Kenya and I had decided to wear matching dresses to the party. They were silver under the indoor lighting, with a shiny, almost glossy finish. Kenya's hugged her curves perfectly, making me once again envious of her figure. Mine almost draped off of me, hiding the square block of my stick figure. Still, we looked amazing. It was almost a shame to have to wear the graduation gowns over them. But at least that way we weren't distracting anyone at the ceremony.

Not that we didn't need the distraction at the ceremony. From what my parents had told me over the years, graduation ceremonies have been the same dull, boring events for generations. For millennia. Ever since they were started, back on the Earth of old. Back before the wars. Back before the aliens and demons. Back before magic.

I managed to catch up on some of the sleep that Kenya so carelessly deprived me of that morning. She bumped me when I started to snore during the valedictorian's speech, and when I needed to go up to be presented. Kenya insisted that I didn't miss anything during the rest of it.

"Same old, same old," Kenya said. "The speeches were better in that movie we saw last summer. Graduation Night, or whatever it was."

We were walking up the aisle in the auditorium, heading for the exit and the party beyond. I waved up at the VR camera hovering near the exit. The class was big enough that the auditorium didn't have space for guests. Mom and Dad would have watched from home, as if they were actually there, getting the same view as all the other parents on the planet.

They were supposed to be creating another high school, over by Factory City, opposite us from the factories. It would mean smaller class sizes in the future, but it wasn't scheduled to open for another couple of years. I was just glad that it wasn't earlier, or I wouldn't have graduated with Kenya. She lived just close enough to Factory City to be in that district.

There was another set of VR cameras just outside of the auditorium. I grabbed a pair of AR glasses, quickly connecting them to my implant through the wireless connection. Unlike most surfaces, the glasses were actually powered and could hold the connection. Mom and Dad were standing off to the side, near the far VR camera, though there was already a line forming for it. As I settled into the line, I started to look around for Mr. Burch.

"Oh, he's logged onto the same camera," I told Kenya, even pointing at him standing next to my parents. I couldn't tell if they were together at my house or if they were logged in under the same party. Or if it was just coincidence.

"Let me see," Kenya said. She grabbed the glasses off my face, putting them on herself. "I hate not having my own implant. Think I'll get one when we get to the Pilgrims?" She waved emphatically at her father. I could imagine him waving back just as spiritedly, but I couldn't see myself.

"Probably. I might even get to score an upgrade on mine. The damn thing is like fifteen years old. I hear there's one now that's flat against the arm."

"Is that even safe?" Kenya asked.

I just shrugged. We made small talk as we waited for our turns to get our pics taken through VR. As people peeled off, they were returning their robes to the rack off to the side and heading down to the party in the gym. Part of me wanted to skip out of the pictures to make sure that the snacks had made it out in time. But I'd never hear the end of that from Mom and Dad if I skipped out of the pics.

"We're next," Kenya shrieked, drawing my attention back to the shorter line in front of us. I grabbed the glasses back from her before stepping forward into the targeted space.

"Congratulations," all three of them said together. It seemed much rehearsed.

"Let's get a few of the two of you together first, okay?" Mom said.

"How about a few with us together, then me alone," I said. "Then I can pass the glasses to Kenya and go check on the party."

"Sounds good to me," Mr. Burch said. "Make sure to send me some copies, will you? Your cameras are so much better than mine."

"Oh, Dad, you know even the two credit ones are amazing quality, right?" Kenya said. She was pressing her head against mine so she could hear through the glasses. "Come on, take some pictures already so we can get going."

"Ooh, keep that pose for a moment," Mom said. "You look gorgeous together."

"It's a good thing they're not seeing our dresses," Kenya mumbled.

"What was that?" Mr. Burch asked.

"Nothing Dad," she screamed in my ear.

"Just a few more," Mom said, as she snapped about a hundred photos. Fortunately, the AR glasses didn't show up in the VR, so I didn't look like a total dork in the pictures. "Okay, I think I got a few good ones. Now, a more relaxed pose? Now, more sophisticated. Ooh, playful."

"Barb, honey," Dad said. "They're graduating, not trying out for Terran Alliance's Next Top Model. I think we have enough of them together. I'd like a good one of just Dor. No offense, Kenya."

"Kenya can't hear you, Dad," I said. "We're up to me alone."

"Aw," Kenya said, before stepping off to the side. I just rolled my eyes before giving Mom three quick poses and passed her the glasses.

"Have fun." I waved towards her as I headed over to the rack. My robe came off quickly and easily. I tossed it on top of the others, rather than properly hanging it, as I headed down the hall to the party.

