Winterfell High

Chapter 16

Jon Snow Stark POV

Sam and Gendry slept over at my house on Saturday night. We left not long after the incident with Ygritte happened, but I haven't told Sam about it and I don't know Gendry well enough to tell him. I lay awake on Sunday morning, thinking about everything from the night before. Ygritte is pretty and all, but I know I did the right thing. She deserves more respect, and I don't think we'd fit well together beyond being friends.

Gendry starts stirring on the floor. Sam slept in Robb's old bed, and Gendry slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. Gendry fiddles with his phone, which causes Sam to also start to wake up.

"What time is it?" Sam asks.

"10:30," Gendry says as he starts to get up. "I have to do some tech theatre work starting in an hour."

"Maybe we shouldn't have gone to the party, then," I say, laughing.

Gendry chuckles. "I'll be fine. It was fun, thanks guys."

"Bye," I say to him.

As Gendry heads out, Sam is still laying in bed. "Sam?" I ask him.

"Yeah?" He turns to look at me.

There's a pause. I just say it before I can change my mind, "Ygritte tried to hook up with me last night."

Sam sits straight up in bed. "What?" He's so shocked. "What did you do?"

"I told her no," I'm staring at the ceiling. "I couldn't do it."

"Did you want to?"

"No, I mean," I pause, thinking of what to say next. "Ygritte's pretty, but I was so nervous. It didn't feel right. I didn't want to just do it at some party."

"Of course not, me neither," he says. I believe him, but I also don't think he would turn the opportunity down if it presented itself. There's a pause.

"Oh, I got Gilly's phone number," Sam says, excitedly.

"Awesome," I hope I don't sound fake. I just don't really want to talk about girls right now. "Are you actually going to text her?"

"Hopefully," he says. "If I can get the courage."

There's a moment of silence, then I hear my mom knocking on the door. She yells, "Jon!"

I don't say anything so she just comes in. "Mom, what is it?" I'm still barely awake.

"Where is Sansa?"

"I don't know!"

As my mom is tearing into me, asking about Sansa like it's my job to know, the front door opens. She goes downstairs.

"Sorry," I say to Sam as I get out of bed. "I didn't know I was Dad today."

Sam chuckles. "Do you want to go get donuts?" He asks me, "I could really use one for my hangover."

"Yeah, sure."

Sansa Stark POV

I walk into my house after being dropped off by Margaery, and mom immediately comes barreling down the stairs.

"Where have you been, Sansa?"

"Mom," I say as I close the front door behind me. "I told you I was sleeping over at Margaery's house."

"No," she says standing in front of me. "You told me you were going there after dress shopping. You never said anything about sleeping over, and if you had I would have said no."

"Why?" I ask. I swear I told her.

"You have to be home sometimes, Sansa," she isn't happy. "I know you didn't get all your homework done yesterday."

"I'll do it today!"

There's a pause. "You have one chance left, Sansa. If your grades go down or there's one more slip-up like this, you're grounded."

"Can I still go to the homecoming dance next Saturday?"

"If you do what I just said," she says. "And you have to come home right after."

I say nothing and go up to my room where Arya is on her bed reading her book.

"Mom was really mad," she says, not looking up. "What did you do?"

"Apparently I didn't tell her I was sleeping over at Margaery's," I say as I put my stuff away and grab my books. "But the Lannister party was fun."

Arya slams her book shut and sits up straight. "Tell me everything," she says.

I sit across from Arya on her bed. "There's not much to report," I say. "But Loras did kiss me."

Arya gasps. "Really?" I nod. "Was everyone partying really hard?"

"Yeah," I say. "I only drank a little bit, though. Cersei wasn't raging as hard as I expected. She's kind of the mom friend. The strict, bitchy mom friend but still the mom friend."

"Did you meet their younger brother?"

"I did! He's actually really funny, not at all what I was expecting. He was making out with some girl on the couch all night."

