With blue skies and sunshine above, students all over the city prepared to begin their Summer vacation, the final day of school having finally arrived. For seniors, the graduation ceremonies wouldn’t occur until the following week, but classes would officially be out. Inside a large red brick building, people were filing into the auditorium as a group of speakers gathered on the stage, setting up microphones and a projector screen.

Standing by the main entrance doors, an older man in a brown suit and tie eyed the crowd frantically, becoming a bit anxious. His eyes lit up as he caught sight of a young girl with dark brown hair, waving her over to him.

“Camelia! Have you seen your brother?” He asked, sighing in frustration when she shrugged.

“I’m sorry, Principal White,” she said as she adjusted her bag. “I haven’t seen him since this morning.”

“Damn it, that little shit is up to something, I just know it!” he replied angrily, then frowned. “I’m sorry, Camelia, I shouldn’t have cursed in front of you. I’m just worried he’s going to embarrass me yet again, with members of Congress here no less! You know how many Hail Marys I’ve had to say because of his shenanigans? Too many! TOO MANY!” He stormed off to check empty classrooms.

Sully, what the hell are you planning this time? Cammy thought to herself as she sighed loudly. She then went to find a seat in the auditorium.

---

A young man with long brown hair leaning against a locker was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts as the principal rushed past, muttering angrily under his breath. What’s his problem? He thought to himself, then shook his head. A moment later, a few other students came up to him.

“Hey Kam, are you going to the party tonight?” they asked in hushed whispers. “I hear it’s going to be wild as fuck!”

“I’ve been hearing talk of it, but I dunno, it’s not really my thing…” he replied, but something told him he should be there. “Maybe I will…”

“Dude, you should!” another kid insisted. “Hope to see you there!”

“Okay, I’ll think about it,” Kamran added with a laugh as they all headed towards the auditorium.

---

As everyone was seated and the speakers began their prepared speeches, Principal White continued to spiral deeper into anxiety, just waiting for something to happen. When they started up the projector to play a series of videos for the students in attendance, they were instead greeted with an image that instantly made the principal’s heart drop.



“What’s up Harper Grove?!” Sully’s voice came booming over the speakers, as well as the intercoms throughout the entire school. “We are Rabid Trash Pandas! This is the cover of our new indie album, Heavenly Dumpsterfire! Check out our social media accounts for all the deets!”

“That little monster!” screamed Principal White, literally vibrating with rage. Just then, the image faded and it was a live video feed of the four band members set up in a room, instruments and all. “They’re in my office! They hacked the projector! Those slackers are so dead! Someone get that feed down!” He ran out into the hallway.

As people frantically rushed to cut power to the projector, Sully continued. “I imagine White is absolutely losing his shit right now! If they cut the feed, we’re also live on our Instagram! In honor of those corrupt political douchebags speaking today, we’d like to play our rendition of Fat Lip by Sum 41! Guys, hit it!” They started jamming out as most of the crowd cheered.



The music blared throughout the entire school, and White became increasingly livid as he rushed to his office. Upon arriving, he realized his door was locked and someone had swiped his keys. He looked through the window and screamed at the youths rocking out, slamming his fists against the glass. They ignored him and just kept playing.

“OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!!” the old man shrieked as the school police officers came running up behind him. He then turned and ran the other direction.

“Sir, where are you going?” one asked.

“To the maintenance office to get the spare key! Those little punks are toast!”

Back in the auditorium, they finally shut off the projector, but the students yelled out, “Quick, head over to their Insta!” and everyone started pulling out their phones, much to the fury of the speakers.

Sully, Mom is gonna kill you… Cammy thought to herself as she facepalmed.

Interesting fellow, Kamran chuckled to himself.

---

Eventually, White was able to get into his office and demanded the teens exit into the hall. A bunch of students were waiting to cheer them on. “You guys! The stream was seen by thousands of people, even seniors at other schools around the city!” one explained.

“People are already reloading it up to YouTube with reactions! Your performance is bound to go viral!” proclaimed another.

Sully and his bandmates were quite pleased with themselves, until White started screaming again.

“That’s it! Enough! The four of you are done! DONE!” he exclaimed angrily. “You’re all expelled!”

