These teachers, though, clearly had not expected to jog tonight. They were headed toward the exit, paying so little attention to the matter at hand that some in the audience were insulted on Amira’s behalf. Others felt a jolt of fear, sensing that something was wrong. Some just laughed at the clumsy way people in dress shoes ran.
Then the teachers stopped. A few students started to clap for Amira, feeling like much too long had passed in silence, and she was due her ovation. The rest of the spectators, though, seemed to finally notice Joy Ng and her chains. Like elsewhere in school, a murmur began to grow. Amira noticed Joy, too, but figured it was none of her business and walked to center court to await her coin flip with Omar in order to decide who would have possession first. She would have to wait a long time.
The now-anxious crowd watched as Mrs. Wu pulled out her phone and dialed frantically. The little applause that had started died out. Amira’s dunk was, for the time being, forgotten. She hoped this was at least partially due to shock. She hoped everyone had noticed. She hoped no one had.
Everyone could see Mrs. Wu talking, a hand raised to her hair as if tugging a wig into place. Then she hung up, and the school-wide PA system came to life with the sound of Master Declan’s always jolly but now rattled voice. “All students and faculty, please report to the auditorium at once.”
The crowd’s rumbling grew louder, wondering who it could possibly be meant for, given that it was lock-in night and everyone had somewhere to be.
“All lock-in events are temporarily suspended,” Master Declan’s voice rang out.
Now, finally, the gym erupted in mayhem.
4
8:39PM
The foyer in front of Marisa was empty. The hallways, too. She could see into some of the classrooms, which were empty as well, abandoned midactivity as if in an earthquake drill. There were still noises coming from outside, the people there unable, for obvious reasons, to attend the assembly Master Declan had called.
In the basement, Lolo Dufry still napped, having slept through the announcement, as well as the few knocks Diego had attempted before he reported back to Peejay that the door was, indeed, shut just like all the others. Joy Ng felt a chill in the empty gym, which still reverberated with the sound of Amira’s dunk. Joy desperately needed to pee now, and sure, she had a bucket and there was no one else around, but it felt like at any moment someone could appear while she was midsquat. Then what?
Malik, happy to have been left alone in the green room, read happily, though the noise from the auditorium next door kept breaking his concentration. He shifted against his chains, trying to get comfortable. On the roof garden, Eli munched slowly on popcorn, rationing it out since he was pretty sure no one would grant him a refill now. Blessedly, someone had forgotten to pause the movie.
* * *
In the auditorium, Kenji and Celeste sat together, watching the teachers and administrators confer off-mic. Compared to the other students, the pair was quiet. Kenji kept checking the time, hoping this would be over and done with very, very shortly. Impossibly shortly. His silence came from knowing it wouldn’t happen. It came from the fact that Lindsay and several other players were not in the auditorium, not in the building at all.
What’s happening? Lindsay texted him.
Not totally sure, he responded. He would usually have a joke by now. His silence came from her absence, from how much of a “no” this felt like, when the “Yes, and...”s should have been flying around.
Celeste’s silence came from where it had these past few months: the fact that she was observing interactions instead of having her own. She saw how Kenji kept texting someone named Lindsay. She saw the way a group of three blond kids a few rows ahead positioned themselves in the chairs so the two sitting at either end could face each other as well as the one in the middle. It struck her as such a beautiful gesture of inclusion, of intimacy. Three people could sit side by side and still feel like a group, but for them that wasn’t enough. They wanted more of each other.
She craned her neck and saw a girl in fluorescent leggings propped up on her knees, her arms folded over her chair’s backrest. She chatted excitedly with two boys who had matching