Arya seems surprised at that. "I've heard so many things about him. Like he's hideous or some kind of sheltered gremlin."

"You've seen him walking around town."

"But I never got a good look." There's a pause. "Oh! Sam and Jon's friend was here, he said he likes this book too."

"Which friend?" I didn't realize they had other friends.

"Gendry, I think is his name."

"Oh right, he's Renly's brother. Renly is Loras's best friend."

"Have you met him?" She asks me. I don't know why she's so fixated, she couldn't care less about Jon's friends.

"Gendry? No, he's kind of an outsider, but I know he does tech theatre."

"Sansa?" Arya asks me. I look at her. "Are you going to have sex with Loras?"

I give her a puzzled look. "Why would you ask me that?"

"I know how big of a deal it is to have sex at Winterfell, and I was wondering if you would have to to get a date." Arya is hugging her pillow. I can tell she's nervous to talk to me about this.

"Arya, Loras is kind," I reassure her. "He told me last night that he likes me and that he wasn't going to ask anything more of me."

Arya seems relieved. "Promise me when you do do it, you'll tell me all about what it's like?"

I smile at her. "I promise."

Jon Snow Stark POV

Sam and I are sitting in the local donut shop, which is of course insanely busy on a Sunday morning. He got a chocolate donut with sprinkles, and I just got a plain glazed one.

"I wish I wasn't so fat," Sam says as he takes a giant bite of his donut. "Maybe girls would like me more then." I think Sam looks fine, but he always brings something like this up whenever he's eating junk. It doesn't really make sense to me.

"Girls like guys that look like you," I say. Sam just chuckles. "I'm serious. You look very friendly and welcoming. And you are."

He looks like he doesn't believe me, but before he can respond, Ygritte, Gilly and Osha walk into the donut shop. I look down at my donut, and Sam looks at me confused. I look behind him and he turns around. Once he sees them, he quickly turns back to me. We just continue eating in silence, until Ygritte spots us while they're waiting in line.

"Do you have the same hangover cure we do, Jon Snow?" She calls out to us. I just look over and smile and wave.

Sam looks at Gilly and waves. "Hi Gilly!" He calls out, a little too enthusiastically. Maybe being friends with Ygritte again won't be so difficult after all.

Chapter 17

Sansa Stark POV

Things seem to be going better with mom since I got home. I got all my homework done, but of course she double checked. She's at least still letting me go to the Homecoming dance. There's no way I could miss that. Both Daenerys and Cersei were nominated for Homecoming Queen. I know Daenerys is going to win, and I know that will upset Cersei. Cersei and Daenerys are supposedly best friends, but they have this really competitive vibe with each other. I think Cersei is jealous of Daenerys because of how popular she is. Cersei is popular too, but people are afraid of her. Everyone loves Daenerys.

I go to the lunch table to sit down, everyone is there today. The first thing I notice is that Jaime is wearing the same shirt Daenerys found in Cersei's closet. I know in my heart he isn't just wearing Cersei's boyfriend's shirt, I know that it's his shirt. I also know that I have to ignore it, but I'll probably mention it to Margaery later.

Cersei Lannister POV

I'm laying in bed in my underwear, and Jaime is getting dressed. Of course it's like, 2 a.m. Father is still off on his business conference, but stupid Tyrion is sleeping so we still have to sneak around. I hate Tyrion. He's the reason we don't have a mom. Jaime likes him, he's the only reason Tyrion has a social life at all. If it were up to me, Tyrion would never leave the house. Father does his best to make sure that's the case, which is why Tyrion homeschoooled. Father is ashamed of him, and rightfully so. I wish it was just me, him, Jaime and mom.

"Dany found your shirt," I say to Jaime. He just turns around and looks at me. "It was in the closet. I told her it was Euron's and she seemed to believe me."

"I thought you told her everything," he says. "I assumed she knew, since she's been your friend for over a decade."

