Mr. McKenzie had been given chaperone duty for the prom event. It was mostly unremarkable, just keeping an eye best he could and telling students to knock off shenanigans when he spotted it.

One thing he wasn’t given duty for was checking the outfits students had. One of the students managed to get in with an outfit a bit skimpier than she probably should have - but between telling her to put all her clothes back on and getting students angry at him and just leaving it be, he was going to choose the latter. No one had caused problems about it, so he was going to let sleeping dogs lie.

Regardless, the night dragged on, and he was surveying the main hall area, essentially just the gym. The students were milling about, though some had drifted to the side walls for a (marginally) quieter moment.

Along one of the walls he spotted two of the students in his homeroom, Myra and Mike. The two were darting into one of the side halls for what he presumed was a quick moment. Spicy lover’s moment, I guess, he thought.

He took to scanning the rest of the hall again, and let out a sigh. It wasn’t that this was hard work, it was just kind of boring and tiring. Leaning against the gym wall, it was when he noticed Myra - having returned from the side hall - approaching him.

“Hey, Mr. McKenzie.” she said.

“Yeah, what’s up?” he asked.

Myra seemed in a slight bit of a hurry, as far as Mr. McKenzie could tell.

“Can you run and check Johnny’s bag?”

Mr. McKenzie in this moment realized that something was off, and started taking Myra seriously.

“Sure, why?”

“Just to check its contents. I’m gonna go find Lyn’s mom,” Myra said.

“Is this a bomb?” Mr. McKenzie asked.

“No, no… just, see Mike out there?” Myra said.

Mr. McKenzie looked over at Mike, in the middle of the gym hall. He was standing with a few other students.

“Yeah… why?”

“Keep an eye on him for me, thanks. While you check the bag,” Myra said.

Myra left somewhat hurriedly, trying to move quickly while not being obvious. Mr. McKenzie turned back after seeing Myra leave to see Mike in the center of the hall.

“Hey, can you give me a ride out of here soon?”

Mrs. Perkins looked at Myra, suddenly asking the question out of the blue.

“Uh… I mean, yes, but why…?” Mrs Perkins answered.

She took a sense of Myra in front of her, and she didn’t like what she felt. Myra continued unabated.

“Well, Leslie was getting drunk tonight, so she’s not gonna be able to drive. Unfortunately, I’m gonna need a ride tonight,” Myra said.

Mrs. Perkins squinted.

“Okay… but where do you need a ride to? Or from?” she asked.

“The hospital.”

“What?”

“See Mike over there?” Myra said.

She pointed over to Mike, in the center of the hall. He seemed to be alright, simply enjoying himself in the music. Nothing seemed to be wrong with him as far as she could tell.

“What about him?” Mrs. Perkins asked.

Myra exhaled for a moment.

“Any moment now.” Myra said.

Mrs. Perkins looked on, as Mike stood in the center of the hall. There were a few students around him, but no one was approaching or leaving the group he was in. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be looking for, though she knew it was clearly something.

And then Mike collapsed to the floor.

Mike awoke in a well-lit room. It wasn’t the gym by any stretch. Trying to get his bearings, he heard Myra’s voice:

“Hey, don’t push yourself,”

He turned to face where the voice was. Myra was sitting next to him, with his father behind her. It was here when he realized where he was, the hospital. He tried to remember what happened before.

“Oh… that’s right,”