Shreya leaps on Mrs. Somboon-Fox’s excitement. “We have the results from the prom theme poll, and the winner is: ‘Under the Rainbow.’ ” Bryce’s jaw clenches. He wanted Fireworks (the third-highest vote-getter) because anything red, white, and blue makes him cream himself. Yasmin is a little disappointed, too. Her pick, “Sophisticated,” came in second. Nobody, not even the farm kids, voted for “Barn Dance,” and only a handful voted for “A Night in the Stars”—but that’s why Shreya and I proposed both. We knew they’d fail, and this would make it harder for Yasmin and Bryce to complain when “Under the Rainbow”—also our suggestion—destroyed the competition. We made sure to hype everyone up in advance, promising Wizard of Oz vibes to the conservative kids and true inclusion to the progressive ones. Comfort and cutting edge—who could resist? Not many; it got 80 percent of the votes.

Mrs. Somboon-Fox looks as if she won the lottery. Our theme fits her narrative of what the school is like now; the pictures will be pretty, and there’s nothing sexy about it. Easy win. She claps—actually claps her hands—at this news and declares that this will be the best prom ever. Principals have to say “best [blank] ever” a lot, but while she’s wrapped up in her enthusiasm, I pounce.

I slide the mock-up of the ticket Shreya and I whipped up across Mrs. Somboon-Fox’s desk. It has the theme in big letters, smaller letters for date and place, the price (made less scary by being in a cute font), a box for the number of tickets, and a border of rainbow arches. In tiny tiny print, it states that guests must be between the ages of sixteen and nineteen.

“This looks dandy.” Mrs. Somboon-Fox loves the rainbows. I knew it.

Shreya reaches for the form to reclaim it, smoothly moving on. “Now we have to talk about the buses, because last year’s were—”

“OH!”

Mrs. Somboon-Fox has not yet released the paper. Her face reddens noticeably. She doesn’t look at Shreya or Yasmin or Bryce. She looks only at me.

“I think you’ve forgotten a line.”

One does not “forget” a line like “ticket holder affirms he or she may bring one guest of the opposite gender.” It’s been on the ticket template for years—no one seems to know when it started. I just made a new template, simple as that.

The room is quiet and for once I don’t have the perfect retort, because I can see a lot of things on her face.