Time: 7.30pm

It had been a long day, but that day was totally worth it. Graduation. Who would have thought that day would actually come? The school, alongside a few parents, had decided to set up a party for the graduating class of 2018. The town halls main reception room had been transformed into a lavish party area with dance floor, several tables full of party food and balloons and streamers decorating the floors. While this was the party that kicked the night off, this wasn't the party that most of the people had been looking forward to. Officially the party finished at 9.30pm, however most of the students had been invited to a more 'private' after party at another location in the town. The place was ready, all it needed now was guests.

---

Weeks did she have to hear Ellen's screaming about the upcoming graduation, her husband saying straight in Aubree's face that he didn't care a bit about it and their children who were saying that they would probably have grades that are a lot better then hers when they graduate. She had a hard time convincing them to stay home, so she could stay alone. Ellen probably would be the only one doing it out of love anyways. Though she felt a little bit bad about her decision when she arrived at the gate and saw a lot of her classmates and people whose faces she recognized with their loving parents. She didn't feel that connection to anyone, didn't think she needed anyone to be happy and so she soon prohibited herself from feeling that bad feeling and went inside the building to get rid of it.

She wore a short, red dress that almost reached out to her knees, long, black heels and a black purse. However, she didn't take the effort for putting up make-up or doing something with her hair and on that moment the only thing she cared about was if there were any drinks. It didn't take her long to find the place she could buy herself a drink, but sadly enough there wasn't as much alcohol as she had hoped for before. She just decided to order the strongest thing that they had and simply drink a lot of it. Sometimes her head turned around to see what everyone was doing, but she hated how everyone was acting so she didn't want to socialize. The only thing she did, was smiling politely to the ones that had already come to the party and sometimes congratulating them as they did the same to her.

---

---

The Bishop twins were currently getting ready for the short drive to the town hall. Kora would be in the bathroom, braiding her hair as Julian shouted at her. "Hey Shithead," he shouted, chosing one of their various affectionate nicknames for each other. "Have you seen my black bowtie?!"

Kora rolled her eyes as she looped the hair tie to keep her braid from coming loose, her bangs swept to the right side of her face uncontrollably as usual. "No, fuckface, I have not," she yelled back, giving herself a once over in the bathroom mirror. Kora supposed that most of the other girls attending tonight's ceremony would be all fancied up in dresses and heels and such; not her, however. Kora had settled for her nicest pair of black jeans - ripped strategically in all the right places, of course - a Black t-shirt with the words 'normal people scare me' plastered across the front, and her black converse. Some people probably wouldn't approve of the outfit, such as their mother, but Kora did, and that was all that mattered.

Julian was rummaging through his drawers as his hand finally found his sought after bowtie. He was dressed in his best grey suit, a white undershirt unbuttoned slightly to show off a little of his chest. He tied the bowtie around his chest, meeting his sister downstairs. He glanced at her outfit of choice, wrinkling his nose in playful disapproval. Kora shot him a look that clearly told him to shut up, and so he followed the unspoken order.

The two of them made their way out to Kora's black Kia before making the short drive over to the town hall.
Once there, Julian would be the first through the doors. "HELLOOOOOO PEOPLE I WILL MOST LIKELY NEVER SEE AGAIN AFTER TONIGHT," he exclaimed. His vibrant entrance caused Kora to attempt to hide behind him, her face red as people turned to stare.

Honestly, some days Christina thought that she wouldn't get to this point as the days slogged on but, somehow, she did. Although she sat on mainly Bs (except music where she came out top of the class with flying colours) she was proud of herself. She knew she wasn't the smartest of the bunch, nor did she try to pretend it. She stood in the bathroom of town hall readjusting her white dress. Christina's mum was already in attendance as a teacher so had offered to help set up, Christina went along to help also. Working is not easy in a dress so she rocked up in simple loose denim jeans, a black shirt and her scruffy red converse high tops and took her dress along to get changed into. She had 'forgotten' to pack other shoes and her dad 'wasn't able' to bring her others. With a sigh she then stepped into the hall.

"There's my little girl," Leslie greeted her with a smile. She tugged the hair band holding Christina's hair back and giving it a quick brush before pressing a kiss to the top of your head. "I'm so proud of you,"

"Thanks mum," Christina says gently, giving her a quick hugging her quickly before turning to look at the room. A wave of excitement rolled through her. She was the only one there thus far but it wouldn't be long before others started rolling in.



Christina greeted students as she passed them, well most students- she avoided the usual crowd she kept away from. She offered congratulations to most of them too. She eventually grabbed a cup of punch and cradled it in her hands between sips, awaiting one of her friends to enter, or to be approached, whichever came first. That was when the Bishop twins rocked up.

"That'll be the day," she mutters to herself as he gives his grand entrance speech. Eventually Kora became visible behind her brother. She walked over to her, offering Julian and quick "Congratulations, " before greeting Kora with a smile and a simple "Howya?"

