Appearance vs Reality

By Caitriona MacTaggart - Year 12, Cromwell College

She sat in the dark thinking.

Her brain ticked in time with the beat of the bass that was pounding through the thin walls.

It caused a shiver to run down her spine as she replayed the night's events, painfully comparing them to what she had envisioned such a night might be like.

Numerous times had she sat on her bed scrolling through photos of parties, craving to be there.

She still held the drink that'd been handed to her the second she'd walked through the door.

However it was no longer chilled and she had no desire to drink it.

She'd been invited there of course but she'd only turned up due to the curiosity bubbling within her.

Maybe, she had thought, I'll get a taste of the good life and really see how much I've been missing out on.

The party was starting to die downstairs and shed stayed in the living room as long as she could, but the stinging smell of alcohol and sweat had started to make her feel nauseous.

There were still a few stragglers partying, stumbling round to the rhythm of the music and drowning tomorrow in alcohol.

Occasionally a clammy hand would reach for her, trying to pull her into the throng.

But she held her ground watching on, horrified, until she was the last one standing straight.

That's how she'd found herself in the laundry, sat atop the dryer at 4am on a Sunday morning.

It had been far below her expectations of what a high school party should be like.

How had the movies painted it so wrong?

There was no real dancing, no singing apart from the occasional screamed chorus and definitely no elaborate decorations.

Instead there was chaos.

''Hey,'' a soft voice said, breaking her train of thought and bringing her surroundings to the front of her mind.

She hadn't even noticed the door opening.

''You hang out in laundries often do you?'' the voice asked.

She half expected whoever it was to turn on the light but they didn't.

Instead they positioned themselves adjacent to her on top of the washing machine.

''No,'' she laughed, ''can't say I do''.

She could just make out her silhouette through the trickle of light coming from under the door.

The girl sitting next to her was holding a drink in one hand and a book in the other.

Her feet were bare and her top looked to be soaking wet.

''Oh,'' the girl said abruptly, ''my name's Aysia by the way''.

''Grace,'' she said, reaching out through the darkness they both shook hands in an oddly formal manner.

''I've never actually been to a party before. It's not what I was expecting,'' Grace admitted shyly.

Aysia nodded slowly. ''Most of those guys out there are good people but the alcohol changes them you know?''

If Grace was being honest she had no idea what Aysia was talking about.

But then again, hadn't she seen her classmates transformed into animals tonight? ''Do you want to get out of here?'' Grace asked.

She couldn't take much more of sitting in the dingy laundry even with Aysia's company.

''Sure,'' she replied, swinging down off the washing machine before extending her hand to help Grace down.

Stepping into the light the house seemed deserted. The music had been shut off and the hum of voices had disappeared.

The girls picked their way through the hallway dodging people's belongings and the occasional person.

Walking into the living room was like walking into a war zone.

There were plastic cups littered everywhere mixed with bottles and splinters of glass.

Stepping out into the cool morning light, she felt an immense weight lift off her shoulders.

She no longer felt trapped in the confines of the party or the confines of the lies the movies and her classmates told.

How could she have been so naive to believe that she was missing out on so much?

Perhaps her expectations had been raised too high or perhaps the reality of it was just incredibly low.

''A penny for your thoughts?'' Aysia asked as the girls made their way down the street in a comfortable silence, leaving the treacherous night and its mounting disappointment behind them.

''I think,'' Grace started, a thought forming in her mind as the horrors of what she had just seen washed over her. ''I think parties are a waste of time.''

''Go on,'' Ayisa urged.

''Why throw a party and not even be able to remember it in the morning? I just don't get it,'' she finished, letting out a deep sigh.

''You know what Grace?'' Aysia said, ''neither do I''.

Then, without a second glance they walked around the corner, hair askew, one missing shoes and their drinks long forgotten.

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