Sam swerves smoothly to the front of a beautiful, redbrick building. The car doors hiss open, music flooding in from the building, and she slides out, tossing her car keys to the doorman. There’s a line of people waiting to get inside, but Sam merely nods to the bouncer, and he opens the red velvet divider and lets us in.
Holy wow.
I’ve been to clubs before. I’m not totally uncool. But this place. I mean. It’s like stepping inside a diamond. There must be more than a thousand people here, all of them beautiful. The music is so loud that even when I cover my ears, I can feel its vibrations through my chest. We go up a winding staircase to a balcony that overlooks the dance floor.
The second floor is beautiful, dazzling lights everywhere, and sleek, leather furniture on which many of my schoolmates are lounging and drinking from champagne flutes. They’ve all transformed from high school kids to gorgeous celebs. They don’t look at all like teenagers.
“Come on,” Sam says, leading me to one of the leather booths. I hesitate.
“You okay?” Sam says.
Do I want to face these people right now?
“Don’t be nervous, these are all kids who don’t buy into Mandy’s mean girl bullshit,” Samantha says.
I try to believe her. As we approach, the kids in the booth look up and smile. They seem genuinely glad to see us—or rather, they seem glad to see Sam and not un-glad to see me. I spot Stacey among them, looking as sullen as usual. Okay, she’s someone who’s totally bought into Mandy’s mean girl shtick, but whatever. Someone hugs me from behind. Beth, who’s finally arrived with Grace.
“You met everyone?” Beth shouts over the music.
I nod. I share classes with most of the people here. We slide into the booth and someone puts a champagne flute in my hand. We clink glasses and I take a careful sip, but someone else—Sam—pushes the bottom of my glass up so I end up finishing the whole thing in one go.
“Holy crap,” I sputter. I put my glass down, and instantly, a new flute is plopped into my hand.
Someone touches me softly on the shoulder, and I look up to see Danny smiling at me. “Glad you made it.”
It’s impossible not to return that smile.
“You look really nice,” he says, sitting down next to me.
It feels like my entire body is blushing. I feel both glamorous and ridiculous in Beth’s outfit. Does that make sense? I can’t tell anymore. The champagne is bubbling through everything, and the night feels electric, like anything can happen.
“You look nice too,” I say. Very original, Lia. But he does. He really, really does. He’s wearing a sleek, gray shirt with the top button undone, and his hair is all mussed up, and his jaw is—okay, I mean, it’s unchanged, still very much the same jaw as before, but I’m really noticing just how strong of a jawline it is. And we’re sitting so close to each other that if I leaned over a few teeny inches, our jaws would touch. Uh, or our lips. Because that would be less weird. I lean forward a little, the champagne giving me courage.
Danny leans toward me.
So close, I can almost feel his heartbeat.
Henry McDonnell, a guy I recognize from American history, clears his throat loudly. “Okay, ready for tonight’s stash?” Goddammit, Henry. Read the room!
Danny and I separate, my chest deflating.
Henry takes out a small, velvet pouch with the gravitas one reserves for an ancient artifact. He tips the bag and a bunch of little packets spill out. More cheers. Despite my irritation, I’m curious. I pick one up.
It’s a pretty, little packet made of thick paper, velvety to the touch. There is a letterpress logo on it in the shape of wings.
“What is it?” I say.
“Sky,” someone says, like that should mean something to me.
I open the packet and inside is a single blue pill with the same wing logo. Oh shit. I drop it on the table and wipe my hands on my dress. Drugs. Like, drug-drugs.
Everyone else has quickly swiped a little package each. Phones are taken out.
“What’s the damage?” Beth says.
“Two hundred each,” Henry says.
“Dollars?” I blurt out. For one of these tiny pills? Good lord.
“No worries, I’ve got you covered,” Beth says.
“No, wait, I don’t—”
“Too late, I’ve just Venmoed Henry the payment for two of these babies,” Beth says, showing me her phone screen. And she really has. Sent four hundred bucks, just like that.
“I can’t accept that. I mean, I’ve got homework to do. And like, I’m pretty sure I’m already drunk from the champagne.” I’m babbling. Someone help me.
“I’m sitting this one out too, guys,” Danny says.
“What? But you sat out the last one too!” Henry says.
“Yeah, I’ve got a ton of homework due. I can’t afford to be hungover.”
“What homework?” Grace says. “We’re in pretty much all the same classes, and I don’t have homework.”
“Yeah, come on, bruh,” Henry says, waving one of the square packets in Danny’s face. “Don’t ruin the vibe.”
Danny grimaces. “No, I really don’t—”
“Take the pill,” Henry starts to chant. “Take the pill.” To my horror, the others are picking up the chant. “Take the pill. Take the—”
Without warning, Danny grabs Henry’s wrist and yanks hard enough to make Henry fall to his knees with a squeak. Danny’s voice comes out in a deadly hiss. “I said I don’t want any.”
Everyone is silent, a few mouths agape.
“Jesus, alright, man!” Henry squeals.
Danny hangs on for just a beat longer before releasing him. Henry stumbles back, landing on the sofa with a loud thump.
Welp. He definitely ruined the vibe. Everyone looks so uneasy, I want to fold myself into a little tiny square and jump into someone’s pocket. Danny turns away from the group and I catch a glimpse of his face—panicky with a clear “WTF did I just do” expression. Despite myself, I feel awful for him. He did overreact, but Henry was being really pushy and putting him on the spot.
“That just means there’s more for us,” I blurt out.
Everyone looks at me—oh god, oh god—but a beat of silence later, Henry laughs and says, “Good point!” and pops two pills into his mouth. The tension melts away, and everyone else takes their pill, smiling and chatting. “Hey, new kid,” Henry says, “take your poison.”
“Oh yeah, I already swallowed mine. Mmm, so, so high right now.” I wave my empty packet at him.
Next to Henry, Stacey rolls her eyes. She’s not buying my bullshit. The pill is burning a hole in my fist. I have no idea where to put it. I want to flush it down the toilet, but it seems wrong flushing something that cost $200 down the toilet. Why did I even lie about taking it? I shouldn’t have. But I want these kids to like me. Or at least to not dislike me.
“Let’s go dance!” Beth says, and everyone cheers and heads toward the dance floor.
Danny touches my arm. “Thank you for saving me back there.”