Tessa Sherridan's Story

"Partayyyy!"

Langley, Washington. Nothing ever changes here. It's always the same, all year round. Every day is the same, people going to school, people going to work, meeting their friends to go out for a cup of coffee in the business district. All of the weekends are the same - family's going out on outings, the children wearing big smiles on their face at the prospect of not going to school for two whole days, business men and women taking off their suits an relaxing around their home, having fourty-eight hours to put their feet up and forget about that corporate that they have to give a presentation to first thing on Monday morning. And, all of the holidays are the same. Christmas; family's around the Christmas tree, going out carolling with a large group of neighbours to harass the old lady down the street living with too many cats, Easter; the roads of the urban district scattered with children hunting for the Easter eggs with their names on, that the parents hid oh, so well, and Halloween. The early evening belongs to the children, dressing up as monsters and knocking on their neighbours door, hounding them for sweets so that their houses don't get egged. But the night? The night belongs to us. The teenagers of the town. We are the ones who take over the darkness. All heading out to the outermost edge of the city, stealing a bottle of vodka from the parent's liquor cabinet before climbing out of the bedroom window in a bunny outfit, and running away. Everything is the same.

Well. Usually...

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The loud music coming from... somewhere pounded through Tessa's head, as she stood in the middle of the forest. Tonight was colder that most nights in Langley, but with the alcohol pumping through her system, and with all the dancing that she had been doing, it honestly didn't bother her. Sure, her arms were bare, legs were only covered by long white socks, and she was wearing quite a short dress, but she felt fine. This was the one night of the year that everyone had been waiting for. The Langley Halloween Forest Party. Crappy name, yes, but that was what everyone called it. All around the schools, and colleges and University's, that was it's name.

The brunette's eyes had clouded over a little, with the amount of alcohol that was coursing it's way through her entire body, and her head was beginning to swim. Normally, Tess wasn't one to drink this much, she usually despised getting drunk, but this was a different situation than normal. She needed to feel free. She needed to be somewhere that didn't include her mother, and her moaning at her twenty-four-seven. Alcohol was a way to do this. Yes, maybe it was a bad idea, but it was the only one that she had come up with in a short amount of time. But, she supposed, it wasn't too bad, it was working after all. Besides, there was nothing that was bad about this party. Alcohol, music, good people to talk to. There was Miriam, they hadn't spoken very much, except when they were in the library together studying; and there was also Aviva, a girl that she spoke to a little, but again not extreme amounts; Francesca was also around somewhere, one of the popular girls who usually ignored her when they walked past each other in the corridors. Male wise, there was Chris, one of the quiet men that sort of kept to himself, a male version of her; Ky, again one of those guys who liked to stick to his own ground; Greyson was a cool guy, someone that she sometimes spoke to when she decided to venture out into the real world. And then finally, there was Isaac. Dear, old Isaac. Her best friend since childhood, and the guy that she had wanted to love her since she read Cinderella - she always wanted him to be her Prince, and she to be his princess.

A small sigh escaped her lips as she looked around at her fellow pupils, some already crawling around on the floor, their bodies completely intoxicated. In one throw, she knocked back the rest of her whiskey and coke, before then putting the empty cup down on some sort of log next to her. It was getting a bit boring standing around here, leaning against a tree in a Swan Princess costume - she probably looked like an idiot. Maybe she should try to find Ike? Gently, she pushed herself up from the trunk and began to look around through hazy eyes, the alcohol beginning to affect her, trying to spot her best friend through the crowds. Tess was beginning to feel a little off, and he had promised to look after her.

"Ikeeeeee?"

Greyson had decided to take a little break from the woman he called girlfriend; sometimes she was just that tad too much. Now, he was sitting on a rock a little off to himself, watching everyone, smiling wryly at a couple of the costumes. Ivy was a fairy... or a butterfly; no surprise there. It matched her personality and love of colours to a T, and he should know, having been friends with her for... he thought it over, frowning a tad... 7 years it was... damn, that was a long time. He threw the girl a smile, hoping she'd notice and maybe come save him. Grey didn't much like being alone, but if it was what it took to get away from crazy Cathrine, then it was just a price he'd have to pay. Wouldn't mind some company though. His gaze started wandering once more, catching sight of Miriam who was... what was she? a fox with three tails? He shook his head, chuckling. She'd always been a crazy one, hadn't she? Ever since he'd first met her a couple of years ago. And that skirt was short, not that he minded. Then there was Frankie who, as always, looked stunning, and she was blessedly simple to figure out; witch, going by the pointy hat. He winked at her, jokingly showing his appreciation. It wasn't like they'd ever dated, or were really close... but they did do the innocent flirting-thing, when he could escape Cath once in a while, that is.