"She has her suspicions like everyone else, but I've never told her. There are some things even she can't know." I do tell Dany almost everything, but I need to know that she doesn't have too much dirt on me in case we're ever not friends anymore. She's the kind of popular where everyone loves her because of how kind she is, but I know she could flip that switch any time she needed to.

Jaime sits in front of me on the bed and cups my face in his hand. "Are you really going to date him?" He's talking about Euron. I just nod. Jaime doesn't seem happy about that. He just gets up and finishes getting dressed.

I am really in love with Jaime, but I know we can't be together in public. I actually don't care what others think, I couldn't care less if people knew. Dany would never let anyone say anything to my face, not that I need her to defend me. I would annihilate anyone who dared say a word.

"You're the one who doesn't want people to know about us," I say to him. "You're the one who would do anything to keep us a secret. What better way for me to do that than to date someone else?"

Jaime just glares at me. "It doesn't mean that I like not having you all to myself," he says. I just look at him and turn over on my side to face away from him. He lays next to me and whispers, "It's okay. One day it will just be you and me." He kisses my head and leaves the room.

Jon Snow Stark POV

I'm laying awake, unable to fall asleep. I know I need to get some rest, I have school and rock climbing practice tomorrow. I miss Robb. We talked on the phone today, and it reminded me how much I miss him. He's coming home for Thanksgiving, he told me he's bringing a girl. I'm happy for him, but it surprises me that he wants to bring her home so soon. Of course he asked me if I have a girlfriend yet, and of course I said no. I don't like that things are changing, I want Sansa and Arya to stay kids forever and I wish me and Robb could stay teenagers forever.

I'm the only one who doesn't want to grow up, even Bran and Rickon want to grow up so they can go on endless adventures. Sansa and Arya can't wait to become independent teenagers. I hear them talking sometimes, even though they think I can't. We share a wall. I love how close they are, but Sansa becoming popular does scare me. I don't trust Daenerys, or Margaery, and definitely not Cersei. Them pressuring her to drink or do drugs or have sex terrifies me. I know Sansa isn't a baby, but she's not grown either.

I'm nervous for rock climbing practice tomorrow. I don't want things to be awkward between me and Ygritte. I still like her, and I still want to be her friend, but the thought of having a real conversation with her after what happened is stressing me out. Now that I know that she's interested in me, I don't know what to think. She's gorgeous and funny and great to talk to, but I promised myself I wouldn't date in high school, so I have to brush all that aside. If she really does still just want to be my friend, I hope I can put any awkwardness aside and do that.

Chapter 18

Sansa Stark POV

Today is the day of the Homecoming game, and tomorrow is the dance. I've been eating less during lunch and dinner, hoping that my arms won't look as chubby in my Homecoming dress. It's strapless, which is a big reason I didn't want to buy it. At least the teal one had sleeves. Cersei guessing that I'm a size six or eight didn't help. I'm usually a two, but the dress I got was a four. That isn't good. I still feel like I look stupid in the dress I got, and Arya said it was really extra. I tried it on for her and she said I looked pretty, but the dress was over the top.

We're in the locker room getting ready for the game, changing and putting makeup on. I'm trying to stay quiet as Daenerys, Margaery and Missandei are talking. I'm not really listening. I've felt even more out of place with them since the party. I tend to be pretty introverted, and being at a high school party didn't seem like my scene.

"Sansa," Margaery's voice snaps me out of my trance. I turn around to look at her. "Are you coming over for the sleepover after the Homecoming dance?"

I just shake my head and turn back around to go back to doing my hair. "No," I say. "My mom said I have to come right back home after the dance. She insisted on picking me up." I'm so glad Cersei isn't here. She would have a field day with that.

"Oh, okay," Margaery says with a sad tone. This is so stressful, what if she thinks I'm not cool anymore? What if she won't invite me out anymore? Will she tell Cersei that my mom won't let me come? I don't want the privelege of popularity to be taken away before I can really appreciate them.

