A life less ordinary ||~~Elax/Elmax~~||

Epilogue

"Our graduation ceremony today is bittersweet, we are celebrating the achievements of these young people before us as they get ready to move on to the next stage of their lives, but we are also missing a student who should be sat there with them, one who touched all our lives in a way we could never have predicted, El Wheeler. Joining me on the stage are some of the people who meant most to her; her family, one of whom, Mike, is graduating today, and her closest friends, again all of whom are graduating today. One of them has prepared something to say, which I'm sure we all welcome given what she did for us. Please" said principal Williams, backing away and indicating for them to take his place at the podium.

Lucas walked up nervously, his parents looking in with pride, especially his father who had served in the military; he knew what sacrifice was and was proud when he found out the whole story about his son and friends. "Hi, if you don't know me I'm Lucas Sinclair nerd extraordinaire, pardon the rhyme" he said to a ripple of laughter, "this is hard. I mean, what can I say about someone who is..." he swallowed hard, "...was basically a superhero? An X-man if you will. But that's exactly what I won't do, because to focus on that part of her, and that alone, would mean that I'm no better than the 'scientists' at Hawkins National Laboratory who stole her childhood, her life, just to use her, because that's all they saw. She was so much more than that, she was kind, and brave, and funny" he said, remembering her plan to push Dustin in the lake and smiling, "she was loyal, talented, terrible at drawing, a poker pro who'd win all your money and would survive solely on Eggos if you gave her the choice..."

Max was just about keeping herself together, the past year had been hell for her. Dustin had his arm around her, supporting her both emotionally and also physically, "you ok?" he asked her quietly while Lucas was speaking.

She nodded, "yeah, his speech..." she said, wiping tears away.

Dustin nodded in understanding, "I know."

"...when we first met, I didn't trust her, I called her a freak" Lucas confessed, "I couldn't see beyond her 'weirdness', but my boy Mike here, he knew from the start how amazing she was. I wasn't very nice to her, but despite that, in the end, she didn't hesitate to sacrifice herself for us. That's right" he said, addressing the murmurs from the crowd, "she put her life on the line once before, for people she'd known for only a week, to save a boy she'd never even met. And last year..." he stopped talking, trying and failing to composing himself, so carried on anyway through his own tears, "...last year she saved Hawkins, she saved us all, she saved even more people she'd never met, she saved me, she saved you, she saved your children, your parents, everyone. She was brought up surrounded by the worst of humanity, but by some miracle she was the best of it. I miss her..." he concluded, "thank you."

Applause spread throughout the crowd as Lucas returned to the gang, hugging each one in turn, giving the longest, most heartfelt one to Max, "that was perfect, Lucas, thank you" she whispered into his shoulder. Breaking away, he turned to face the crowd again and watched as people carried on clapping to show their appreciation in the only way they could.

Their graduation ceremony had been combined with a memorial service for the whole town to attend, one year to the day from the events that saw the lives of the townsfolk of Hawkins changed forever. Hawkins had practically shut down for the day in order that everyone could attend.

The principal stood and approached the podium, "thank you Lucas, that was a lovely speech..." He was halted in his own speech as from the stage, they could hear a commotion near the back of the crowd, people were parting, others straining to see. Gradually the crowd parted enough to create a clear path to the cause of the commotion. Everyone on the stage stood to see what was going on, craning their necks to see past the crowd.