"Yeah," said Rita, "when that Norwich girl who graduated a few years ago was nearly kidnapped, the campus went on lockdown."
"Anyway, the dance is still on," said Palomino, "but no one can leave campus until we get the all clear."
"Wait," said Fairie. "That means no hotel rooms after the dance?"
Mina nodded. "Yeah. That's what she said."
"That means no parties," said Rita.
"I'm calling my dad," said Faruza.
I excused myself to the hallway and called Jason. This whole thing kind of worried me. He picked up after a few rings.
"What's up?" he said.
"Did you guys hear about the lockdown?" I asked.
"Yeah. Some of the guys down the hall are really pissed off because they booked expensive hotel rooms. Kinda sucks for them, I guess."
"It's an external threat. You don't think it has anything to do with us, do you?"
"Us?" he said. "Why would it?"
"What if it's the Sons? What if they're trying to get to us?"
"Jesus, Azazel. You worry about the Sons way too much. They don't even know where we are."
"Yeah, but they don't seem to have much trouble finding us. And now that we're like the most popular people on campus, we're not exactly low profile. The head said we were special. Moretti knows who we are. George might. Lots of people might."
Jason sighed. I could tell he was moving from wherever he was because the sounds in the background got muffled. "Okay," he said finally. "There is an army of Brothers in the basement of the library. They are all armed and trained to fight. We are safe, or did you forget that conversation we had?"
"I just . . . I . . ."
"Azazel, it's prom. One day, that's all I want. I want one completely normal, perfect, high school memory, okay? I am going to come and get you, and I am going to give you a corsage, and you are going to be wearing that dress you were carrying, and then we are going to dance and have fun and nothing bad is going to happen. Okay?"
I sighed. "Okay."
The background noises returned. They sounded kind of electronic. "I love you."
"I love you too," I said. "What are you doing?"
"Chance and I are playing video games," he said. "What are you doing?"
"Getting ready for the dance," I said.
"It's not for hours," he said.
I rolled my eyes. Boys.
* * *
When Jason saw me, his eyes lit up. I had been a little worried, especially since my hair was up, and I was wearing a lot more makeup than usual. But the dress Palomino had helped me pick out was definitely perfect.
The dress was a rose-colored, tea-length gown. It was strapless, and the heart-shaped bodice gave me just a little tasteful cleavage. It gathered at the waist with a black sash. The skirt was full, with lots of asymmetrical ruffles. I hadn't gone overboard with accessories, just a few bangly bracelets and some sparkly, dangly earrings. My neck was bare, and so were my ankles. The dress made me feel elegant, but I liked its simplicity and its funky detail. Standing at the top of the steps in my dorm room, I looked down over the railing into the foyer.
Jason and Chance were waiting for us.
I took one step onto the steps and began to descend slowly. I kind of had to, because my heels were really high and otherwise, I would have tripped. But with the dress swishing around my legs, the ruffles bouncing, I felt like a debutante or a princess. Jason and Chance gaped up at Mina and me as we made our slow descent. It did feel perfect. Like something out of a teen movie.
When I reached Jason, he held out my corsage. "You look beautiful," he murmured. "I'm afraid to touch you. I don't want to mess you up."
I laughed. "Don't be silly," I said, and I kissed him.
And then he had lipstick on his face. I tried to wipe it off. "Sorry," I said.
He grinned. "I don't think I really care if people can tell I've been kissing you."
The corsage was simple and pretty—a single red rose bed of baby's breath. As he slipped it over my wrist, he worried, "It matches, right? You said the dress was red."
I twirled. "You like it?"
He took me in again, a wide, silly grin on his face. "I love it," he whispered, sliding his arm around my waist in a way that made me feel tiny and delicate. He led me out of the dorm.
In Bramford, we would have had to drive to the prom, probably in a limo, which was the tradition. Since we were only going across campus to the main hall, however, we walked. Mina and Chance walked ahead of us, hand in hand, occasionally whispering things in each other's ears. I smiled looking at them. I wouldn't have wanted my brother to be a teenager father if you'd consulted me, but I was glad he was with Mina. They seemed happy and, besides the worry about the baby, they were carefree. No one was chasing them and trying to kill them. More than anything, that was what I wanted for my little brother. I didn't want him to ever have to worry about that kind of violence.
I shuddered, thinking about my dream about Chance. In the dream, I'd had to pick between Chance and Jason. In reality, I hoped I never had to make a choice like that, because I didn't know what I'd do.
The campus was decorated for prom with paper lanterns strung along the walkways. Candles were lit on each of the steps to the entrance of the main hall. Inside, the room didn't look much different than it did most of the time. It wasn't like proms back in Bramford, where the walls of the gym would be covered in paper, with cardboard cutouts of pillars and fountains overflowing with balloons. There was also was no ubiquitous disco ball in the middle of the room.