---

Life can be a real mystery. There was a time that Sadie never thought she'd be happily graduating from high school with friends while her family watched and supported her. But here she was getting ready to head to the town hall, thankfully without her embarrassing family tagging along, to join in with her classmates as they celebrate their successful journey through school. Tonight she was allowed to relax and have fun as she didn't have to worry about anything that could potentially go awry at the party. No one would bother her when the jocks devoured all the food. She wouldn't have to work in the cafeteria to quickly replace the spiked punch(the guilty party knows who they are). She was going to hang out with her friends and reminisce over the good and bad times that had occurred throughout the year.

Wearing a knee-length pink dress, thigh-high black socks, and her signature boots, Sadie departed from her quaint home as her family told her to have fun and stay safe nearly in unison. The only one going with her was her sister-in-law Noelle because the woman had offered to chaperone and she was the only one that Sadie thought would have no embarrassing stories of her.

---

Arriving at the town hall, Sadie was quite impressed with how many people had already shown up. Casually strolling inside Sadie looked around the room trying to locate at least one of her friends. She noticed a few faces that were familiar before seeing two of her closest friends. She strolled over to where Christina, Julian, and Kora stood to say, "Can't believe we finally made it. Also, you may have won this time Kora, but eventually my grades will surpass yours."

---

"Alright, now turn around again."

"Ma, the town is just throwing a graduation party. It's not a big deal."

"You actually passed. I'd say that's a big deal. And you know how your Grandfather is. If you don't look your best, he will make a fuss right there in front of everyone. So, just try." Derek grunted an admission of defeat. His mother was right. If Risteard caught him at a 'formal event' in jeans and a t-shirt, he'd never hear the end of it. But if Derek had to admit anything, he was actually kind of excited. Since he doubted he'd be able to attend the Senior Trip, it was likely this would be his final night with all of his classmates together. Even if a lot of them still hated his guts.

Looking in the tall mirror, Derek saw himself wearing a white button shirt, black slacks, suspenders, and black tie. He smiled as he saw himself standing there. Derek was happy with his present self. Who knows what he'd be like if he had stayed on his past track. Then in the other room, he heard the door slam shut. "Crap, I thought he wouldn't get back for another hour." Derek wanted to tell his mom that it was okay, but Mike burst in through the door before he could.

"Oh, hi, Derek. That party is tonight, right?"

"Obviously, Mike. Why else would I be dressed so snazzy."

"HEY! I'm your father, and you will not talk to me with that snarky attitude." The strong scent of alcohol emanated from the man's mouth. He must have run out of money for poker night with his chums.

"Alright, alright. I apologize. Goodnight." He absolutely despised being remotely kind to the man, but Derek knew that making Mike mad could potentially cause more problems for his mother and siblings. On his way out of the foreign house, he wished his younger half-siblings sweet dreams and departed for his class' graduation party.

---

Entering the town hall, he was excited that he had made it to this day. Hopefully things tonight wouldn't go badly.

The day that Taylor had thought would never arrive had finally arrived. Graduation. For most it represented the start of an exciting journey into the future. The shackles of education would be lifted and these young adults could go and pursue their dreams. This was not the end, it was the beginning of a much better journey. Careers, University, even families. Everything was up for grabs for the graduating class of Pinewood Ridge High.

For Taylor Carson, it was anything but a great thought. Despite his best attempts to try and convince himself otherwise, Taylor couldn't help but stay in the funk he was currently in. For him, Graduation signalled the end of the routine had had been used to for the past four or so years. Leaving school meant the end to this routine and he now had to start making actually adult like decisions. Decisions he wasn't ready for. His whole life he had threw himself at something, anything, to distract himself from the horror that was his home life. Now his main source of distraction had dried up and he now needed a new distraction.

So tonight was the final Howrah, the final night where he could claim he was a high schooler. At least he could reminisce a little longer. Tonight involved talking, something he wasn’t exactly keen on doing. He had also decided to invite his parents, something his grandpa had advised against. It was in vein as they both told him where he could stick his invitation. Since his early teenage years his relationship with them had soured greatly. He would have invited his grandpa however given his older age there was no way he would have gotten through the graduation ceremony yet alone the after party.

So here he was alone. Something he was used to, but at the same time wasn’t. He entered the main hall, looking around at all the people who had already arrived. He was wearing an all black suit, minus the tie. He had noticed that several of the students had already started grouping together. Not wanting to disturb anyone he simply walked over to the punch table and poured himself a cup of the pinkish liquid. Staring at the cup he took a small sip before walking over to a table and taking a sit, observing everyone.

Shannon stood in the center of her room, a violin resting under her chin, the notes ringing out Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. As she sounds letting the music carry her, her eye caught the clock.

"Shit!!" She said with traces of her old male voice slipping in. Shannon cleared her throat, and began getting ready, a simple tight black skirt with a Supernatural rocker tee. She throw on light makeup, just something to give her a punk rock look and she was bounding down the stairs in her flats.

"I spend close to sixry grand to help you become a woman and you can't even wear a dress to your graduation party??" Her father said as he puffed on his cigarette watching the news. Shannon walked over and took the cigarette out of his mouth and pulled a drag for herself before putting it out herself. She kissed his head and smiled and headed out.

