Chapter 4 Carnival, Chaos, and Confessions (Sort of)

"You want what at prom?" Ellie blinked at Avery from across the conference table in the student council room.

"A dunk tank," Jace repeated, entirely too pleased with himself. "Just picture it-Mr. Bennett in the tank, three-dollar tosses, all proceeds to charity. It's genius."

Avery pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's a dance, not a circus."

Jace leaned back in his chair, spinning a pen between his fingers. "Correction: it's a Retro Carnival experience."

The rest of the student council was divided-half were grinning like kids at a candy store, the other half looked mildly terrified.

Priya raised an eyebrow from beside Avery. "You're really letting him pitch this?"

"I'm not letting him do anything," Avery muttered. "I'm containing the damage."

Mr. Bennett coughed from his spot near the whiteboard. "Let's focus. Avery, Jace-this is your time to present your theme proposal."

Jace stood, too fast, like he'd been waiting to show off. "Okay, so: Retro Carnival. Think string lights, red-and-white tents, mini games, popcorn bars. Dance floor in the center, booths around the edges. We can rent a carousel piece for photos."

He clicked a slide on the projector. The image that popped up was... shockingly good. Soft lights. Deep red drapes. Gold accents. It looked like prom meets a Wes Anderson movie.

Avery hated how much she liked it.

She stood next to him, flipping to her own slides. "Here's the practical breakdown: budget, setup timeline, vendor quotes. The logistics work-barely-but they're doable if we cut back on the photo booth and skip custom table linens."

Jace stage-whispered, "Because nothing says romance like folding chairs and fluorescent lighting."

Avery glared at him. "I'll make a flowchart of your maturity level. It'll be one arrow pointing to 'nonexistent.'"

The room laughed, but something in Jace's grin softened. Just for a second. He looked at her like... like he was proud of her.

Weird.

Later, as they packed up, Leo strolled in and slung an arm around Jace's shoulders. "Dude, you killed it. Also, hot tip: I think Harper actually likes the dunk tank idea. Power move."

Priya elbowed Avery. "Okay but... he wasn't totally terrible in there."

Avery shrugged, stuffing her notes into her folder. "He was fine. For Jace."

Priya smirked. "You only use that tone when you're flustered."

"I'm not flustered."

"You're so flustered."

But Avery's heart did this annoying little thing-skipped, fluttered, something traitorous-when she glanced across the room and saw Jace looking back at her.

And smiling.

Not the smug one.

The real one.