Lucian's Kryptonite

III-V

Isabelle

The only thought that was running thorough my mind was "I hate this." Not much longer of rising early. Graduation is a few weeks away and I'm ready. I got ready in a flash, using minimal effort to find an outfit; I settled on something comfy but cute—tights and a tank top.

I made sure to grab some snacks from the kitchen and stuffed them into my backpack quickly. "See you later," I said.

"We're dropping you off at school today. Did you forget it's your senior parade? You have to wear something cute!" My mom pushed me to the stairs and made me change.

I settled on a little pink dress with fluffy pink slides. "Is this better?" I asked with thickness in my voice.

"Much!" She said with a smile and clasp of her hands. "Let's go," she told my dad who was trying to finish his donut. He grabbed my backpack and the truck keys before we all rushed out the door.

"Have you been having too much fun?" My mom asked. "You've barely been home."

"I'm fine mom," I reassured her. I took my phone from my side pocket of my backpack to text Jen.

B: would've been nice to have a reminder
J: I forgot too sucks balls rn had a crazy morning feelin unhinged
B: you always manage to make me feel much better are you close to school?
J: in line
B: so am I

I looked up from my phone through the window to look for Jen's parent's car. Of course they were one of the first people here. They were the eleventh car in line. I let my window down and prepared myself to enjoy the parade.

I read a message off my phone from Jen.
"Hope I get good candy so I can stuff it in their mouth." I laughed at the words on my screen. Of course she'd say something like that.

I hoped for good candy, or something useful like a pack of post-its or pens. The line started to move and my dad opened the sunroof and let the back windows down. Children, people of the school and town stood outside everywhere and threw things to us inside the vehicles to congratulate us and support us in our forthcoming endeavors. Teachers were holding signs that said 'congrats.' One held a sign that said 'you can do it.' Children were throwing candy into our vehicles and teachers were throwing supplies and goodies. Everyone was cheering saying all sorts of things and going "Yay! Hooray!"

I ended up with a cool Nirvana t-shirt, a pack of highlighters, a pouch of gummies, 3 chocolate kisses, smarties and 2 suckers. I opened a kiss and let it melt in my mouth.

"This is so much fun," my mom giggled. "I remember wanting a poster to hang up. All the cool kids with their own rooms decorated their wall as with posters. So I really wished for one, but I ended up with a makeup kit that came with some really nice lipstick," she shared.

My dad commented, "I totally got a bgb poster. Never hung it up."
"What?" My mom gasped. "Why?"
He answered, "You know I didn't like those things. And I also got a keychain."

"Have a good day," they said together.
"You too," I waved a kissed to them as we rounded the car side area. My friends were outside waiting on me, and they waved to my parents as they drove off.

"What did you get?" Noelle asked right away.

I showed the group my goodies and they all groaned. "You got the best things," Noelle said.
"I'll trade you chocolate for your smarties," Jason offered.
"Deal," and I hurriedly took his chocolate kisses.
"What did you all get?" I asked as they all showed me their goodies at the same time.

"What? You have good stuff too. Pens and notebooks are life."
"To you," Tina pouted. "They totally should have gave everyone a t-shirt and a day pass to do whatever the hell we want."

"But we do that anyway?" I was confused.
Jason chuckled, snaking his arm around Jen. "Let's go."

We walked to the entrance. "You look really pretty by the way," Periwinkle complimented me. "Pink looks good on you."

"Thanks," I replied. Just as we stepped inside, confetti dropped from the air.

"Prom pictures are posted outside of Tucker's room," the guidance counselor greeted us. "Congratulations on making it this far." She walked away.

"They love these things," Jennifer said. "The thought of people joining real life with them excites them so much."

"Damn," Tina said. "Don't be so hard on them. They just want to be your friend Jen."

We burst into a fit of giggles. "If we stay here, we're going to be late. Should we check out pictures at lunch?"

"Nope. Definitely now," Jason said.
"We've been in high school for how long and I've never been to Mrs. Tucker's classroom," I confessed.

"Never took theater?" Noelle asked.
"Nope," I popped the 'p.'

Well, look like I wasn't going to see her classroom anyway. The door was shut and the pictures were posted outside on her walls. There was also a podium with a photo book on it that had a request sheet underneath. You wrote your name, email/phone, and the number of the picture.

We identified which photos we were in and tried to write them down as quick as possible.
"Look! Bunny, you're in 118 by yourself. You look amazing." Jennifer awed. So I wrote 118 down also. There were so many pictures to choose from.

"Okay we're really going to be late," Noelle said.
"Breakfast," Jason said.
"Yay!" I skipped at the mention of food.

We raced each other to the cafeteria. I was second. I selected a patty melt sandwich this morning with orange juice. We sat at the first table we saw and ate in silence. I guess we all were really hungry. I was first to finish and I told them I'd catch them inside. They were eating too slow; class was about to start.

"Wait," they all begged.
"Race you there," I dashed off not looking back to see if they were behind me.