Graduation was only two weeks away. Adalynn and Bailey had just picked their gowns up from Sue, and they walked into the closest empty classroom to try them on.
"Does it even matter what size it is?" Adalynn asked as she took the lid off the box, revealing the red graduation gown.
"Not really," Bailey shrugged as she slipped her arms through the sleeves. "I just want to try it on to see what it looks like."
"This is so freaky," the brunette mumbled as she zipped her gown up and put the cap on. The two friends turned to face each other, their expressions falling when they realized just how grown up they were now.
They weren't kids anymore.
"Holy crap, I can't believe this is actually happening," Bailey said, her blue eyes filling with tears.
"Yeah, me either," Adalynn nodded. "I never thought I'd make it to 18, let alone graduate. But yet here I am, one suicide attempt and years of cutting later."
"This still doesn't feel real," Bailey mumbled as she crossed her arms and shuffled her shoes on the tile.
"Hey, guys," Tina said as she walked into the classroom, her smile fading when she saw her best friend and girlfriend in their caps and gowns.
"Tina," Bailey sighed as her girlfriend's gorgeous brown eyes filled with tears.
"No, T," Adalynn cooed as she and Bailey walked over to her. "I know this is hard for you, but please don't cry."
"It's gonna be okay," Bailey said as she gently wiped the tears off of Tina's face and kissed her cheek. "It's gonna be okay."
"I'm not ready to say goodbye to you guys yet," Tina sobbed.
"It's not goodbye," Adalynn frowned. "We can all still move to New York together like we talked about. Or somewhere else where we can all live together. The twins too."
"They call graduation 'commencement' because it's not the end of something, it's the beginning," said Bailey.
"They say that so we'll go willingly," Tina scoffed. "Adalynn, you and Kurt used to be so close, Finn and Santana and Britt too. Sometimes Rachel. When was the last time you talked to any of them?"
"Finn's been busy getting a teaching degree, so we don't talk much," Adalynn said as she ran a hand through her hair. "Kurt has NYADA, Rachel's rehearsing for Funny Girl. Santana stopped me from relapsing the last time she was here, and Britt..."
"She's busy with MIT," Bailey mumbled. "She hasn't had time to talk to either of us."
"Mercedes and I haven't spoken in months, and yes, I know we all love each other, but the fact is the glue that keeps high school friendships together is high school," said Tina. "Being around each other everyday, seeing each other in the halls. Whenever something is up, we don't have to do any work to talk to our friends about it. They're right there. As soon as it takes effort, we get lazy. And then we forget and then we just move on. I don't want to fade away."
"Tina, that's not gonna happen," Adalynn said as she pulled the sleeve of her gown up. She held her wrist out, and Bailey did the same.
"We made these bracelets for a reason," Bailey said as she took Tina's hand and pointed to the matching friendship bracelet on her wrist.
"No matter where we go, and no matter what we do, we'll never really lose each other," said Adalynn.
"We have something special. Something that none of these other Lima losers have," Bailey said as she wiped a tear off of Tina's cheek. "I know for a fact that we're gonna remain close after we graduate. It's like Adalynn said, we can all move in together."
"I've been looking at apartments in New York, and there's an open loft in the same building where Kurt, Rachel, and Santana live," Adalynn explained. "It's big enough for the three of us and the twins, even Julian since I know he wouldn't want to be apart from them."
"But I didn't get in to any of the New York schools I applied to," Tina frowned.
"So? Adalynn didn't apply anywhere," Bailey shrugged. "I found an online program that'll allow me to stay home with the twins while I work towards getting my degree. You could do the same."
"We don't need a plan, T," Adalynn smiled softly. "The rules don't apply to us. They never have. We make our own rules and figure things out along the way. If one thing doesn't work, then we keep trying until we get it right."
"And no matter what happens, we're gonna have each other," Bailey said as she put an arm around Tina's shoulders.
"Tina, we've known each other our whole lives. If our friendship can survive 13 years of petty drama, rumors, bullies, high school hell... we can survive anything," Adalynn said as she took the other brunette's hand. "So, what do you say?"
