Score: Dusk Till Dawn - SIA feat. ZAYN

Lydia

I put on my school uniform, for the last time, swapping the jacket with my Balenciaga blazer. My hair, with freshly bleached ends, is pushed back with a navy headband with a small bow on the left. I reach into my mum's jewelry box, retrieving a pair of diamond studs.

When they're in place, trapping the sunlight into a thousand tiny rainbows on my ears, I draw a thick line of black eyeliner, which makes my black eyes look even deeper. I am wearing flats because I can't be bothered to wear heels, and I would be on my feet pretty much all day.

After the service and Leavers' reception, we are going to a Leavers' party at my friend Gloria's estate house in Hertfordshire. Gloria lives there pretty much alone with her little sister Petra and the staff, as their mum is constantly traveling. She is now in Ibiza, for some party, so we are having the house to ourselves and Gloria has invited our entire year for tonight.

My phone buzzes and I see a text from Patrick, telling me that he is downstairs, and I quickly grab my Gucci bag and run for the door.

Patrick is waiting for me at the entrance of the building, a bunch of spring flowers in hand. He gives me one of his brilliant smiles. He is so handsome I might just die!

"Hey! Thanks!" I smile and take the flowers. "Do you want to come back inside with me, so that I can put them in water?"

"Sure, Lyds, we have time." He smiles and leans down to kiss me. He nuzzles in the crook of my neck. I love it when he does that. He is much taller than me, so he has to bend at the knees and lean forward when we kiss. I feel nice and secure in his arms. When he hugs and kisses me, it is like I am leaning into something solid, steady, and constant.

Basically, all the stuff that I am missing in my life.

We go back inside and come across my father in the living room.

Ugh. I really don't want to have to deal with him so early in the morning.

I am surprised he is even awake and out of bed, it is unusual for this to happen before 11 am.

"Hi, Patrick!" He greets. I am glad he's ignoring me. Despite my good mood, I have no desire to talk to him. "Congrats on your big day!" He keeps talking, as I find a vase and head into the kitchen to put the flowers in water. "Where's my little girl?"

Great...

I turn around to face him and he looks like he is going to have an emotional meltdown. Has he been drinking already? It is 9:40, so I doubt it, but still...

"You look stunning, Lyds," he tells me and reaches out his arms as if to hug me.

"Yeah, yeah..." I roll my eyes as I walk right past him to stand next to Patrick.

"I am trying to tell you how proud I am of you, Lyds. I am not your worst enemy in the world." he continues. Now I am almost positive he has been drinking.

Patrick looks at me and mouths "Be nice."

"I am being nice," I say out loud and turn to face my father, with the fakest smile I could plaster on my face.

"Thanks!" I roll my eyes again and pick at my nails before I continue. "I won't be coming home tonight. There's a leavers' party at Gloria's mum's house. Patrick's driving us there and I will be staying over at his place after that."

"Oh, you should leave your car in my garage" he looks at my boyfriend and starts fumbling in the crystal bowl of keys on the console table next to the door. I reach into Patrick's pocket and take out the small remote that opens the underground garage, where I know he has put it, after parking his car.

"Already done" I smile and put the remote back in Patrick's pocket.

I don't ask for permission to do stuff around the house. I don't ask for permission to stay out all night, as well. I just inform him. He doesn't have any authority over me, or any right to stop me, or be mad at me for being late, or drunk, or pissed at him.

"Ready?" I look at Patrick and take his hand.

"Bye, Colin" Patrick waves a hand at my father.

"Bye, kids, have fun today, yeah? This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. You deserve to have fun."

"We will" I shout and drag Patrick out through the door.

I have to get out of this place, fast...

*****************************
Patrick and I walk to school hand in hand, him chatting about this year's sailing trip. It is his family's tradition to spend the summer sailing around the French Riviera. We pass by the Chanel boutique on Brompton Road and I check myself out in the glass doors, as he tells me I should join him this year, as every other, but I don't think I will do it.

I have too much work to do, with A-levels and uni prep just around the corner, to make the time for the trip. I need to talk to him about it, and I take a mental note of it, but I will not be doing it today. Today is going to be eventful enough without the possibility of starting a fight with Patrick.

We have been fighting a lot lately, and I really hate fighting with him. I despise conflict in general and try to avoid it at all costs.

We reach our school and spot the numerous Congratulations banners hanging from the trees. People are lying around or sitting on the grounds, uniforms undone and shoes off. On the large terrace at the entrance of the main administrative building, there is a line of tables, cluttered with items for sale for this year's charity Leavers bazaar. There is a table, filled with food from The Catering Company, and a stand with drinks.

Alcohol is allowed for students of age, so we both grab a glass of champagne each, even though it is only 11 in the morning.

