Prepsworth Academy

Epilogue

ElleNine months laterI staredup at the sky, the stars glittering in subtle shades of purple, white and blue,stark in the clear sky. Smoke curled up into the sky, rising from a fire,flickering in shades of orange and yellow, embers settling in the grass aroundme, beaming like fireflies in the darkness. I brought my now ever-presentleather jacket tighter around me, trying to ward off some of the bitter cold. Dylan,Rose, Jake, Amy, Lily, Tom, Emma, Harry and I were huddled around the fire, theshadows flickering across our faces. We had just begun our first gap year, andhad decided to spend it at Emma and Harry's new holiday house, near theGlenveagh National Park in Ireland. The house itself was small, at leastcompared to what most of us were used to, and cosy, with fireplaces in almostevery room. We were just outside the house, in a clearing amidst a sprawlingforest, dark green and teeming with life. We were holding unlit sparklers inone hand, joking with each other across the fire."Jake,when are you going to paint pictures of me?" Dylan asked mockingly. Jake rolledhis eyes."When youshrink, and become a blond dancer named Amy." He replied. "I mean –that can be done." Harry said, nudging Dylan. Emma elbowed Harry softly."You'renot funny!" She exclaimed exasperatedly, but it was light-hearted, and met witha laugh.It wasalmost unnerving how well everything had turned for us. We were all somewherealong the way of following our goals, and we'd all gotten fairly good resultsin the HSC. The one hole in our otherwise perfect lives was what had happenednine months ago, which was still lingering on everyone's minds, especiallyRose's. She was better than she had been, but wasn't the same. None of us were.For better or for worse, we were completely different people than we had been ayear prior. Not unrecognisable, but different enough. I rolled my eyes,laughing outwardly, but on the inside, I'd dragged myself back to what hadhappened a year ago. We'd all been too confused, too sad to think about itinitially, but soon everything had pieced together. The night before Rae,Millie and Natasha's arrival, Natasha had written an article about Becca, andeverything that she'd done. It had been published the morning of Lukas' death,and Miller had seen at and immediately raced to the beach house with the restof the police squad, where he had found Lukas' body, and all of us crowdedaround him. Everyone except Matthew had quickly accused Becca of everything,and Natasha, Rae, and Millie had been forgiven for their part in everything on bytestifying against Becca on a plea deal. It should've felt lucky but t he factthat Miller, and a fair amount of his squad was, undeniably, corrupt made mefeel sick, as well as the fact that we were all trapped in the mess of lies andscandal, but I'd gotten pretty good at forgetting what had happened. Everything had wrapped up pretty neatly afterthe trial. Millie and Natasha had all stayed at Prepsworth and had beenforgiven, partly because everyone was so scared by Lukas' death that it feltimpossible to hold a grudge, and partly because they'd been manipulated intohelping Becca. With the information that had arisen on the day of Lukas' death,an inquiry was started into Rae's brother's expulsion, and it was quicklyerased from his permanent record. Rae seemed more open afterwards, and Rae,Natasha and Millie quickly became best friends, planning to go on their gapyear together.After thetrial, which was widely publicised and marketed as "The Scandal Of The Year!",Adelaide called me. I picked up the phone, and answered the unknown number,and, upon hearing her voice through the phone, screamed, and dropped my phone.When I'd picked it up, she explained that she'd thought that I didn't need heranymore, and that she'd only be a burden, despite the fact that she was gettingbetter. She'd left the psychiatric facility, and was living with Eliza, Dylan'ssister, in an apartment in Sydney. And, just like that, both Dylan and I gotour big sister's back. We'd allspent the rest of Year Twelve with very little drama to speak of, save forRose's breakdowns. Sometimes in class, or in the hallways, or at dinner, she'dsuddenly break down, curl up into a ball and start crying, loud, echoing sobs.The few people that dared to make fun of her were quickly insulted oradmonished by one of us, depending which one of us happened to be there at thetime. It was difficult to watch, but, eventually, they happened less and less,and then not at all. Rose hadn't forgotten what happened, not in the slightest,but some of the pain had softened. Amy, Lukas and Rose had quickly formed agroup together, each of them having known Lukas better than anyone else, Lukasand Rose especially so. We all had stuck in a group, brought together by whathad happened, and the knowledge that no one else could ever understand, or knowfully what had happened. No one ever would. Ever tiny, minuscule fact thatcaused an inexplicable chain reaction could never be fully documented. I knew,that one day, when I was old, and had settled down, fulfilled all of my dreams,that I'd tell the truth. Too many things had happened to make this somethingthat could go away without any consequences. But for now, I would live my life,and live it to the fullest."So, howdo we do this?" Lily asked, staring at the sparklers in her hand. "I thinkwe just dip the sparkler into the fire." I guessed.

"Here goes. Three, two, one!" Tom exclaimed, and we set the sparklers onfire. The end was glowing a brightwhite, sparkling and crackling in the darkness. Everyone backed away into thedarkness, our glowing sparklers the only sign of where we were, aside from thefaint outlines of our shapes. From there on, we danced, spinning and leaping wildly.Ethereal and carefree, like spirits of the night. Floating on air, burstingwith light, I danced, feeling my bare feet brush the grass. The cold air waslike a blanket around me, and the night glowed with a million stars, pin-pricksof magic. Around me, everyone else danced too, whirling and laughing. A burstof laughter escaped my lips, bright and soft, and soon I was dizzy withhappiness and euphoria. Everyone came closer in, and soon we were dancingtogether, and our laughs joined together to ring across the clearing. I felt everything that had been building upfor so long slide away into the darkness, leaving me breathless and weightless,my feet barely touching the ground. I felt so young, so carefree, and my lipscurved into a smile as I walked toward Dylan, taking his hand and spinningmyself around. I stepped back, beside Dylan and watched as everyone else dancedand laughed, spreading sparks of pure light. And, as I twirled in and joinedeveryone else, Dylan by my side and surrounded by my friends, I could finallyunderstand what Rose had been talking about, what she'd wanted so much. WhatJake had given up, if only so we could get it. What I'd been chasing for solong, what had danced just outside of my reach. The word was a whisper of wind,a dandelion in the wind, a snowflake drifting to the ground. Free.