Summer '76

It was the last day of school and us seniors couldn’t be anymore riled up. The jocks filled the halls with their testosterone, the mean girls did their last walk in unison, and for the rest of us, it was the last time we had to come to this place. Tonight, the entire senior class was getting together to celebrate our freedom at Lookout Point. It will be a night to remember.

Everyone cheered as the last bell rang. I walked down the hallway to catch up with my best friends Roy and Pete. I’ve known Roy since I was a baby, our mothers went to school together and have been friends ever since. We met Pete back in 8th grade; he was the new kid and on his first day of school we bonded over movie lines from Dirty Harry and Diamonds are Forever. He fit right in with Roy and me and we all have been friends ever since.

As I left my last history class ever, I heard my name being called from down the hall. “Hey man, are you still coming to my house before this rager tonight?” Roy wore a half coherent look on his face. He was the stoner of our group. He put out his hand and waited for me to reciprocate. Our hands slid down each other’s, our fingers cuffed and we pulled apart following it with a snap and laugh. “Yeah, I’m there man, I just gotta stop at home and do some stuff for my mom.” I rolled my eyes. He nodded, smiling big as usual. Many people thought Roy was just another burnout, but he was smarter than he let on. He was always having deep conversations about government conspiracies, aliens, you name it. He put out his hand again for another handshake. “Sweet, I’ll check you later, bud just come by my house”, he said as he turned and walked off down the hall.

I took one last walk down the hallway of Redwood High. I opened the double doors one last time and slammed my bookbag in the trash bin. “Goodbye, Redwood Barn Owls!” I shouted and threw up two middle fingers. A few students cheered me on in declaration. I threw my skateboard down and headed for home. On the way there I heard, “What’s up man!” and “See you at the skate park this summer!” from some of the guys at school as I passed. I also got some friendly “Hey Travis, hope to see you tonight!” from one of the ladies too. I smirked at the thought. I crossed Baker Avenue and turned onto my block - Elm Street. All was as it usually is on a Friday at 3pm in the suburbs. I jumped off my board and walked up our driveway.

My brother Scott was working on his car as usual. That Pontiac Firebird was his prized possession. “Hey buttface, how was your last day of high school?” he asked as he grabbed my neck, putting me into a headlock. I squirmed around and tried to grab his legs as if I could bring him to the ground. Scott was 6’2 and played college football. He was home for a few weeks for summer. “I’m just gl- ahh!” I let out a grunt as he managed to pin me. In a strained voice I continued, “I'm just glad it's over.” He let me out of the pin. I stayed on the floor regaining what little stamina I had. As I laid there, I heard the clicking of mom’s shoes approaching. “Travie, congratulations! I’m so proud of you. Because I’m the best mom in the world, I’m gonna let you off your chores for the day. She turned to walk away but stopped. I want you home by midnight.” She winked at me. I shot up off the floor. “You mom, are absolutely the best.” I gave her a fast kiss on the cheek as I ran to my room. “Now I just gotta find something cool to wear”, I thought as I stared into my closet. I threw on my favorite Black Sabbath shirt, some light blue Levi’s and my favorite pair of Vans shoes. I brushed my shoulder length hair and threw on a cap. I pointed finger guns at the mirror, gave myself a wink and bolted down the stairs. “I’ll be back later Mom!” I yelled as I rushed out the door. I grabbed my skateboard and started down Elm Street. I felt good, this was going to be a Friday night we wouldn’t forget.

