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.

To: jefferson_wood
From: sayheylopez
Subject: Hi

Prom?

Katie wanted to know what Sunny had done about RJ. She hadn't been at school for the week; nobody had wanted her to go, especially her mom. She was scared they might call social services on her, which Krysia had already done once. Luckily Katie's step dad was the perfect husband, and her siblings were too scared to be anything but Lovely and mom, well, mom was mom. She could convince anybody of her excellence if it was just for a few hours. Then the shakes began. Katie's mom had been pretty once; Katie took after her mostly, but now her hair was a bleached shade of blonde that wasn't kept neat, her body was nearly as emaciated as her daughter's and her eyes were frequently clouded over. Come to think of it, mom and daughter did have their similarities still.

Katie texted Sunny.

what are the happs with RJ?

( I'm scared. Help me. )

Katie wasn't crushed. She was determined. Determined to forget all about the text messages, the night, Trisha, Woody, everything. And the best way she knew was to go to Georgie. She hadn't seen him in a while. The miscarriage, the entire phase of not wanting to have sex, it had somewhat prevented her from attaching herself to him. Instead she'd gone to others, returned favors and gotten access to Mr White and weed. She didn't do anything heavier, though she had before. She was too busy with school, Woody and her family. She didn't have to ask the boys for alcohol; it was so easy finding her mother's stash. It made her sad. She wished her mother didn't have to drink away her life.

Little Tornado, they called her. Bane of the trailer park. It was somewhat true. She brought with her a lot of pain. And nobody wanted to hear about it. So she swirled. All of the mixtures of substances made her cry, or laugh. It depended on the situation. Sometimes she just lingered. That was her favorite. Moments of nothingness.

She'd told Georgie that she'd had an abortion. It had been easier. She didn't want him to know the truth, about scraping their baby out of her womb because she didn't eat, did too many illegal substances, the list was endless. He was happy to see her. Happy in his own way. He welcomed her inside. It was a mess. Pizza cartons lay everywhere, beer bottles, homebrew, and the scent of marijuana. Spoons. Straws. The usual. It made her feel calm. She kissed him. He didn't exactly return the kiss but he didn't pull away either. Immediately he started touching her. She pushed him away.

"I want something first." She eyed little plastic bag on the table. Mr White. He looked at her.

"Would that make you happy, sweetheart?" His voice was the same. Not taunting. Almost loving. Like he'd missed her.

"Shut up and let me have some of that weed." He lent her his joint. She inhaled the smoke, held it in her lungs, then let it escape her body through her nose. She was somewhat of an expert.

She didn't know how it happened. All she could think was: Make it go faster. Baby go faster. Make it go twice the speed of you and me.

She woke up. Clothes were scattered all over the floor. Her naked body revealed bones and the tiniest hint of body fat. Her breasts refused to shrink no matter how hard she tried. They weren't big, but they weren't concave either. Georgie sat in the corner, puffing on a joint. He was trashed. She tried to feel what she'd done, but she couldn't. Her body was numb. She craved cocaine. That wasn't a drug of the trailer trash that she was; that was what all the rich and famous people did. She could hardly ever get her hands on it these days. She vaguely remembered snorting at school during Freshman year but that was a long time ago.

"Hey babe" Georgie said, looking at her with clouded eyes. She laughed. A completely dry laugh, no joy whatsoever. It held sadness in it.

"Hey" she said. And wondered if Woody was doing the same thing to Trisha that she'd done without actually remembering it. She knew though. There was no way for them to get back together. Even if he by some miracle hadn't been with Trisha yet, she'd cheated. She'd slipped. But at least Georgie didn't make any remarks about her black eye.

Katie was avoiding him. It was obvious. She had basically ran from his house that night he met her parents. And Trisha was to blame. Trisha hadn't been around either, which confused him even more. He supposed since his sister went back to school, Trisha found she didn't have an excuse to come around his house.

In a way, he was also avoiding Katie. Every time he saw her in the hallways, he would duck into a classroom or the restroom. He hadn't called. Or really made any point to contact her. He knew she was pissed. But, surely, she didn't think everything that occurred that night was his fault.

He knew he needed to at least contact her. She deserved an I'm sorry, if nothing else.

Woody fished his cell phone from his pocket. He was a coward. He quickly typed out a message and hit send before he could change his mind.

hey

Katie was to meet Woody's family. She knew it. She had been invited over to his house and they would be there. To her dismay. She hated meeting families, it Always made hers seem so inadequate. She didn't have much to show when people came to her house, other than her unbelievably cute Little sister. But Olivia were usually on play dates these days; Katie had arranged it that way. She didn't want her sister with him. She wanted her to be safe.

