Introducing.. the official 2021 Homecoming Queen Abby Liu! In this exclusive Wolfpacket interview with Features Editor Sequoia Clark and Asst. Sports Editor Casey Shoultz, Liu shares her feelings about being on the Court, and what she might expect about winning.
Disclaimer: The interview took place on February 17, before the King and Queen were announced on February 26.

S: How do you feel about winning in general? Do you expect to win? Do you not expect to win? And what are your thoughts on that?

A: Yeah, I’m kind of in the same boat [as Charlie]. I straight up was like, shocked when I found out I was even nominated via semi-finalist. I was like, “Wow. This is crazy,” and when they announced Court, I was like, “Okay, this is even more weird.” So, again, it would be cool to like, that’s like nice of everyone to vote, but it’s okay. I understand for some people, they really want to be king and queen, and if that’s what you want to do, that’s what you want to do. So, it’s just cool being on Court in general, even though our school year is really strange.

S: Obviously they don’t tell you who to vote for, they’re just like, “Oh! Homecoming nominations are up! Go vote for someone!” Why do you think people voted for you in general? Even if you don’t know, like how do you think you represent the student body this way?

A: Is the question why we think we got nominated? Why did they vote for us?

S: Yes.

A: Uhm, I don’t know. I guess… I think there’s like.. high school cliché of cliques in high school, and I don’t think Claremont High is super clique-y, but there are certain people who tend to hang out with each other, just because of like, shared activities or interests or whatever. And I feel like at least through high school I tried to—not necessarily have to be friends with everyone— but at least like, be nice to everybody and still say hi and check in on people that I saw in my classes and stuff… just to try and be a nice person to as many people as I could. So hopefully that made a good impression, I don’t know if that’s exactly why people voted for me, but I would hope that it was for something good.

S: If you were to win, what do you think will happen? How would you feel about that?

A: I mean, this year’s kind of weird in that we’re not going to have the regular announcements or like, the events and things like that, so I think, again, I will be shocked… but also still be honored that people thought of me in a positive way to vote for me. But I don’t think it’ll change much, you know? ‘Cause we’re not doing anything crazy for it… That’s pretty much it. I guess since we’re not going to have as many events, it’ll still be nice, but it’s okay if it doesn’t work out.

S: I know Charlie you touched on this a bit ago, but do you [guys] even really care about being on Court? I feel like there are a lot of people really want to win, and some are just along for the ride, and on that spectrum, where do you think you fall?

A: I think if you’re looking at the two extremes, I guess I’m more on the side of, “It’s fun being here, good luck everybody!” I’m happy for whoever wins. ‘Cause, yeah.. like Charlie said, it’s cool.. as semi-vain as it sounds, it’s nice to know that people thought of you, and they thought enough— well enough— to vote for you. So, if I win, cool! If I don’t win, still completely fine. To be even be on the Court also with a bunch of other people who I’ve grown up with through high school and who I have good relationships with… it’s cool to also be on Homecoming Court with those people.

S: Is there anything else you want to say while you have the floor that will potentially reach the student body?

A: You know, I don’t know if this is possible, but I really, like, when I saw the Court, I was like, “Would it be possible for both Charlie’s to win?”

C: Like no one votes for the girls?

A: No one votes for either of the girls, no one votes any of the other guys, we only vote for two Charlie’s. I know in the Five Star app they only let you choose one person, but you could try to butt in two!