User blog:Corbierr/The Final Night- An HOA One-Shot

'''Hey guys! Here's the story I was talking about before, based off of "How Far Can This Go?" by ''Bowling For Soup. Enjoy!'

Patricia's POV-

It was the night following our graduation. While the graduation was a day of adventure and sacrifice, this day was more... quiet. We were packing our bags, saying goodbye to Trudy, and thinking towards the future. The newbies were hanging out around the town, so it was just us graduates in the House.

I had just gotten off the phone with Piper, who had called to congratulate me about the day before. My mind was now racing with thoughts. She had suggested the two of us buy our own flat somewhere and spend our first few years of university together, because our chosen schools were close enough for it to work. But Eddie had already asked me to move in with ''him. ''I wasn't sure what to do.

KT walked in the room.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked, cheerful as always.

"Confused," I said, putting the phone down. "So what are you so happy about?"

My friend smiled and sat down on her bed. "I just talked Trudy into doing something special for all of us!"

With a shrug, I asked, "You mean another party?"

"More like a midnight feast under the stars tonight."

I looked outside the window in thought. The sun had just set, and the moon had risen in the darkening sky. "Yeah, okay. That sounds cool. Is it just Sibuna?"

"Patricia," KT sounded shocked. "It's the last night we have together! Why wouldn't we invite the others?"

Again, I shrugged. Honestly, I was happy it wouldn't just be with Sibuna. I wanted to talk to Joy at some point before we all had to leave tomorrow, and this would be perfect.

"Oh, and one more thing. We need you write down your biggest mistakes on a peice of paper."

"Excuse me?! Why should I have to-"

"Just do it, Patricia! Okay? Trust me on this one."

I sighed and got out a clean sheat of paper. "Whatever."

My biggest mistakes? This really wouldn't be hard...but that wasn't a good thing. So I started writing.

''Bullying Nina. Dumping Eddie. Fighting with Piper when we were kids. Not trusting Eddie. Trusting Rufus. Trusting Jason. Letting Joy and I drift apart. ''

I paused at the Joy part, biting the tip of my eraser. Then I added,

Not stopping Joy from her mistakes before it was too late.

About a half hour later, I'd filled up the entire paper. Mistakes big and small were all over it. Things ranging from Attacking Amber after the locket incident, to Not listening to my parents more often to Not telling Piper I love her more often.

As I read it over, I began to tear up. What was this supposed to accomplish? It just angered me- no, it just hurt me. It hurt me to realize I'd messed up so much. My fist came down on the table, and I was nearly about to rip the paper to shreads, but then I stopped myself. I had another last thing to add.

''Caring about others too much. ''

I'm not sure where that came from...but there it was, on my paper, staring at me. I stared back at it- glared, actually. I didn't want it there. But for some reason, I wasn't willing to erase it.

For the rest of the night, I put the paper away and continued cleaning up my room. Eventually the newbies returned, but I ignored them. I wasn't in the mood to deal with them. There was too much on my mind- like the room-mate question. Then there was a knock on the door, and Eddie walked in.

"Hey Yacker," He said. "It's midnight. Come on!"

I nodded and was about to go, before I remembered the evil paper of flaws. I grabbed it and turned to Eddie. "Ready."

My boyfriend saw the paper in my hands and grinned. "You made one too? How...uh, long is yours?"

"Long enough, weasel. Now let's go!"

The two of us made our way outside and found everyone else waiting in the yard. After we were all assembled, KT told us to follow her. So we did, and I forced myself not to call her out and ask what was up with the mistake exercise. The others all had confused and agitated looks on their faces as well- clearly, I wasn't the only one thinking this.

Suddenly, I smelled smoke, and a moment later I saw a glowing campfire in the middle of one of the many clearings in the woods. Near it was a blanket and a whole lot of food.

"Amazeballs!" Alfie said, running towards the feast.

"Hey, wait for me, bro!" Jerome cried, following him.

I laughed and temporarily forgot my emotions as I was swept up in the excitement of the picnic. I ran over with the others and settled down between Eddie and Joy. I piled my plate with Trudy's brownies, cookies, and a slice of her famous chocolate cake-- moving quickly before Alfie could steal the entire thing.

"This is great, thank you KT," Fabian said.

"Don't thank me," She smiled. "Thank Trudy. Now come on guys, let's eat!"

So the feast began. Alfie and Jerome started a bet on who could chug their sodas down the fastest, and Alfie, of course, won.

