Past and Futures

It was a balmy, end of summer night. It was early September—Labor Day Weekend—and the students of Lake View High School were gathered around a booming fire nestled on the edge of the lake's shore. Drinks were in hand, chatter buzzed in the air, and a few daring feet splashed along the shoreline of the tepid lake.

It was Sam Slatter's annual Back-To-School-Bonfire. He hosted it every Labor Day weekend, after the students of L.V.H.S. had returned for another grueling year of high school. But this year would be different; this year would be their last. They just had to finish these ten months of school and then they would be free from the suppressing clutches of their parents, their teachers, and their youth. As such, this was sure to be the most "epic"—as Sam had put it—party of all time.

So far, it was just the same as the others.

Avery took a swig of her beer, trying to get any sort of buzz she could. These parties were never really her thing, but she was always invited, mostly because she was on the water polo team and all of her friends (which happen to be the entire water polo team) always went, so she figured she should go. While she did enjoy hanging out with her friends outside of the confines of the high school, she did not much care for these types of things anymore. Getting "hammered" as her friends called it was not quite her cup of tea (which she preferred to any alcohol). The joy of sneaking alcohol right under their parents' noses and staying up all night enjoying their youth did seem so special anymore. In fact, it seemed to Avery that it was almost expected of her, and the novelty of being in high school had worn off of her much quicker than it had all of her friends.

But she had nothing better to do (especially since none of her friends would miss this party to do something much less important or exciting, like going to the movies) and spending a Friday night alone in her house sounded less appealing than being surrounded by her drunk friends acting like fools and she could not very well light a bonfire inside her own home. So she also found a few people to chat with before the entire group had achieved the level of hammered they had hoped for.

At the moment, Avery found herself standing near the crackling fire, nursing her drink, with only her thoughts for comfort. She was listening to the buzz of conversation, not really there. Her teammates shuffled by her, their hair all bleached blonde by the chlorine of the pool. She was lost in thoughts of the future: which colleges she should apply to, how the water polo season would be (they were slated to win their division this year), if she would do well in school. . . These thoughts had become a constant buzz in her head when she found her mind quiet, which was disappointing because she had looked forward to being the top dog on campus ever since she stepped foot on LVHS's campus years ago. Now that the last year had arrived, however, she found herself fretting over the future and wishing time would slow down so that she did not have to grow up quite so quickly.

The alcohol called to her, to drown her annoying thoughts in its sweet embrace. She took a big gulp of the amber liquid, which slid down her throat easily. Her eyes followed the raucous laughter and screams coming from the lake. Several of the party-goers had stripped off their clothes down to their underwear and were jumping into the lake. The teens that had stayed dry on the shore cheered them on, yelling obscenities about the girls' exposed bodies and the men on shore for not being man enough to jump in.

Avery glanced at her watch and noted it was creeping up on midnight. She felt like it was an appropriate time to leave, reasoning that she had spent a long enough time for people to know she had been at the party, but were now too drunk to realize that she had disappeared early. The combination of boredom and longing for the comfort of her bed and Netflix was much stronger than the desire to stay at the last Back-To-School bonfire of her life.