The beat picked up as Lucy hurried along the edge of the dance floor but she glimpsed Claudia and Jess still dancing cheek to cheek. No one else seemed to have noticed the burst bulb. Maybe it was just a fluke. Maybe it wasn’t Lucy’s mojo.
She clutched the pendant, twisting it in place.
A hand shot out from the crowd and Lucy stumbled.
Megan.
“Having a nice evening?” The other girl dazzled her with a sharklike smile. Had she been sharpening her incisors? “Glad there are no hard feelings about Cole. Who would’ve thought Seizure Girl would snag Mr. Darcy?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Megan plumped the poofy pink taffeta of her skirt. She looked like walking cotton candy. “He’s quite the dancer,” she said, raising a supercilious eyebrow. “Cole caught the show too. Thank you for that. Should clear his conscience about the whole overlap issue.”
Lucy twisted the tourmaline so hard the chain nearly snapped.
“Overlap?”
“I knew it was only a matter of time,” Megan continued blithely. “I’ve had my prom dress picked out for months.”
As if there were a time delay, Lucy’s ears picked up on the end of Megan’s sentence.
“Months?” she repeated.
The razor-sharp smile widened. “Some things are just inevitable. We were celebrating our admission to the U of Northern New York—didn’t Cole tell you we’ll be freshmen together in the fall?—and one thing led to another…” Megan drummed her fingers against her chin as if she had a quandary. “It only took him this long to break up with you because he felt sorry for you.”
“I am not some charity case.” Lucy bared her teeth.
“Aren’t you? Giving Cole the physics exam in the hopes of winning him back smacks of desperation.”
Is that what he’d told her? Before Lucy could clarify a few things, including the fact that she had dumped him, the devil himself appeared.
Cole emerged from the crowd of glimmering, sweat-soaked bodies with two cups of fruit punch in hand. Oblivious as always.
Lucy regarded him with nothing but disgust.
“You two deserve each other.”
Shoving the punch at Megan, he demanded, “What did you say to her?”
Lucy didn’t stick around to hear any more of Megan’s lies. Storming toward the DJ booth, she did some quick math. She’d slept with Cole for the first time after he’d found out about his scholarship—which meant he and Megan had already hooked up. Had he really stayed with Lucy because he held the caveman belief that her virginity was some kind of prize to be won?
“Lucy! Lucy, stop.”
Cole raced around from behind her and planted his feet, blocking her exit path. Bass pumped out of the enormous speaker next to them.
“Lucy!” he shouted again. “Lucy, can we go somewhere quieter to talk?”
“I have nothing left to say to you.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair?” she yelled back. “Using my key to steal the physics exam isn’t fair! Leaving me to take the fall isn’t fair!” There was a frenzied twang to her voice. “Cheating on me for months with Megan isn’t fair!”
Cole pushed back his shaggy bangs. “I didn’t cheat on you. Megan kissed me—once. Nothing happened before you dumped me.”
“Do whatever you want with Megan. You can go to hell. Together.”
“Luce, come on. I’m sorry about the exam. You were never supposed to get into trouble,” he said like he was actually concerned. “But it’ll blow over.”
“Principal Petersen is threatening to expel me! It won’t just blow over!”
Lucy’s heartbeat strained against the pull of the tourmaline. Her energy didn’t want to be leashed. “And you know what’s sad? Despite everything, I would have helped you study if you’d just asked. Megan’s right: I am pathetic.”
He grabbed her hand. “You’re not pathetic.”
“Don’t touch me,” Lucy scolded him as a torrent of nausea struck. Cole’s conflicted emotions—anger, hurt, concern—churned Lucy’s stomach. She shook him off. His feelings weren’t her problem.
Grimacing, Cole said, “I couldn’t do it on my own. I’m not as smart as you. I needed to keep my scholarship.”
“You never think about anyone but yourself.” She hugged herself tight.
“You’re wrong! I tried so hard to make you happy, Luce.”
Lucy laughed an unkind laugh, a buzz rising inside her.
“You tried to make me happy by hooking up with Megan?”
“It happened once. But at least she wants me. I was never enough for you. Do you know how hard that is to take?”
Static blasted from the speaker. A horrible, nerve-rattling noise.
Cole took a step closer, not realizing he was in danger. Lucy’s eyes darted toward the rafters. She couldn’t tell whether the disco lights were flashing the way she had programmed them or as the result of electromagnetic interference.
Her interference.
“Stay back,” she warned.
“Don’t be so dramatic. I’m not going to hurt you.”
I might hurt you. She lurched back, bracing her hands on the speaker.
On. Off. On. Off. The lights were definitely not supposed to do that.
Some of her classmates gasped, others laughed.
“I wanted you to fight for us, Luce,” he said, pleading. “But you didn’t.”
Searing-hot rage bubbled just beneath the surface. She wouldn’t listen to any more excuses.
“What a mistake that would have been.”
Cole shrunk back as if she’d slapped him. Good. Power rushing through her, Lucy was too scared to actually touch him, but she wanted him to hurt.
“Either you turn yourself in to Principal Petersen—or I will.” Her nostrils flared as she lay down her ultimatum.
Doubt smoothed his features before creasing again in anger.
“Do that and I’ll tell Petersen about your extracurriculars with the Brit. Being a sex offender could really put a cramp in his teaching career.”
“This isn’t about Ravi.”
Cole scoffed. Then his eyes rounded. “Lucy?” His voice trembled. “Lucy? I think you’re on fire.”
She followed his gaze to her hands.
The entire speaker—as well as Lucy’s arms up to her elbows—was engulfed in undulating emerald flames.
Cole staggered back in fear. For the first time, Lucy truly understood how Frankenstein’s Monster felt when confronted by torch-wielding villagers.
Boom!
Sparks sprayed from overhead as the speaker combusted. Static raged from those remaining. Lucy’s classmates braced their hands over their ears. A few made a valiant attempt to keep dancing.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
One by one the spotlights exploded.
Lucy was too stunned to move.
The final bulb burst and the gymnasium descended into darkness.
Boom! There went the last of the speakers.
Quiet and dark. Almost peaceful. Like the moments before the Big Bang.
Glass tinkled as it cracked and began to fall.
Then screams shredded Lucy’s eardrums.