Page 123 of What You Wish For

She nodded, likeOf course.“The One Hundred Most Mathematically Booty-Shaking Songs of All Time.”

We both blinked at her for a second, and then she shrugged. “Told you,” she said. “Everything is math.”

And so, Duncan taught us the Hustle. His version was definitely better. We did it mostly like a line dance, but every now and then he’d pull me into his arms and dip me, which made everybody, even me, cheer.

And then later, when Duncan spotted Babette watching us from off to the side and he shimmied over to take her by the hand and pull her into the group, she let him. And when Duncan pulled her into his arms and spun her back out, I found myself falling still on the dance floor, just watching them. It was Babette’s first dance with anybody since the night Max had died, and for a second, I wasn’t sure how it would go.

But I’d underestimated Duncan.

Babette’s face bloomed into a smile.

Later, she might go home and miss Max even more, reminded of all she’d lost. But I suspected that Babette knew better than to let a little pain hold her back. She knew that joy and sorrow walked side by side. She knew that being alive meant risking one for the other. And she also knew, as I was starting to understand in a whole new way, that it was always better to dance than to refuse.

twenty-two

That night of dancing in the cafeteria was without question the best, most delightful, most joyful night of my entire school year. And it was followed, just a few days later, by an afternoon in that exact same space that very quickly became the worst.

Because, at the final faculty meeting of the year, Kent Buckley had an announcement for us.

He arrived at the meeting twenty minutes late. Talking on that douchey Bluetooth.

Duncan showed up late, too—just behind him.

“Okay, people! Listen up!” Kent Buckley said as he strode in, alienating everyone in the room.

We watched him as he took the stage and turned on the microphone at the podium.

“Great end-of-year news,” he said, as the mic gave a scream of reverb.

Kent Buckley tried again, more carefully.

“Duncan Carpenter—where are ya, buddy?”

Duncan hesitated, but then when it started to look like Kent Buckley might literally wait all day for him, he went ahead and mounted the stage.

At last, Kent Buckley went on. “My good friend Principal Carpenter and I have been hard at work on a super-secret project all year that it’s my pleasure to reveal to you today. We’ve got all the pieces in place to start moving forward at the start of summer. It’s been a difficult year for the school, but, as you know, I never see difficulties. I only see opportunities.”

By this point, we were all looking around at each other, likeWhat?

Duncan had been working on a super-secret project with Kent Buckley?

Kent Buckley flipped the switch on the projector screen, and it slid down behind him. I present to you…Kempner School 2.0!”

Up popped an image of a sleek, black, glass-and-chrome building.

Everybody stared at it.

Everybody, that is, except Duncan, who stared only at the ground.

When Kent Buckley didn’t get the response he wanted, he launched into salesman mode. “Meet your new school! Gone is the sad old building with the peeling paint and rusty windows. Gone are the sagging steps and drooping shutters and missing roof shingles and cracking walls. We’re upgrading! Welcome to the newest, fanciest, most state-of-the-art educational facility in America. We’re going to make history with this building, folks. Remote video surveillance, automatic locking doors and panic buttons, bulletproof doors and windows. Hi-tech everything.”

At this point, people were starting to look around. What the hell was Kent Buckley talking about?

“This is… what?” Alice asked.

“The new school building,” Kent Buckley said, likeTry to keep up!

“Whose new school building?” Carlos asked.

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