Well, I was gonna update last night...but I fell asleep studying. Soooo, here's the chapter I promised. Also we're at 101k, \(>~<\) (/>~<)/. Thanks for reading!!
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Raven P.O.V.
"I'm telling you Clayton, you should just wear the bowtie" I resound. His quirky smile slid up onto his face, as he fiddled with his tie.
"It's graduation day, doll. Gotta put into the most effort." he said with a shrug. His moss green eyes twinkled as the corners of them crinkled.
"Yeah, yeah" I countered. I took his tie into my hands and deftly arranged the material into its standard form. I checked myself over once again, and inspected my dark brown box braids. I had throw it into an updo, and I was afraid it'd come tumbling down.
"Thanks Rave" he mumbled, "I'd kiss you but Ruri and Megan are sitting outside the doorway." I creased my forehead in surprise. Swiveling around, I lurched the door open and out tumbled my best friends. They gave me wide toothy grins. Ruri was dressed in a tea-length floral dress, and Megan was fitted into an olive green midi dress. I smiled nostalgically at them as they scrambled to stand up.
"Well, we were wondering what was taking you so long..." Ruri started, her eyes landing on Megan to finish for her.
"Then we realized that you were with Clayton, and..." Megan trailed off as well looking to Ruri to continue for her.
"You guys sound like a married couple" Ruri says abruptly. Her smile was so content, like she was glad to have seen or rather heard us do.
"We were worried..about you two" Megan added on, sincerely. Ruri nodded her head in agreement.
"We're leaving Cali. I'm going to school abroad and Megan's going to NYU. We just needed to be sure that you guys will be ok." Ruri explains, her voice held barely there emotion, but that was more than Ruri was accustomed to showing. She fidgeted and then opened up her arms wide for a hug. My eyes almost popped out there sockets.
"Did I hear we were doing a group hug?" A friendly voice resounded. Darren's face popped into the doorway. , his wavy hair was pulled back into a neat man bun and he smirked. Ruri's eyes were welling with tears that had yet to fall. She blew out a strangled breath, and nodded her head furiously. His eyebrows creased in worry and he hurried from his comical position to hold Ruri.
"We've haven't even made it into the ceremony and I'm already fighting back tears" Ruri said as she continued to fan her eyes. She sucked in a large breath, and exhaled.
"I can't ruin my makeup, can't ruin my makeup, can't ruin my makeup" Ruri whispered. She blew out another breath.
"Hugs, hugs" she said gesturing the action with open arms. We all clustered together and wrapped our arms around each other. I took another look at my friends. We were different people, changed by the our last year of highschool.
* * *
Clayton P.O.V.
"Victoria Ryser" Mr. Boerio, our principal, bellowed. Her red-curly hair was pinned up and she ascended up onto the scaffold, her black gown swinging above her ankles. I looked over to the crowd of parents, siblings and relatives. It took me a minute but I found Bella and Alric, sitting on the left side of the stadium's bleachers. Mom isn't here for my ceremony, and I really wouldn't have cared if she could have come. She'd been acquitted, and then thrown in rehab by request of the judge. The will left primarily all Ollivander's money to my mom, however, surprisingly, Mom brought out edits to his will. There was money specified for me, most likely for college. I really didn't need it anymore but my mom insisted that she put it into a trust fund for me. I agreed only because I never wanted to talk or deal with her again.
Raven had already received her diploma. Her smile was gratifying, as she walked across the scaffold. She shook Mr.Boerio's hand lightly, and turned and grinned triumphantly at the crowd brandishing her diploma. Megan started whooping, and then Ruri and Daren, then myself, and then the whole football team began the same chorus. Scattered shouts and claps came from the bleachers of the stadium as well.
When my name was called the stadium was silent. I ascended the stairs up to the scaffolding, and took my diploma blandly. Coach Rosch started a chant: "Clayton! Clayton! Clayton! Clayton!" I creased my brow slightly with surprise. Raven jumped from her seat and screamed along with Coach Rosch as well as Daren, Megan and Ruri. Then Kade started whooping from the bleachers, and the rest of the football team began to whoop, and stomp on the bleachers. I couldn't help grinning at their efforts, and with a roll of my eyes I lifted up my diploma. Raven started clapping her hand furiously, and my grin got bigger. The cheers died down once I was seated.
Mr. Boerio went on a long spiel about life, college and etc. It went in one ear and out the other. Then it came for the valedictorian to speak, and end the last leg of our highschool journey. Raven stood up, once again, and she smiled at us all. Once, she was on the scaffold and behind the podium, she started the first few sentences of a long-winded professional speech just to stop mid-sentence with a shake of her head.
"..but, all those things are just facts, just watered down sayings to help us be brave enough to take on what's coming next for us. You could compare it to being given a pill. The difference being one you could chew or one you'd have to swallow. I mean as kid, swallowing a pill was a formidable task. You could choke on it, or it could go down your windpipe instead of the esophagus. Though, one day you would've been faced with having to swallow a pill, and you'd do it. You might have not gotten the 1st try but you did it.
I'll admit that thinking of our future that we're being pushed into is daunting, and I'm not gonna lie by saying that I welcome the change. I've met so many people at this school, and had so many different experiences...that...that it's gonna hurt to leave it all behind. It's gonna hurt when we might have to say goodbye to our best friends who are going to school in a different state...or even country. It's gonna hurt not to be around the safe confines of our highschool walls, around the same people. All of us are gonna continue to grow as people, if we turn out good or bad, we won't know...but that's life isn't it."