LOOKOUT POINT

Roy’s house was 10 blocks away from mine, and made for a killer ride because it was all downhill. I blew past block after block until I finally reached his house. It was a quaint white house with a wooden picket fence and well cared for lawn. I walked up to the door and knocked. I heard Roy’s footsteps stomping down the stairs. The door opened and Roy met me with a smile. “Hey man! Geez, that was fast. Your mom went easy on you huh?” he smirked. “Yeah, she let me off the hook for chores tonight. Dude, I’m so ready for this kegger tonight man!” I said ecstatically as I walked in. We approached his bedroom, it smelled of incense and pot per usual. His walls were covered in band posters and images of Jacqueline Bisset. I plopped down on a bean bag. “When’s Pete coming?” I asked. He took a huge rip from his bong and blew the smoke at me. My eyebrows furrowed as I fanned the smoke out of my face. “Come on dude”, I said as I blew away the smoke. He laughed. “Pete should be here any minute now man, but hear me out Trav. Just smoke with me tonight, it’s a momentous occasion man.” I shook my head in reluctance, he could see the pensiviness in my expression. “Come on, just think about it. Pete’s gonna do it.” He said smugly. My mouth dropped. “So what? Do you expect me to jump off a bridge if Pete does?” He paused. “Um, yeah actually I do, because he’s your brother man and we don’t let our bros jump off the bridge by themselves.” I stood quiet for a moment. “I’ll think about it okay? Will that satisfy you?” He smiled as he nodded his head. “Yeah man”, he laughed. Just then, the doorbell rang. Pete got up and ran down the stairs. I can hear the rejoicing in Roy and Pete’s voices followed by the stampede of feet coming up the stairs. “Trav!” Pete said as he walked up to me, our hands met followed by the explosive snap. “Dude, I have to tell you something I heard today! You know that chick, uh..” His fingers snapped, “uh, Stacy?” My eyes squinted, “yeah, wait, which Stacy? Blonde or brunette?” My eyes squinted as I pictured them both. “The blonde one! Anyways, I overheard her and her friend talk about how she likes you man!” I smiled, “Really?” He nodded, “Yeah man she's hoping to see you at the party tonight.” Then I remembered the voice that called out to me as I left school. “Oh!” I said as I shot up. “Dude as I was leaving school she yelled that at me but I was on my board so I didn’t think much into it.” Wow, Stacy. She was tall, blonde, and beautiful. “I’ll have to look for her tonight”, I said with a huge grin on my face. My thoughts were interrupted by another ding of the doorbell. “Who’s that?” I asked. Roy smiled, “Pizza man! We need our strength for tonight.” Pete and I laughed, there was no way I was turning down pizza. We ate our food and watched movies while we waited for the night to start. When 9 o’clock came around, we decided it was time to leave.

The sound of our boards on the street was always a nostalgic experience for me. I loved riding around with the guys. Our journey to Lookout Point wouldn’t be long, but the trek up hill would be. “Hey dudes! Check this out!” Roy said with the utmost confidence. He ollied over a fire hydrant, but his truck caught the top. He rolled and groaned from the fall. Pete and I burst into laughter. Roy was always confident about his tricks, but rarely landed them. We knew once we heard “Hey dudes” in that low slow voice, we were in for a sure bail from him. “You okay Roy?” I yelled. I heard a strained, “yeah.” He slowly got up from the ground. “Thought I had that one man”. He rubbed his elbow then his smile returned to his face. He was never down for too long, one of his best traits was that he always got back up. We approached the entry of Lookout Point and decided it was easier to walk up. To our luck, a red pick-up truck with some guys from our class pulled up behind us. “Hey, y’all need a ride up?” It was Ricky Sanchez; he was all the girls’ dream and surprisingly the nicest guy I ever met. “Sure dude, thanks.” We smiled and hopped in the back of his truck. “Wow, how lucky are we?” Roy said. “It would've easily taken us a half hour to get up there.” He passed Ricky his joint through the small back window of the truck. “Here man, thanks for picking us up.” Ricky smiled, and took the joint from him.

The night sky was clear, the stars never seemed so close. Among the trees, I saw a white barn owl- what a, strange coincidence. I took it as a good sign. “It’s going to be a great night. I can feel it boys!” I said pumped up. The guys nodded in agreement. We got to the top of Lookout Point and drove a few miles into the spot all the seniors went to. The night had already started, there were groups of people sitting in their cars drinking, walking around smoking and mingling. Someone even went as far as making a banner that read, “Congrats Seniors!” that spanned across two trees. We hopped out of the truck bed. “Let’s get some beer!” Pete yelled. We walked up to one of the kegs and filled our plastic cups. We found a spot and sat down on our boards. “I can’t believe it’s over man, no more school!” I smirked. Pete raised his cup and Roy followed. I had just taken a drink when suddenly we heard some of the girls screaming. We looked around when suddenly a bright white light from the sky beamed down. Everyone started running and screaming. I stood in shock. People started getting sucked up into the light. I heard a loud scream for help. It was Stacy! She was getting pulled into the light. “Run, Travis!” I heard Pete yell as he was waving towards me. I froze, I couldn’t move and everything started to slow down, my heart was racing. Cars began speeding down the hill. “Travis, run!” Pete pulled my arm and we started running down the hill. I was dazed, I couldn’t believe what I just saw. Roy and Pete were just a few feet in front of me but Pete stumbled. As I went to help him off the floor, his terrified eyes turned towards the sky, as he screamed..

Suddenly, everything went white.