"That game was rigged," Jerome muttered, with a grin.

"It's a really beautiful night out," Mara then commented.

I looked up at the star filled sky and smiled. "Yeah, it's okay." It was much better than okay. There were stars ''everywhere. ''It was dazzling and calming... I half expected Fabian to whip out his guitar and play a song for us.

"I see Orion!" Joy said, laying down on her back and pointing at the constellation. "Look!" I laid down next to her to get a better look, and she grinned at me. I smiled back.

"I just want to see a UFO," said Alfie, getting a laugh out of everyone. "I know they're out there...somewhere."

"It's so magical! Each star has like, it's own story! That's so cool! Squee!"

I could hear the smile in Fabian's voice when he said, "I wonder if Nina, Mick and Amber are looking at these same stars..."

"Well, due to the time zones and the rotation of the planet, it cannot be the same stars. But they have our moon... I wonder what they're doing, right now?"

"I miss them." I said, speaking up again. "Too bad they aren't here."

KT sighed. "I wish I could have met Nina and Mick... but that's the thing about tonight, isn't it? Starting tomorrow, none of us will be here."

Everyone went silent and looked at her as she got up, illuminated by the roaring fire behind her.

"Does everyone have their papers with them?"

"I was going to ask about that," Joy said, taking out hers, while I pulled mine out of my pocket.

KT smiled. "On the count of three, we are going to throw the papers into the fire and watch them burn. We're burning away our bad memories...and we're moving on."

When everyone contined looking at her, she continued.

"Guys, these mistakes we made...don't they haunt you? Don't you wish you can just get rid of them for good? Throw them in the flames, and move on. By writing them down, we admitted to them all...and by burning them, they are gone forever, just like the paper they were printed on. Let's stop feeling bad about what we've done in our past! Let's feel better for the future! Come on guys, join me."

Reluctantly, I stood up with everyone else and faced the flames.

"One, two...three!"

A bunch of paper balls were tossed into the heart of the fire. As they burned, the fire grew larger. We all jumped back, watching the flames rise and watching our mistakes turn into ash.

It was beautiful...and as it happened, I could feel the tension of the past few years leaving me almost instantly- and vanishing into the wind.

As if on a single impulse, I started raising my hand to my eye, and I saw others doing it as well. At first it was just Sibuna, and Willow, who probably just wanted to join in...but then I felt a twinge of happiness in my heart, because Joy and Jerome joined in as well...

"Sibuna," Fabian said.

"Sibuna!"

Then everyone broke into cheers and laughter. We hugged, high-fived, and shouted into the fire- "Take that, life! Yeah!"

"Now what?" Eddie asked.

"Let's party!" KT said, pulling out her cellphone and turning on the music at full volume.

We danced around for a while, celebrating around the campfire. Now I saw my chance to do what I had wanted to. I pulled Joy to the side.

"Hey," I said. "I've finally gotten you alone,"

She laughed and smiled a nervous smile. "Sorry, Trix. It's been busy,"

"No kidding... I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too." My best friend looked away for a minute. "On my paper...I wrote about how I shouldn't have let you go."

I was surprised. "Really?"

Joy looked back at me. "Really... I realized today that I had to say goodbye to you...and realized how much that would hurt. I'm sorry, Patricia."

"It's okay," I grinned at her, playfully giving her a shove. "We've burned that, right? I think we're all just about even... best friends?"

She hugged me. "Forever."

When we pulled apart, I said, "You know...Piper asked me to move into a flat with her during university...I think I'm going to do it."

"You should!" Joy smiled. "Who needs boys? It's a new life for us now..." She was tearing up. I was too.

"Hey, lady! Don't get so upset about it! That's tomorrow. Tonight is about having fun, yeah? Come on, let's have fun."

She laughed and I pulled her back to the rest of the group, where we danced with our boyfriends by the flames. As I looked at Eddie, I knew I'd have to tell him my decisions eventually.

But not yet.

The future was tomorrow. My past was complete, and I could finally move forward. Today was the present, and I was going to enjoy it.

Because for the first time in my life, I felt free and ready for anything. And then and there, as the fire burned away our worries and the stars shone down on us from above, I made my private boast.

''Bring it on, world. Tomorrow, you'll have to deal with me- Patricia Williamson. You'll never get the best of me again.''

And that's a promise.

- '''I hope everyone liked this! It was a bit last-minute, but I think it came out well! Thanks for reading!'''