Graduation day [Open to the Henrietta bunch as well as friends and family.]

[leylined]

Adam doesn't know exactly what he was expecting when this day came, but there's undoubtedly an air of anticipation and relief as the ceremony goes on. one hundred boys were to graduate this day, and two and a half years of studied dedication to a school that Adam hated upon principle but needed to get where he was going, was finally over. No more trying to scrounge around for pennies just to feed himself. No more tolerating of the privileged upper class that would never truly appreciate the opportunity that was afforded them. And true, while he was trading Ivy League prep for a college that was just shy of being that sort of school in and of itself, he was more likely to find people that actually cared and appreciated what schools like these were opening doors for.

Despite all the drawbacks, Adam remained top of his class and was voted valedictorian near-unanimously by the falculty. It was everything he'd been vying for since first entering Aglionby Academy and now here it was. He finally did it. He laughed and booed during the various speeches and for once felt truly a part of the student body walking today. He only paid partial attention to when they began handing out diplomas, really only caring when Gansey, Ronan, and Kavinsky's names were called, shaking hands as they crossed him on the platform.

After all was said and done, Adam delivered his own speech, a thing he had been slaving over since he first discovered he would be the one to deliver the parting words of the ceremony. The nerves he usually felt when having to deal with such things were only background as he spoke, telling his peers snippets of his own story at Aglionby and of having been a student at public school. He spoke of this place helping him find the best friends he'd ever had, and how those friendships, and the friendships of those in the audience, would always matter. That even though the high school experience was over, the world was still out there to be discovered by them, and how this ending is really the beginning for each and every one of them.

Finally, Adam pauses, looking at each face in turn before him before finally looking at the guests with a wide smile. "And with that, faculty, students, honored guests. I give you the class of 2015." His smile grows wider as he holds his own diploma in the air. "We made it."

Comments

[the_greywaren]

There were dozens of other things he would rather be doing. His posture is a neon sign flashing the words 'I don't want to be here'. Slouched in his chair, head hanging over the back of his seat, he stared at the ceiling. When it gets quiet those sitting close enough to him can hear the very faint crackle of music seeping from the edges of the earbuds jammed in his ears.

He stands when everyone around him stands. When they do that thing with the tassel on their hats he doesn't follow along, because he didn't wear the stupid hat. A nudge to his back prompts him to walk to the stage when it's time.

From the corner of his eye he spots Matthew standing up snapping pictures and Declan perched like a perfectly carved statue beside him. Diploma in hand he glances toward his brothers, the youngest waving at him like he use to when he was tiny, watching the older boys leave to school from the front window.

Back in his seat he resumed slouching in his chair, only this time he did close his eyes.