13

Sunlight streams over the party like lights from a dance hall, and the crowd of classmates who skipped school for the last party of the year erupt in cheers and dancing, as if some almighty power encouraged their revelry.

Jonah wanders over to you, a bottle of some green liquid in hand, and wraps an arm around your shoulder. "So glad you came. Best party ever."

Before you can answer your inebriated friend, a siren draws your attention toward the street. The unmistakable blare of a police car elevates your blood pressure. No one else seems concerned with impending doom, and you look for a suitable escape path. Not until the siren screams closer and closer do the partygoers show any reaction. Looking to the street, the flashing blue-and-red lights quicken your pulse, and when you finally spot the speeding cruiser, you break into a full sweat. What would your parents say if you got arrested? What happens if school finds out you ditched in order to go to a party where alcohol was served?

You walk Jonah with you across the yard to a row of bushes separating the overpriced houses. From down the street, the police car races towards Madison's house, and silence ripples across the party. The music goes off. No one moves, every face locked in anticipation.

And the cruiser passes right by the house. Followed by another, and another. Not one cop car stops at the house party.

And as the last blue-and-red light fades and the sirens drift into the distance, the crowd goes wild.