I see our group of friends sitting under a tree. We join them and sit next to my best friend, Alex, and her boyfriend Nate.

Alex is best described as sunshine in human form. She's gorgeous, without realizing it, blonde, with deep blue eyes, tanned, and has the ability to instantly light up any room she walks into. She's into the healthy living trend, doing yoga every day, being all vegan and shit, and her body is toned and firm.

Looking at her and Nate, they sometimes remind me of Barbie and Ken, only the Hot-Yoga-Teacher-Barbie-Who-Only-Wears-Yoga-Pants and Nerdy-Messy-Haired-Bespectacled Ken, who looks like he has just woken up most of the time.

Nate's hooded brown eyes, only accentuated by his hipster-Clark-Kent-style glasses and messy brown hair make him look either stoned 24/7, or bored out of his mind, or maybe both, but in a brooding, yet attractive way. His father is the Headmaster of our school, which is a huge asset to our group.

Nate and Alex have been dating since they were sixteen, just like Patrick and I, and managed to get away with fucking in the girls' locker room during PE in our Year twelve because reasons...

My oldest friend, Gloria, is sitting opposite us, a bottle of champagne in hand, even though she's not eighteen for another month. She has never been one to follow the rules. I know, because we have known each other all our lives. Even though we aren't as close as we used to be as children, and ever since I met Alex in Year six of school we've been best friends, I can never imagine a world without beautiful, sassy, glorious Gloria.

It would be a pretty sad place.

Gloria has attitude and opinions. Lots of them. Tons. She can make you eat a handful of dirt if she wants to, and you'll do it gladly.

Once, in Year 11, she made Jimmy Towel give her all his allowance for a month, in return for her not telling anyone he pissed in Alex's mum's wardrobe when he was drunk at Alex's birthday party.

Gloria obviously did not keep her promise, as I know he did it. Alex knows he did it. Our class knows he did it. The Queen probably knows he did it. But Jimmy Towel is happily oblivious to the fact that his secret is not a secret at all, and he had happily paid the price for Gloria's "silence". She somehow managed to convince the entire school not to mess with Jimmy in his face, but everyone was doing it behind his back anyway.

I know it is not ideal, but no one got hurt, right?

Right at Gloria's side is her boyfriend, Liam, who is such a sweetheart. They have been dating for a little over a month now and, despite having a rocky start, he is head over heels for her now. 

He is the offspring of a family of too much political power and too few morals, but he is nothing like them. He is way too idealistic and naive to fit in his parents' world. Not to mention that he is a brilliant computer games player and makes millions of pounds a year streaming video content about playing games. His family wasn't really aware of that until a couple of months ago, but in the end, it all worked out for him, so, I'm happy about him and Gloria.

"Heyy, Lyds!" Alex reaches out and wraps her arms around my waist, as I take a seat beside her on the blanket they are sitting on. I hug her back and bury my face in her warm hair for a beat. She smells like flowers and sunshine, and pure perfection.

"I am so glad this day is finally here! I can't believe we survived 13 years of this shit," Gloria huffs and takes a swig from the bottle.

"Don't get too excited, Glo, we still have exams to take," I remind her, rubbing gently Alex's hand with mine, while leaning my head on Patrick's shoulder.

"God, Lydia, did somebody piss on your avocado toast this morning? Why do you always have to bring a girl down?" Gloria pouts her lips.

"Being realistic is a virtue in a fake world," I say and Gloria scrunches her nose.

"Don't be such a smart-mouthed brat! Have a drink and let's have some fun today, shall we!"

"Did you get the dresses?" She turns to Alex, who had to pick up our dresses from her mother's boutique before school so that we can take them home with us and get ready before the party. Alex's mum is one of the most glamorous women I know. She's a designer and has a successful clothing brand, which usually gains Alex a lot of new friends at the time of London Fashion Week. Too bad they never stick around for very much longer.

For Gloria's party tonight, the three of us are going in the same silk slip dresses, only Alex and I are going in white, and Gloria's going in black.

"Because, love, I'm the hostess and I need to stand out," she had said. She's announced a Black-and-White theme for her party and it is only fitting for us to be matching.

"Sure, they are in Nate's car. You can pick yours up after we finish here."

Patrick takes his phone out of his pocket and pulls up the agenda for the day.

"So, we have the Bazaar first, which has already started, at 10:45. Then, there is a rugby game at 11:30..."

"Oh, how come you two are not playing?" Alex swats Nate's shoulder. Patrick and Nate both play for the school's rugby team and are good at it, too. Patrick has been invited to Oxford's rugby team already.

"We have the big game tomorrow, remember?" Patrick answers, instead of Nate.

