Queen of the dogs

Sadie scrunched up her nose.

Juliette Maynord strutted up on stage, a shocked expression on her face.

As if.

Juliette had been a shoe-in for prom queen since they were freshmen. Juliette's daddy was a big time lawyer in Crayville. Which wasn't saying much; the town was barely a dot on the map. But if your daddy was a lawyer and a schmoozer and had lived here his whole life, it meant you were a goddess in the eyes of everyone else here.

Teachers let Juliette skip class. Boys fawned over her. Girls talked bad about her behind her back, but then sidled up to her, each of them elbowing the other to try and be Juliette's best friend. A game Sadie had intentionally refused to play. Juliette was more fake than a Barbie doll.

Juliette smiled, her white teeth glistening under the lights of the hotel ballroom. Her white strapless dress shimmered as if it were made from pearls. It might as well have been for what it probably cost. Her mama had taken her down to Atlanta to buy it, and of course, by the following week everyone in school knew how much it had cost.

Sadie squinted. Oh dear gosh, the girl was actually tearing up. Juliette in her eight hundred dollar dress, with her fake tears and fake friends and snobbery, which made her the ugliest person in school despite her gorgeous hair and size six body. Sadie watched as the principal put the Prom Queen tiara on Juliette's head. She chuckled. It was like putting a crown on a dog.