Trey’s eyes darted across the room again, resting on his father. “He’ll kill everyone in this room.”
“Not while Ms. West has Gloria. We’ve got this. Ignore him,” I whispered. “I am. Tonight isn’t about him.”
That proved difficult. Vincent Bloomberg’s eyes followed me as I twirled across the hall in his son’s arms. His scowl burned into my back as I dressed up Trey with fairy wings and a wand for the photo booth in the corner.
You tried to get rid of me, you bastard.
Now it’s your turn.
Tonight you get exactly what you always wanted.
Trey tugged at his tie, swallowing every few moments. He couldn’t breathe in the gym. He felt hemmed in, burning up under his dad’s scrutiny. I walked him outside, and the rest of our group followed. We huddled under the glittering fairy lights and watched cars snaking up the long driveway – a river of shiny chrome and sleek fiberglass. The vehicles slid into the empty spaces of the visitors’ lot and when those were taken, they fanned out across the field, facing the gym. Probably they were parking close in case they had to escape in a hurry. Bodies floated out, doors slammed.
“Welcome on behalf of the graduating class of Miskatonic Prep.” Trey stepped forward, the Class President in him taking over. He beamed as he led parents to their seats. “We hope you enjoy yourselves.”
They played their part, taking the programs and arranging themselves in neat rows, accepting the flutes of Champagne but not drinking them. I noticed more than a few looking at the flaming torches with trepidation.
Good.
The teachers gathered everyone in the gym outside – students standing on the grass, the parents in the seats behind, faculty on stools at the rear of the stage. When everyone was seated, the school band struck up the national anthem. We all rose. I sang the words at the top of my lungs, my fist clenched over my heart.
It was late in my life to develop pride in being a citizen of this country, of this planet. But a lump formed in my throat at the words.
No. Be strong. You’re doing this for them.
The minutes ticked down as the band played on and on. Finally, they set aside their instruments and welcomed Ms. West on stage. She wore a black sequined gown that hugged her body and a look of grim determination on her face. She never once made eye contact with me.
A murmur went through the students as they clapped politely for the Deadmistress. The parents remained still and mute. My grip tightened on Trey’s arm.Soon, soon.
Ms. West crossed the stage in three long strides, a triumphant smile splattered across her face. She stood, proud and silent, behind the microphone. Her eyes swept the room before settling on mine for the first time that day. Even now, that gaze could still turn my blood to ice.
“Welcome to all our students who have been working hard all year. Allyears.Welcome also to their parents. I’m sure your children are so grateful you came to share this night with them. We have important business to attend to. But first, it’s time to announce the valedictorian and salutatorian – our two most distinguished students of this year’s class. This is a tradition we’ve had ever since the school opened, and we dosolove our traditions here at Derleth.” She held a red-trimmed envelope between her long fingers.
Students hooted and screamed as the band played through an upbeat version of Pomp and Circumstance. “We’ve kept tabs on all the merit points, and we can say that these two students were chosen because of their excellent service to the school, their unwavering loyalty to their friends, and a sizzling romance that has flourished under… trying circumstances.” Ms. West thumbed the envelope seal, pulling it away with a tearing sound. She opened the envelope and read the names with care. “Please welcome as salutatorian, Trey Bloomberg. And our valedictorian – the indomitable Hazel Waite.”
Vincent’s face when he heard my name was worth everything I’d been through.Everything.That the empire he built could betray him so openly, that a lowly girl like me could be raised up in the eyes of the other students to stand beside his flesh and blood tore at his reality.
Even though he planned to be rid of us all, it still enraged him that I was up here.You ain’t seen nothing yet, Vinnie boy.
Trey’s hand in mine burned with heat as we took the stage together to accept our sashes. As Ms. West lowered the sash around my neck, the corner of her lip tugged into the faintest smile. “You should enjoy this,” she said. “Together, you and I have made history. The world will remember our names.”
Not if I can help it.
In another life, before the fires, before I made the biggest mistake of my life, I might have stared out into the audience and seem my mother in the front row, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. Dante might’ve been beside her, flipping me the bird with a wild grin on his face. Instead, I faced rows of parents who only considered themselves, who bent the world to their will and thought nothing of damning their own flesh and blood for their own gain.
The parents were too afraid to be angry, so they stared in wide-eyed silence as I stepped up to the microphone.
I cleared my throat. Instead of speaking, I raised my hands, palms facing up. I gathered the heat inside me and directed it into two pillars of flame leaping between my palms. Gasps rose from the audience as the fire rose above my head in a perfect arc.
Beneath my feet, the god stirred.
“I have nothing to say to you,” I said to the parents. “My words are for the students of Miskatonic Prep only.”
Trey’s fingers dug into my hip. I looked down at the front row, at Quinn and Ayaz, and although my words were for everyone, I spoke to them alone. “For twenty years, this school has never had a graduation ceremony – even though year after year you completed your studies, you competed in sports, you worked hard to make parents and teachers proud of you. But you’ll have one tonight. Graduation shouldn’t be about whathas been– it looks to the future, and you never had a future. Until now.
“All your lives you’ve been taught that you deserved the best in life – the best education, the best houses, the best jobs, the best seat at any table. What I ask you today is, prove them right. When you step outside this school, prove that you are worthy of all the good things that will come your way. Make the world a better place for your existence in it. If you do that, the horror of what you’ve witnessed will fade into inconsequence.”
There was a commotion at the side of the stage. I couldn’t see what happened until someone shoved past Quinn and stormed toward me.
