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.

Marty was so sure his mother was going to leave on Christmas that he didn't know why he was surprised when he got the note less than a week after New Years. It was on the table. Written in her swirly cursive and scented of lavender. Even as he picked the piece of notebook paper up, he was thinking how cliche it was that it smelled like lavender. He knew his dad hadn't seen the note yet, so he put it back on the table and rooted around in his pocket for his phone.

Instinctively, he started to text Sheila, but changed his mind quickly.

clarissa is gone, he texted Robert. the b!tch left

She hadn't specified if she took Rachel with her, but Marty suspected Rachel would have told him, and he saw her pink sneakers still standing by the kitchen door. That cheered him up, but not enough to refrain from digging around in the fridge looking for a beer.

When he couldn't find any, he texted Robert again, even though he hadn't responded to his previous text yet.

heading to o'tooles

The only seedy bar in town had the blindest bartender. He believed every single fake I.D. he ever looked at. It was the perfect place.

Sheila closed her bedroom door behind her, and smiled at Marty. She glanced over at her bedside table, where quite obviously placed was the brochure of the pearl bracelet she was hoping someone would get her for Christmas. Unfortunately, Marty sat on her bed with his back to the bedside table. Sheila went and sat next to him, so he would be facing towards it when he looked at her. Only he didn't look at her.

"Are you hungry? We could get some dinner?" she suggested.

To: 
From:
Subject: :(

Hey baby,

I'm so super p*ssed you're not on court! I know you don't care, but it's our Senior Year and I wanted us to walk together... :( You deserve to be on there over all those guys, especially Cary and Ty! Are you gonna be p*ssed if Austin and I

Did you see what that gross goth chick Miranda said about you and her? Ugh. She's so weird.

Love lots,

Sheils

Sheila left Jacques' more determined to make it up to Marty in any way she could. She knew she had certain ways to get him to forgive her, and while she wasn't above using them just yet, she wanted to try and talk it through first.

Certain he would have come home after detention, she rung the bell and waited.

Stacey hated these after school detentions. They were bad every day, but even worse when it was only the four of them. The sub who normally watched them had disappeared, yet no one had said a word. None of them ever did, what would they say?

It was only when Stacey felt something hit the back of her head from behind, that she spoke up.

"Ow!" she said, turning around to glare at Sheila, who was two rows behind her. She bent over to pick up the obstruction, and saw it was a note with 'Marty' written on the outside. She glanced up at Sheila, contemplating what to do. Marty sat in front of her, and she could pass it on, but what would be the fun in that?

Stacey had had the worst night of her life, not helped by a massive hangover this morning, and haunting memories of what she had done with King. She wanted more than anything to call in sick to school, but she knew she couldn't avoid school forever, although she could avoid Austin. She'd thought she could avoid Sheila too, but when she finally saw the girl at lunchtime, in the Cafeteria, she was overwhelmed with anger, and she just couldn't stop herself. Dropping her fork, she marched over to where Sheila stood with Darcy, and gave her the deadliest look she could muster. "Are you happy now you got what you wanted?" she asked Sheila, crossing her arms, "it's what you wanted, right?"

Marty was at Sheila's house in a flash. He didn't even remember walking there, he just remembered being at the park one minute and standing on her doorstep the next.

He tried the door, but it was locked. He pounded on it twice before giving up and going to the side the house where Sheila's bedroom was.

"Sheila!" he bellowed, not caring how late it was or if he woke anyone up.

Stacey had texted Claudia almost as soon as she left Austin. She needed her right now, she didn't want to be alone. Truthfully, she wanted to be with Austin, and having him tell her it was a joke, or a dream.

But that wouldn't happen. She made it back to her place in record time, and even though her parents weren't home, and King probably wasn't either, she waited on her Porch for Claudia, trying not to sob uncontrollably like she wanted to, but unable to stop the tears. Finally, she saw Claudia approaching, and flew into her friends arms.

Sheila's party had been a smash... Literally, she'd felt like her head had been smashed against a brick wall the next morning. And it had only taken a few hours for the memory of making out with Austin in her room, on her bed, to come back to her. Marty hadn't contacted her, and she knew he thought she was still upset about the no gift thing - but now Sheila couldn't care less, considering the gift she'd given him: cheating on him with Austin once more.

She hadn't seen him much since the party, mainly because she'd been avoiding him (and Austin, and Stacey - which wasn't unusual), but she knew it was now or never when she spotted him heading towards the Gym at the beginning on lunch.

She quickened her pace, and slipped inside the Gym behind him, slipping her hands around his waist.

"Hi," she said as he stopped, and she planted a kiss on his neck.

