“Stay out of it,” Chad said.
“No, you should,” I said.
He looked back at me, surprised.
I felt Noah glance at me too.
My hands were cold, but I kept them still.
People started gathering. A few drifted over from the punch table. Someone left the photo booth line, and a couple near the DJ stopped dancing.
Then the phones lifted higher.
That’s when the room changed.
It stopped feeling like prom and started feeling like something people wanted to capture.
Nathan clapped once. “Go on, then.”
I frowned. “Go on what?”
“You dressed up. Give them the moment.”
A few people laughed.
Chad smirked. “Yeah. Dance.”
Someone behind him repeated it.
“Dance.”
The word moved through the circle until it became a chant.
“Dance. Dance. Dance.”
They weren’t cheering for us.
They were trying to make us prove we could take it.
Noah leaned close. “We’re leaving.”
I wanted to argue, but the truth came out first.
“Okay. I want to.”
His face softened. “Then we go.”
He started to turn with me, but Jada caught my wrist.
“Wait.”
I looked at her. “Jada, please.”