Jon Snow Stark POV

Rock climbing practice isn't too bad. We're allowed to work with whoever we want now, so I've been climbing with Sam and sometimes Tormund. Ygritte has been sticking with Osha mainly, but she sometimes joins us. We didn't talk much today, I still feel a little awkward.

As I'm walking to my car after rock climbing, I see Ygritte practicing target practice with archery. I can't help but watch her, she looks so focused. She's actually really good. I don't realize how long I've been watching her when she notices me. She just smiles. I turn and start to walk to my car.

"Hey!" She calls out, "Don't act like you weren't watching."

I turn around. "Sorry," I call back.

"I was just finishing up," she says as she puts her stuff away. "Can I have a ride home? Tormund already left."

I pause for a second, hesitant to say yes. There's no reason for me to decline, so I say, "Sure."

We walk over to my car and she puts her bags in the back seat before getting into the passenger's seat. "You aren't going to the game?" She asks me.

"No, it's not really my thing," I say as I start to drive. "I went to the first one to support my sister, but I'm not really interested in going to all of them."

"Are you going to the dance?"

"Probably not, I've never been to a high school dance."

"Me neither," she says. "I wasn't going to go either."

There's a pause. "Do you want to hang out tomorrow?" She asks me. "We could just hang out and smoke or something." I pause, unsure of how to respond.

"Just as friends," she continues. "I promise."

I think about it for a second. I do want to be friends with her. "Sure," I say, smiling. I do like Ygritte a lot, she's really cool. We pull up to her and Tormund's house.

"Thanks for the ride," she says as she steps out of the car. She goes around to the backseat to get her bags. "Meet me here tomorrow at 8."

"No problem," I say. "Sorry for being standoffish, by the way. I think you're really cool, I'm just not used to having or keeping friends."

She pauses. "You're fine," she says as she gets all of her stuff. "You keep saying that, don't worry about it. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable the other night."

That takes me aback. I didn't think she would just bring it up like that. "I know you probably didn't mean it like it came off," I say. "I tend to read people wrong a lot." I don't know why I said that, her intentions were very clear. I just don't want her to think I'm assuming anything.

She walks over to the driver side window. "Wow, you actually know nothing, Jon Snow," she says before walking into the house.

Chapter 19

Sansa Stark POV

My mom dropped me off at Margaery's so we could get ready for the dance, but she still isn't letting me come over after. I convinced her to let me get ready with her, Cersei, Daenerys, Missandei and Myranda. Loras and Renly are getting ready in his room. Ramsay is picking some of us up, Margaery is driving the rest of us. I haven't told my mom that Loras is my date, I don't want her to not let me stay over there anymore if she thinks we're dating. I'm not even sure we are, but this is a start.

I'm applying bright pink eye shadow to my lid, the color matches my dress. As I start, Daenerys walks up to me. "That looks way too bright," she says. "It would look much better with a muted shimmery pink. I can do it for you."

She sits in front of me, takes a baby wipe and starts removing my eye shadow. "She looks fine," Cersei chimes in. She's doing her hair. It's long and blond, but not as bright as Daenerys'. Daenerys' hair is more platinum. Cersei takes a lot of pride in her long, blond hair, always making sure it looks flawless.

Cersei continues, "Nothing can tone down that dress, Dany." I feel so embarassed. That's exactly what I was afraid of.

Danaerys just glares at her and starts doing my makeup. She's already done hers. She did white and blue shimmering eyeshadow with nude lips. She doesn't even need the makeup to look stunning. "I want to be a makeup artist," she says to me. "I need to get as much practice in as I can."

As she finishes up, she asks me, "What do you think?"

I look at myself in the mirror, and I love it. She did shimmering nude pink eyeshadow with dark brown eyeliner and pink lips. It looks really good, and not too flashy. "I love it," I say.

"I wanted to do brown eyeliner because black would have looked too harsh with your skin and hair," she explains. I didn't even think about that.

"Thank you," I say to her. "It looks amazing. You'll be a great makeup artist."

