AUGUST: “I was at another party I didn’t want to be at. Everyone had returned from their ridiculous summer homes, and my high school class was back for one last big one before we all went away to school.”
FYI: I wasn’t coming back from anywhere—no second home for me. I was working, bussing tables every day all summer. It was fun, well, sometimes, and I was making coin.
We were at the usual spot, Castleton’s Castle, an insane stone fortress, which was built before the Revolutionary War. It’s a national landmark. No one’s allowed inside, but there are a few picnic tables in the back. It’s perched on a hill, overlooking the river, within walking distance for everyone in Castleton. As long as we didn’t do anything stupid like puke our brains out, the village’s private security force let us be.
I don’t want to be here. I shouldn’t be here. I’m done. I just finished a double, and I have another tomorrow. And I’ve already heard what these characters have to say a zillion times before—and you probably have too. High school kids. What do they know? High school kids with money. Yeah, they have it figured out because they never had to.
No, I haven’t figured it out.
Anyway, I couldn’t bear to hear these kids talk about their big plans. But Rosemary wanted to stop by, so here we are. Yeah, Rosemary. She’s my girlfriend. She calls the shots. As Rosemary did her thing, I stepped away and sat on one of the benches overlooking the river. I enjoyed the breeze and started doing what I do: strumming words together.
No stars in the sky as we fake goodbyes.
We all make promises that turn out to be lies.
As this—whatever it was—ran through my mind, I was interrupted. TTK, one of Castleton’s it kids, took a seat next to me, a plastic cup of beer in each hand. “You want one?” he asked. TTK is short for The Taliban Kid. He has an insane story.
His parents had been in the Taliban, and he’s an orphan. One of our classmates, Davis Palmer, discovered TTK on Instagram and recruited him to Castleton. Davis wrote his college essay about the experience, and it helped him get accepted to an it school. An it school is a school that everyone wants to attend. I won’t bore you with the names. You already know them, and I’m sick of hearing them. Anyway, there are different categories of it schools. There are elite “it” schools, medium “it” schools, barely “it” schools, and wannabe “it” schools.
“I’m good,” I told TTK. I wasn’t. After a day of bussing tables, I wanted no part of this mess. I just wanted to swim into Rosemary’s delightful green eyes.
Alcohol would make me sleepy. I wasn’t much of a drinker anyway. Even during the school year, I worked at the restaurant a lot. It felt like I was there more than at school. If I were hungover, I just couldn’t deal.
Graphic courtesy X
“What’s your name again?” TTK asked with a friendly smile. We’d run against one another for class secretary freshman year, which now seemed like a lifetime ago. There were seven other candidates. Why on earth would so many people want to be class secretary? We wanted extracurriculars for our college applications.
Yeah, we’re all frauds.
In case you’re wondering: I finished sixth, at least officially. Two other candidates on the ballot announced at the last minute that they were no longer interested. I was never interested, but I stuck it out. TTK won decisively. This kid was going places.
“Dylan,” I answered, pretending not to be annoyed.
“Dylan Mills. Of course, I know your name; I was just being stupid.” Ironic. TTK was anything but that. I forced a smile, but it was probably a grimace. I didn’t know TTK’s actual name. No one did. Most probably didn’t even know what TTK stood for.
TTK did have a certain ring to it. TTK had done an incredible job of assimilating into Castleton, way better than I had.
“How’s your night going?” I asked. I should speak to at least one person while I was there.
“Not that great,” TTK said dejectedly.
“What’s up?”
“Melissa and I broke up.”
“What happened?” I knew Melissa vaguely, which meant we passed each other in the school hallway. “We’re going away to different schools. We figured it’d be easier to start over with a clean slate.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” I nodded, pretending again. I didn’t see it. If TTK could survive whatever hell he’d been through, he could survive a temporary separation. C’mon!
Thanksgiving was three months away.
“What’s the plan for you and Rosemary?”
The question was a firm punch to the gut. It was what I’d been desperately trying to avoid. We had no plan. Rosemary was my plan. Since I had no answer, and I didn’t want to answer, I didn’t.
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Published by The Sager Group (2022)
OVERVIEW OF PARTY SCHOOL: Meet Dylan Mills. No biggie. High school senior, glee club dropout, and fifth-string hockey goalie, he’s a likable underachiever set to attend Party School, a small-town college notorious for raucous celebration. The only thing is, Dylan doesn’t party. All he cares about is his high school sweetheart, Rosemary Silversmith. Rosemary is everything to Dylan: she’s incredible; his parents adore her. She’s, like, the one thing he seems to have done right in his whole life. Unfortunately, Rosemary will not be going to Party School. She’s got grades and potential. She’s going to one of those colleges parents brag about. She is, frankly, embarrassed by Party School.
Available online and through your local bookstore.
This is a hilarious read. Loved it.