Carson handed us invitations to his birthday party at school before school let out at the end of December. Because he couldn't hold his party in November due to the storm's impact messing up the plans, he moved it to New Year's Eve. The plan was to have a small get-together with the five of us and a couple of his other friends about whom we knew little of. We'd all go to his grandmother's house, where she had two hot tubs, stay up until midnight to watch the fireworks, and then spend the night there. Everything sounded good except for the theme, which made Dustin cringe a bit. His theme was inspired by Lana Del Raye's "Born To Die" album. However, because it was his favorite artist and his birthday, Dustin simply didn't nitpick.

New Year's Eve arrived quickly. Two days prior, Dustin and I went shopping in BerkVille's mall at various clothing stores and boutiques. Dustin bought brown shorts and a white shirt with the letter "L" printed on it. He also bought clip-on cross earrings and a gold chain that caught his attention. He had to hide the earrings though because he knew his uncles would've given him hell for it. I purchased brown cargo pants that accentuated my waist, a silky white short sleeve top, and, of course, a pair of brown leather wedged sneakers.

Gloria, Carson's grandmother, rented a bus and came to pick us up one by one. Dustin and I were the first people to board the bus. She then drove to a souvenir shop to pick up Beth and Mandy, who were both waiting outside giggling. We could tell they had gone there to get Carson a gift because of the gift bag in their hands. I immediately noticed how amazing Mandy and Beth looked. Mandy wore her swim suit under a crochet dress and Beth wore overalls over hers.

Once they flopped onto the bus, we compared gifts. I had purchased supplies for Dustin to handcraft Carson a miniature basket filled with various treats which had came out even better than the drawing Dustin made to pitch the idea to me. Carson had received a turtle necklace with his name engraved on it from Mandy and Beth and of course we made it known to them that our gift was better than theirs.

Gloria made us feel especially welcome on the drive to her house. She stroke up a discussion with each of us, inquiring about various topics including our school experiences and academic standing. I now understand why Carson has always spoken so highly of her. She is the kind of person who would sacrifice anything for him. She always makes sure to get him a driver or pick him up after school herself to drive him to one of the hotels she owns or one of his extracurriculars. At the hotels, he would get treated even better than the guest and would be flooded with acquaintances of his age who's parents work there. She is truly amazing.

As soon as we got there, the house caught our attention. The enormous home had towering walls, opulent windows with pricey sheik drapes, a garage with top-of-the-line automobiles, and a garden large enough to crush Dustin's grandmothers' in a competition. Carson, who was overjoyed about this occasion, greeted us at the entrance. We gave him the gifts as soon as we saw him and he grinned warmly at us. In order to present us to his pals, he then escorted us through the backyard's lush vegetation and variety of ombre flowers.

Everyone was occupying a lounge chair adjacent to the pool or a table at the poolside bar. We were simply awestruck by the home's surroundings as we traveled along the rocky road that led there. Beautiful butterflies having a great time, a fountain that sprayed out clear water, a pool with painted flower angels at the bottom, and a big tree that hadn't had the ideal season to bear fruit yet.

    Since we were the last guests to arrive, we were indroduced to everyone else who already knew each other, which allowed the celebration to start. Everyone was giggling as beverages were being delivered by staff that Gloria had hired for the day from the hotel and different food was being presented every few minutes. I made a realization at that point. Except for Dustin and Carson, every guest at this party was a female. And I've never felt more threatened. I could tell that all of their parents were wealthy, but I wasn't sure if they were considering me less than because I am a transwoman. But I was mistaken. They immediately approached me to chat and revealed that the majority of them were LGBTQ people themselves.

    Soon everyone jumped into the pool, drinks in hands and began to swim and toss around. Dustin and I opted out and just sat on a lounge chair each to talk to each other. That's when everything got juicer, for me at least. One of the girls made everyone partake in a game where each person tells each other their sexual orientation. Most of them said either bisexual or pansexual and what wasn't surprising to us was when Carson said he was gay.

"I knew you a had some sugar in your tank!" Dustin spewed which sent us all into laughter and made Carson splash him with pool water. We could both tell Carson was a lot more open and more of himself around them.

     Thats when Dustin said he was bisexual and I admit, I was a bit surprised. No one else was, but still. Seeing everyone not even care about their sexuality or judge anyone made Dustin and I almost shed a tear. We would all finally start being more vulnerable and open around each other.

    Our game was cut short when the people who walked into the backyard shifted the energy. Babylon arrived with his daughter who was a past friend of Carson's that Gloria invited. Once Babylon saw us all there, he offered to stay and help the staff and of course Gloria was onboard with it.

    Thats when Carson decided to open his gifts as Babylon peered at us, as he filled plastic cups with orange juice. We sat in a circle to watch Carson, who thanked each individual as he opened their gift. Babylon's daughter sat next to me, and I felt her tap my leg within five minutes. I quickly shifted my gaze to her, perplexed.

"I heard what you said about Deejay and why y'all stopped being friends and I just wanted to let you know that sometimes people are going through stuff and they can act out because of anger or just sadness in general" that stayed with me. It made me think about the situation so much differently and guilt engulfed my existence. Maybe I am a terrible friend.

    She wiggled her way away after but Babylon came and sat right next to me.

"You mind telling me why you and your mother came back a week early from your trip just around the time DeeJay was killed?"

    I was stunned.