"So they are using you sparingly?" Gloria teases.

"Fuck off, Glo!" Nate laughs and kicks his foot in her direction.

"...then, we have lunch at 1:00 pm" Patrick continues reading, "and then the Service and Reception... we should be done by 4:00 pm."

"Great" Gloria rolls her eyes. "Well, let's go. The sooner it starts, the sooner we can leave and go to my place." 

Six hours later, Patrick pulls up at the curb at the end of the private road, leading to the front door of the Hollands' estate house just as the sun touches down on the horizon.

There are cars parked in the driveway up to and in front of the house. It is still light outside, the late spring evening air filled with the delicious odours of the fields behind the house and the sounds of the vibrant life of insects at sunset.

As Patrick and I walk up the driveway to the door, we pass some of our classmates and Patrick makes small talk with a guy, whose name I think is Greg, with thick blond hair, wearing a black Harvard University hoodie, and his tiny girlfriend. Greg has been bragging about his acceptance to Harvard ever since he received his Letter of Acceptance just before Christmas.

Lucky bastard, he doesn't have to worry about exams anymore.

From his conversation with Patrick, I understand that Greg's girlfriend, Anita, is a year younger than us and that they are planning to travel to south-east Asia this summer. They have been planning the trip since it was clear that Greg got into Harvard, and have already booked all the flights, accommodations, and transfers.

Lucky bastard.
But I already said that...

As we walk through the massive double doors, I get swooped into a very tight hug. The hugger is wearing a black slip dress, Dior sliders with obnoxiously large logos on them, and too much Dior Sauvage.

Gloria.

It is her signature move to wear her boyfriends' fragrances. She says she likes to smell like Liam all the time, and that it gives her comfort. I think it is cute. A little weird, but cute.

She lets go of me, and smiles brightly at Patrick, Greg, and his girlfriend, moving aside to let us in.

My first thought is that there are too many people here. There is a DJ in the main living area on the ground floor. The massive marble-top bar in the outside seating area across the hallway is literally covered with champagne chiller buckets. There is a guy, making gin cocktails in a makeshift cocktail pavilion. The music is loud but pleasant. There are black-and-white-clad people everywhere, and the dress code is kept even in the outside pool, where everyone is wearing black and white bikinis or swim shorts.

It is, indeed, impressive, how Gloria always gets everyone to do what she wants them to, like, getting our entire leavers' class to wear only black and white, to a damn house party.

I see Nate chilling in a lounge chair outside, Alex propped on her hip on top of him, cocktails in hand. Both of them look like they have just been dragged out of a photo shoot for a yacht commercial.

Gloria moves ahead of us, smiling and saying her "Hellos" and "How Are Yous" here and there. As we reach the outside bar, she nods towards the bar-tender, saying with a wicked smile:

"Get yourselves some drinks. Help yourself to whatever you want, there is food inside, and a whole load of my mother's finest coke on the table" She winks, cocking her head to one side, spilling the sea of her strawberry-blonde hair down her shoulder.

The small girl next to Greg gives out a little squeal and Gloria looks at her like she has just been reminded she existed.

"Coke, as in Coca-Cola?" The girl squeals again, looking up at Greg in horror, this time at least making some coherent speech.

Gloria bursts out laughing and swats Greg on the arm.

"Where did you find this sunshine, Greg?" Gloria asks playfully, then adds "No, dear, coke, as in blow".

The look on the girl's face is priceless. I am sure Gloria is enjoying serving her little final blow of shock so very much. She takes one last look at the girl, obviously glad at her reaction, and takes off in the opposite direction.

I grab a glass of champagne from the bar and take a quick look around the garden.

There is a heated outdoor pool at the far end of the patio. Three girls are sitting in the pool, laughing, champagne glasses in hand. A guy walks out of the glass doors next to the pool only in his black boxers and jumps into the pool, splashing the three girls in white bikinis. They shriek and raise their arms to shield their faces from the splash. One of them spills her champagne in the pool and cusses at the guy.

On the other side of the bar and seating area, there is a small kitchen garden and a greenhouse, which is lit up by fairy lights. It looks very pretty in the evening twilight.

Gloria comes out of the greenhouse with someone by her side. Her head is tilted up at him. He is walking with a cat-like gait and is smiling down at Gloria, revealing a set of pearl-white teeth. He says something to her and she throws her head back, laughing.

She is beaming.

The second I realize who that is, I scream, jump in my place, and dart towards him, flinging my arms around his neck and wrapping my legs around his waist.

He pauses, startled by my affection, but then he gently wraps his arms around me. I can feel him smiling in my hair.

"Mark!" I say when I finally get back to my feet. "What are you doing here?"