“So what?” Sully scoffed. “It’s the last day of school. So you send us home a couple hours early? I sure do feel sufficiently punished, what about you guys? Ha!”

“Not just that!” the old man spat back. “The four of you are being trespassed from the school! That means no graduation ceremony for you! If you ever step foot on the campus again, you’re going to jail!”

The band members just glared at the principal, disappointed but not surprised.



“Whatever,” Sully threw up double birds and went to clean out what was left in his locker.

“Mom might just kill you for real this time,” Cammy said as she walked up to her brother. “White will no doubt have called her by the time you get home.”

“I guess it’s a good thing I won’t be there then,” he replied with a smirk as he shoved stuff into his bag.

“What do you mean?” she asked, taken aback.

“That ‘secret’ party is tonight. If I go home now, Mom will ground me for sure and I won’t be able to go,” he explained.

“Aren’t you always whining like, ‘you can’t ground me, I’m eighteen!’ and shit?” Cammy inquired in a mock imitation of him, grinning.

“Since when has that stopped her?” Sully laughed. “Not taking any chances. I’m gonna put my phone in airplane mode and chill at Nate’s house until the show. Are you gonna be there?”

“I suppose I should probably tag along to keep you out of trouble,” she chuckled. “I’ll meet you guys there.”

---

As it neared 10:00PM, dozens of teens from multiple schools - and some friends and family of those - began crowding in front of a locked set of double doors, having parked their vehicles in a garage down the street. There were two guards who explained the host, Mr. Dude, would be out soon.



A few of the partygoers congratulated Sully and his band on their performance, and some of the reaction videos had already garnered hundreds of thousands of views. They were excited at the prospect of possibly getting a record deal out of it as well. Just then, the doors opened and a man wearing a yellow suit and green mask stepped out.

“How do?” he asked, using exaggerated, cartoon-like mannerisms and expressions.



“I am your esteemed host, Mr. Dude! Now you may be asking yourself,” he removed his hat as he gestured to his mask. “Why the green face? Well, let’s just say I have an invested interest in concealing my identity, considering the… escapades you lot might get up to tonight!”

He smiled wide at the crowd, revealing large, fake teeth. “Now, was I forgetting something? Hmmm…” He released an exaggerated yawn, then pulled out a stopwatch and gasped at it, throwing behind him. “That’s right! It’s party time! P-A-R-T-why? Cuz I gotta!”



“You should be ashamed of yourself!” one girl yelled out, who was booed by everyone else. “This is sinful! The Lord is watching you, sir!”

He just smirked and slipped his hat back on. “Oooh! Somebody stop me!” Everyone laughed and cheered.



Mr. Dude led them through a long hall and into a huge room set up like a nightclub.



“Food and beverages are in the corner over there! Everything is free! Help yourselves! Hey D.J., let’s rock this joint!”





Everyone started moving and dancing to the music, and Sully happened to lock eyes with a tanned surfer boy. He grinned and began slowly making his way in that general direction. Cammy was busy busting some moves, but Kamran sat at one of the tables, feeling a bit… off. Something was amiss here. He felt strange, but wasn’t sure if it was the party or something… else…

“I don’t understand why you have to be here?” Conner complained. “Don’t you have things to do at your hoity toity school in New York?” As if he needed any more reminders of how perfect his sister was. She had everything, and now she had to come here and rub it in his face.

“I told you, I happened to be in town, and mom and dad asked me to tag along and keep you out of trouble.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be in town for a while, so I’ll be here to watch your graduation ceremony. Mom and dad are busy, so they won’t be able to attend.”

Conner swatted her hand away. “Bah, but they dropped everything to watch you walk on the stage and get a rolled up piece of paper.” He scoffed and walked into the auditorium.

Arianna sighed and walked in after him. If only he understood how easy he had it. He didn’t have to live under every one’s microscope at every moment of the day. It was exhausting. Just as she had these thoughts, random teachers approached her to talk about how their star student was doing after her graduation.

—-

Conner had expected this presentation to be boring, but it turned out to be anything but. The Trash Pandas hacked the ceremony, and Conner laughed out loud during the whole thing. This made this stupid thing way more exciting. The principal was losing his shit.

Arianna felt bad for the principal and the speakers who had their speech interrupted by some egotistical teens. The music was loud and obnoxious too.

