？Okay；？　Dan　responded　dubiously。　It　appeared　he　had　no　choice　in　the　matter。

Chuck　tapped　him　on　the　shoulder。　？So　guess　what？　That　dykey　girlfriend　of　yours？　I　heard

she？s　gonna　be　single　again。　Her　？better　half？　is　totally　moving　out。？

Meaning　Vanessa　or　Aaron？　Dan　wasn？t　even　sure　any…more　who　Vanessa　was　living　with。　All

he　knew　was　it　wasn？t　him。　His　perspiration…soaked　hands　began　to　shake　with　a　mixture　of

confusion　and　happiness。　Maybe　Vanessa　had　broken　up　with　Aaron。　But　they　were　so　in　love。

They　even　had　matching　haircuts。　He　scribbled　a　series　of　check　marks　across　the　top　of　the　page

he？d　been　writing　on。　Vanessa　broke　up　with　Aaron！？

？So　I　take　it　you？re　accepting　the　nomination；？　Larry　persisted；　tapping　his　pencil　annoyingly

against　his　wooden　teacher　desk。　？All　in　favor　say；　？Yeah！？？

？Dude！？the　class　of　boys　responded　in　unison；　perpetuating　the　not…so…funny　tradition　that　had

started　on　the　first　day　of　senior　year。　Dan　blanched　as　they　began　to　whoop　and　shriek　in　a

pletely　unnecessary　display　of　fake　enthusiasm。　？Go；　Dan！？

The　minute　the　bell　rang；　Dan　called　Vanessa　to　tell　her　how　sorry　he　was。

Yeah；　right。

？Talk　about　misinformation！？　Vanessa　ranted。　？Where　do　people　get　this　shit？　So；　how　are　you

anyway？？　she　asked；　sounding　kind　of　glad　to　hear　from　him。

？I　was　just　voted　senior　speaker；？　Dan　admitted；　like　he？d　been　campaigning