"Don't worry you don't have to say anything to me right now this isn't an interrogation. But I have a feeling you'll find your way to my desk spilling the beans!" He ended, leaving me with a glass of juice.

    I was almost pissing myself and Beth was on her way to the bathroom but first had to find it. She used Gloria as a GPS and soon found it. What she didn't know was that a couple of the girls had followed her and as soon as she was done in there they confronted her in the hallway.

"Is your boyfriend Gary?" One of them asked in a crossed tune.

"Um, he isn't my boyfriend anymore but he use to be" Beth said thinking about how he ghosted her even in the school hallways.

"But you're Beth right?" another asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Your boyfriend has sexually assaulted and harassed multiple girls at your school and you just let it happen and act like you don't know how much of a creep he is!"

    Beth was immediately shocked and confused.

"He what?!"

"You're telling me you had no idea he was a terrible person?!"

"Um no- I-"

"Wow. Some peer counselor and prefect you are" and with that statement they all walked away leaving Beth feeling like the worst human ever.

But now everything made sense to her. Everything that happened at the party with him and the girl made sense now. She was so repulsed that she ever let him kiss her. She had a brief moment of flashbacks to all the times where she let him get away with stuff and bully certain kids verbally. That was the exact reason he felt entitled to taking advantage of people because she and his friends encouraged or turned a blind eye to his ways. Something had to be done about him, but she couldn't at the moment because she was at a party. This had to be resumed at a later time.

   Beth returned to the circle and sat next to Mandy, who had struck up a friendship with another girl. They were giggling and talking, and they soon invited Beth to join in. The remainder of the party was fantastic. Everyone played games, danced to different music, and finished the night by watching and recording videos of the fireworks to share on social media.

    Once everything had settled down everyone went inside to find a room or couch to fall asleep on except Dustin who stayed outside to help the staff clean up. I set up a sleeping area for both me and Dustin on the living room couches and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. But as I opened the door to the bathroom Mandy's new friend, Anna, ran out in tears. Mandy spotted the scene and immediately went to her.

"Are you okay?"

"No... I haven't been for a long time actually"

"What's wrong?" Mandy said putting her arms around her.

"Have you ever felt like someone took away your power?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like someone continually has made you feel insecure about yourself?"

"Not really. As soon as you start caring about what people think of you, you're doing your own self a crime"

"Funny, I always hear this but I never know how to carry it out, you get me?"

"I do... And I know exactly how to help you. As long as you feel confident and keep telling yourself how amazing you are, all insecurities get flushed away. It's like the Believix power from Winx Club. Believe in yourself and then the others around you will believe in you and you will become the strongest you have ever been!"

"Hm"

"Ok, come here" Mandy said tapping the bed alerting her to sit.

Mandy got to her feet and retrieved her overnight bag. Right then, I entered. I thought I would sleep with Dustin and Carson, but the other girl's and Gloria, in particular, made sure I would sleep with the girls. Though I had no idea what was happening in the room, I had a general idea thanks to the girl's sobs I heard a bit of from outside the door.

Mandy picked up her kits for her bag and invited me to participate in an activity where she shared some of her makeup tricks and routines for her skin, hair, and body. I was overjoyed when she showed me how to apply highlighter. We three quickly fell asleep moments after our mini slumber party on the floor while wearing a full face of makeup.

That day, evening with us slobbering on makeup and the sleep was best Mandy had in a long time. She has never realized how depressing and lackluster at home was. And she thanked Carson who appeared in her dream for this night.

7:31 a.m
   I reached for my phone and checked the time as soon as I awoke that morning. I had this silly habit of waking up late at home but waking up at the crack of dawn when I was at someone else's house. When I went to do my morning routine, I was met by a swarm of girls grubbing in the kitchen.

   Every other kid was there within five minutes of me pouring myself some cereal and starting to participate in conversation. We laughed so hard that the milk from the cereal flushed out Dustin's nose which threw us into deeper laughter.

We began looking at some pretty nefarious sites with various kinks that almost made my cereal come back up.

"I wanna try that!" One girl said.

"Oh we know! We didn't expect anything better!" Another answered.

"Ok but I feel like we all wanna try something give her some leeway" I started "Example! Mandy what do you wanna try?!"

"None! You can have all the piss play to yourself Toy!"

    Everyone broke into laughter. But it was soon cut short. Carson threw the phone down as we heard Gloria slide open the glass doors, and we all huddled together with bright smiles like the good upstanding Christians we were raised to be.

"Everyone! I know I told your parents I'd have you back before eleven but I wanted to take everyone for ice-cream. You think your parents would be okay with that?" questioned Gloria.

    Everyone nodded in agreement before rushing upstairs to change into clothes and pack up our things. As we boarded the bus everyone sat in pairs. Dustin and I, Carson and one of the other girls, Andrea and Beth and Mandy. On our laps were our bags and in our hands were Caprisun's that Gloria handed out to us as we filled the bus.

   Gloria placed our order as tourists went by and waved as we sat down in the empty ice cream parlor. Gloria quickly delivered our ice cream to us. The brownie was for me, the pistachio for Dustin, the mint-chocolate chip for Carson, the vanilla for Mandy, and the birthday cake for Beth. We quickly realized that this was the exact same ice cream parlor that we used to go to with DeeJay back when he was alive before we even started eating. Hence, every lick we took brought a remembrance of him to mind. And some guilty faces too...

"You nasty as fuck for getting mint chip by the way Carson!" I said breaking the opulence of silence.