Jam and Pie were sitting behind the ticket counter as I headed around the corner to the main lobby. They were the junior class president and vice president. As I rushed past the long line trying to get into the party, they just waved at me, letting me through. I smiled over at them, remembering being stuck there for hours just the year before. It sucked, especially since I had been sitting with Jenny that whole time instead of Kenya. But at least it let the seniors actually enjoy the party rather than missing it.

There weren't many people in the party just yet, with most people still in line outside. Which was just as well, as the refreshments were just sitting there on the table. None of the bags had been opened, and it looked like the pop was still warm. With a quick glance to the projector above, making sure it hadn't run out of juice just yet, I spent the better part of the next few millies getting everything set up, and cursing Jenny for having bailed on us at the worst possible time. Halfway through dishing out the snacks, I felt it when the AR glasses disconnected. My implant let out a slight shock and the display flashed twice before going blank.

"Your parents say to have fun," Kenya said. She came over to join me right when I was done. The pop was just coming out of the nuke freeze. They immediately frosted over, with the high humidity that had filtered in from outside.

"Damn straight," I said. I placed the pop on the table and left the setup to be destroyed by the monsters that I had to go to school with. "No more party planning for us. Now it's time for party enjoying."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Hear, hear," she called out.

She grabbed me by the hand and led me out onto the dance floor. All thoughts of decorum immediately disintegrated as we gyrated together to the tunes of some weird song that I had never heard before. The DJ was off in a far corner somewhere, playing his tunes through the projector above. I didn't get to choose the playlist, or the DJ. That was all on Hug, the senior class historian. As the crowd bobbed and weaved around me, I thought I actually saw him over in the corner. That did not bode well for the music selection.

"Hello, graduates," Fom called out, as he and Evan finally made it through the line. While I had roped Fom into helping out with the party, and he in turn got Evan involved, neither of them was in the student council or the graduation party committee. So, they didn't get in for free like the rest of us. When I looked towards him, and the lobby beyond, I could see the crowded line outside was only getting bigger.

"Ugh," I said. I made to go out to check on Pie and Jam, but Kenya grabbed my arm before I could go far.

"Oh, no you don't," she said. "Let the stupid juniors deal with that. Remember, you're off the clock. You graduated. You're not the vice president of anything anymore."

"You're right," I said. "I'm not the vice president. With Jenny abdicating, I'm president."

"Oh, nonsense," Fom said. He came over next to me, scooped me off my feet, and started twirling me around in a circle. "Right now, you're a graduate and my girlfriend. And, in about a diddy or so, you'll be a Pilgrim. So, let's just enjoy this time together, eh?"

Evan came over with him. He stood awkward next to Kenya as they both rocked back and forth to the music. They seemed to align together in their movements, without really trying. It made me wish that whatever happened between them didn't happen. They had always been great together. And I knew Kenya wouldn't be one to throw out a good thing like that. That's how I knew that it was all Evan's fault.

Fom was wearing the same tux that he had worn to prom. As we were dancing, I could just see the edge of the ketchup stain that he had gotten that night. Evan, on the other hand, was wearing a fleet uniform. It didn't fit him all that well, as it was wider in the shoulders and the legs had been rolled up a little. I suspected that it had once belonged to his father, who was in the same community of retired fleet officers as my father. Yet, he'd be getting his own uniform soon enough.

After a song, Kenya and Evan headed off towards the refreshments table together. I watched them as Fom spun me around on the dance floor, wondering if I would need to go over there and break up a fight. The seniors continued to trickle in from the lobby, and eventually filled in the room, blocking my view of our two best friends.

"Relax," Fom said. He had to lean in close to me so I could hear him over the music. It seemed like the more people were inside the room, the louder the music got. "They're adults. They'll be fine. Kenya can take care of herself just fine. These is the last few millies that we'll be dating for. I'd like to actually enjoy them, if you wouldn't mind. More than that, I want you to enjoy them."

"I am enjoying them," I said. I laughed as the familiar doubting look played across his face. "I am. Really. I would just be enjoying them more if Kenya and Evan weren't fighting."

"They're not fighting. Believe me, I would have preferred it if they were fighting."

"What do you know that I don't?"

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "All I know is that Kenya called it off, said it was her not him, and gave no explanation. Or, at least, that's what he said. I got the feeling there's more to it, but nothing bad. Nothing he did. Trust me. I'd know if he did something. He told me about that time that he..."

"That he what?" I asked, when it became clear that he wasn't going to finish that thought.

"That who what?" he asked. "Fine, if you're so worried about them, why don't we head over there. I need a pop anyway."

I nodded to him and we started pushing our way through the crowded space. When we passed through a clearing, I got a decent look at the doors and saw that the juniors had finally caught up with the attendees. They were down to about twenty or so left out there, and soon those too would be inside enjoying the last hurrah of our high school careers. I hated the thought of anyone missing out on that.

