“Nope,” they say together as Micah leans in to look at me.

“You don’t get to make all the rules. We get some say.” They let go of my mouth as I glare at them. “First rule, you don’t date other boys. Second rule, we don’t date other girls. Third rule, we do this until it stops working for us. Weren’t you there on your birthday when we discussed all of this? Or do you have another secret you want to tell us? Perhaps an identical twin hidden out there somewhere in the woods?”

“Oh,” Tobias says, snapping his fingers and gesturing excitedly. “That’d be a good plot twist—a secret identical twin, living in the tunnels beneath the school, who leads the entire cult after Charlotte, so she can kill her and claim her life.”

“And then one day, we wake up and the snarky Charlotte we know’s been replaced with this weird, uptight, stone-faced girl—like a female Church—and one by one, we slowly go missing—”

I cut Micah off before they can get too deep into their ridiculous plotting.

“No talk of cults tonight, we promised,” I say, looking up at the glossy banner that’s being hung across the back of the stage, with the academy logo and the year of our graduating class.

Jesus, I’m like, not ready.

My hands fist together in my skirts, but Spencer stops my nervous fidgeting with a hand over mine.

“You okay, Chuck-let?” he asks, and I glance his way, letting the passion in his eyes calm me down. The year is flying by, but I have a lot to look forward to. I’m just … nervous about the change is all. And I know we still have three months of school left, but senior prom is sort of a big deal. We’ve just finished midterms, the quarter is over, and I’ve somehow managed not to get anything less than a B.

It’s a miracle.

I’m pretty sure the universe likes to laugh at us all and keep its own perfect balance though—if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

“I’m okay. I’m excited to wear my way-too-expensive dress and dance with five kick-ass boyfriends while my dad glares at me from the punch table.”

“Doesn’t that sound nice?” Spencer says, sweeping one arm around my waist and using the other to grab my hand. He pulls us into the middle of the dance floor and even though there’s no music, he spins me around like we’re at one of Church’s parents’ fancy parties.

My laughter ringing out in the large room is the only tune there is.

Too bad that later on that night, it’d be my scream ringing through the room instead.

Now that the girls’ dorm is officially open and occupied by only three students, it’s the perfect place to put all of our visitors from Everly. I’m not happy about it. Hell, I wasn’t happy about it when they started construction back up on the place and took away my sanctuary. Then again, now that the boys aren’t committed to making my life a living hell, I’ve got plenty of other places that are just as good, like the Culinary Club classroom.

That means that I’m the only girl getting ready in the boys’ dorm, sitting with my mirror on the dresser at the end of my bed and doing my makeup while Church gets ready in Ranger’s room. They have their doors open, and the hallway is teeming with people, so I figure I’m safe in here with the door locked and my phone by my side.

The custom dress the boys gave me sparkles from inside the closet, like a jewel winking at me from the shadows. To get my makeup worthy of such an outfit, I’ve spent the last two hours watching YouTube videos and trying to modify my usual routine.

Gold sparkly shadow for my eyes, dark falsies for my lashes, and a pink lipstick that matches the color of the dress. My hair’s too short to put up, but I tame the ringlets and tuck the left side back with my mother’s clip. The pearlescent white color of it goes well with the lace at the top of the dress.

“Are you done in there yet?” Ranger asks, rapping his knuckles against the door.

“Almost!” I call back, standing up quickly and pausing the music on my phone. The dress is a little hard to get into by myself, and I know I’ll need one of the boys to tie the pale pink ribbons on the back, but I want to be as ready as I can be before they see me.

I step into it and pull the stiff bodice up, slipping my arms into the short lacey sleeves. I’m fully prepared for some bedroom action tonight, with my pink panties over the top of my garter belt and thigh-highs. Monica would be proud of me. Speaking of, I take a quick selfie and send it to both her and Ross. I’d video chat them, but they’re both huge gossips, and it takes forever to get off the phone.

Glancing over my shoulder, I can see that the sun’s already on its way down.

It’s time to go.

Slipping my heels on, I move over to the door and open it to find all five boys waiting in their suits. They’ve each chosen their own color, like they did the night we went to that fancy restaurant with my mom.

“Damn,” the twins say together, exchanging a look before Tobias turns back to me with a smile and presents a crown, woven through with fresh flowers. “We figured five corsages was a little much,” he adds, placing the crown on my head.

“And a crown wasn’t?” I joke, but I’m flushed from head to toe as Spencer comes around behind me to get the laces on my dress. He cinches me in, his fingers teasing the bare skin of my back as he leans close to whisper in my ear.

“You look good in this dress, but I bet you look better out of it.”

“Perv,” I grumble, but I can’t hide the goose bumps on my bare arms.

“Five corsages might’ve been too much, but one should do,” Ranger says, offering one up to me. It’s made up of pink roses, baby’s breath, and a glittering cupcake pendant that gets me all choked up and shit. I’ve never been good with emotions, but I’m trying to work through my intimacy issues. How can I not, with the five of them looking at me the way they are?

He slips the corsage on as Church, dressed in a stunning white suit, watches from the back of the group. He tries to stand back, to be the leader, and I appreciate it, but I want him to have some fun, too.

“Let’s get down there before Mark and his loser friends eat all our cupcakes,” I say, trying to keep the mood light as I hook my arms with Church on one side and Micah on the other. It’s hard to forget though that Mark isn’t just a bully and an asshole—he’s part of the Fellowship of the Divine, the pieces of shit responsible for Jenica’s death, Eugene’s, and Jared’s.

No, Chuck, no, no cult talk tonight, I remind myself as the guys walk me down the stairs like a princess. I really feel like one in that moment, too, much like I did the day they took me to the fairy-tale suite in Disneyland.

My dress sweeps the stairs as we move down them together and tears sting the corners of my eyes.

“You okay, Chuck?” Micah whispers, but I can only nod because I never expected anything like this to happen to me. And I don’t just mean the plethora of dick (see, I’m deflecting to humor because I have a problem accepting my own emotions). The Bornstead University acceptance letter kept me company the whole time I was getting ready.

“Totally fine,” I choke, but the words are high and reedy, and Micah chuckles at me, putting his head up against the side of mine for comfort.