Walking Alone (1D Fan Fiction AU)

Separate Ways

Sarah's POV

Today's the day, the day we graduate high school. A day of rejoice but also of sorrow. I might not see my friends again. We all plan on going our separate ways. We all have different career choices that we want to follow and we don't plan on staying here in Florida.

We were in our caps and gowns, girls in white and guys in light blue. We were walking through the plush grass and the sun was shining down on us. We were lined in alphabetical order so I was next to Harry and Louis was next to him. Our graduating class was small because the school is hard to get into to begin with. Not many people are accepted. We took our seats in the chairs set up for us and the principle made his way to the podium.

"Welcome students, teachers, and parents. I'm John Morgan, principal of Miami Chapter Arts School, and I'd like to welcome you all here today to celebrate an important stepping stone in these seniors lives. Their high school graduation." He introduced.

Principal Morgan talked about our time here at MCAS and some boring shit that I zoned out on. My 'loving' parents came to my graduation and ever since I went to the cabin, I haven't been home since.

"And can we please give a big round of applause to our valedictorian, Shania Mirza." He said and stepped down from the podium.

Shania appeared on stage and her gown was a little too long for her since she was so short.

"Friends, professors, administrators, and parents, welcome. We are graduating.

Can you believe it? Four years ago, most of us walked into these halls as nervous as we were the first day of school. We were the freshmen, the low men on the totem pole. Now, those same four years later, we're leaving the school behind to a whole new crop of people, most of whom were just as nervous as we were when we arrived." She opened.

"It has been a long four years and a short for years. Long because of all the drama and bad homework," she smiled at me then found Anna in the crowd and smiled, "the boring readings and early-morning extra credit projects, and all the other little pratfalls that hit us in high school. Short because of the lifelong friendships, the lasting memories, and the truly interesting and amazing things we learned between the occasional bits of drudgery.

Good or bad, long or short, I will always remember this place. While I'm thrilled to be our valedictorian, I can't say I've spent as many hours as some of us have between these halls: Our teachers, of course, spend an inhuman amount of time here, and many students do as well. Most of them even do it of their own choosing. I came by to get a book I forgot last night around 8 p.m. and found Rachel Earl, student head of the graduation planning committee, still here putting crepe paper on chairs and laying out programs in each and every seat. That's dedication.

It takes that kind of teamwork to survive anywhere in life, I've found. I know my experience is limited, but every problem I've overcome has been because someone has been there to help me. My support net ranged (and still ranges) from my parents to my friends to my teachers, depending on the kind of trouble I've had and its severity.

This isn't to say I've been a troublemaker-I only got sent to the office twice, and one of those times was a misunderstanding-but even for me, a relatively quiet student, a lot of help has been needed to get me through at times. This is where our high school truly excels, I think.

What's next? I will be going to college, as will many of my classmates. More of us yet will go to various branches of the armed forces to help keep our country safe home and abroad. Others may get right to work, or even take a year or more off to decide what they want to do. Leaving high school is such a brutal transition, as Principal Morgan put it, that I don't know what the world has in store for any of us.