Sheila had told Marty she wanted to talk, but he had hoped she'd forgotten about it. However, when he got the text asking him to come over, he went to her house and stood on her doorstep for a full 10 minutes before he knocked.

You never knew what Sheila had up her sleeve.

Sheila was meeting Darcy, because she had to fill her BFF in on all the Marty/Austin stuff that had gone down yesterday. She'd taken a break from sulking and watching Soaps, because it turned out her real life was more dramatic. Not in a good way. She waited outside the Smoothie shop, people watching. She saw a few friends from school, who she waved at, but when she saw him, she froze.

Why did I suggest this place? She thought. Can things get more complicated?

She made to move inside before he noticed her, but of course, with her luck, it was too late. So she just nodded at him awkwardly.

Darcy's question had been on Sheila's mind since the night at Pizza Express. She held out as long as she could, but she knew it wouldn't be forever. She wasn't as angry with Marty as she had been, because she'd started thinking about it, and truthfully it wasn't his fault that he wasn't in love with her. She was the one who'd started this whole thing as just a casual hook up, regardless of the fact that she'd done it because she liked him. He was a guy, and she should have known why he wanted to be with her, and that love had nothing to do with it.

This, plus a million other things were running through Sheila's mind as she rang Marty's doorbell. She expected Marty or his Dad to answer, but the last person she'd expected to open the door was an older, attractive blonde woman. Her mind started jumping places, and it took her a few moments to realise it was Clarissa, who she hadn't seen in years.

"Clarissa? Um, hi," she said, really not sure what to say.

"It's Sheila. Is Marty home?"

Katie hadn't talked to Marty in a long time. Before Alan, before everything, they had been pretty tight, hanging out and even throwing parties together, but they'd had a fall out and just stopped hanging out. When she saw him on the other side of the mall, she realized how much she'd missed his company. She felt a bit apprehensive, would he want to talk to her? She wasn't a cheerleader and the cheerleaders didn't exactly think highly of her. She was popular, that wasn't the issue, but she wasn't one of them. Still, she decided to walk up to him. Because once upon a time he listened to her tears.

"Hey, Marty" she said trying to sound casual.

Marty was laying on the couch flipping through a magazine when he heard the doorbell ring. Assuming it was Sheila, or maybe even Robert, he threw the magazine down on the coffee table and went into the foyer to open the door.

It was the last person he expected.

"Clarissa? What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to greet your mother? Look at you! You're so big now and so handsome. Definitely take after me!" Clarissa grinned, holding her arms out. Her toothpaste ad smile was a mile wide and Marty could tell she was forcing it.

"Where's Rachel?" he inquired, peering around his mother to see if Rachel may have been standing behind her.

Realizing her son wasn't going to give her a hug, Clarissa put her arms down and narrowed her eyes at him. "Martin David! I don't see you in years and all you ask about is Rachel and..."

"Where is she?" he asked again through clenched teeth.

Rolling her eyes, Clarissa waved her hand away. "She wanted to visit some friends of hers while we're in town, so I dropped her off." She lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned toward Marty. "That's the reason I came here. Rachel has to move back. She's getting to be such a drag. I mean, I'm almost thirty-five, I can't have a teenager tailing after me. You know how hard it is to get acting jobs at my age?"

"That's the reason you're here? All this talk about me moving to New York was so I can keep an eye on Rachel, is that it?"

Her silence was his answer.

Pushing past his mother, he stormed down the driveway. "Dad's at work!" he called over his shoulder as he picked up his basketball from the garage and dribbled it down the street heading to Miller Park.

When he got to the park, the first person he saw was someone he knew. Keeping his head down so he wouldn't be recognized, he went straight to the basketball court and hoped no one would bother him.

RJ had felt like Pizza. He tried not to go to Pizza Express too much, because he didn't want Darcy to think he wasn't over her. Thinking about Darcy had given him an idea though, and he texted a few people to come to Pizza Express, telling them to text the others. It was time for a good old fashioned Pizza Express get together.

Robert hadn't heard from Marty since the party. He knew he hadn't been hurt or anything, but decided to give the guy some space anyway. But it was almost a week, and that was enough. The gang was getting together later at Pizza Express, and Robert decided to show up at Marty's early, and go along with him. Marty didn't know he was going, and he hoped he hadn't been drinking all day. 

Ringing the bell, he waited.

Sheila had her finger on the doorbell, poised to ring it. In her other hand she had a bottle of tequila, and on her face she wore a smirk. She wasn't as confident as she looked, but she would never let Marty know that.

She pressed down on the bell and waited. She hadn't spoken to Marty much since Prom, but that was about to change.