-------------------------------------------

Shannon pulled up to the town hall and looked over at her college acceptance letter. Juliard was the top musical school in the country and they wanted her. She was gifted with a few musical instruments and couldn't believe her luck. She was going to try and enjoy this summer. Shannon walked into the town hall and saw most of the graduating class was already there in full swing. But her eyes landed on Julien and a bit of pink crossed her cheeks, confident, outgoing, and protective of his sister. She had had a crush on Julien since she moved her, but he was into real women only and she was to quiet to even really get to know him. She quickly walked over and grabbed some punch and sat at a table sipping at it.

Enjoying whatever they had to drink, she looked around to see if anyone interesting was inside of the room. However, she prefered to be alone as the others would probably annoy her. She took another cup inside of her hand and a rag she found into the other. As the music that was currently one wasn't to her taste, she decided to wipe away the drinks other people had spilled upon the table and the dirt that was left on it before the party even began. She hated how the people that organised it, didn't even take the effort to clean the place up for the party.

When she decided that the table looked like how she wanted it to look, she put away the rag, drank her cup empty and took another one. The music started to change into something she liked better then before and in an elegant way she started dancing to the music with her eyes closed in the middle of the dancing floor. She was happy whenever she could do something active, when she could move. Dancing like this to music she liked was like heaven for her.

Her dress went up a bit in a turn and suddenly she felt someones hand upon her hip, she didn't like to be touched and the thing was that the hand was far too low to her opinion. She stopped dancing, stood still and slowly opened her eyes with a fierce look in her eyes. Her head wasn't yet turned to the guy who did it and her mouth was carefull at forming the words: "What... do... you... think... you are...doing?" she whispered in a confident and angry voice.

Her head turned to the guy and her hand slapped him right in his face. He obviously was startled as Aubree was stronger then she looked. "Don't... do... that... ever... again!" she said as she moved her head away from the guy.

---

---

Despite her best efforts, people found the need to approach Kora anyway. It seemed as if Julians tallness had failed to shield her this time. Oh well, might as well make the best of it.

When Christina walked over, Kora couldn't help but smile in greeting. She had always thought of Chris as one of the kindest souls around. "Oh, you know. Kinda glad that it's over. Little nervous at the same time though. You?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Sadie would say her part. Kora couldn't help but give a small laugh at the other girls comment. "We'll just have to wait and see. What all colleges have you applied to so far," she asked, right before blushing slightly, realizing that the question might be intrusive. "That is... if you don't mind me asking?"

She took another glance at the crowd forming in the room. Taylor had walked in, along with Shannon, to whom she waved. She silently wondered where that dreadful Dakota girl was. Though she was pretty, and nice when she wanted to be, Dakota had the tendency to be... well, a bitch. It seemed that everyone was having a decent time so far, and Kora would hate to see it ruined. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she pushed the thought aside.

---

---

"Drab, awful, horrible... gag," Dakota said lazily, browsing through her closet looking for the perfect thing to wear to the gathering. Granted everything she owned, she had hand selected, she still insisted on calling it all ugly until she found the right thing. She had been at it for roughly fifteen minutes before stumbling across the perfect dress. It was a pretty little number that fit snuggly, but not so tight it suffocated her. Settling for a matching pair of black heels she would gather her purse, phone and keys before making her way to the car. Most of the other kids would have their parents accompany them. Dakota's, as usual, were away on business. It didn't bother her, however. Once you had lived a certain way for so long, you got used to it. She checked her bright red lipstick in the mirror before turning on the ignition to begin her short journey.

Arriving, she would see that she was perhaps a little late to the party, as the parking lot was already mostly filled with people. She began to wonder why she even came here, seeing as none of her close friends were making an entrance. The truth was, she really didn't know. The best she could figure is that perhaps she wanted the 'full' high school experience. Walking through the door, Dakota would squeeze by the Bishop twins and their small crowd, grumbling something about how it was rude to block entrances. Walking over to the punch bowl, filling herself a glass, and turning, Dakota would wrinkle her nose out of frustration and disgust. Literally no one she liked was here, and the faces she did see, well... she'd rather be dead than force herself to socialize with any of them.

Taylor Carson

---

Taylor carried on observing what was happening around him. It seemed as if everything was going smoothly. He caught something going onto between Aubree and some male. His eyes didn’t catch everything that happened. He stood up from his seat, taking a second glance across the room he noticed that Dakota had decided to bless them the room with her presence.

God Dakota. Why did she have to arrive? It wasn’t that Taylor hated her, but everyone knew that when Dakota and her friends were around, drama was soon to follow. Everyone but a select handful were ever seen with her, and everyone else was simply beneath her. Taylor knew he would have to keep a wide berth from her.

But then again. He would never speak to Dakota again. After tonight they would be lucky to bump into each other in town. So why not talk? Taylor waltzed over towards Dakota, looking over at the twins as he did, trying to make sure that they didn’t notice him. Afterall he didn’t want to get caught by everyone else and then left locked out of every single group.

Reaching Dakota, Taylor gave out a nervous smile. Clearly he was new to this. ”So what brought you here then?” He asked, his voice maybe slightly more sarcastic than he was actually trying to imply. He meant no ill will by it. ”I mean, none of your friends are going to turn up. I was surprised you came at all.”