The room was quiet for a moment as Tina thought things over. She looked between her talented best friend and her equally talented, gorgeous girlfriend, a small smile forming on her lips.
"You're right," Tina nodded with a smile. "We don't need a plan. Let's do this."
Adalynn and Bailey squealed in excitement as they hugged Tina. The three friends stayed in the embrace for a moment before pulling away, but keeping their fingers laced together.
"You know what we need to do?" Adalynn asked with a slight smirk. "We need to say goodbye to this place with some heroism and some drama. We gotta do something so epic that in 30 years' time, we can just call each other up and reminisce about it."
"You mean like having Julian torch the place?" Bailey asked, cocking her head to the side with her brows slightly furrowed.
"No," Adalynn chuckled. "No Julian allowed. Just the three of us. I was thinking more like an overnight lock-in. I can talk to Sue and get her permission."
"Sounds dangerous," Bailey grinned. "I'm in."
"Me too," Tina smiled.
"Three way show circle?" Adalynn asked as she put her hand in the middle of the small circle they were in.
Bailey and Tina exchanged a smile before putting their hands in the middle.
"One," Adalynn counted. "Two... three."
"Aaaamazing!" the trio shouted as they threw their hands into the air.
****
Sue said no. She said it would be irresponsible to let three teenagers be alone in the school after hours. However, Adalynn, Bailey, and Tina weren't gonna take no for an answer.
The plan was simple. When everyone was distracted learning choreography, Adalynn would sneak up to the top row of risers and unlock one of the windows, Bailey would hide a duffel-bag of snacks, games, and drinks behind the band equipment, and Tina was in charge of bringing comfy outfits that would allow them to blend into the night and move stealthily through the bushes to climb the wall and sneak into the school.
Now, it was time to put that plan into action.
"I'm beginning to think we made this so much harder than it needed to be," Tina grunted as Bailey and Adalynn gave her a boost so she could climb through the open window. She landed on the floor of the choir room with a thud, shaking the pain off as she looked around. "All clear!" she whisper-shouted.
Adalynn came through the window, followed by Bailey, who's years of dance training allowed her to land gracefully on her feet. She did a pirouette before jumping off the risers, her legs perfectly straight as she did a grand jeté.
"Show off," Adalynn scoffed with a playful roll of her eyes as she went to collect the bag hidden behind the instruments.
"I'm kinda starting to get cold feet here," Tina whispered. "We could get into so much trouble."
"Don't worry. I paid some nerd in the AV club 50 bucks to disable the security cameras for the night," Adalynn said as she poured some tequila into three red solo cups. "They'll come back on at 6 in the morning, and we'll be gone by then."
"We just have to leave everything where we found it," Bailey said as she took one of the plastic red cups from Adalynn. "As long as we don't make a mess and we're out of here by 5:30, we'll be fine."
"Don't you guys feel a little guilty about lying to our parents about sleeping over at Marley's?" Tina asked. "I mean, what if they call Ms. Rose and she tells them we're not there? Then we'll get in trouble and it's bye-bye New York."
"T, you worry too much," Adalynn said as she handed her a cup. "Now, I hereby declare this to be the best... night... ever."
The three friends clinked their cups together before taking a long drink of the burning liquid.
"Let's get this party started," Bailey smirked.
"It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters and make fun of our exes. Uh-uh, uh-uh," Adalynn sang as she took her hair out of the high pony-tail it was in.
"It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight, to fall in love with strangers. Uh-uh, uh-uh," Bailey sang as she took Tina's hand and twirled her around.
"Yeah, we're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time," Tina sang, her worries disappearing as a smile spread across her lips. "It's miserable and magical, oh yeah. Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines. It's time, oh-oh."
"I don't know about you, but I'm feelin' twenty-two," the trio sang as they each downed the rest of their drink. "Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you. You don't know about me, but I'll bet you want to. Everything will bе alright if we just keep dancin' like we're twenty-two. Twenty-two."
"It seems like one of those nights this place is too crowded. Too many cool kids. Uh-uh, uh-uh," Adalynn sang as they picked the lock to Emma Pillsbury's office.
