Chapter Fifteen

“I want to thank you all for coming,” I said.

I was sitting in my chair on my driveway. Isaac was on his. Reese and Jenna were leaning against their bikes on the road in front of our houses.

“It’s not like there was much else to do,” Isaac said. “I’ve seen everything on Netflix.”

“We’ve all been watching Netflix,” Reese said.

“No, you don’t understand. I’ve seen everything on Netflix. I started with the usual stuff, but eventually I found myself watching Downton Abbey and The Crown. I think I might have a crush on the queen—at least, the young queen.”

Even now, Isaac was Isaac.

“If it helps, I could try to speak in an English accent,” I suggested.

“Pip! Pip! Just get on with it,” he replied. “Why are we here?”

“I wanted to talk to you about the spring dance,” I said.

“What’s there to talk about?” Isaac asked.

“I want to discuss planning it,” I said.

“You really need to pay more attention, Quinny. There’s this thing they call a pandemic, and school has been canceled,” Isaac said.

“Would you like to keep talking, or would you like me to explain?”

“I think explaining would be good,” Reese said.

“Yeah, I’d like to hear what Quinn is getting at,” Jenna added.

“It is going to mean a lot of work for us,” I warned.

“I can do work, and believe me, I have time,” Isaac said. “Let’s hear your plan.”

“It’s more the start of my plan,” I said.

“Just tell us, Quinn!” said Reese.

In a quick burst I gave them my idea.

“What do you think?” I asked. Every one of them was smiling.

“I’m in,” Reese said.

“This could work,” said Jenna. “Where do we start?”

“We need to get Miss Fernandez on board.”

“And it wouldn’t hurt to consult my mom,” Isaac said. “We probably need her support.”

“What about your dad, Quinn?” Reese asked. “It couldn’t hurt to have a doctor sign off on it.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to Dad tonight. Isaac, see what your mom says.”

“And how about we set up a Zoom conference with Miss Fernandez for later today?” Jenna suggested.

“Good. We have a plan. Now let’s see if we can have a dance.”

It had taken three days to put it all together, get our parents to agree and convince Miss Fernandez to support us. Then we’d had to present the whole plan to Mrs. Reynolds to take to the board. Now we were all waiting for Mrs. Reynolds to join the Zoom conversation and let us know if we had permission to proceed. My mother and I were staring at my screen in the kitchen. My father was joining us from the hospital, Isaac was at his house, his mother was at the police station, Jenna was with her parents, and Reese was with hers. Miss Fernandez was the moderator. She had all the microphones unmuted, and there were multiple conversations going on. It seemed to me the parents were enjoying talking to one another even more than we kids were.

Mrs. Reynolds finally joined the session. Everybody greeted her, and then Miss Fernandez muted all the microphones except for hers and the principal’s.

“Mrs. Reynolds, we’re glad you can be here today. We’re all waiting for your news.”

“As you know, I brought your plan to the board,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “I shared all the very thoughtful details you kids had carefully laid out. I explained that you had the support of your class, your teachers and your parents. I also told them that I, as the principal, supported your plan.”

This was going to happen! It was going to happen!

“So I am very sorry to inform you they turned down your request.”

My mother groaned, and I felt my heart sink. Little electronic hands popped up from my father and from Isaac’s mother.

“They said that since the school is closed, there could not be a board-sanctioned dance.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Miss Fernandez said. “I’m disappointed, and I know the students must be even more disappointed.”

“However,” Mrs. Reynolds said, “that doesn’t mean you can’t go ahead with your plan.”

“What does she mean?” my mother asked me.

I shrugged. But we were about to get our answer.

“You cannot have a school dance. But there’s nothing stopping you from organizing a community event. I’m going to leave that to you to decide.” She paused. “I wish you all well.”