Something New Yet So Familiar

Sparring Sessions

The first month of school after winter break was always the worst. The realization that you didn't have as many days off from school as you did before winter break hit, and time somehow seemed to slow down. Teachers were a lot harder on you than they were in the first semester, and Seniors now had to worry about college decisions, prom, graduation and what they were going to do with their lives the moment high school ended.

It brought a lot of stress, but also a lot of excitement, as summer was only a few months away and once the school year was done, everyone had three months of freedom until having to return back to studying for nine months straight. Needless to say, nobody was excited for the entire month of January, and everyone wished that winter break hadn't ended, or that summer would just come around sooner.

Tara, Amber, the Meeks-Martin twins, Liv, Anika, Wes and Quinn had a fun winter break, though. The little New Year's getaway to Lake Tahoe was very fun and all eight teens spent it skiing/snowboarding, ice skating, building snowmen and having snowball fights. They also all found out that they got accepted into Blackmore University on Early Admission, and would be moving to New York together.

The moment those news got out, the eight teens celebrated by throwing a mini party and having a few drinks, even though it left them with having to go buy more alcohol for New Year's eve, which was three days away at the time they found out. Luckily, everyone had their Fake IDs on them, so the alcohol situation wasn't an issue for any of them.

Tara called her sister immediately that night, and Sam, although unable to celebrate with her sister and her sister's friends to the full extent, had a few drinks with them while on call. The rest of the group settled on calling their family the next morning, just because they didn't want their parents to see them in the state they were in at the time.

Calling your parents while you're drunk and are underage was a bit awkward, plus Wes' mom, Quinn's dad and Liv's parents were under the impression that they had adult supervision there. They thought that Kirby and Sam ended up coming with the group, when neither of the women did.

So yeah, needless to say the group had a very fun week while in Lake Tahoe. It was good, though, as everyone needed that little getaway and it also allowed them to have a bit of freedom without the constant supervision of adults, especially when they were adults themselves. To be fair, though, you're hardly an adult at 18, but none of the eight teens saw or understood that yet. In due time, though, in due time. (A/N: and yes, i'm speaking from experience)

As for Tara and Amber's trip to Las Vegas, Chicago and New York, both girls enjoyed it very much. It was the first time they had traveled together and alone, and they were excited to have moments like this more often when they got older. Something about traveling with the love of your life was different and exciting.

The amount of adventures and experiences you had were so much better and special when it was you and your significant other together. Nothing could beat the feeling or the experience and excitement you got from it. Tara and Amber also talked about how they couldn't wait to show their kids photos of them when they were eighteen/nineteen and traveling around the USA, even if they only went to three cities/states.

It was a start, and both of them knew that they would travel to other places soon enough. Regardless, though, Tara and Amber had a lot of fun exploring and visiting different tourist attractions in each city, as well as exploring the cities themselves. They didn't have that much time to explore every single bit of each city (though there wasn't really much to explore in Las Vegas), but it was still something.

And, Amber and Tara now knew a little bit more about New York and where things were/what places to go to for different things, which was a huge help given that they were moving there in the middle of May with their friends.