and nod shortly, ripping a piece of paper from my notebook. The devious glint in his green eyes practically burns me. Oh, he’s planning some evil scheme. I just know it.

***

Cai covers most of the events, saying how awesome they will be, how fun, how epic, and various other Cai phrases to hammer home just how legendary everything will turn out. What he doesn’t cover is the important stuff like raising money, required community service hours, and role delegation for planning said awesome events—things that President Rowan would have pushed for. But, as VP, all I get to do is smile and clap.

“And let’s not forget my personal favorite event, the Costume Party,” Cai says. He looks directly at me. “If you have any questions about costumes, be sure to ask my VP, Rowan. I hear he’s a real expert when it comes to those sorts of things.”

My cheeks glow red as several students look my way. That jerk.

Crystal rolls her eyes and says, “Rowan probably has all his superhero action figures for reference. But if you want something that doesn’t scream major geek, see me.”

Oh no…a new, colder dread fills me at the idea that Cai may have already told Crystal about my job. If so, that’s it. Cai doesn’t need to lift a finger. His girlfriend, who aside from being treasurer also carries the title of official admin for all of the Westview View social media accounts, has it taken care of. She’ll have it trending on every social media platform before I can say school wide humiliation.

Cai wraps up the meeting with a few more announcements that I neglect to listen to; all I am able to grasp is a reminder that Spirit Week kicks off with a special announcement at lunchtime in the cafeteria. “We’re going to need everyone to get into pairs this week to participate in the events, so start thinking now about who you want to be your partner.” Not something I have to worry about. I never end up participating in these events after I spent so much time planning them. “You won’t want to miss the kickoff,” Cai says, his gaze shifting toward me. “I guarantee it’ll be out-of-this-world.” Everyone cheers, and a few students stand to high five each other while I see my entire life flash before my eyes.

***

English Lit used to be my favorite class. Not today. Throughout the period, Cai continues to send me hints about his newfound knowledge of my intergalactic extracurriculars. I try my best to zero in on the teacher, Mrs. Lockwood, but her incessant droning of Macbeth in a faulty English accent is torture.

When Lockwood licks her finger and flips the page, starting on another monologue, there is an audible sigh released around the room. Cai leans over to me from his seat. “So, have you thought about what I said?” he asks.

That’s all I’ve been thinking about, I want to say. “Yes. All right? You win. I’ll do whatever you want,” I hiss back at him.

His signature smug grin spreads across his face. “I like the sound of that.”

My eye twitches. “Just tell me what you want,” I beg.

The bell rings.

“You’ll see,” he says as he scoops up his books, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “See you at Spirit kick-off.” He gives me a Spock-like hand wave and strolls out of the room.

***

I anxiously make my way to the cafeteria where Tanisha texted that she was saving me a seat. Wandering through the double doors, I scan the room for her as I seethe over the mornings events. Why is Cai torturing me? What could possibly be so fun about causing me pain? I recall the dodgeball tournament. How I’d wanted to pummel his face with that ball and all I ended up with was a face full of rubber. I already know the answer… It’s because he can. When I reach T, I drop my sack lunch on the table with a thud and lower myself onto the stool next to her. She’s in full concentration mode, working on a homework assignment, so she doesn’t move to say anything to me

A few minutes later, Cai gets up on a table at the center of the room. The microphone in his hand shrieks a bit, catching everyone’s attention. People swarm around the table at his feet. “Who’s ready for Spirit Week?” he shouts, the microphone amplifying his voice ten-fold. The crowd cheers. “I can’t hear you!” he yells. He raises the microphone, as if to allow the crowd to use it. The cheering grows.

I look at T and roll my eyes.

“All right!” Cai calls. “Don’t forget to start pairing up for competitions. Choose wisely!” With that he jumps off the table. The microphone bleats as he hands it to an exasperated Vice Principal Murray—I feel your pain, Murray…

People continue to cheer as Cai makes his way through the cafeteria. It only takes me a moment to realize he’s headed directly toward our table, his eyes trained on mine. I nudge T and nod in his direction. He’s gaining on us.

She looks up and then back at me. “Is he…coming over here?”

I don’t have time to respond as he plops down across from me. I want to shout, What the hell do you think you’re doing? But I can’t seem to find my voice.

“So it’s settled,” he says, elbows resting on the table, hands clasped together.

“What’s settled?” I ask warily.

And Cai flashes another one of his signature smiles that makes my stomach do a triple flip as he says, “You’re going to be my Spirit Week partner.”