Kenya and Evan were both leaning against the wall, not too far away from the refreshment stand. Kenya was actively tapping her foot, much like she would whenever she wanted to go dancing but Evan refused to. Evan wasn't one to dance in public. At most of the dances over the years, that meant I'd be trading off between Fom and Kenya throughout the night. It would probably be happening again, except Fom and I had made an agreement that we would spend as much time together as possible, before I went off with the Pilgrims. Besides, Kenya and I would have plenty of time to be together.

"See?" Fom said, pointing at the two of them. "No one is bleeding."

"Yet," I said.

Fom and I split up, with him heading towards the mob swarming around the refreshments stand and I headed off towards Kenya.

"Having fun?" she asked, as I slid over to the open space on the wall next to her. The door to the storage closet was right there, but I didn't mind. It was too early for people to slide in there to make out just yet.

Or, at least, too early for them to try to slip back out again.

"Loads," I insisted. "You?"

"Sure, sure," she said. She just nodded as her eyes invariably flicked towards her now ex-boyfriend. It was no different than when they were actually dating. "Is it time yet?"

She grabbed my arm, pulling my implant up towards her so that she could look at it. My skin tingled at the touch of her finger as she played it across the implant, bringing up my notifications on the almost clear skin of my arm. The colors bled onto my dress as it picked up the reflection, making it look like an odd painting.

"Oh, look," someone said. "They're holding hands. Isn't that just disgusting." I looked over towards the speaker, confused at just what he was talking about. Mark and Duke seemed to emerge from the parting crowd as if it were a fog over the micomagai fields.

"Absolutely revolting," Duke agreed. "Are you two running off to the fleet like those other dykes?"

Kenya suddenly dropped my hand. She pulled her arms across her chest protectively and looked down at the floor, embarrassed. I wasn't sure what she had to be embarrassed about. Mark and Duke were two of the dumbest in our class. I had heard that they only graduated because of a technicality.

"Oh, grow up," I shouted at Mark. "Not everyone holding hands is secretly together. We're best friends. We share everything. Including hands."

"Yea," Evan said.

"What's the matter? Didn't get dates yourselves?" I asked. "Or... Are you dating each other? I've seen you two together more often than Kenya and I are. I'd say you're much more likely to be secretly a couple than us."

"Oh, yea right," Duke said. "I wouldn't be caught dead dating another man. The two of you on the other hand. I mean, you both spent diddies together with that other dyke. Jenny." He said her name with more sneer than I thought could be fit inside a single word.

"Jenny seemed perfectly fine to us. Right, Kenya?" I asked. I didn't wait for a response. "If she wants to go off and ruin her life, that's her business. I'm not one to point fingers at that sort of thing."

"Yea," Evan said again. When Mark and Duke turned to him, though, he immediately shut up and tried to take a step backwards. With the wall right there, though, there was nowhere to go.

"But the fact that you seemed to feel the need to go out of your way to badmouth someone that isn't even here anymore? I think that says more about you than her."

"Did I miss something?" Fom said. He came over to stand next to us, passing me one of the pops in the process. The red plastic cup felt cold in my hand, and I was just glad that I wouldn't need to put the pop back in the nuke freeze.

"Nothing worthwhile," I said.

"Come on, Duke," Mark said. He waved us off as the two of them melded back into the crowd together.

"Well, that was interesting," Evan said.

"Thanks for that," Kenya whispered to me.

"Um... sure," I said. I was a bit confused why she was thanking me. It wasn't like those two idiots had really been insulting her. Whatever they were so worked up about was clearly all about them. Them and Jenny.

"I think they're both just creeped out right now," Fom said. "I heard that Mark actually asked Jenny to this dance."

"Seriously?" I asked, shocked. "That idiot is so not her type."

"I'll say," Kenya said. She smiled broadly as she quickly went back to her usually cheerful self.

"That's not... I mean, even if she were straight, dating Mark would have so been dating down. Well... I guess Amy wasn't that much better."

"I heard that Amy was secretly smart," Evan said. "Like officer material. It was just that she was trying to avoid drawing attention to herself. I guess I could understand that."

"Whatever," I said. "Dad's right anyway. Once we get offplanet, we won't have to deal with people like Mark and Duke."

"Speak of the devil," Kenya said, as she pointed towards my arm.

The notifications display was still active on my implant. An alert popped up that I had received an email. Notification sounds rang out all over the room as it seemed like everyone in the room got their own emails. Most of the people getting them just glanced at their implant for a moment before going back to dancing. A few people just shrugged as the rejection just rolled off their backs. The Pilgrims only took a few people from each colonized world every year.

This year it would be us.