Page 20

‘Prom night, baby!’

The video plays on an endless loop on Cameron’s phone: Chase jubilantly popping a bottle of champagne for the camera as the cork goes flying and hits Mr Harrington squarely in the side of his head.

That’s what made the video go viral.

That and the fact that it’s nine seconds of pure chaos.

There’s just so much going on in the background.

Firstly, there’s Josh and Owen – in their ridiculous outfits – running through the hall drenched in pig’s blood.

Then there’s Bec dancing with Cameron.

She spins him round so aggressively that he stumbles backwards into one of the candelabras.

It no doubt would have sent the whole place up in a blaze if it wasn’t for Madzikanda stepping in to catch it.

Then there’s Rhys and Tiffany.

If you look closely, you can see them arguing furiously up on the balcony.

You can’t hear what they’re saying, but you can tell it’s a gloves-off kind of argument.

I don’t know which of her heinous actions did it, but it seems that even Rhys – for all his flaws – had finally had enough of her.

You can feel the venom through the screen.

And finally me and Kellen.

Off to the side, barely even visible, sharing one single long, meaningful kiss.

The fireworks explode above us all, setting the scene, like a modern-day Feast of Dionysus .

Except instead of a painting it’s a TikTok video that loops in perpetuity.

I like to think that future generations will see this video playing somewhere in the Louvre.

‘I can’t believe it’s hit three million views,’ Bec says.

They’ve all come to Mum’s house for my birthday.

‘I think it’s the look on Harrington’s face that clinched the deal.’

‘I’m just still shocked that you got away with corking the headteacher.’

Cameron laughs. ‘I’d have thought that would have got you expelled for sure!’

‘God bless Madzikanda,’ Chase says with a grin.

She stepped in and argued that the school hadn’t done enough to protect him in the past. She said it would be a PR nightmare if they expelled him now.

Mr Harrington didn’t bend to that, so she threatened to walk out, and that’s what finally did it.

‘ God bless Madzikanda ’ is right.

We stayed in touch after we left.

Both me and Kellen got a blank email with the subject line Huckleberry .

We knew immediately who it was from and replied straight away.

Kellen had found this whole Reddit thread dedicated to a very specific subgroup of Oakbrook alumni.

Amazingly, Madzikanda didn’t even know it existed.

The stories on there are absolutely wild – enough to make mine and Kellen’s time at Oakbrook look tame .

Everyone uses fake names, of course – concealing their identities.

I guess they don’t want this somehow coming back to bite them.

Nobody wants to google their husband-to-be to find that they’re telling absolutely wild stories on the internet.

And some of the stories really are unbelievable .

To my dismay – and Kellen’s absolute delight – there are, in fact, not one but two stories about encountering a bear.

I’ve sort of come to terms with the fact that nobody outside this exclusive club will ever really believe us.

Madzikanda thinks I should write a ‘ fictional ’ screenplay about our experience.

I haven’t committed anything to paper yet, but I like that idea a lot.

‘Well, I think it’s iconic,’ Josh says, bringing my attention back to the video.

‘What does your mum think, Chase? Has she seen it yet?’

‘Of course she’s seen it.’

Chase laughs. ‘That woman is obsessed with TikTok. She knew it went viral before I did. She’s pretending to be mad with me, but I think she secretly finds it funny.

I’ve heard her replaying it like a bazillion times.

Half the views are her.’

‘I still can’t believe you’re a viral superstar,’ Owen says.

‘Tiffany must be livid.’

‘Oh, without a doubt,’ he says with a mischievous grin.

‘You should see the comments. My notifications are going nuts.’

The old guy is pisssedddddddddd , one person has written.

Low-key the most chaotic thing I’ve ever seen , writes another.

Excuse me why wasn’t my prom like this?

! That one has twenty thousand likes.

‘Oh my God,’ Cameron says then, stopping dead as he scrolls through the comments.

‘Gabi and Shanna have commented! They’re famous TikTokers!’

I remember him telling me they were his biggest inspiration.

‘Yeah!’ Chase says. ‘They messaged me! We’re going to the same university!’

‘You’re not serious?’

Cameron looks like he actually might burst.

‘I’m serious!’

Chase says. ‘Gabi is trans too. They said they wanna hang out. I’ve never had a trans friend before!

Not in real life anyway.’

‘Not just any trans friend!’ Cameron holds back a squeal.

‘A FAMOUS trans friend!’

‘You’re really a big fan, huh?’

Bec says, watching him light up.

‘Do you want me to introduce you?’ asks Chase.

‘You could hang out with us?’

‘YES!’ He practically bursts.

‘I mean, um, yeah, that would be so totally chill.’

‘You’re such a dork,’ Bec says with a smile, kissing him on the cheek.

‘Maybe they can help launch your solo Instagram career,’ Josh says.

‘Give you a few pointers? How many followers are you up to now?’

‘I’m, like, three followers from a thousand!’

He beams proudly.

That’s actually really good going considering he only started it a few days ago.

He already put up a post about the LGBT+ pay gap.

He’s finally doing exactly what he wanted.

‘OK, celebrity,’ Owen replies, ‘don’t forget about us little people when you make it to the top.’

‘Oh, I’ve already blocked your number,’ Cameron jokes.

‘Well, I’m proud of you,’ Bec says, squeezing his hand.

‘Seriously.’

‘I think we all are,’ I say, looking round my small group of friends.

Owen, Josh, Bec, Cameron, Chase.

Everyone but Kellen.

Where is he anyway? He should have been here an hour ago.

And that’s when the lights suddenly go out.

‘Shit, what happened?’ I say.

The others pretend to act innocent, but the look on their faces in the gloom gives it away.

I know what’s happening now, and so I turn to see him standing in the doorway.

Kellen.

He’s smiling as he holds out the cake.

‘ Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday, dear Zachary,

Happy birthday to you. ’

‘Make a wish!’ Owen says.

‘Fuck that, kiss him!’ Josh shouts.

And so I do.

‘Happy birthday, Zach,’ Kellen says with a big grin.

‘For real this time.’

‘What do you mean for real this time ?’ Chase asks, confused.

‘It’s a long story,’ I reply.

‘How much time have you got?’