"It seems like one of those nights we ditch the whole scene and end up dreamin' instead of sleepin'," Bailey sang, laughing as she showed Tina and Adalynn a pamphlet entitled, 'I'm too depressed to open this pamphlet.'
"Yeah, we're happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way," Tina sang, laughing at a pamphlet that said, 'Is that my period, or have I been shot?' "It's miserable and magical, oh, yeah."
"Tonight's the night when we forget about the heartbreaks," Adalynn sang. "It's time, oh-oh."
"Hey! I don't know about you, but I'm feelin' twenty-two. Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you. You don't know about me, but I'll bet you want to. Everything will be alright if we just keep dancin' like we're twenty-two. Twenty-two. Twenty-two, twenty-two, ooh."
"It feels like one of those nights we ditch the whole scene," Bailey sang as she used a fire extinguisher to blast herself down the hall in a rolly-chair.
"It feels like one of those nights we won't be sleepin'," Adalynn sang as she did a cartwheel.
"It feels like one of those nights. You look like bad news. I gotta have you, I gotta have you," Tina sang as they went back to the choir room to get another drink. "Ooh, oh. Yeah, hey, yeah."
"Hey! I don't know about you, but I'm feelin' twenty-two," the trio sang as they tipsily danced around the choir room. "Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you. You don't know about me, but I'll bet you want to. Everything will be alright if we just keep dancin' like we're twenty-two. Ooh, woah-oh-oh-oh. Twenty-two."
"Dancing like," Bailey sang, twirling around with her arms above her head. "Twenty-two. Twenty-two."
"It feels like one of those nights we ditch the whole scene," Tina sang.
"It feels like one of those nights we won't be sleepin'," Adalynn sang, posing dramatically.
"It feels like one of those nights. You look like bad news," Bailey sang as she tossed her empty cup into the trash bin and walked up to Tina, her hands placed firmly on her hips. "I gotta have you. I gotta have you."
The couple kissed before all three of them collapsed on the floor in a drunken haze of laughter.
****
"What do you think is gonna happen to this place when we leave?" Bailey asked as she, Tina, and Adalynn sat around the piano the next day before Glee Club. "I mean, there are only gonna be, like, three people in the New Directions."
"It feels so weird to think about Glee Club going on without us," Tina shook her head.
"Well, at least we can leave them with a second national championship to remember us with," Adalynn shrugged as Jori, Artie, Blaine, and Sam came into the choir room. "Hey, guys, did you want to join us?" she asked as she turned to the four other seniors. "We're just having a little senior moment."
"I don't want to interrupt your power trio," Artie said bitterly with a roll of his eyes as the bell rang and the rest of the Glee Club filed into the choir room.
Adalynn, Bailey, and Tina took a seat in the back row of the risers as Mr. Schue walked in clapping his hands together.
"Alright," the teacher began. "Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, one week until nationals," he said as everyone cheered. "I was planning on ordering dinner in and working you guys deep into the night, but then I realized that worrying you too much about what you're trying to accomplish actually gets in the way of what you're trying to accomplish."
"Ew, is he talking about him and Ms. Pillsbury's sex life?" Adalynn whispered to Bailey and Tina as they made a disgusted face.
"And as a coach who knows what a national championship team looks like, I have to say... you guys are ready," Mr. Schue continued with a smile. "Except for one thing. Don't forget your sunblock. Because this time next week, we are gonna be in sunny Los Angeles!" he exclaimed as the club cheered again.
"Wait, Mr. Schue," Bailey said as she stood up and went to the front of the room. "So, for us seniors, this is one of our last Glee Club meetings. It's kind of a big deal, and we were wondering if we could do one last number," she said as Tina and Adalynn also came to the front.
"Yes, of course," Mr. Schue said as he sat down.
"And, we wanted to ask Artie, Blaine, Sam, and Jori to join us," Adalynn said as she sent her fellow seniors a smile. "Seven voices are better than three."
The four other seniors exchanged a look with one another before smiling and going up to the front of the choir room.