Pencil, Paper, and Passion.

Epilogue: Four Days Of Bliss

.:DAY ONE:.

I stood right in the middle of chaos, laughing and crying, doing nothing but contributing to the din. I threw my arms around anyone I could reach, not even caring if I actually knew them or not. It didn't matter; this moment was one of complete solidarity, so it didn't matter that complete strangers were latching onto each other in joy. I was picked up countless times, was spun laughingly around and passed onto the next person. Scattered all around us, untouched since their synchronized launch into the air, were the tasseled, square caps that marked this day.

Graduation.

Today, none of us were high school students anymore. We were handed a piece of paper, branded adults, and pushed out into the real world. Some of us would be going straight to jobs, others to college and university. Some would spend the next few years sitting on their parents' couch, some were getting married and starting families. Who knew where this or that person would end up? Who cared? It was all part of the adventure of growing up.

I glanced up at the stage, where the teachers and other faculty were still sitting, watching us. Ben stood near his chair, beaming. When our eyes met, his smile widened even further and he winked. I laughed and blew him a kiss; no one would notice in this crowd. Our eyes lingered on each other until Charlotte, Brandt, and Micah found me. I tore my gaze away from Ben's and turned to toss my arms around my friends.

Charlotte squealed in my ear, "We did it!"

"I know!" I gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek before giving Brandt and Micah the same treatment. "I'm so proud of us!"

Micah reached up to tug on a strand of my hair. "Me too."

Charlotte and Brand added in their agreements, nodding. Suddenly, all of us were sniffling and wiping at our eyes. I blubbered out, "Oh god, this is awful. I don't want to be a grown up. And you guys... You guys are going away for college. Oh god."

Charlotte curled her arms around my neck and sobbed into my shoulder, "I'm going to miss you so much."

"Shut up, Charles, you're making it worse!" I wailed, flapping my arms around helplessly. I looked pleadingly and Micah and Brandt. "Get her off of me before I lose it completely!"

Micah only chuckled but I watched in horror as Brandt's lower lip trembled. Just like that, he was tossing his arms around Charlotte and me both, crying, "This isn't fair! None of are even going to be in the same state! And Micah won't even..."

All of us turned accusing glares on Micah, who only smiled and lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "It's a great opportunity."

"Well, yeah," I agreed, sniffling again. "But did the opportunity really have to be in Japan?"

He shrugged again. "The company I'll be interning at likes my art. They're willing to put me through school there, and to pay for a place to live. I wasn't going to pass it up."

I wiggled away from Brand and Charlotte to throw my arms around Micah. "I'm so proud of you! You're going to be so great!"

He snorted. "It's going to be a while before I actually get to work on anything important. Besides, my first job is to learn the language. That's going to take some time."

"Yeah, but in like, three years, I'll be reading some manga that you worked on. I'm so happy."

"Then why are you crying?" He asked, trying to peel my arms from around him.

"Because I'm happy!" I let go of him, to throw my arms around Brandt. "I don't understand why you have to go to Chicago to be a cop, but I bet you'll be okay at it."