(Raymond)
"Cap and gown on?" I ask Pete, as we adjust our gowns in the gym. I have to slightly yell because of the fact that everyone's talking is making this sound like a Super Bowl game. He nods.
"All on. Man, I can't believe we're graduating. I can't wait to rub my diploma in people's faces, and yell, 'I told you so!' to everyone around me," he says, while I smooth out my gown.
"You're not done yet, sir. You still have four years of college to complete, and even I don't know if we're going to survive that." He sighs, with his face falling.
"Oh great, now you made me sad. Thanks a lot." I chuckle.
"Hey, no problem." Pete walks away from me.
"We have to line up in alphabetical order. I have to go all the way in the middle." I wave.
"Later," I say, and Pete scurries off to the front. I make my way to the back, based on my surname. I find the approximate R- alphabet row, and I stand in line. As we're waiting, we hear the music being played, and someone opens up the doors. It's time to finally receive the long awaited diplomas. Took us four long years, but we did it.
"Come on, let's go!" a teacher yells, and slowly, we start to file out of the gymnasium. The sky is a beautiful mix of yellow, orange, and pink from the sun setting. While we're walking out on the football field, we hear the families cheering for us, and screaming our names. Proud parents are waving posters with their kids names, or blowing obnoxiously loud air horns that almost rip our eardrums in half.
I keep my head high and I keep on walking towards the stage. In the middle aisle, the teachers are clapping for us as we start to reach our seats. Eventually, we make our way to our seats, and we sit down. After the music dies down, Ms. Robinson comes up on stage to give the speeches.
"Welcome to the class of 2017's graduation. Class of 2017, you guys have accomplished so much throughout your four years of high school, and we're really sad to see you guys go. Thank you for all the memories you gave us," she says, and people applaud. Then, Melinda Brown goes up on stage to sing the national anthem. With my hand over my heart, I raise my head high, and I just take a minute to absorb everything.
I'm finally here, about to graduate high school. I never imagined that I'd get to this point in my life, but here I am. And I'm so proud. I'm so proud of everyone that's here, after all the hard work and tears they cried.
After the national anthem is sung, we sit back down. Ms. Robinson comes up to the podium, and she announces what's next. "Up next, we have our valedictorians to give their speeches. Raymond Richards, Sophia Smith, and Chris Lee, please come up to give your speeches," she says, and us three get up to give our speeches.
Cheers erupt from all sides of the field and stadium. People cheer from all the way in the stands, and my fellow classmates cheer for all of us. As I'm walking towards the stage, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn my head, and Sophia is right there, looking beautiful as usual. I smile, and her hand moves from my shoulder to encase itself around my own hand.
"Are you ready?" she asks. I nod.
"More than ever," I declare confidently. Finally, we make our way up to the stage, and Ms. Robinson stands by to let us give our speech. I get up to the podium, clear my throat, and look around. All eyes are on me. Everyone's watching me at this moment. While some gazes looked comforting, others looked like they were going to burn two holes into my skin. I can see Pete in the audience, giving me the thumbs up. I inhale deeply, and start.
"Honestly, if you asked me if we would reach graduation this quickly, I would've looked at you like you were growing a tail at that moment. Now, we're here, and time went by far too fast for me to even consider. We went through so much throughout high school. We had teachers who were literal angels from heaven, teachers who pushed us to our full capability, and teachers who were a mix of both. We all had tests where we aced, we failed, we wished we did better on, and there was always that one test where everyone studied, but everyone failed because the test material was like an alien script. I'm not going to give names. Chemistry teacher," I say, mumbling the last sentence under my breath just enough for the audience to hear. The audience erupts in laughter as I continue to give my speech.
YOU ARE READING
I Never Imagined ✔️
Romance(This is the sequel of The Badass Diaries. It can be read as a stand alone) "Imagination will often carry us to worlds we thought never were. But without it, we would go nowhere." -Carl Sagan. Three friends never imagined that they'd be in their cu...
