Stars in the sky

Chapter 1 Living in the present

"Uh, maybe I should go home. I am a little tired" Clarke sighs as she hears the loud music boom all the way over to the end of the street on which they are walking.

"No way Clarke, you're coming with us!" Raven clutches her arm and pulls her towards the house at the end of the street.

She can see more people walking towards the villa. Most of them are holding some sort of booze and are swaying on the streets.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun! I'm so excited to see all the new students!" Octavia shouts while she does a silly little dance next to them.

"Yeah right" Raven smirks. "You're just hoping to seduce a new target."

"Oughs that hurts Raven, I'm not so shallow!" Octavia exclaims but with a hint of a smile so we all know that's exactly what she is trying to do.

Clarke still can't believe she lets her friends drag her to the start of the college year party. It is supposed to be the best party of the year. And since it's the start, everybody comes. To get laid or to get wasted. Because that's what students do.
Clarke has had her fair share of booze but she was hoping to make a fresh and good start at her new study and going to this party isn't really the best decision. After switching to med school, she's ready to prove her parents that this is the best choice for her, even though they don't think so.

She looks to her left and see Raven and Octavia giggling and talking about boys while Raven still clutches her arm, like she is going to run away and escape if she lets go. Okay fair enough, that's probably what she would do if Raven let's go.
They have almost reached the house and now Clarke can see lights erupting from the windows. There are lots of people on the front yard of the house. Some are dancing, playing beer pong or just sitting and smoking. Probably weed. She doesn't recognise anyone from this distance but then again she doesn't know many people yet in this new city. Her new study required her to move to Arkanos city but fortunately Raven and Octavia are already studying at Ark college so that's a relief.

The house self is huge, with three floors and a large balcony on the front.

"Guys, from whom is this place, it's huge!" Clarke asks her friends while admiring the architectural wonder in front of her.

"It's from someone named Gus or something." Octavia explains. "Every year he holds this party at his parents' house while they are away on vacation and every year the cops are called. Supposedly halfway during the year there's another party but only a few people are invited." She pouts and shrugs. "I actually don't know who this Gus guy is so there is no hope for me being invited to the Lighthouse party."

"It's called the lighthouse party?" Clarke asks.

"Yeah, the rumour goes that they buy tons of firework and drive off with all the party people to the shore and have a magnificent firework show. Other people say it's the best thing ever!" Raven says. "Maybe on this party I will finally meet Gus and beg for an invitation."

Octavia says as she takes a bottle of tequila laying on the steps to the entrance. "Oh yeah, let this party start!" She takes a huge swig from the bottle and passes it to Raven.

"Ew, not even with salt and lemon. That's gross…" Raven comments but still drinks anyway.

She passes the bottle to Clarke. Clarke takes a small sip but under encouragement from Octavia and Raven drinks a more decent amount.
Oh well, it's for the best she thinks. Where is the fun in being completely sober? Still Clarke stays careful with drinking. In the past, it didn't always end well and she doesn't want a repeat of certain events. She walks through the door after Octavia and Raven. Already when entering the house it is very crowded. People are everywhere, having a chat or playing a game or just drinking booze. Some don't look too great. On the way to the kitchen, where the booze is, (of course Octavia wants to go there) they walk past the living room where apparently the loudest music is coming from. The furniture is shoved to the sideways and in de middle, people are dancing. She has to stop for a second and wait for some people to move so they can get to the kitchen. She hears Octavia muttering something like: those annoying freshmen, they are everywhere…

While waiting, Clarke looks over to the dance floor and tries to spot some people she knows, which is hard because the room has been made darker and there crowd is pretty huge. But then she sees a head poking above most of the people and she recognises Bellamy, who is dancing with some other people. She can't really see who they are. "Hey, look Oc. Your brother Bell is here!" She nudges Octavia in the stomach. "Don't do that! You know I am ticklish!" Upon saying that, of course Raven and Clarke start a stomach poking war. The common enemy is Octavia and she is squirming under their fingers. "No, noo stop! I surrender! I surrender!" Octavia is now laughing so hard that some people turn their head to see if everything is okay. She proceeds to stand and finally they make their way to the kitchen were all the booze is. On the counter is an array of bottles, some full, some empty. Red solo cups are littered on the floor and the counter and Raven looks for some clean ones.
They take shots together while toasting on the new year that is ahead of them.

Clarke is so excited to start! She has always dreamed of being a doctor but her parents disapproved. They thought it would be too hard and she would never be able to finish. And after all that partying in the past, she understands them. She barely finished high school because of all the parties and the bad influence of some "friends". They weren't really her friends. But only because her mother was a famous artist and her family had some sort of high status, the popular girls pressured her in hanging out with them. At first it seemed genuine but in the last grade she had enough of the fake shit she had to do every day. She also had enough of the fake boyfriends. To pretend she was someone only to get people to like her. She was so tired of it. So one day, in her last year, she told her fake friends to suck it and stopped partying and getting drunk all the time. It was a good decision, although her ex-friends started loathing her the moment she turned away. After high-school she began with art school but quickly felt that she didn't belong there. She loved making paintings and the creativity but never saw herself in the future between her colleague artists. So with only 2 months to go of her first year, she quit her study and worked until she could start again the next year. In a new city with a new study and hopefully some new friends. Clarke really hopes that she can now find a place where she has the feeling she belongs. Where she can be herself and be accepted as who she is. It is so hard to keep up the façade of being someone who the rest of the world expect you to be. It is tiring and Clarke is now driven to stop being a person who she thinks she should be but to just be her. The people from her past made her feel like she was nothing without their acceptance and their liking and she hates to be so depend of others. Octavia and Raven were some sort of salvation. They stood by her in her last year of high school, when everyone abandoned her. They were her real friends. She knew them from her childhood. And although she didn't hang out with them when she was part of the popular group, she could always return to them and be herself. They supported her no matter what and she is so grateful that those two beautiful people want her in their life. When it is Christmas, Clarke is planning to do something special for them to show that she really is glad with them as friends. She doesn't know yet what to do but she will figure it out. For now, she is ready to party with her friends and forget about the past and live in the present.