Cersei looks over at me. She doesn't smile, but I can see a hint of approval. "Looks good," she says. That's the nicest thing Cersei has ever said to me.

Jon Snow Stark POV

I pull up to Ygritte and Tormund's house, and I just sit in my car for a second. For some reason I'm really nervous to go in, I even think about turning around and going home. I don't know what it is. I want to hang out with Ygritte, I definitely want to hang out with her. It just feels weird knowing that she's attracted to me, I guess.

Before I can get out of the car, Ygritte walks up to my passenger side window. I see her and roll it down.

"Can I come in?" She asks. "There's a great smoking spot around the corner."

"I don't have any stuff," I say.

"I brought everything," she says, gesturing to her bag. I unlock the car and she gets in the passenger's seat. "There's a great lookout cliff that people don't usually go to."

"Are you sure we won't get caught?" I ask her. I know weed is legal here, but we're still underage and I don't want to get us in trouble.

"Yeah, I do it all the time," she says. "Go straight and take a left at the next stop sign. I'll direct you from there."

Sansa Stark POV

When we get to the dance, everything is already in full swing. Margaery explained to me that because we're the popular group, we should show up later. I don't really get it, but I don't question her. Loras told me I looked beautiful when he saw me, which made me feel a little better about the dress.

Cersei is grinding on Euron so hard in the middle of the dance floor, it's making me so uncomfortable. I know she's just doing it to show off. Daenerys is making small talk with the many guys who try to talk to her, but she's mainly sticking with Missandei and standing around looking pretty.

When a slow song comes on, Loras asks me to dance and Grey Worm asks Missandei to dance, which clearly elates her. Surprisingly, Cersei and Euron don't slow dance so she spends that time drinking punch with Daenerys. Tyrion is here too, Jaime brought him. He's been hanging out with Shae the entire time. She doesn't seem to be embarassed to be dancing with him, she actually even looks like she's into him.

I feel comfortable enough to rest my head against Loras' chest during the dance, but he doesn't try to kiss me or feel me up or anything. He's so kind and considerate.

Jon Snow Stark POV

I've smoked weed a couple of times. Once with Robb, and once with Sam when we took some of Robb's. He nearly killed us for that. It honestly doesn't do much for me, but Ygritte seems much more laid back after a couple hits.

"How's Bran?" She asks me, "Did he recover okay?"

"Yeah," I say. "He's more quiet than he was before the concussion, but he's okay health-wise. He's recovering fine, it's just weird to me that it even happened."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's gone on adventures like that a bunch," I explain. "He's never gotten hurt before, even when he's done more dangerous stuff."

There's a pause. "Do you think he's telling you the whole truth?" She asks me.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe he's embarassed or something. I don't know, I'm high," she says, laughing. She has smoked a lot more than me. I'm barely smoking, since I still have to drive home. But what she said is getting me thinking, maybe there is more to what happened with Bran. I can't imagine what, but he's never been hurt like that or acted that weird after an adventure.

There's a long pause of silence. The view is really pretty up here, so I'm just enjoying that. "So your sister's getting really popular, huh?" Ygritte says, breaking the silence.

"Do you know everything?" I ask her.

She just laughs at me. "Everyone knows the popular group, Jon Snow," she says. "Even a loser like me."

"That's not—" I get flustered. "You aren't a loser."

"It's okay, I don't mind being one. I have good friends and a good life. I like keeping to myself and focusing on rock climbing and archery. I'm still single, which is rough sometimes. But, I don't need to be popular."

"That's a good mindset," I tell her. "You seem to be really good at rock climbing and archery."

She smiles at me. "Thank you," she says. "I'm hoping to do competitive archery and rock climbing after high school, and then maybe teach it."

"That sounds like a good plan. Maybe you can teach it here."

Ygritte just chuckles. "I'm planning on getting the fuck out of here as soon as I can, and never looking back."

