Stoneybrook Ayr

That's it, they've GRADUATED!

The students sat in their seats, playing with their navy and white caps and gowns. Some turned to wave to friends and family, some whispered with classmates sitting near them, and some slouched in their chairs, ready for the ceremony to start.

It had taken four years, some felt like the time had passed in no time at all, others felt it had dragged out forever. All the winter lodge trips, boy toy auctions, homecomings, proms, dances, parties. The trips to Disney World, California, Australia. The hook ups, the break ups, the scandals. This class had been through a lot together, and this was it. The end. Graduation.

Andi walked around aimlessly in the hallway. The less time she spent near some people the better. She wished she were on another team. She noted somebody in front of her, walking against her.

"hey" she said with her cheerleader smile.

The drinks are flowing, the guests are mingling, so lets party like its the end of the world!

Andi had been at skating practice, and cheerleading practice, and she was KO. Now she was going for a cup of coffee before going home. She got in line, paid for her double mocca latte and looked around for somewhere to sit. She'd rather impose on a stranger than sit alone, so when she saw Dave, a guy she knew from school, she decided to ask if she could sit with him.

"Hey, is this place availz?" she asked as she stopped by his table.

To: Mariah Shillaber
From: Alexandra Noelle Gentile
Subject: Hangin out

Hey Mariah,
it's Andi! Do you wanna hang out someday? I wanna talk about our aspiring careers. Nobody really gets me but you do. You know what it's like to sacrifice everything to become what you dream of. Please get back to me!

Xoxo Andi Noelle

Mariah hadn't made cheerleading.

Truthfully, Mariah hadn't expected to make cheerleading, but she was still upset about not making cheerleading.

She was also a bit confused about the conversation she'd had the other day with Miranda, but Mariah was always confused so that wasn't new.

So she'd decided to call Andi and invite her over. It was better than being sad and confused all alone.

"Hi," she said dully as she opened the door. "I'm making cookies."

Option Two: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Pine_Koala_Sanctuary

The flight from LA to Melbourne was long, but most of the travellers slept through the night. A full day was planned, which is an important step towards beating jetlag.

*

By some miracle, all the kids had managed to show up to SHS on time, and with the correct travel documentation. The flight from Conneticut to Atlanta had gone smoothly, and even the short layover in Atlanta, during which they'd had to practically run from one terminal to another to make the connection had gone smoothly. The big test, however, would be collecting all their bags at LAX, and going through International security there. But for now, everyone was settling in for the almost five hour flight to LA.

Andi was excited to bring over the cheerleaders. It had been a while, and she had missed seeing her friends every day. Her grandmother had been reluctant to let her bring the crowd over on her birthday, because 'On birthdays seventeen year olds get drunk'. Andi sighed inwardly. She appreciated that she had somebody who cared about her but she didn't want to be smothered like this. Rosa had finally agreed to let Allen-Marie chaperone, and thus Andi had finally let her hair down. She'd arranged for a friend of her sister's to get some beer and wine, and she was ready. Now she was just waiting for her friends to arrive.

To: All the cheerleaders at SHS
Subject: Andi's birthday

Do you want to come over tomorrow and have icecream or carrots? Feel free to smuggle in alcohol BUT IT HAS TO BE CONCEALED. You have all been to my house, you know the rules. RSVP here ASAP. Sorry so last minute, it legit took me two weeks to convince the nazi.

Xoxo Andi Noelle

Perhaps it was time to admit that soap operas were not going to be Mariah's big break after all. That going to New York and being extras and getting bit parts in the shows was a colossal waste of time. That Miranda was right -- she was never really cut out to be an actress. Mariah couldn't do that. She couldn't admit that her dream was not exactly coming to fruition. That being Dead Body Number Three or Angry Runaway wasn't exactly high art. Mariah didn't care.

Still, she had spent the first month and a half of summer vacation out in New York, and her return to Stoneybrook was not met with a lot of attention. Miranda had her life...and Mariah wasn't really into that.

So on day two of being back in Stoneybrook, Mariah Shillaber found herself aimlessly walking downtown, with no particular destination in mind.

And then -- out of the blue -- she spotted someone she knew. An old friend, even.

"Hey," she called, trying to get the person's attention. "Do you want to hang out?"

Andi was playing with her cellphone, taking pouty lip pictures and sending them to boys for fun. She was bored. It was a Saturday morning and she knew waking Sheila would be suicide, but she really wanted to talk to somebody. She went through her contacts. Hate him. She hates me. Ugh no. Cheerleader, she decided. She was worried about not making Varsity; she'd probably commit suicide if she didn't. Skating was important but cheerleader was her complete identity.

Darcy.

She dialled the number. She and Darcy weren't close like her and Sheila, or her and Penny, but she liked the co cheerleader alot.

"Darcy? It's Andi!"

Andi had just come home from skating practice and had realized she'd forgotten her key. Typical, it was just down the line of the stupid things she did nowadays. She dropped her bag on the front porch and looked around. She didn't see much, the neighborhood was pretty quiet, but across the lawn, she saw Alex mowing the lawn. With a shirt on, she noticed disappointedly, but nonetheless, a peer! She made her way across her own lawn and to the fence and waved.

Andi knocked on Sheila's door. She hadn't seen her friend in a while but after prom she felt they needed to have a talk. Sheila's rep with the guys was beginning to overthrow the fact that Andi was dating a nerd in aspects of what was acceptable or not. But then again, the cheerleaders got around. Andi sometimes felt like a spinster. Either way, she wanted to, tactfully, talk to Sheila about maybe cutting down a bit on boys. And on what to do about her own boy drama.