Free Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen Page B

party.
    After second block ends and the bell rings for lunch, Hannah and Wally walk slowly down the hallway, feeling lethargic after their unassigned period. They’re about to reach the main lobby when they come upon Baker and Luke leaning against the white tiled wall outside the front office, their shoulders slumped and their expressions downcast.
    “What’s going on?” Hannah asks.
    “Clay’s in Manceau’s office,” Luke says.
    “Michele went to Father Simon about the party,” Baker says.
    “Oh, Jesus,” Hannah says.
    “Are you serious?” Wally says.
    “Yep,” Luke says. “Why does she even go to these parties if she’s just gonna rat us all out afterwards?”
    “She’s probably pissed because Clay didn’t pay attention to her,” Hannah says.
    “Apparently she told Father Simon she was upset by how much drinking our class does,” Baker says.
    “Yeah, as if she didn’t used to be right there with us,” Luke says. 
    The four of them stand with their backs against the cold tile and listen to the din of chatter coming from the underclassmen in the cafeteria. The front office secretaries on the other side of the office windows glance up at them every other minute, their eyebrows arched and their lips pursed.
    Finally Clay comes out of Manceau’s office, a grimace on his face. They watch through the front office windows as his tall form weaves around the secretaries’ desks—he smiles politely at the secretaries, then frowns again as soon as he’s past—and exits into the main lobby.
    “What happened?” Wally says.
    Clay fidgets with the knot in his tie. “They can’t prove that I had the party, but they’re using ‘an anonymous student’s word’ to go on—”
    “Michele,” Hannah says.
    “Yeah,” Clay grumbles. “So then Manceau gave me a bunch of bullshit about how St. Mary’s expects better of me because I’m football captain and all that. Oh, but then get this, he interrupted his lecture halfway through because his wife called and wanted to know whether he’d prefer ‘teacup pink’ or ‘butter yellow’ paint for their bedroom, so then he spent like six minutes debating the options with her, and then finally he gets off the phone and tells me that he wants to suspend me but can’t because he has no proof. So then Father Simon comes in and is all, ‘I’m praying for you during this time of reflection’ and some other bullshit.”
    “So what’s going to happen?” Hannah asks. “Anything?”
    “No,” Clay says, with a trace of a smirk. “Other than them calling my parents. But you know my dad would sue the fat rolls off Manceau if he tried to suspend me with no proof—”
    “Yeah, but your dad will skin you alive,” Wally says.
    “Nah. He’ll be pissed, and my mom will probably cry a little bit, but they’ve already been through this kind of thing with Ethan. They’d only care if something really bad happened. But it’s not like I had a party and someone died.”
    “Let’s go outside,” Baker says, peering over their shoulders at the front office. “Mrs. Adler’s sending us death glares.”
    They shuffle out to the senior courtyard and take their place at their favorite table, where Joanie sits waiting for them, tapping her foot against the table leg. “Where the hell were y’all?” she says. “I look like an idiot sitting here by myself.”
    “Yeah, because that’s the only time you look like an idiot,” Hannah says.
    “Clay got in trouble with Manceau,” Luke says, rubbing Joanie’s back as he sits down.
    “What happened?”
    Clay launches into the story again, and Joanie’s features elongate in astonishment at all the right parts, and when Clay has finished, the six of them turn in their seats to search out Michele amongst the courtyard dwellers.
    “She’s not coming to any more parties,” Clay says, his face souring as he looks in Michele’s direction. “Tell everyone you can. Make sure the whole class knows not to invite her to