Sansa Stark POV

After the slow song ends, I lose track of Loras. I went over to get some punch and Daenerys and Margaery walked up and started talking to me. Before I can figure out where Loras went, one of the teachers walks up on the stage and says it's time to announce the winners for Homecoming King and Queen.

"And the winner for Homecoming King is…" she says as she opens an envelope, "Jaime Lannister!" The dance attendees clap and Jaime walks up to the stage. They put the plastic crown and sash on him, but he doesn't seem to care very much.

"And the Winterfell High Homecoming Queen is…" she builds it up like we all don't already know who it's going to be. "Daenerys Targaryen!" Cheers ring through the crows as Daenerys accepts her win like a pageant queen. You would think she was Miss America with the way the crowd is reacting.

As she's getting crowned, Missandei walks up to Margaery and whispers something in her ear. Margaery gives me a look of concern before running out of the gym. For some unknown reason, I decide it would be a good idea to follow her. Something tells me I need to go see whatever is going on.

I'm trailing behind her as she goes out of a side exit of the school. I don't think she knows I'm following her. She stops halfway out of the doorway of the exit. Suddenly I hear her scream, "Loras!"

I poke my head out and I can barely make out what I'm seeing, but eventually I realize. Loras is going down on Renly. Loras stands up and makes eye contact with me as Renly starts zipping up his pants. I'm in such shock, but before I know it my eyes are filling up with tears. Margaery turns around and realizes I saw everything. She starts screaming at Loras, but I'm not really listening. I just run out the door and into the bathroom as I start sobbing. I know I'm messing up my makeup but I can't stop, because I'm realizing what this all means. Loras didn't like me for my personality, he didn't want to be kind and considerate by not pressuring me into sex. He just wasn't interested in me at all. He was using me to cover up that he was gay. He used me like all guys use girls at Winterfell, just for a different purpose.

It's only a matter of time before people find out about this. I really did like Loras. Maybe if I wasn't so awkward, and fat, and quiet, then he would like me more. How am I going to show my face tomorrow? Everyone knew we had something going, and I still went as his date despite the rumors about him because I believed him, and I believed Margaery. Everyone at school seems to have a problem with Loras being gay. I don't think there's anything wrong with him being gay, or with him being with Renly. I just wish he hadn't fooled me and used me to lie. I wish he'd had more respect for me than that.

I check the time, my mom is supposed to pick me up in 45 minutes. I just stay in the bathroom stall for 40 of those minutes, and luckily no one finds me. I chose a kind of hidden bathroom. After 40 minutes, I wipe down my face and make it look presentable. It's not too obvious that I've been crying, but I touch up under my eyes with concealer just in case. Once my mom texts me that she's out front, I go out a side entrance and around to her car so no one sees me. When I get in, I think she can sense that I'm not happy.

"How was it?" She asks me. She looks at me and asks, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I say in a tone that I hope doesn't sound as fake to her as it does to me. "I was just dancing a lot so my makeup got kind of messed up." I'm looking out the window to avoid eye contact with my mom. She doesn't push it and drives us home.

Chapter 20

Sansa Stark POV

I wake up on Sunday to about 87 missed calls from Margaery. When mom and I got home I just went to bed immediately, I didn't want to think about what happened. Arya was asleep when I got home, thank God.

It's way too early for me to be up on a Sunday, it's only 8 a.m. Of course no one in the house is up. I take my phone into the bathroom, and I get into the shower and close the glass door. This is the only way I know my siblings won't hear. I can't go outside, or they'll hear the door open and wake up. I start to call Margaery, even though I know it's unlikely that she's awake, especially knowing there was a sleepover last night. I'm wrong. She answers after the first ring.

"Hello?" I hear. She sounds frantic.

"Margaery?" I ask quietly.

"Sansa, I'm so so so sorry," she starts to say. "I feel absolutely awful about what you saw. I thought they broke up. I tried to find you afterwards."

She's just talking and talking, and I start to feel bad. But I can't help but notice that she said she thought they broke up. Does that mean she knew they were together at one point? And she didn't tell me?

