THE DRESS

It was the first week of school, and RHS held its first annual welcome back carnival. Nathan Manley and his friends decided to walk down to the campus closet to see if there were any fun outfits to pick out. They were looking through the clothes when Manley held up a hot pink dress with a devious look on his face. Manley and one of his friends looked at each other, and their other friends burst into laughter, knowing what they were up to. Manley threw the dress to his friend who put it on and danced around before walking straight out the door. Manley was laughing, and in that moment he realized that he had missed out on moments like this in the past; he made a promise to himself that he would have more fun and hang out with his friends as much as possible. He began to keep that promise to himself when his friend took off the dress to put it back — Manley snatched it up and put it on, joining in the fun. That day ended up being one of the greatest days he had in high school. He learned that not everything has to be serious all the time. Throughout his four years of high school, Manley had focused on performing academically; he had a good friend group, but he was never one to make the group crack a laugh. Now that he’s a senior, he’s taking a different approach; he doesn’t want to waste his last year at Rocklin High School only focused on his studies. Manley wanted to laugh and have fun while time lasted. He wanted to make his senior year the best it could be instead of worrying so much about school. He has since learned how to go with the flow and let out his inner self.