The auction goes through the evening, all the way up through the after-dinner entertainment. The school orchestra is performing some upbeat twenties jazz, and thanks to Dana, the drama club will be performing a brief play as well.
At nine, the auction ends, and whatever the last, highest bid is on each sheet for each item is the winning bid.
Our group walks around the whole auction, and we love seeing what’s been brought in. There are some interesting things, and even I put in a bid on a trip to Nice, France, thinking it might be nice for spring break if I were to win it. Not that I need to win.
I see Victoria hovering around her tables and encouraging people to bid on her things, or probably more accurately, dragging them over and begging them to bid. The girl has no shame. I ignore it; she has no idea just how hard she’s going to be brought down tonight, and I want to enjoy every moment of it.
Well, she might have some idea after she saw our turnout.
Finally, we head into the dinner and are seated at a long table. Not only did my aunt and uncle turn up, but so did both Will’s and Blair’s parents. Wills’ family even brought his three younger brothers along.
Each one of them is just another, smaller, equally well-dressed miniature version of Wills.
The dinner is so big that it has to be held outside in a massive heated tent, and even then, it’s crowded.
It lasts a long while, people coming and going the whole time, walking back and forth between the tent and the gym. It’s connected to the massive tent through a heated passageway. I resist the urge to go back to the auction several times and check to see what everything is bidding at, but the boys can’t stand the wait, and they each go and check a few times even though I don’t let myself.
They’re both so excited that they’re beaming at me.
“There’s a huge crowd of people around your things, and the bidding on them has gotten so aggressive that they’ve had to add new pages,” Wills says as soon as he comes back.
“And there are two more school guards there in addition to the ones you hired, just to watch everyone because there are so many people,” Blair adds, looking like the cat who ate the canary.
I laugh and kiss him. “Thank you for the update.”
I don’t bother to ask about how Victoria is doing. I have barely seen her in the dining tent at all, because she’s been parked at her tables almost nonstop. She’s scrambling to do all that she can, and I know it won’t be enough. At this point, she has to know it too. It’s sweet justice.
The end of the evening comes and the auction closes. Everyone comes into the dining tent with us and Dr. Baxter takes the microphone and addresses the crowd.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It’s wonderful to have you here at this special event; our annual Valentine’s auction and dinner.”
Both Wills and Blair reach for my hands and squeeze them in my lap.
“Your contributions and attendance tonight have made a tremendous difference to the coming year at Hawthorne Academy. I’d like to thank all of our seniors for their hard work in producing this event, in procuring the items up for auction this evening, and for selling out the dinner tonight. They are leaving a strong legacy for the classes of students coming up behind them.”
The boys squeeze my hands again as we listen to the principal and wait to hear who won the royalty for the dance. The principal is going over where the highest bidders can collect their items, either tonight after the auction, or they can arrange to have them picked up tomorrow.
“Now, off to what I am sure most of you are waiting for.”
We aren’t the only ones to lean in closer for what comes next.
Principal Baxter continues. “It is a tradition that for this event, whichever male and female student’s items made the most money for the school become the king and queen of the Valentine’s dance held here tomorrow. Before I announce those two winners, I must take a moment to acknowledge the extraordinary dedication and hard work of one of our students. This student has gone far above and beyond the expectations of the committee for this event, and of this school. Each senior who wished to participate was given a packet of ten tickets to sell to this evening’s dinner. Some students came back for a second packet of tickets, and one young lady came back for three.”
I feel my stomach tighten. I know what’s coming next, but that doesn’t stop me from growing restless.
“However, the student who sold the most seats to tonight’s dinner came back for more than two hundred tickets—a record that this school has never seen before. Because of her, we had to put up this tent, rather than host the dinner in the dining hall as we have in the past, so that we could accommodate everyone who wanted to come tonight. It is an unprecedented success, and this student must be honored for her outstanding achievement. Miss Teddy White, please stand.”
A thunderous roar of cheers and applause fills the air around me so greatly that it reverberates through my chest, and I can’t stand. I can’t move. I didn’t know that Dr. Baxter was going to call attention to me the way that he did. Everyone at our table is cheering so loudly, it drowns out the fact that he used my father’s name, not mine. I still hadn’t decided whether or not to take it.
In this moment, with that name spoken out over the loudspeaker announcing my success, I finally make up my mind. I’ll take the new name and everything that comes with it.
Every luxury, every challenge.
It’s part of my legacy, and I should embrace it.
Wills takes my arm and helps lift me to my feet. As I look around the room, everything goes a bit blurry as tears form in my eyes.
Just weeks ago, the students and teachers here at the school could barely stand to look at me.