Live While We're Young

Chapter 1: Graduation

June 9th, 2031

Niki: I looked in the mirror. The black silk of the dress looked amazing against my skin. The lime green brought out what everyone always said was most beautiful about me, my lime green eyes. My hair was pulled back into a loose bun, my bangs and my two platinum toned streaks hung in my face like ribbons. I had curled them to perfection. I smiled at my reflection. I didn’t look bad. I went to my desk to grab the cap and gown that sat there. There was also an open letter, which I was still looking for a frame for. I read it another time. It read:

Dear Nikita Malik,

Thank you very much for gracing us with your audition. We have taken in a lot of thought, and due to the amazement your performance held we are excepting you to Julliard School Of Music. In addition, your audition possessed quality so high we ranked it within our top 50 auditions. Therefore we are granting you a scholarship to come and study here at our school. Sign up and we can’t wait to see you in the fall.

Sincerly,

Julliard School Of Music

This letter was probably the best thing that had ever happened to me. My parents were overjoyed when we got the news and I signed up the same day it came in the mail. Although there was one problem.

I hadn’t told the girls.

Of course, they would be excited. But they still thought I was going to a school here in London and they’d get to see me every chance they got. What would they think when I told them I was going overseas to New York? Lets just say I wasn’t overly excited.

Carly: I sat in the chair in the stuffy gym of the high school. Next to me sat Darcy, who was chatting with Amie next to her. On my other side Taylor was talking to Leo about sports. As always. I decided to engross myself with aggressively doodling in the corner of my program. I heard feedback from a microphone and my head, brown locks and all, shot up as fast as I could. “Welcome to the graduation for the class of 2031,” the stuffy principal said. I watched as student after student went on. I smiled when I saw Niki, standing in her gown. Her long black hair was pretty much concealed by her cap, but one blond strand hung down onto her robe. I couldn’t help looking at the strand and wonder how she had managed to get the deep maroon color she had had in it yesterday perfectly out so it was clean and shiny blond. Niki’s blond streaks served really one purpose, using some form of one day wash out hair dye to match her outfit or mood. It was her trade mark. Today she wanted to look professional and fancy, so the two strands, one in her bangs and one just closest to her face, were their light blond color. It made her look almost electric, and the strands usually seemed to glow against the black. One of our teachers had commented when she first did the dye, saying it looked just like the year her father had dyed a strand of his hair blond.

Thinking of this, I leaned forward, looking at Zayn. Zayn or Mr. Malik as many of the students knew him as. His hair now hung down, like the pictures I had seen of Tom Cruise from years ago. Now his black hair was turning more salt and pepper. He smiled looking up at his little girl, holding Jess’s hand. The valedictorian took the stage. He went into a speech on how they would never forget high school, but they would move forward to try to perfect the rest of their lives. Then the diplomas started to be handed out. A jock named Jordan Crazzer ripped off his gown as soon as he had the diploma in his hand, revealing a pair of revolting boxers and bright red words on his chest that said See Yah Losers. I laughed a little, careful to not let my parents hear. Then we heard her name. “Nikita Malik,” the principal said. Niki walked up, shook the hands of our principal and smiled to the crowd. We cheered for her, and she waved to all of us from the stage, blushing a shade that matched her maroon gown. But soon it was over.

Taylor: If there was one thing I knew about the Malik’s, it was that, despite their age, they knew how to throw a killer party. When we got there, there were all sorts of people. All of the Malik family had flown in from Bradford, along with all of Jess’s family. This included Jess’s step sister, Ashlyn, who 28, although she acted younger than Darcy. She was hilarious.