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On the morning of their birthday, after their special breakfast, the boys are driven out to a small town with blindfolds on. I am in the car with Lucio and Mal, who are both holding my hands tightly, no doubt uncomfortable with being blindfolded.

They get out of the car with some difficulty, and we get them lined up on the pavement. Esteban and Oro are led over by their parents. Once all of The Four are standing facing the house, their parents remove their blindfolds.

I press record on my phone and video their reactions. At first, they all blink a lot, adjusting to the light. Eventually, their eyes focus on the mansion in front of them. They look at their presents, clearly confused.

"Happy Birthday," Lucio's father states. "This is your new home."

"From all of us," Mal's mother chirps happily.

I grin as I watch the shock and excitement come over my mates' faces. They're so excited. They jump up and down and hug each other. They each turn to look at me, grinning from ear to ear.

"Want to go inside?" I ask after I've stopped recording.

I throw the keys at Lucio. He catches them in one hand and strides up to the door with the other three in tow.

It's adorable watching them enter the house with excited expressions. They run from room to room like children in a funhouse. Their parents and I follow behind, eager to see their expressions.

It takes them quite a long time to explore the whole house; it's huge. Most of the rooms are furnished, but there is plenty of room for us to personalise and add our own touches.

The master bedroom is my favourite. The bed has been specially made for us, it's enormous. The bathroom has a wide wet-room style shower and three sinks in a row.

Every room is big enough to comfortably fit five people. It's our own personal haven.

"We love it," Mal says, his eyes lit up with happiness.

Once The Four have thanked their parents, we go back to the academy. I spend the afternoon packing up my things.

We have the Summer Ball tonight and then it is the end of our time at this school. Tomorrow, we leave here for good.

In the late afternoon, I kiss my mates goodbye for a couple of hours and go over to the girls' dorm. It's so good to be in our little living room for the last time together. Make-up is spilled everywhere, and the girls have dragged their mirrors out of their bedrooms.

The kitchen and lounge area has been converted into a styling room as we get ready for the ball tonight. My dress is hanging in its protective cover from one of the doors. My mates asked me about it, but I insisted that it remain a surprise when I brought it back.

We've chosen not to do the whole matching-tie thing. There's four of them and I said they'd probably look like groomsmen if they all wore the same colour tie.

We take it in turns to do each other's hair and make-up. I'm surprised we don't choke from the clouds of hairspray and perfume that are spritzed into the room.

I sip on a glass of champagne and wait for my nails to dry. My phone buzzes with a text from my mates. It's a selfie of them all, Lucio is holding the camera.

'Ready' is the caption. They all look so handsome; it makes me excited to meet up with them in fifteen minutes. All that is left is for me to put on my dress.

I haven't had to do much to my hair because it is so short. I've straightened it and clipped one side back away from my face. My make-up was done by Irene, and she's done some fancy blending thing that I'd never even seen before.

When the girls are ready, we put on our dresses and take lots of pictures of each other. Lawrence arrives at the dorm and takes ones of the four of us. I snap some of him and Honey and then excuse myself to find my mates.

I make sure my dress is smoothed down and looking perfect before I knock on the door to our dorm. It feels weird, knocking on my own door, but I want to surprise my mates.

Esteban opens the door, and his eyes widen in shock. Oro walks past in the corridor and freezes when he sees me. He comes to stand next to Es, both of them wearing the same awe-filled expressions.

"Holy shit," Esteban mutters.

"Angel, you look...whoa," Oro says appreciatively.

I'm very pleased with their reactions. They grab my hands and pull me into the dorm.

"Em's here!" Es calls out to Lucio and Mal.

They bring me through to the living room. Lucio and Mal are talking in the kitchen and stop when they see us. They both look as amazed as my other mates did. They stare at me for a few moments, and I feel my cheeks warming at the attention.

"Em, you look amazing," Mal comments.

Lucio nods next to him. "Breath-taking."

"Well, you all look very handsome."

I turn around, surveying each of them. They have chosen ties to match their colours. Mal's is a bright blue to match his eyes and water element. Oro's is gold, no surprise there. Esteban's is green for the forest and his eyes. And Lucio's is red, to match his eyes and his bold leader persona.

Their suits are all varying shades of black and grey with white shirts. I'm always proud to call them my mates, but I feel particularly lucky when they are all dressed up like this.

"Shall we go?" Lucio suggests.

We pick the girls and Lawrence up from their dorm and we all walk down to the ballroom as a big group. Some famous song is playing as we enter, and it appears we are slightly late to the party.

Nearly the whole of our year is already in the room. Everyone is sitting at tables, or talking in little groups, or getting drinks or dancing. The room is bustling with people and filled with music and laughter. It's lovely to see.

"Drink?" Lucio offers everyone.

Mal goes with him to have enough hands to bring back everyone's drinks. Oro puts his arm around my waist, and I stand close to Es. I realise that I do this now in any situation, I always keep myself close to them without consciously trying.

Mal and Lucio come back with trays of champagne flutes for everyone. We cheers to a wonderful evening and drink together.

The night is amazing. We dance to our favourite songs, take endless photos, and alternate between champagne and blood punch. We act like we're the classiest vamps in the world.

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My heart is heavy as I walk to the girls' dorm to say goodbye. Seeing as we can't live without each other, we've already arranged to meet up next week. It is still sad leaving them, though.

"I can't believe we're not going to be living near each other anymore," Honey claims sadly.

Esme sniffs. "It's going to be such a shock, waking up in my own bed tomorrow without having breakfast with you girlies."

"It's okay, we'll see each other next week," Irene comforts us.

We nod sadly and get into a group hug.

"Love you lots," I mumble.

Despondent, I walk slowly back to my dorm. The Four are waiting for me, our suitcases lined up next to one another.

"It's okay, angel." Oro puts his arm around my shoulder. "Think of the wonderful summer we have planned."

"Yeah, that's true," I reply, feeling a little better.

We have booked to go on holiday to the beach next month. We've got tickets for some festivals later in summer and, when September comes, we need to be starting jobs and making some money. After summer, our real lives will begin. That's a scary thought.

Life is so easy at school. You get up, learn and go to sleep. Now that we've graduated, there's this sudden pressure to get a job. Gross.

The good news is, we're going to spend the next few weeks making our new house our own. It was lovely of their parents to decorate it, but we want to add our own style.

"Let's go home," Lucio says.

We take our things down to the car. After loading them all in the boot and shoving them in the back with us, Lucio pulls out and down the drive.

I twist around in my seat to look at the academy one more time. The tall building recedes as we drive away and my heart clenches with nostalgia.

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