She ended the speech with a shoulder shrug. She took a step away from the podium, but then an idea flashed through her head, and she grabbed the mic again. She yelled into the mic our school motto, and threw her cap into the air. The rest of us followed suit, immediately jumping up and throwing our own caps into the air. We screamed and whooped, and someone actually threw their diploma into the air. They started flusteredly trying to catch it when the realized what they'd done.
"I got it, I got it, I got it" Daren chanted as he leaned back to catch the diploma. It landed gracefully into his hands, and Daren politely handed it back to its owner. She thanked him profusely, while Daren just shrugged it off as no big deal.
Our first mission after graduation was our group pictures. The likelihood of us all being together ever again in any near time once college started was slim to none. Daren was going to Ohio State, Megan NYU, and Ruri abroad. Raven and I were the only one's to stay in California. I winced at the thought of us never being around each other again. I'd lose my bestfriends. As if she knew my thoughts, Raven had linked our hands together, though I doubt she did it intentionally. She always did these types of things unconsciously, and like clockwork I would bring her hand up and kiss it. She looked up at me in surprise, her braids swishing with the twist of her head.
"Did I do it again?" she asked in disbelief. I nodded my head. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Ruri started to scold her.
"You little lovebirds are always stalling our functions" she admonished. She turned on her skinny heeled foot, with a swish of her dress. Raven jokingly rolled her eyes at Ruri. We grouped together closely, the 3 girls in the front , and Daren and I to the sides of them. The Bordeaux's brought a professional camera with them, which Lily took full control of. Bella, and Alric stood off the edge with their iphones. Ruri's parents, who were smartly dressed, and their butler Jeffrey were doing the utmost to take the best angles of their daughter and her friends. Megan's parents, a Jamaican and Finish couple, conversed between Raven's and Ruri's parents on who could take the best pictures. Then there was Mrs. and Mr. Elwood looking at the bizarrely extravagant scene with raised eyebrows.
"Silly pictures now" Lily commanded. Her eye trained on the lens. Ruri and Raven comically turned to Megan and kissed her own her cheeks while Megan made the most exaggerated surprised face. Daren and I, not prepared for the picture, were laughing our asses off. Then the Raven and Ruri switched turning on their toes to kiss Daren and I on the cheek. Megan stood between us couples, making an overemphasized eye roll. Our last pictures together was us once again throwing our caps into the air, and the actions of us later trying to retrieve them. We were a laughing mess, on our backs, our gowns covered in grass. That was the last shot Lily took, us laughing in the grass.
* * *
Raven P.O.V.
Our graduation party was a meal at this really expensive restaurant in Fresno. It was this high rise building with all glass walls that towered over all the other buildings in the city. Ruri's parents insisted on paying for our meal, but no one was agreeing to that plan. Instead we all pooled in our money and enjoyed the meal.
"When we come on breaks, you two better be home" Ruri says pointedly to Clayton and I. She squinted her eyes seriously as she wagged her pointing finger.
"Mhmm, we're not flying back to California from our colleges, just to not be able to see you guys" Megan adds with a mouthful of steak.
"I'm agreeing with them here. You guys can't just decide to be spontaneous one summer and go on a road trip without us. Unless, said road trip is to come see us, and if so go right on ahead cause I don't feel like paying for a plane ticket to Cali" Daren joined in. Clayton was quick to retort to Darren's statement causing a chorus of laughter to spill around our table.
"Yeah, I'll totally fly into New York or something if we do a road trip one summer" Ruri stated with swivel of her fork.
"We could do one this summer." Clayton interjected. Our table came to a silent hush. Daren, Megan, Ruri and I all exchanged glances at each other.
"All of us, just go on the road, we could do a small one this summer. Then each year get bigger and bigger" He continued, his voice was breaking at the edge. Our parents eyed him carefully and I brought my hand to his back and started to slow moving circles.
"Clayton, we could totally do that...but we have something else planned" Megan said calmly. Clayton's hopeful face was slowly falling.
"We're roadtripping it to San Fran and staying for the summer" Daren blurted out excitedly. Clayton's face contorted in surprise.
"Wha--" was all he could say.
"Surprise" I said with little jazz hands.
"That's the surprise!" He said happily, looking back from me to Daren in shock. I nodded my head, trying to hold back my huge ass grin. He grabbed me into a bear hug, his head buried into the crook of my neck. I ruffled his hair playfully, glad that I helped make such a big smile appear on his face.
"We don't get hugs too?" Ruri said with a raised eyebrow, motioning between herself and Megan with her fork. Clayton rolled his eyes, but got out of his seat went to the other side of the table and hugged both Megan and Ruri at the same time. He bumped his fist with Daren, which then turned into that weird guy hug. Lily, who sat next to me, nudged me slightly.
"I'm glad you guys are doing this trip" she whispered. She then turned her attention to Clayton then.
"Oi, loverboy don't have too much fun now" she scolded. Clayton nodded his head, but had totally gotten into a conversation with Ruri over the details of the trip.
"This is gonna be so much fun, Rave" Clayton said excitedly. His green eyes were shining fervently, and he kept running his hands through his messy hair. I looked over at Bella and Alric who were watching him wistfully. Their relationship with Clayton had obviously been strained from the will, but he had made sure he'd reconciled with them. It was good, Clayton had finally had something stable in every aspect of his life. I was proud of how far he'd gotten since we'd first met. He turned his head from Ruri, and grinned at me, his white teeth shining. Yeah, I was hella proud