By three, there were portable speakers on the sidewalk, and someone kept playing the victory parade music from The Phantom Menace over and over again. (It was only a minute and a half long.)

Elena consented to a ninety-second dance with Troy. Gabe turned him down.

Fifty more people showed up by dinnertime, and some of them brought pizza. Elena went up and down the line, posing for photos and posting them to Instagram. (Her hashtags were inspired.) Troy, who’d changed into his pilot costume, was a little wary of all the newcomers—“Jar-Jar-come-latelies.”

“We have to keep our guard up,” he said. “These people aren’t part of the line covenant. They might try to surge at the end.”

“We still have our tickets,” Gabe said.

“I will be the first person to walk into that theater,” Troy said. “You will be second. And Elena will be third. We are the line. These are just day guests.”

“So are we sitting together?” Elena asked.

“Oh,” Troy said. “Well, we can sit near each other. I’ve actually got a bunch of friends coming . . .”

“We can sit together,” Gabe said, looking at Elena, but somehow not looking at Elena. “If you want.”

“Sure,” she said. “Let’s see this through.”

The newspaper photographer came back. The line wrapped around the block. Mark came out with a loudspeaker to give everybody directions.

“We’ve got two hours,” Gabe said to Elena. “I think we’ve only got time for a tattoo or a nickname. Your pick.”

“Let’s not talk about nicknames,” she said.

They’d packed up their stuff, and Mark said they could leave it in his office during the movie. “Thank you for not being drunk or disorderly,” he said. “And for not littering. I hope you camp outside a different theater next time—I’d be happy to make a few recommendations.”

“No chance,” Troy said. “This is home.”

Elena bounced up and down, pointing from side to side.

“What’s that?” Gabe asked.

“It’s my Star Wars dance,” she said, bouncing and pointing.

After a few seconds, he joined her. Then Troy’s friends picked it up. The dance traveled down the line. From the street, they must have looked like the Peanuts characters dancing.

There was a surge at the end—Troy was right! The line turned into a mob when Mark opened the doors. But Mark shouted at everyone and made sure the three original line members got in first. Gabe and Elena grabbed seats in the very middle of the theater.

“Oh my God,” Elena said. “This is the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat in. I feel like a princess.”

“You look like a ruffian,” Gabe said, but his eyes were closed. “It’s so warm,” he said. “I love inside.”

“Inside is the best,” she agreed. “Let’s never go outside again.”