The Senior Pledge

Chapter 4 Devin

Devin Ash was not a bad guy. I had known him since sixth grade. He had helped me carry books when I had a broken wrist. He had voted for me for class president, twice. He had also, in my first life, been the one who held my arms while two other boys pushed me onto the roof.

Grief does strange things to people. I had learned that.

"Hey, Devin," I said, calm. "Just talking."

"About what?"

"About who paid for this party."

Marcus moved toward the door, and I stepped sideways without thinking, blocking the path.

"There's a story I heard," I said, "about a girl named Sasha. She was fifteen. She took one pill at a party, and her heart stopped, and she's in a coma in Rockford Memorial right now. Her mother can't afford the machines." I looked at Marcus. "She's still alive. Barely."

Marcus froze.

"I don't want to be the reason anyone else gets hurt," I said. "But I'm not going to pretend I didn't see tonight."

Devin lowered his cups. "Nora. This is a party. Nobody's gonna die."

"Somebody always dies," I said, and the words came out heavier than I meant. "And then everybody pretends it was the girl who tried to stop it."

For one second, Devin looked at me like he almost understood.

Then the lights cut.

Somebody in the main room screamed with laughter. The music stopped. The DJ yelled something. The emergency lights clicked on, orange and low.

"s**t," Marcus said, and moved past me into the hallway.

I grabbed the duffel handle. It was heavier than I expected.

"Nora," Devin said, "put it down."

"Take a picture," I said. "You want to know who's running this? We're going to find out together."

I dragged the bag out into the hallway, and the whole room turned to watch me.