Bat Out Of Hell

Bust My Reflection

June 28, 2015

On the last day of school before summer vacation, the same day of eighth-grade graduation, Willow, Marty, Kate, Ned, and Peter met up early that morning for breakfast and a final walk to Midtown Middle. It was a warm summer morning, the hazy kind that teased a hot day to follow. The group stopped at their usual bodega near the school, looking for snacks to bring to the ceremony.

"Hey guys, did you know that Jello isn't vegetarian?" Ned asked, reading off a Jello cup label.

"Why are you bringing Jello?" Peter asked.

"Wait, there's meat in Jello?" said Willow.

"Gelatin," Kate piped in. "Gelatin is made from animal parts."

"Huh."

Marty and Willow were on drink duty, standing in front of the two refrigerators. Willow stared down at Marty's carefully pressed khakis and looked down at her own outfit for the celebration, which was a simple black dress, long enough to hide the wings.

"Hey, you missed a spot," Willow said, nodding at Marty's pants.

"Are you serious?" Marty asked. "I just ironed these pants."

"I was joking," Willow laughed.

"Do you think I look all right?" Marty asked. "Like—"

"You look fine," Willow said. "Why?"

"Well, Kate invited me over to hang out after the ceremony," Marty said. "You're invited, too, if you want."

"What about Peter and Ned?"

"Well, it's mostly our friends from theater, so... I mean they can come, but..."

"Wait, Willow, can you grab a Gatorade from over there?" Peter called suddenly, pointing at the fridges. "A red one?"

Willow gave him a thumbs up, snapping back to the drink mission, and shaking her head. She returned to the register with the drinks. The friends pooled their money and spent five minutes trying to figure out how to pay and compensate everyone with the limited number of bills they had. The bodega cat sat next to the register and blinked once as they shuffled dollar bills between them. "Your cat's judging us," Ned said. The man behind the counter, a familiar face after all the after-school stops the gang had made there, just shook his head.

"It's mathematics," he said. "You can't do math? Graduating eighth grade and you can't do math?" He laughed. "Stay in school, eh?"

The group split up when they got to the school, off to find friends and family. Willow watched as Marty greeted his mom, almost not hearing Peter inviting her to come to say hi to his Aunt May.

The graduation ceremony itself flew by in a haze. Willow's leg bounced as she sat in the plastic chair, her back sticking the chair in the humid gymnasium. They were seated alphabetically and she glanced over at Marty, sitting in his assigned seat further up, who smiled at her. Willow smiled back, and her leg stopped bouncing as she stopped fidgiting. As the assistant principal launched into a final speech riffing on Oh The Places You'll Go, Willow's superhearing picked up on a low voice from the back of the gymnasium. "I'm too sober for this." Willow swiveled around in her seat and saw Jessica and Trish standing in the back row, up against the wall, watching the ceremony. As soon as the last speech finished and the kids had their certificates in hand, Willow ran over to them, beaming.

"You guys are here!" she exclaimed.

"Your principal really likes the sound of his own voice," said Jessica. She gave Willow a smirk. "Congratulations, by the way. I had my doubts..."