Instead, the room had been set up with two rows of round tables, each covered in a white linen table cloth, with fine china and silverware settings. Each table had a centerpiece of white roses. Someone had taken the time to light the very old chandelier that was in the middle of the room. The chandelier was lit entirely by candles. I looked up at it, wondering if it would drip wax on the dance floor. The dance floor wasn't nearly as large as it might have been at a prom in West Virginia. It was only a wide aisle between the tables.
They had put up different curtains than the ones that usually decorated the main hall. These were white with gold patterns woven through them, and they swept the floor. The windows in the main hall were quite tall, since the ceiling in the room was vaulted, so the curtains were pretty impressive. Overall, the room had a feeling of understated elegance, but no hint of gaudiness or excess. It was beautiful. It was gorgeous. It was definitely a room to have a perfect high school memory in.
The evening was soon underway. There was a sit-down dinner, brought to us by waiters in tuxedos. Because we were in Italy, it consisted of about a trillion courses. I was terrified of dropping food on my dress, so I ate carefully and didn't stuff myself. While we were finishing dessert, the music started and the lights came down. The first song came and went without anyone entering the dance floor. But during the second song, couples began to wander out into the aisle and dance. Chance and Mina, who were sitting with us at our table, left. I spotted Faruza and George. Fairie was dragging her date out with her.
Jason and I sat at the table alone. I was poking the remains of my flan with my fork. I'd really been too full to take more than a few bites. He smiled at me.
"I guess this is the part where we dance," I said.
"About the dancing," he said. "I'm not really very good at it."
I took my napkin off my lap and threw it over my flan. "Oh come on," I said. "What do guys really have to do when dancing?" I gestured to Faruza and George. George was standing behind Faruza with his hands on her waist while she ground her butt into his pelvis.
Jason laughed. "Yeah, okay. Like you're pulling that move off in your heels."
"I thought this was supposed to be our perfect high school memory," I said to him. "My perfect high school memory involves dancing."
"Slow dancing, though, right?" he said. "Like where we just stand next to each other and sway?"
"Jason!" I said.
"Give it a sec
ond," he said, smiling.
The second song was ending. It was quiet for a few minutes, and then the sound of a screaming guitar solo overtook the room. Jason grinned and stood up, holding out his hand.
"Guns n' Roses?" I asked, grinning at him. Jason really liked Guns n' Roses. "Did you set this up?"
"'Sweet Child O' Mine,'" he said. "It's as slow of a song as they have."
I was laughing, but I put my hand in his and allowed him to lead me onto the dance floor, which had largely cleared, because the girls weren't totally sure how to grind to this.
Jason put his hands on my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck. And we started swaying. "Sweet Child O' Mine" might have been one of Guns and Roses' slower songs, but it had a relatively quick tempo, so we had to sway pretty quickly.
Jason smiled down at me, looking deep into my eyes and started mouthing the words to me. I just laughed and buried my face in his tux. He lifted my chin and whispered in my ear, "Looking at you does take me away to a special place."
I playfully poked him. "Yeah," I said. "That's because you are special, Jason."
He grabbed the hand that I'd poked him with and wrapped it back around his neck. "I mean it." And he was serious. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
My grin melted into a small, happy smile. "Me either," I said.
"You're like the other part of me," he said. "Without you, I feel like half a person."
I knew what he meant. I just nodded.
And with our eyes locked on each other, silly smiles on our faces, he lowered his lips to mine and kissed me. And there was nothing sweeter on earth than kissing Jason's lips.
Jason insisted on only dancing to slow songs, but I eventually got Palomino to dance with me a couple of times, when I could pry her and Chance away from each other. They were constantly making googly eyes at each other, even if they were across the room from each other. It was nice, seeing the two of them happy again.
Of course, the weird popularity continued. Everyone in the room stopped to compliment my hair or my dress or to tell Jason and me how awesome we looked. And the DJ played essentially anything I asked him to play. The night wore on. Then the head of the school stopped the music and took a microphone to speak. The waiters from before were weaving through the crowd and handing out tall crystal flutes filled with champagne. We were all allowed one glass, since the drinking age for beer and wine in Italy was sixteen. Fairie whispered in my ear not to drink it yet, though. We were going to use it to toast the prom king and queen. Well, they didn't call it the prom king and queen, but that was basically what it was.
Currently, the head was droning on and on about it. "Every year, here at the SolSolisSchool, the faculty selects a male and female student who we feel embodies the spirit of the SolSolisSchool. These students are high academic achievers, participants in the events the school's activities, good citizens, and are students who their peers look up to. These students are given the honor of being recognized as the Primo and Prima of the Spring Formal.
"During many of our past years, the process of choosing two such students has been an arduous affair, but this year, two students immediately stood out to all of us, and we unanimously chose them with very little discussion. I know that each of you here will also recognize how much these two students are the obvious choices this year, and will join me in congratulating Amy Smith and Jeremy Black as this year's first couple."
