The cafeteria wall was plastered with posters, all blaring motivational slogans in neon letters: "Class of 2025 - Your Best Year Yet!" and "Make Every Day Count!" Maya nearly laughed. It was hard to imagine this year counting for much of anything, let alone being "the best." Most days, it felt like she was just drifting through it all, waiting for something real to happen.
But there was one part of her week that did matter: Last Day Club.
It had started with a random joke during sophomore year, when Maya and her best friend, Elena, had been fed up with every bit of high school routine. They'd started asking each other what they'd do if tomorrow was their last day—really last. They came up with wild answers to pass the time: outrageous dares, confessions, skipping classes and showing up at midnight. The idea had felt oddly liberating.
Now, here they were in senior year, and that random game had evolved into a real ritual, the Last Day Club. Officially, it was the only place they could admit what they truly thought without judgment. And tonight, the club was meeting in Riley's basement—Riley's house, where the coffee table was always overflowing with chips and candy wrappers, and no one cared if they stayed out past midnight.
When Maya arrived, Leo and Riley were already there, deep in some ridiculous argument over a movie plot twist. Riley looked up, waving Maya in. "Finally! What'd you bring?"
Maya tossed a bag of chips onto the table and shrugged. "Where's Elena?"
Riley and Leo exchanged a quick look. "She didn't answer when I texted," Riley said, pushing her bangs back with a frown. "Kind of weird, right? She never misses this."
Leo just shook his head. "Maybe she's studying, or she fell asleep. You know Elena."
Maya wasn't so sure. Something about it didn't sit right, but she shrugged it off, settling into her usual spot on the couch. Maybe Elena would show up late, making some over-the-top entrance as usual.
Riley grabbed her well-worn notebook from the table, where "Last Day Club" was scrawled across the cover in a messy, bold Sharpie. "Okay, so who's first?"
Leo raised his hand, as if he were in class, which made Riley laugh. "Leo, you're such a dork," she said, grinning.
Leo gave a dramatic sigh. "Fine, here goes. If tomorrow was my last day…" He leaned forward, his face breaking into a sly grin. "I'd barge into the principal's office and tell him to shove his 'no bathroom breaks' rule."
Riley cackled. "Is that really the hill you're dying on?"
"Oh, absolutely," Leo said, laughing. "Someone's got to stand up for our basic human rights!"
Maya smirked, even though her thoughts were elsewhere. She tried to shake it off—Elena was probably just running late. Still, there was something about the quiet absence that didn't quite feel like her.
"Okay, Maya, you're up!" Riley said, snapping her fingers to pull Maya back to the present.
Maya hesitated, glancing down at her hands. She was usually the one with crazy ideas, but tonight, she didn't feel like joking. She'd had a rough week, her house heavy with silence ever since her mom's job had disappeared.
"If tomorrow was my last day…" she started, pausing to think it through. "I think I'd skip school. Walk straight into the city. Just… explore, I guess. No plans, no rules, just me trying to figure out what I actually want."
The group fell silent. For a moment, Maya worried she'd killed the mood.
Then Leo smiled. "Going off the grid, huh? Bold move."
"Or just practical," she said with a half-smile. But her words hung heavy between them, as if she'd said too much.
Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out, hoping it was Elena. But the screen was blank. Silence settled over the group, deeper than before.
"Guess she's just… busy?" Riley offered, her tone uncertain.
"Yeah, maybe," Maya murmured, but her mind wasn't convinced. There was a gnawing feeling in her chest, something she couldn't quite name.
As they settled into more chatter, laughing about Leo's imaginary showdown with the principal and Maya's hypothetical solo adventure, none of them knew that tonight's meeting would be their last normal one. They couldn't guess that Elena's absence was more than an accident, that the Last Day Club was about to become something far more serious than a game.
And in that basement, between the laughter and the secrets, each of them would soon discover that facing the truth wasn't nearly as simple as playing pretend.