——

Conner and Arianna had differing opinions about this presentation of course. “That was awesome!”

“Obnoxious is what it was.” Arianna replied. “They couldn’t have found another venue to promote their band?”

“Come on Ari. Live a little. That… whatever it was boring as hell. That made the whole thing. That lead singer was hot too.” He had seen him around school before, but he was constantly surrounded by girls, he figured he was straight. Doesn’t mean he couldn’t admire from afar.

Arianna rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Let’s just go home.”

The two siblings went home, but Conner didn’t stay home. He changed into his beach clothes, grabbed his surfboard and headed for the beach without his older sister in tow.

Arianna realized he had snuck out some time later, and followed him. If he got into trouble, both of them would never hear the end of it from their parents.

——

Conner spent hours on the beach surfing. Out on the waves was the one place where he could truly be free. No parents, no annoying sister, just the perfect wave! He stayed on the beach for hours. He didn’t care about being out past curfew, he wasn’t in the mood to be home and hear his parents lecture him and praise his sister.

“How can this boy do this for hours?!” Arianna complained. Conner was very predictable. She knew where he was going. She didn’t bother stopping him, she just took the opportunity to relax on the beach for a while. As long as Conner didn’t hurt himself, everything was fine.

At 10:00 PM, Conner finally left the beach to go to a secret location. Arianna followed. “Now where is he going?”

Conner had gotten word from his friends about some secret party thing. Conner wouldn’t miss it for the world! This Mr. Dude person seemed awesome, but Arianna thought he was creepy. Why would some stranger host a party for a bunch of teenagers? Regardless, Arianna had to go in after him.

Inside was a like a nightclub with loud thumping music, and a real DJ. All the kids were dancing, but Arianna couldn’t help but find this whole situation weird. She sat at one of the tables, and kept an eye on her brother. If anything bad happened, she would have to be the big sister whether he liked it or not!

Meanwhile, Conner hit the dancefloor. During his time, Conner happened to lock eyes with Sully, and it wasn’t long before the two of them crossed paths on the dancefloor. “Hey Sully! Bro!” He made a hang loose gesture with his hand. “That show you and your band pulled off was awesome! Really made that boring presentation more exciting!” Conner shook Sully’s hand. “Name’s Conner by the way.”

Sully locked eyes with Conner and grinned at the compliment. “Thanks! Figured I’d make Principal White shit-stain his old man whitey-tighties one more time before I left! That one’ll be haunting him for years!” When shaking his hand, he held it a bit longer than usual as he smiled. “Nice to meet you properly, Conner! I’ve seen you around school, it’s a shame we never hung out before! That’s a fantastic tan, by the way! At least from what I can see. I take it you’re a surfer guy?” He looked him over slightly, the grin never leaving his face.

Meanwhile, the holier-than-thou girl from earlier - who, for some reason, still joined everyone inside the club - was holding her phone up trying to get reception. Mr. Dude saw this from across the room and approached her.

“You’re wasting your time, my young friend,” he called out over the music as he flashed his big plastic teeth. “This entire plaza is designed to block cellular signals. Wouldn’t be very wise to have a secret party like this and allow cops to trace the GPS coordinates, now would it? Didn’t you notice you lost service back at the garage?”

“What if there is an emergency?!” she asked, suddenly alarmed. “I demand to leave right now. Let me out of here!”

“Of course, of course!” The masked partyman smiled. “No one is held here against their will! Security, see to it that she is… taken care of.” The two guards nodded and escorted her out of sight as the party continued.

Kamran made note of this from where he was sitting, still suspicious.

“Absolutely! Surfing is my passion! The beach is practically my second home.” Conner answered with a big grin on his face. “I love catching the perfect wave, the sand beneath your feet, the hot guys in swimsuits. It’s the best!” Conner realized what he said, and laughed. “Aw yeah. You should probably know. I’m gay. It really shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but for some reason some dudes have a problem with it.” He shrugged.

“It’s all good, I’m pansexual,” he revealed, then smirked. “I love me a big skillet! Melt some butter, throw in some meat, things get nice and slippery. It’s great!” After the laughter subsided, Sully leaned in a little closer. “You’ll have to teach me how to surf some time!”