And then it hits me, the idea so absurd I almost choke.
I look up at the wall in front of me, the beautiful filigreed wallpaper, the dark wooden beams crisscrossing just below the ceiling, and there it is, a little red box above my head with a white lever, black words printed across it: PULL DOWN IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. In case of emergency. Probably not what they had in mind, but an emergency all the same.
So I pull down.
The air around me shifts and stills, and I stop breathing, listening only to the steady beating of my heart in my chest—and then like a sleeping dragon roused from its slumber, the building roars to life. All around me alarms start wailing, high pitched and screeching, and when I run back into the lobby, everything is chaos.
“Everyone outside!” the concierge is shouting. “This is not a drill.”
All the teachers have come back out of the ballroom, ushering students outside through the lobby. Jarrod Price runs by me with the entire tray full of chicken. Mr. Harrison looks pale, his face drawn, and I feel a rush of guilt that I’m the one who did this.
Sophie Piznarski is by the concierge desk, holding her shoes in one hand, and when she notices me, she hurls herself toward me. “Keely! What’s happening? Is there a real fire?”
“Have you seen Andrew?” I ask her, which I realize is not a sensible response.
“What?” she asks, and suddenly her voice is high and wavering like she might cry. “Is he okay?”
“There’s no fire,” I say quickly, scanning the area behind her. People are rushing down the main staircase. Jason Ryder slides down the banister, laughing, and I can tell he’s drunk. Ava is with him, wearing his suit jacket over her bra, her purple hair all over the place.
“I have to go,” I say to Sophie, booking it over to Ava. “There’s no fire!” I call out again behind my back, hoping she’ll calm down. “Ava!” I almost crash into her.
“Everybody outside!” Mr. Harrison says, herding us toward the front doors. The crowd around us is growing and we get pushed through. The night air is warm and wet and things feel calmer now that the sound of the siren has muffled. I scan everywhere for Andrew but there are too many people and it’s too dark.
We spot Chase standing in the crowd and head over to him.
“Dude!” Ryder says. “Prom was so lit it caught on fire!”
“Were you smoking in your room?” Chase says, and Ryder grins.
“Is everyone okay?” Ava shouts.
“Everyone’s fine,” I shout back. “I pulled the alarm.”
They all gawk at me.
“What?” Chase asks. “Why?”
“Collins doesn’t break rules,” Ryder sputters to Chase, talking about me like I’m not even here.
“Where’s Danielle?” I turn to Ava. “Do you know what room she was in?”
“Is she trapped?” Ava asks, her eyes going big.
“She’s fine!” I say. “There’s no fire.” The crowd around us is growing and I know Andrew has to be out here somewhere, but I can’t see him through the mass of bodies. “What room were Danielle and Andrew in?”
“I can’t remember,” Ava says. “I can text her and . . .” She pulls open her purse and starts to dig through and then stops mid-sentence. “I forgot our phones broke when we fell in the lake. Sorry.”
“509,” Chase says all of a sudden.
“What?” I turn my attention back to him.
“Room 509, fifth floor,” he says. “She told me earlier. When we were dancing.” He looks slightly guilty. “It was like . . . almost like she wanted me to remember the room. She said it was her favorite number.”
“509 isn’t her favorite number,” Ava says.
“509 isn’t anyone’s favorite number,” I say.
And then Ava puts her hands on her hips. “Come on, guys, really? Danielle told you her room number because she wanted you to come hang out. Danielle and Andrew don’t even like each other. You’re all such idiots.” She flips some purple hair behind her shoulder.
We all look at each other for a few seconds and a wave of understanding passes through us. For the first time everything is so clear, all the pieces finally fit into their rightful places.
“I have to go back inside,” I say, motioning toward the door. “I have to find Andrew.”
And then I turn around and run back through the front doors.
“She’s running back into a burning building for him!” Ava shouts behind me. “It’s true love!”
And then I hear Chase. “There’s no fire.” And then Ryder. “Where’s that other dude?”
I push my way past the two gangly teenage bellhops who are trying to guard the front doors.
“You’re not allowed back in the building!” one of them shouts as I pass, but I ignore him and keep running. Now I know where I have to go. Stairs. Five flights up. The concierge is in the middle of the lobby, directing people toward the doors, and when he sees me run past, we lock eyes and he knows I’m the one who pulled the alarm. It’s like he doesn’t know I’m Keely Collins, that pulling alarms isn’t in my nature. He thinks I’m someone else, someone wilder and freer and more alive, and I kind of like it.
I run as fast as I can toward the back stairwell, already feeling a cramp in my side. I hear footsteps behind me and turn, expecting to see the concierge, but I’m surprised to see Chase right behind me.
“I can’t let you be the only hero,” he says, grinning. “Maybe now she’ll forgive me.”
We tumble together through a swinging door.
“Wait,” I say. “We should split up. I take these stairs and you take the ones on the other side.” He nods and heads in the other direction, saluting before he disappears back through the swinging door. “Go get your girl!” I call after him.
Then I begin to climb. This is slower going, because the stairs are old and twisty. Finally I make it to the fifth floor, and I push open the door into the hallway. It’s empty—only flashing lights and blaring alarms. I let myself lean against the wall for a minute to catch my breath. If he’s not on five, I should just go back outside. I’ll find him eventually, once the alarm shuts off and the chaos dies down. I heave myself off the wall and head back to the stairs.
Then there he is at the other end of the hallway.
“Collins!” he shouts over the sound of the siren. “We have to get out of here!”
“Where’s Danielle?” I ask, expecting her to come around the corner behind him.