There were lights all around. Streamers and banners spelling out 'Congrats Grad!' were hung everywhere and the sound of music blared from the DJ's speakers. The Vega's backyard was in full post-grad-party swing and everyone was cutting it loose, giving summer a nice warm welcome. Tori was out on the dance floor, moving to the rhythm with Cat and Andre. Jade and Beck were off in the corner making out. Robbie was sitting by the refreshments table with Rex on his lap, steadily picking through a bowl of chips beside him.
Today they had graduated from Hollywood Arts and would soon be moving forward to make something of themselves in the world. Cat's heart was set on Broadway. Jade was hoping to become a successful playwright. Tori wanted to someday become a famous singer and have her music be the number one hit on every radio station in the country. Andre wanted to become a music producer, Beck wanted to work on expanding his acting career, and Robbie was dead set on becoming a music journalist. They all had their plans drawn up and ready to take off. For now though, it was summer and they were free to do whatever they pleased.
The music toned down to a mellower tune and Tori, Cat, and Andre broke away from their classmates and walked over to Robbie and Rex.
"Sup Ladies!" Rex greeted in his usual flirty tone. Cat and Tori let it slide, completely accustomed to the weird Robbie/Rex duo. Robbie smiled up at the girls, his eyes lingering on Cat. Her red hair—that she normally wore straight—spiraled down her back and shoulders in soft, silky curls. Her face shimmered with a subtle touch of glitter and her white teeth dazzled as she grinned widely. She was the most beautiful girl Robbie had ever seen and over the years she had grown even lovelier each time he saw her.
"Hey," Robbie said, still gazing at Cat. He could have sworn he saw a pink blush creep up into her cheeks as she giggled, her eyes shifting downward to her feet. He felt his lips stretch even wider than before.
"What are you doing sitting all by yourself?" Cat asked her brown eyes back on him. "Come dance with me!" she grabbed him by the wrist, not even giving him a chance to protest, and dragged him onto the dance floor. Taking the lead, as it was in her nature, Cat placed Robbie's hands at her waist and looped her own arms around his neck, looking up at him with that dazzling smile as they slowly rocked to the soft ballad playing. Tori and Andre looked to each other, not able to keep themselves from grinning ear to ear.
There had always been a spark between Cat and Robbie. It was so obvious; anyone could have seen it from a mile away. Though for some reason they did not. With school over now, everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting for one of them to finally make the first move. It was bound to happen soon enough.
Just then, Beck and Jade emerged from the shadowed recesses of Tori's backyard and walked over to where Tori and Andre were standing. Tori's face lit up when she turned and saw Beck, but quickly recomposed herself. She had been waiting all night to talk to him.
"So Beck, what did they say?" she asked, trying to hide the excitement in her voice.
"My parents are cool with it," he answered equally as excited as Tori.
"Yes!" Tori jumped happily, throwing her hands in the air.
"What are you two talking about…?" Jade shifted glances between Beck and Tori. She didn't like being kept out of the loop. It was happening to her a lot lately. Though she would never admit it, Jade was a sensitive girl. She hated the feeling of being shut out; especially by people she felt the closest too. She loved her friends dearly and with all the separation that college would soon bring, she couldn't bear to lose touch with any of them; even Tori.
"You remember," Beck assured her. "Tori came up with the idea that all of us go on a road trip this summer to New York."
Jade vaguely remembered Beck mentioning something about a road trip over the summer awhile back and nodded. "Oh, right…so we're doing it?"
"Cat still needs to ask her parents, but now that we have our ride looks like it's a go," Tori said.
"We're taking your RV?" Andre asked, looking to Beck.
"Mi casa es su casa," Beck replied with a nod.
"When do we leave?" Jade asked.
"Probably in a week or two?" Beck answered unsurely, looking to Tori to confirm.
"Well we still need to see if Cat can come and Jade—"
"I'll be there," Jade said abruptly.
"Well okay then…we'll leave in about a week," Tori said, the smile returning to her face. She couldn't wait to spend her last carefree summer with her friends, traveling the country all by themselves; just the six of them. She hoped it would be one summer she'd never forget. She was always a sucker for those Hollywood-movie-status kinds of moments.
"All right everyone!" the DJ's voice broke Tori from her thoughts. "It's that time of the night! Open mic! Who wants to sing first?"
Tori, Andre, Beck and Jade all hurried over to the DJ's booth, racing to get the first slot. Going to Hollywood Arts made it a given that you loved karaoke. Tori was the first to grab the mic and stepped up in front of the entire party. Everyone's eyes were on her.
"Before I start, I'm going to get a little cheesy on all of you!" she said jovially. Everyone groaned and moaned teasingly before she continued. "I'm so thankful for all the friends I've made at Hollywood Arts. I wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place, but if it weren't for that first push from a good friend of mine—yeah I'm looking at you Andre," she paused, laughing with everyone else. "But seriously, I love you all and I hope we stay close always."
With a round of applause, the music started and Tori focused on the words as they lit up on the monitor in front of her. She had meant every word she said. She was so scared that college would change everything. That was why she planned this trip in the first place. She needed to know everything would be okay and if it wasn't she wanted to look back on their last adventure together fondly and with no regrets.