"Margaery," I interrupt her.

"Yes?"

"Are we still friends?"

"Of course Sansa!" She's borderline yelling. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"I don't know," I'm not sure what I was getting at. "I thought maybe you or Daenerys would blame me for what happened."

"Definitely not! I'm so angry at Loras, you have no idea. This is absolutely not your fault!"

I need to ask the question I know I'll hate the answer to. "Does everyone know?"

There's a long pause. "All the girls know, yes," Margaery says.

"Even Cersei?" I ask

"Yeah," she says. I can tell she didn't want to tell me that. "But if she says a damn word to you, I'm punching her in her fucking tits. I hate her, she won't be bothering you if I have anything to say about it."

That makes me feel a little better. "Will everyone else at school find out?" I ask her.

There's an exhale on the other end. "Probably," she says. "But anyone is an absolute fool if they blame you. Just say the word and I'll fucking kill them."

I chuckle. "Thank you Marg," I say. "So it's okay with Daenerys if I still sit with you guys?"

"Of course," Margaery says. "We were worried you wouldn't be our friend anymore." I guarantee no one in that group cares if I hang out with them.

"Of course I am," I say, even though I'm terrified to face everyone at school tomorrow.

…

School doesn't go as badly on Monday as I expected. I'm trying to stay out of the way, but I can feel people looking at me. No one has really given me a hard time, but I know people know what happened. Word travels fast at Winterfell. I'm sure Loras is getting it worse right now, and I don't want him to. I'm mad at him, but I don't want him to be shamed. He doesn't deserve that.

I'm proven right when I go to lunch. Margaery walked me there, and everyone is being nice to me. She explained to me that we've all had our scandals, and that it's a rite of passage to have at least one scandal if you're popular. It doesn't feel like a rite of passage to me, it feels like I'm being humiliated.

I'm sitting at the lunch table when Loras walks up to us. "Sansa," he says. I don't look at him and neither does Margaery. He continues, "Sansa, I'm very sorry."

I don't say anything. I know the girls don't want me to respond to him, but even if they did I wouldn't know what to say. Margaery eventually looks at him and shakes her head, so he walks away.

…

School pretty much continued as normal after that. When I get home, Arya and the boys are already home. I remember that I never told Arya what happened. I just didn't want to talk about it. Arya is at the desk we share doing homework when I come in. I go into our walk-in closet and say, "Arya?"

She looks up from her work and realizes why I'm there. It's sort of a code for us that when one of us goes to the walk-in closet, it means we have to tell the other one something that mom or dad can't hear. She comes in with me and we sit in the corner.

"What is it?" Arya asks me.

"Something happened at homecoming," I tell her, almost whispering. "It was really bad."

Arya's eyes get wide. I know she's just waiting for me to tell her.

"Margaery and I caught Loras going down on Renly behind the school during the dance." I'm trying to be extra quiet.

Arya gasps loudly and covers her mouth. "What?!" She practically yells.

"Shhh! I didn't know how to tell you, it was such a horrible thing. I really liked him."

"I can't believe that!" Arya is still in shock. "I mean, everyone's heard the rumors, but I didn't think it would come out like that." There's a pause. "Do you hate him?" She asks me.

I sigh. "Honestly, no. I'm mad at him because he really embarassed me, but I also just feel bad that he had to hide that. I wish he hadn't used me in the process, but I don't blame him for wanting to keep it secret. He's definitely going to be completely crucified at Winterfell, which he doesn't deserve."

"You're being so nice about it." She seems puzzled by this.

"I sobbed in the bathroom for like, 30 minutes after it happened," I say. "I am upset, and I don't really feel like ever talking to him again. But, I also know he can't be doing well right now either."

Arya ponders this for a minute. I know she's only 12, but she's actually pretty good at thinking things through rationally and maturely. "I'm so glad you tell me things, Sansa," she says suddenly. "I wish I was in high school."

I chuckle at her. "I kinda wish I wasn't, right now."