At first I looked around for the people who had those names. Then I remembered that that was us. Jason and I exchanged a stunned glance. We were the king and queen of the prom? Really?
I didn't know what to do with my glass of champagne, but Faruza took it from me.
Jason and I walked up to the front of the room amid resounding cheers and applause from the rest of the student body and the teachers. It didn't die down even when we reached the front of the room. In fact, it seemed to go on forever.
It was cool, but it was still, well, weird. I kept waiting for the head to shush everyone, but he didn't. He just let the applause and cheers continue. He was still clapping himself. When it finally did start to die down, he said, "I think we can all agree that it's been a pleasure interacting with these two. They truly are an asset to the school."
More cheers and applause. Jason and I just stood there, frozen, feeling like idiots. We waited again for an agonizingly long time for the cheers to die down. Why did everyone suddenly like us so much? What was going on?
"All right," said the head. "We will now all lift our glasses to the Primo and Prima of the SolSolisSchool. Cin cin!" (Which is how they say "cheers" in Italy.)
"Cin cin!" echoed the rest of the people in the room and then they all sipped at their champagne.
I wanted my champagne. I felt like I needed a drink to fully deal with the fact that everyone thought Jason and I were the best thing since canned peaches.
"And now," said the head, "the traditional dance between the Primo and Prima."
Music swelled behind us. Jason took my hand and led me out onto the dance floor. When I looked up at his face, his eyes were shining. He grinned down at me. "This is perfect," he whispered. "It's better than anything I could have imagined. This is all I've ever wanted."
I felt immediately guilty. Here I was contemplating how weird the whole thing was, and Jason was enjoying it. We were at a dance. We'd just been crowned the king and queen. We were living the teen dream. Why did I have to pick everything apart and look for the danger? Why couldn't I accept that something good was happening to me? If I just lay my head on Jason's shoulder and felt the warmth of his arms around me, maybe I could just soak up the incredible excellence of this moment, like Jason was doing. Maybe I could—
Of course not. The reason I couldn't accept that something good was happening to me was that nothing good ever happened to me.
And that simple fact of my life was made perfectly clear when I heard the crash of breaking glass.
Déjà vu.
The glass of the windows shattered to the ground, and I could only think about my Aunt Stephanie's house. November. My parents sitting around a table. Bullets exploding through their heads. Blood spilling on the table, on my Aunt Stephanie's white carpet.
And the Sons of the Rising Son bursting in through the windows shooting.
Just like they were doing now. At my prom.
Chapter Eight
July 10, 1990
So it hasn't happened yet. Ted wants to make sure it's perfect. Plus, heaven forbid we actually did it for fun instead of for procreational purposes. So, he sent me to some doctor who taught me how to chart my cycle and figure out when I'm fertile. And that's when it will happen. The doctor says there's about a four day window when I could get pregnant. We figured out when those four days would be. And we'll be going all over the country and the world to get the blessings of as many powers and traditions as Ted thinks we can squeeze in. In four days.
I'm excited. But I'm scared. I've never done it before. I wonder if it's really going to hurt.
Jason and I hit the floor immediately, as slivers of glass flew through the air. We could hear screams. I tried to look up to see if everyone else was taking cover, particularly Mina and Chance, but Jason was covering my body with his own, and I couldn't see anything. The music was still playing in the background, but over it, I could hear the sounds of feet crunching the broken glass and of bullets ripping from the muzzles of guns.
"Do you have a gun?" I whispered furiously to Jason.
"No," he said, sounding disappointed in himself. "You?"
"It really doesn't go with my outfit," I muttered.
I struggled under him again, trying to get a look at what was going on. I managed to peer out beneath his arm. All I could see were feet in black boots and the streaks of prom dresses as people ran for the exits.
"What is going on?" I hissed at Jason.
Abruptly, he got up and yanked me to my feet. I barely had time to register the fact that the Sons who'd burst in through the w
indows were being gunned down by Brothers, who were streaming into the main hall from the entrances and through the broken windows.
"Run!" Jason said.
I took two seconds to jerk the high heels I was wearing off my feet, and then we did run, clutching each other's hands. We were flanked by other students and teachers, also running out of the main hall. I looked around frantically for Chance and Palomino, but I couldn't see them.
"Where's Chance?" I asked Jason.
He stopped. "Dammit," he said. We both scanned the room for a glimpse of either one of them. It was pandemonium. The DJ had fled, and his sound equipment had been knocked over. The tables were lying on their sides, rolling around. Tablecloths were crumpled on the floor, dishes broken. And among all the debris were running people. People tripping over chairs. A girl howling when she stepped on a broken piece of glass. The Sons and Brothers crouching behind pieces of furniture for cover, their bodies already littering the ground. And, I noted, to my horror, there were at least a few other bodies. Bodies in bright-colored dresses or tuxedos. Was that a black dress? Was that Palomino?
Tortured: Book Three of the Jason and Azazel Trilogy Page 14