the bleachers, in the shadows on the roof garden. But in their glee, the slightest movement felt like dancing. Two fingers tapping soundlessly on the ground beside them. Couples tapped one finger on their partner’s hand, rubbed a fingernail down the wrist like necking during a slow song. Others danced by walking to the bathroom, the dance coming through in each step. An imperceptible shoulder shimmy, a twitching calf muscle, the steady rhythm of lungs and hearts; it was all dancing. The students at CIS had been granted permission to dance, so dance they did.
Diego had even tracked down those who were outside the high school doors but still at CIS, handing out earphones under the cover of night and a fairly huge distraction. They danced, too, while parents yelled at the dark about Marisa’s plan, about their disrupted evening, their own concerns. Lindsay closed her eyes to the music and pictured she was at Kenji’s side, for once not just laughing but dancing with him.
* * *
What a thrill it was to have a secret. To have something for themselves without having to include the adults. They’d gotten away with certain things in the past, of course—sneaking out of the house, borrowing the car without permission, arriving home past curfew with alcohol in their bloodstream but none on their breath—though nothing of this magnitude.
They swayed their heads to the music this way and that, even as Ms. Duli and Master Declan walked past them. They stood for another drink from the fountain, only slightly worried they would rouse suspicion. It felt like their joy would protect them. And indeed it was as if a protective layer shrouded the partyers; the bright orange tiki drink sprouting into their mouths went undetected, as did their earphones, which every now and then caught the fluorescent lighting and glinted tellingly, though no teacher ever noticed. Oh, to have something the adults in their lives could not touch.
Maya, Michael, Lydia, Lou and all the others who’d fallen for Marisa over the course of the evening gathered together, her magnetic hold still strong around them. They glanced at her out of the corner of their eyes and thought about asking her to dance. This was a stupid thought, they told themselves, although their admonishments had nothing to do with the fact that she was chained and everything to do with the fact that they couldn’t possibly be worthy of her time, much less her love. They swallowed their mouthfuls of cocktail and felt their heads swim with affection. To be alive at the same time as her was enough. To be here, with her, as her hostages, and in this small but important way help her cause. What a thrill.
* * *
Since rooftops were perfect areas for partying, the roof garden filled with more people than it had seen since the movie marathon began shortly after the opening ceremony. Mrs. Wu did notice this while she made her rounds, but she conceded that it was a beautiful night out, and despite the glass enclosure on the rooftop, the fresh air seemed to pervade on the garden more than anywhere else. A good amount of the students there seemed to be sleeping, anyway. Her allergies started to kick in from the flowers, so she failed to pick up on the fact that the pockets of students standing were huddled a little closer than anyone would just to talk, that the students were moving ever so slightly, but as if to the same beat.
Eli looked on, listening to the music through earphones Peejay had been kind enough to provide. He was happy to watch this instead of the movie, happy to watch his classmates party so quietly, to let loose so fiercely and yet so subtly. Happy that the cause he had attached himself to had not entirely ruined their night. Someone came by and dropped a pencil case full of a fruity, orange liquid for Eli, and though he had no idea who had brought it or how clean the pencil case was, or what it felt like to drink alcohol, Eli felt like a part of the crowd, and so he drank.
For the time being, they were all part of the same crowd.
The parents outside shouted for Ms. Duli and the board members, shouted at each other, arguing about what should be done, ignoring the way the kids still gathered around the soccer field had grown quiet and happy. The teachers in the lounge argued