They all became aware of Kyle’s plan a day before the Opening Ball. After discussing with the principal and collecting signatures from all volunteers - some less willing than the others - it was decided that Hendrick would step down from his position as chairperson and be replaced with someone who was unanimously - and also willingly - regarded as helpful and capable. That Kyle put forward Nikolaus’ name to the principal and the students may have also helped in securing him the honor of being the first freshman to chair the ball. He was reluctant in accepting the role, but Kyle, his self-appointed new mentee, assured him that all that was left to do anyway was give the opening speech and make sure everything went smoothly. Which was the whole aim of the plan: Hendrick did most of the work, exceptionally so, but the credit would go to someone else. That was if everything went smoothly indeed on the night of the ball. Which the student president was clearly counting on.

On Friday night, the doors of the Grand Ballroom opened to reveal the soft blue glow of the glamorously decorated room, with a small stage serving as the focal point. Instead of the typical high school disco ball, the massive chandelier, lit up with electric candles for the safety of the students, illuminated in contrasting orange hues the center of the ballroom, where all would soon gather to dance. But prior to that, the chairperson, who would have little time to enjoy the event as they had to keep an eye on things, had to give the welcoming speech and officially invite all on the dancefloor. Dressed in white shirt and pants with a sapphire blue suit jacket, Nikolaus approached the mic stand, looking as if ready to finish the task as quick as possible.

“Hello everyone. You may not know me, but I’m Nik. I’ll just keep it short. This is supposed to be a very exciting evening, to celebrate all the luxuries of life you were blessed with, among which the opportunity to study here. You’re probably waiting to gorge yourselves on all this food, then dance the night away. You’ll probably want to kiss someone tonight or do other things. But none of this really matters. I mean sure, this will be a night to remember or whatever, but don’t let yourselves be swayed by these things. Life is more than just indulgence. Let’s remember the small things that make us happy, the people that we’re with, the fact that we’re alive. Enjoy this while you can, because life is short and there is no extra fee to provide a better afterlife for us. In the end, we’re all the same. And I would rather we celebrate that tonight. Thank you!”

If the silence was anything to go by, the speech was as bad as Kyle’s. Not least because it was addressed to a bunch of students used to living some of the most hedonistic lifestyles a teenager is capable of, who had to leave it all behind while enrolling here and adapt to a strict conduct of being. So naturally, they would take any chance to enjoy a night with even the slightest resemblance of freedom, given the lack of staff. And Nik was perhaps all too aware of that, only regretting it later when searching for Kyle’s gaze in the audience and getting a slight shake of his head.

After announcing that the ring was officially open, few were concerned any longer with dissecting the possible critique at their own expense and instead immediately took to either gorging themselves on the prepared feast that was miles ahead of their already delicious meals or to dancing the night away just as Nik said. Jabari retreated to a corner of the room where he found Hendrick scanning the dancefloor.

“You know you don’t have to do that anymore, right?”

“It’s not like I have anything better to do,” he replied. His gaze however seemed to be fixed on a certain spot, namely the center of the ring right under the chandelier, where Iv and Shiro just became the center of attention by waltzing to a contemporary pop song. After both awkwardly admitting to being less than stellar dancers, they shared their similar experiences in long gone dance styles and decided to make the most of it. They both looked straight out of a runway show in their designer clothes, her in a short white dress with a blue jacket and him in a three-piece suit in white and two shades of blue.

Hendrick excused himself to go to his safe corner outside the building. He could still hear the vibrations of the pop and dance tunes being played inside, but he tried to mute those in favor of staring at the night sky, the area allowing for a clear view of the stars unless the weather disturbed it. On that night, the only cloud was the one of his own making, blurring his vision and his thoughts. He couldn’t tell how long he stayed there, although by the state of his cigarette it must have been a while, when he was suddenly alerted by laughter chiming from close by. Before he could even think to hide, Iv and Shiro made their way towards him, Iv dragging the boy towards Hendrick’s spot and pulling from her jacket the same silver flask he had seen before. Shiro frowned at him, clearly looking at the evidence he was too stunned to dispose of, but Iv was quick to intervene before any of them could speak:

“Don’t worry, he won’t tell. Am I right?”

The boys were still looking at each other. Shiro’s gaze softened and he gave a subtle nod, which in turn prompted Hendrick to relax against the stone wall. The two followed suit, standing all next to each other and watching the clear sky.

Once Jabari was left alone in the ballroom, he roamed around grabbing a bite here and there and watching everything unfold. He was even ready to call it a night less than an hour after the party began when he saw Jacy approach him. Unlike most students, he wasn’t dressed very fancy - not that he was either in his white pants, T-shirt and blue sweater over it - but his outfit looked like a committed choice not to conform as he donned just jeans and a t-shirt, with a slightly more elegant dark blue checkered jacket. Casual outfit aside, he still looked good.

“Hey! I just wanted to apologize to you for how I behaved that day.”

Jabari remembered trying to approach the boy to comfort him and getting a cold shoulder, but he wasn’t particularly offended. He knew he was in a bad mood, so there was nothing to forgive. He told Jacy that, but he was adamant.

“I would still like to ask for your forgiveness. You didn’t deserve being treated that way.”

Before he had a chance to reply, Nik approached them in a hurry.

“Have any of you seen Hendrick? I need to go apologize to him, I should have never agreed to take his place.”

“I was actually in the middle of my own apology,” said Jacy in a slightly exasperated tone, “and I haven’t seen him anyway, so if you don’t mind…”

“I saw him.”

Jabari saw how distressed Nik looked so he figured he could pause the conversation. He didn’t have anything to forgive Jacy for in the first place and he couldn’t understand why it mattered so much to him that he did.

“He went outside, we can all go look for him.”

They left behind the liveliness of the ballroom and ventured in the courtyard, going round the building, guided by the small electric torchlights on the stone walls, till they finally spotted movement in the most shadowed part of the building’s exterior.

“What are you all doing here?”

The voice was clearly Hendrick’s, who came under the torchlight followed by Shiro and Iv. As soon as Nik saw him, he started explaining himself, mindless of all their other companions.

“I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for taking your position, it was a mistake, I don’t know what I was thinking with the whole ‘eat the rich’ kind of talk, I…”

“I need help.”

They all turned around. A girl was coming towards them, dressed in a dark blue slim gown, her blond hair made silver by the moon. Svea.