William handed their tickets to the vice principal and rolled his eyes once they
were through.
The hallway gleamed in silver. Cardboard walls lined both sides, covered in
reflective wrapping paper to prevent students from wandering anywhere except the
gym, where the dance was being held. To get to the gym, they had to walk down a
flight of stairs. While the stairs themselves weren’t wrapped, the railings and
doors shimmered with silver.
William didn’t expect to see so much silver in the gym. The retractable bleachers
had tarps made of silver covering them. The table holding the silver punch bowl was
wrapped in silver.
Their friends were already there but hadn’t made it far into the gym when the
couple arrived. Abby tapped her feet to the music, scanning the crowd for familiar
faces. David leaned against the retracted bleachers, while Eric clutched two
plastic cups filled with punch.
Casey and Abby hugged like they hadn’t seen each other in days, not minutes.
William couldn’t hear their conversation, but he saw Abby pointing someone out in
the crowd. Casey turned to him and held up a finger, signaling she’d be back in a
minute. Then, the girls vanished into the crowd.
“I hope you aren't expecting to have fun!” David shouted in William's ear.
“We probably won't stay that long anyway!” William shouted back.
Eric alternated drinking between two cups, unsure which belonged to him.
“I have to stay as long as Abby wants, unless she decides to find another ride!”
David shouted.
“You could just ditch her!” William yelled back.
David gave him a look. William shook his head. David would ride it out and make the