Beverly Hills: Season 4

Season 4, Episode 1: It's Time to Begin

~~~(Open Season by Josef Salvat)~~~
   Anna Adams opens both doors to her mom's liquor cabinet on Sunday evening. Her brown eyes scan the bottles in front of her. "Absinthe, brandy, whiskey, tequila, vodka, and gin." Anna reads the labels to her friends, who are all out laughing on the patio off the kitchen of her Beverly Hills home. "Guess I'll bring all of them." Anna grabs the necks of the bottles as she balances them in her arms, making her way out onto the patio where her friends are on lounges, watching the fire burn in the pit in the center of the patio. Anna's flaming red hair is tied into a ponytail and she's wearing a tight off the shoulder top, her freckled shoulder exposed.
   "I'll help pour." Tabby Miles gets up from her lounge that she sits on with Case Mercy. Tabby's loose top stops above her denim shorts and she's wearing a sun hat even though the the moon is out hiding behind the clouds. The girls used to be in a band together before their band mate Ariel was sent to rehab- and she just so happened to be Anna's girlfriend.
   "Anna, can you please tell Israel that I played a damn good werewolf at drama camp?" Case asks from the lounge.
   Anna looks over her shoulder. "You could've done a better job."
   "See, told you." Israel Sepulveda says from the other side of the pit, pointing at Case and laughing. Israel's hair is in thin braids and pulled back into a sloppy bun. His facial hair around his mouth looks shorter but he's still pulling it off. Even though Anna is into girls, she'll admit that this past summer Israel has blossomed into a celebrity look alike. She doesn't know what celebrity exactly but she has never seen him more handsome. He looks a few years older than he did last year. He even stopped flashing his ID at the doors to the clubs. "I knew you wouldn't be able to pull one off."
   "She's telling lies." Case throws a pillow at him.
   Anna smiles as she listens to them laugh. Tomorrow the four of them start senior year and she was really convinced that she'd be going into this year alone. Her best friend since second grade left for Europe before summer even started. Anna didn't even say goodbye to her when she left. Brooklyn promised that she'd be back in Beverly Hills in no time but there's no telling what will happen. Tatiana Kapur was another best friend of Anna's but she was also a senior last year, which means she's off at college now.
   "Pick your poison." Tabby heads over to the boys with two cups.
   Anna follows behind her with two other cups in her hands. She doesn't really know how the four of them became super close but she's not complaining. They had done pretty much every summer thing they could. They set off fireworks on the beach, sneaked into clubs and parties, smuggled alcohol from their parents' liquor cabinets for sleepovers, and had a few fires. Anna knows that they needed this. They needed three months of happiness, considering what they had went through last year. "We have to make a toast."
   "We're not doing that." Case shakes his head as him and Israel rise to their feet. "We're not going to be that corny group of friends who make toasts just because we're graduating this year."
   "I think we should." Tabby pipes up. "A little wishful thinking won't hurt."
   "I don't think that's the right word but we'll go with it." Israel holds his cup in the air. "To a no drama filled year."
   "To joy." Anna says as corny as possible just to get on Case's nerves.
   "To new romances." Tabby says, a little embarrassed. All eyes turn to Case.
   Case sighs dramatically. "To dreams coming true."
   "And I thought MINE was corny." Anna giggles.
   "Shut up and drink." Case grins as they all clink their red plastic cups together.
   Anna throws back her drink with a smile across her lips. This is going to be a good year, she can already feel it.

   "Okay, you're my victim this year." Rhyannon Sepulveda says to his friend as he walks up away from the tiny waves crashing onshore. He's carrying an empty beer bottle that had washed ashore, his many bracelets clanging together on his wrist. Rhyannon's long hair is pulled in a bun, the sides and back of his head newly shaved for the first day of school tomorrow.
   "Do I even want to know what that means?" Kai Evans asks, further up towards the bank of the beach. His brown hair blows in the nighttime breeze and his glasses are pushed high up on his nose.
   "Oh calm down." Rhyannon plops down next to him. He reaches into his black leather bag for a few pens and notepad. "We are going to set goals for ourselves that we need to achieve before graduation day. Then, after the ceremony at the end of the year, we'll come back here to dig it up to see if we succeeded."
   "Uh, why?" Kai already sounds bored.
   "I choose someone to do this with every year." Rhyannon explains. "Except freshmen year. I did it alone. Sophomore year was Israel, last year was Cambridge." He clears his throat. "But Cambridge and I weren't together when I read them at the end of the year."
   "What did he write?" Kai wonders aloud.
   "Just that he wanted to get Brooklyn back by the end." Rhyannon answers. Cambridge Brightwell was their good friend before getting shot and killed over last spring break. He was on his way to tell Brooklyn how he truly felt for her but he never made it. Emerson Crawford got in his way. "But clearly, he never got to tell her."
   "Okay, fine." Kai takes one of Rhyannon's pens and the torn piece of paper from the notepad. He starts scribbling down his goals while Rhyannon sits next to him thinking hard about what he wants to put down. He doesn't really have a goal for him and his boyfriend Kent Mast, mostly because Kent is away at basic training. Rhyannon thinks about working for one of the biggest photographers in L.A, having Kai as a best friend, his twin brother Israel being the best sibling he could have. After a few more minutes of thinking, Rhyannon finally writes down a few words on his piece of paper. "Done."
   "Alright." Rhyannon stuffs both pieces of paper into the bottle. "You have to promise that you won't die though before the end of the year. Cambridge died, Kent left, Israel has all these new friends. You're my last hope, Malachai Evans."
   "I'll try my best." Kai promises before the two of them start digging deep into the sand. They scoop their hands inside, shoving sand away to form a hole. They stop once they reach a foot and a half, Rhyannon dropping the bottle inside.
~~~(END SONG)~~~