Either way. She stood outside of Woody's house. "Ring the door bell, ring the door bell." And she did. "Oh stupid, why did you do it?!"

Katie had waited. A long time, for her. She couldn't remember a relationship that she'd entered without intimate relations. She and Woody had kissed, long and deeply, and there had been some upper body activity but she hadn't let him get near her, in fear of getting too Close. She didn't want Another baby lost. And she was scared to let somebody touch her, just because the last time she'd been touched it had been by a doctor who scraped out her dead baby. No, not baby. Fetus. But baby. Oh, she was confused. But tonight was the night. She could feel it.

"Hey Wood?" she said softly.

"Tell me again why we have to be here," Sunny demanded of Katie, zipping her sweatshirt up as far as it could go. "I want to go home," she added in a whine. "There's snow everywhere."

There was snow in Stoneybrook too, but it wasn't so cold there.

"Are you having fun?"

Katie stood outside of Woody's room. It was the first time she would visit him on this trip and she was nervous. She would invade his privacy. She picked up her cellphone and pressed dial. His number.

Katie sat at school, chillaxing with a diet pepsi and her iPod, skillfully stolen at the electronics store in Stamford. She was listening to You Ku'uipo, local Music from her home far away, when she saw Woody. She waved him over.

"Hi" she said.

For the past couple of months, Mia had practically been a hermit. If she wasn't at school, she was at home. She rarely went out anymore, therefore, she rarely saw her friends. After realizing how horrible of a friend this was making her — how could she not know what was going on with Katie?! — she knew she needed to put an end to her reclusive ways. So, she'd invited Katie over that afternoon. She made sure her mom would be around, because although Katie might want to see Charlie, Mia suspected they'd want to have time for serious talking. That was hard to do with a toddler to keep an eye on.

Thinking she had time for a cigarette before Katie arrived, Mia opened the front door and stepped outside just as Katie was coming up the steps. "Hey," Mia greeted her with a smile, slipping her lighter and cigarette back into her pocket. That could wait. Her friend was more important.

Sunny and Katie were seated on the bed in Katie's room, the house being empty other than little Olivia who was playing on the floor with some stray make up from Katie's collection. Katie sat with her guitar, strumming different tunes and picking on the strings, just making music as she went along.

"So the world didn't end" Katie said, playing a few notes of Moonlight Sonata.

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

To: mammamia
From: sayheylopez
Subject: I miss you

Hi Mia,
I miss seeing you around other than at school. It feels like we never talk anymore. I need to tell you something. Did you know you wanted to keep Charlie from the get go? I'm just asking cuz I... got preg. But I lost it. I just... got excited first. I don't even know.

<3 Kate

It had been awhile since Sunny had been to a legit party party, and she had hesitated a bit before agreeing to come, but she had decided that going to a party wouldn't hurt, especially since she was with Katie.

"Who do you know here?" She asked, a bit nervous. Sunny didn't recognize anyone.

Katie was going crazy hearing all about Logan and Cokie's baby. All she could think was That should be me that should be me that should be me and it was driving her nuts. She'd gone jogging to forget about the fact that her womb felt empty and that she'd driven her own baby out of her body. And the baby shoes in her drawer. It was cold, but she enjoyed it. She was wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants only to feel the chill. Her mother and step father had commented on her looks:
'Those look like hip hop pants' her mom had said.
'All pants look like hip hop pants on Kate' her step father had answered.
And so it was.

She suddenly stopped short. Somebody had just said her name. And she didn't want to be rude or pretend she had music playing so she stopped.

"Hi" she said, wiping a strand of sweaty hair out of her face.

Katie was lying on Sunny's bed, her entire posture stating defeat. She had seeked solace at her friend's place, knowing that she couldn't stand one more second at the place she never so fondly called home. It was a Friday night, she knew there'd be drinks, so she'd dropped all of her siblings off at sleepovers before taking the car to Sunny's. The only reason she'd taken the car at all was because she didn't want her mom driving drunk. Instead, Katie drove on heavy medication. But she didn't think much of it; Krysia had cleared her to drive on her prescriptions. There was another thing bothering her tonight though. Something she couldn't say.

"I'm sorry I'm ruining your Friday night" she said apologetically.

The students were pumped, the Knights had won the Homecoming game! The Gym was decorated and everyone was dressed to impress. 

Tonight would be a night to remember.

((OOC - going up early so the kids can get the dance going! The court will be 'announced' on Sunday night, and the K&Q on Monday night... Let's make this a mammoth thread with plenty for Flair to report on! Votes to Kylie by Sunday thanks :)))