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50: Graduation Song

Jeremy

After several dozen people, it was my turn to step up and throw away my special memory into the hole that seemed to be filling up. Would there be any room left?

With my Dr. Suess book, I stood in front of everyone with the microphone in my grasp. All eyes were on me. This was crazy. Seeing the eyes of Hailey provided great comfort.

"Hello everyone," I began. "How many of you had Mr. Hymn as your teacher this year?" A good majority of the seniors cheered and clapped shouting his name. "Well, some of you know the struggle of having to do his latest project. And if I'm being honest, I hated every moment of that project. I didn't want to think about the past as I wasn't sure what my special memory was or why it was important. After a series of crazy events this week, that all changed."

It was complete silence as everyone had their ears on me. "Alright," I began as I pulled a piece of paper out of my pocket and read it. "Everyone has a story of how they met. Each and every one of us has a special connection to each other. Some of you met in kinder and bonded over glue. Some of you met during your senior year and bonded over coffee. Ten years ago, back in second grade, Emma and Jeremy came together. Emma was a new student and Jeremy came to her rescue. They bonded over a car. A special race car inspired by a '64 Shelby Daytona.

"While it was a '64 Shelby Daytona that brought these two friends together, their friendship grew past something more than just a car. While I can't speak for Emma, hope was the thing that I felt from Emma. Her friendship brought me hope. When I met her in second grade, I was a weird little child. I'm not going to mention names, but let's just say I was scared of life and everything in it. One day, Emma gave me this book."

In my hands was "Oh the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Suess. Some tears were running down my eyes as my throat tightened up. It was a relief to know that I was about to get rid of this book.

"With this book, I knew there was hope. Working on our racecar, I thought that this racecar would lead to bigger and better things as I desperately hoped that life would be better.  And working on the car, we got to spend time together. We got to play and study together. So many adventures were to be had. You could almost say that life has gotten better. Maybe. But anyway, here's to the future."

Just like that, the book was tossed into the hole never to be seen again after this special day. Little did I expect the crowd to be in crazy uproarious applause after giving my presentation. It was almost humorous to see Hailey whistling from another spot, Ted rolled his eyes. Looking around, I spotted Mr. Hymn. Crap, the man actually showed up to this. In approval, our great teacher gave me a thumbs up with a firm smile. Emma would be going next.

Emma

"Hello everyone," I started trying hard not to cry after hearing Jeremy's words. Seriously, if only he could have presented that in Hymn's class. Oh well. "Um, earlier this week I was going to throw this mixtape into the hole." Out of my pocket came out JEM. "While Jeremy and I worked on our racecar, we also worked on this mixtape together. We would compile a set of songs that we could listen to while we would someday drive our racecar in freedom. As the week went on, it made less sense to throw in the mixtape." A fast pause was needed. Who knew talking would be a challenge?

"Sure, this mixtape was special to me. It felt like a symbol of our friendship. But I guess for me, our friendship was about hope. Or something like hope. I've been struggling to find the right word. When my daddy died of cancer after we moved here, I felt lonely and broken. I felt lost and abandoned. And Jeremy came to my rescue. He took an interest in something me and my daddy shared an interest in. In some ways, he felt like a replacement for my daddy.  

I knew what I was about to do next would shock everyone, myself included. Like seriously, this was crazy. This was about to happen. Reaching into my pocket, a bag came out and my heart made a speedy beat.

"This is my daddy's ashes. Everyone in my family got a share of his ashes after we cremated him." Jeremy's eyes had officially widened. He was in complete disbelief. "Sure, life has been rough, but I know my old man is proud of me. He wanted the best for me. He was always my supporter. Today, I choose to leave the past behind and move on. I choose to be what my daddy wanted me to be."

That was it. With the speech over, the bag of ashes was officially in the hole. This was unbelievable. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. Oddly enough, a streak of wind brushed against my body. It had to be the approval of my daddy. It had to be. Just like Jeremy, my speech received giant applause with the approval of Mr. Hymn. He showed up to this thing?

After many more speeches, the hole was filled with memories. The box was closed and several students dug the hole up. Everyone clapped and the music began with a song from Vitamin C.

"As we go on, we remember

All the times we had together

And as our lives change, come whatever

We will still be friends forever."

People gathered around the fire to make s'mores and simply hang out. Jeremy and Hailey couldn't keep themselves away from each other. As I sat close to them, I just admired the fire and felt a nice peace. I didn't care if Jeremy ignored me. Ted was the only one not enjoying the fire as he stood from a distance looking at the moon. To my surprise, Hector found a seat next to me.

"Hey there Emma," he greeted while holding a marshmallow. "Loved your speech. It was pretty bold of you to throw in your father's ashes."

"Thanks," was all I could say. "I can't believe it myself."

"You know, I never mentioned this to Jeremy or anyone else before, but I actually lost both my parents to a shooting accident back in third grade. They were both in the military. After a year, I was actually adopted."

"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that." Crap, Hector actually lost his parents and nobody knew? Everything in me regretted the way I treated him all these years. He must've dealt with similar struggles if not the same struggles."

Hector placed his hand in the fire for about five seconds to burn his marshmallow. After those five seconds, it was partially burned and it was offered to me. For some reason, I accepted it.

"Can I ask you something?" Before I could answer, he continued his question. "Do you think I'm weird?" Hector didn't give me a chance to respond. "Yeah, I know you think I'm weird. I probably scared you off back on the first day of sixth grade when I was being all weird. But you know, everyone is a little weird until you get to know them. You never really got a chance to know me. And I wish I could have the chance to know you better." My heart pounded knowing where he was about to go with his speech. "Would you like to go to prom with me?"

"Sure," was my immediate response. "I'll go to prom with you." For some reason, this felt right.

50 chapters? Thanks for sticking by! Almost done! Don't forget to comment and vote!

Thoughts on Emma putting her daddy's ashes in the time capsule?

Should Emma go to prom with Hector?