Ky, dressed as that dude from Nightmare Before Christmas, looked uncomfortable in Grey's opinion, but he wouldn't be surprised. Ky was more of a loner - so much so, that even Grey, who for the most part knew everyone, hadn't talked to him much. Not that he didn't want to, because he had a feeling the dude was pretty cool once you got to know him, but he'd always gotten the vibe that Ky would rather be left alone. It was pretty much the same story with with Chris, who was a count... or possibly a vampire, though he'd talked to him a bit more... whenever Chris felt like it, that is. Grey had no clue what was bothering the guy, but he knew something was up - again, not wanting to meddle, he just never asked and merely left the guy alone whenever it became obvious that Chris didn't want company. He has, however, gotten a few biting remarks from the guy, something Grey never really took all that hard. Everyone could have bad days... well, okay... Grey never really wanted to be alone himself, but he could relate to the fact that others would prefer it.

Next person he saw was Ike; Mr. Football-player. He was good at it too, and it was obvious that he knew it. They got along pretty well the two of them, as Ike was a pretty cool guy, though a little shy. He was best buds with Tess.... wherever she was hiding out. He frowned slightly. He knew she'd be here... she always was, but he couldn't quite locate her. Hopefully she was okay. He brushed off his worries in the next instant, however... of course she was okay; Tess wasn't a big drinker, so she'd manage. Not like she'd forget herself somewhere like a lot of other people around her. Some of which were already falling over themselves and eachother. It looked pretty funny. Thankfully Grey hadn't been drinking... no, he'd been much more occupied with convincing his girlfriend that he wasn't sleeping with anyone else. When had he ever given her cause to doubt him? it drove him insane, on top of the constant bossing him around, yelling at him over little things, and obsessive relationship she had with clothes and jewelry. Even today, she'd been bitching about him wearing something that didn't fit her her outfit, so he'd had to go mafia-hitman, which wasn't bad... could be worse, but it was the principal of the matter.

Greyson shook of the irritation, glancing at the surrounding trees. Looked like a pretty good place to hide if he ever saw one. Might come in handy later. He put the plastic-gun in his jacket down on the rock next to him - it wasn't very comfortable.

Aviva sighed as she looked around at all of the people who were either dancing, passed out, or making out with someone. Ivy was never one to be seen at these kind of parties. She actually, sincerely, just wanted to be at home, being lazy on her couch with her snake, Bobolii, playing World of Warcraft, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, or Skyrim. She wasn’t very comfortable at the moment around such loud music and so many people. She looked around and saw some people she knew which comforted her a little.

She saw her friend Ryder, who shot her a smile that she’s known for like 7 years? He had helped her once threw a bullying issue that happened in 4th grade. She smiled softly at him and started chuckling a bit when she noticed that his smile was one of his ‘Oh god save me…’ smiles. She knew that he’s been having…”Complications’ with his “girlfriend” but she didn’t know it was that bad. She started walking toward him as she continued looking around, her wings bouncing a bit each step she took, on her purple flats. She saw Ky, a person that she sometimes randomly finds herself talking with at times, dressed as Jack the skeleton, from nightmare before Christmas, one of her favorite Tim Burton Movies. She always did like Ky’s hair. She then saw Miriam who was dressed as a Kitsune, Ivy knew it was a Kitsune because there were a bunch in one of her favorite Video-games, Muramasa.

She never really spoke to the girl but knew her because she was in one of her classes. Same goes to the Girl named Tessa who was now stumbling around looking for Ike, one of the football players that seemed to have a shy side. She also saw Danny who was dressed as a…vampire? She knew him and talked to him quite a lot, even though he had once commented that her hair was to bright. He never did like bright colors…. Or the fact that she’s so nice to everyone. He was hard to get through to but he was actually a really nice guy. He just had a bit of an…anger problem….