Stutter

Now I Have To Adult

"Can you believe that we are finally graduating?" I spoke into the microphone. "We are the Class of 2017 and here we are, finally at graduation."

Yes, it was now graduation and they've decided that they wanted me to give out the Graduation Speech. Why, well I'm not a 100% why, but why not?

"Not only are we graduating," I continued. "But they decided to let me give the final Valedictorian speech. Me of all people! Like seriously, I get up at the last possible minute every morning and then scramble to get ready in time. I go through school only half-assing everything and sill manage to pass all my classes. I get home and sit in my room with the lights off or down in the living room with my baby sister and will sit there for hours just scrolling through Tumblr. Like seriously, me? Valedictorian? Ha, that's funny. But since I'm up here and all I might as well try."

I paused and looked around the gym. A sea of red sat down below me in those uncomfortable chairs. All the parents, siblings, and family, were all sitting behind them holding camera and phones taking pictures and videos of their kids.

"Hi, for those who don't know me, I'm Addison," I continued. "I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky woman...just kidding about that walk on the beach by the way, any who, I may have made it be the Valedictorian of 2017, but what does that do for me in life? A little extra help on my college application? Something nice for my resume? In reality, it doesn't really do anything for me. It's just a thing that I did and I know you've heard it before but, your grades don't define who you are. They don't even define your level of intelligence. You can be terrible in math but be a genius in English. Maybe you have a hard time reading but you can write like none other."

I looked around at everyone, smiling slightly as I spoke and keeping voice in my words. I wanted them to know I meant every word, not that I was just saying something to forget within a week.

"Everything you did in school that involves your grades, good or bad, does not define who you are as a person, because I don't know about you, but I could have A's on all my homework and when it came time for that test, I failed and failed miserably. Like I mean, if the tests were ships, and I mean the physical ships that can float in the water not the other kind-" Some laughter rang out as I spoke with a grin. "Then my ships crashed, burned, and sank. Don't let a single letter define your life, if you do, you'll never be as good as who you really are."

I found my mom and dad and smiled at them before I continued.

"There are two quotes I would like to share with you," I said. "The first one is, "Everything will be ok in the end, if its not ok its not the end" - John Lennon. The second one is, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away" - Anonymous."

My gaze found Ashton and he smiled broadly at me. Beside him was Mikey and Luke, and on his other side was my empty chair.

"You see, I kind of live by these quotes here. The quote by John Lennon means a lot in this world. I like it because I know if something is not right then it should get better because its not the end of it. Whether the things that's not ok disappears completely or you get in terms with it, depending on what it is, it still gets better. The anonymous quote I've known for a long time and it means a lot to me. I always take up a good adventure and to me that's what the quote is saying. Don't live a dull life behind your cell phone or your laptop, even though that saddens even me...live a full life of adventure and always be doing something. Live a life that when you have kids of your own, you always have some kind of story to tell them. Whether it be of some exciting adventure in the Amazon Forest or even if its a life lesson that you learned, always be doing something worth sharing to someone else.

"Now that my lesson of the speech is over, some of you are probably worrying about how life out in the real world will be. I know most if not all of you have had some experince in it, owning a car, maybe already living on your own, paying some bills, but others of us have never done anything close to that. If you like me, you've never even had a job because you were waiting for school to be over to be out of your way. Yes, I know, judge all you want but I don't regret it but also like me you are nowhere near ready or know how to adult. I know I don't even want to adult yet, but after graduation, I going to get myself a job so I can get some money. I don't want to live at home forever, even though that honestly sounds amazing, but no, I want to live my own life and make my mark on the world. How I'm going to do that, well, I'm not quite sure yet. I'm going to learn how to adult real quick if you ask anyone. Remember, every single one of you, you don't have to know what you want to do, who you want to be, or where you will end up right away. Just go on with the days, live your life, and it'll all come to you one day. It'll all come together in the end and if its not together, guess what? It's not the end."

I grinned at the sea of red before me. A few looked bored and others looked excited. They were ready to be graduated and done with school about as much as me. I smiled broadly as I said my next few words.

"Now, I want to congradulate every single of us for making it to graduation. So, congradulations Class of 2017, we made it!"

Everyone stood up and cheered loudly. I smiled and made my way off the stage and back to my seat. On the way, the principle smiled and pat me on the back.

"Good job," He whispered.

"Thank you," I smiled and went down the few chairs.

Getting back to my seat, Ashton smiled at me and gave me a kiss on the cheek as I sat down.

"You did good," He told me quietly.

"Thanks," I whispered back.

We fell silent as the principle went up and said a few words to us. It was something about how we need to remember our four years in high school and to be smart outside in the real world. I basically shut him out and grabbed Ashton's hand. I knew I should be excited to be graduating, but I was having a hard time about the fact that Levi couldn't be here.

I took a deep breath and stood up as the principle told us too.

"Please come up as I call your name," He said into the mic.

We waited patiently as he called our names out. We got to pick where we wanted to sit and with who and they wrote our names down in order as we chose our seats. So, we stayed in order, leaving row by row and then it filling back up as the students returned back to their seats.

"Addison Knox," My name was called.

Ashton squeezed my hand reassuringly and I stood up. My parents and a few of my relatives cheered loudly. I could hear them over all of the students that were also cheering for me.I smiled broadly as I walked back up the steps onto the stage.

"Congratulations," The principal said, shaking my hand and handing me my diploma.

"Thank you, sir," I said, smiling at him.

I walked across the stage, shaking various school faculty's hands and some of the teachers. All of them congratulated me on graduating. I went back to my seat to find that Ashton and Michael were already called up as I was walked and Luke was called just as I got there and then Calum. A few moments later and all of us were back to standing together.

Once everyone was sitting back down in their seats and holding their diploma's, the principle spoke up.

"Can the Class of 2017, please stand," He spoke into the microphone.

Everyone stood, diploma's held tight, our graduation literally in our hands. We moved the tassels to the other side and finally, he said the words all of us have been waiting for.

"Class of 2017, congratulations, you have officially graduated!"

Everyone cheered and did the cliche thing of throwing our caps up into the air. Ashton wrapped me up in his arms and spun me around a couple times.

"We did it!" He yelled over the loud cheers of everyone around.

"Yes," I said back, smiling so widely it hurt. "We did."

He pressed a kiss to my lips and then pulled back.

"Come on," He said, tugging on my hands. "I have a surprise for you."