Confessions// Annyeongz

{25}-Graduation

**Wonyoung's POV**

The day has come. Graduation. I've been silently waiting yet also dreading for this day to come. I'm finally done with high school and all the stress I've forced myself to endure over the past 4 years, yet I also don't seem to want to leave? I've made so many memories here, so many friends, befriended so many teachers, staff, activities, awards, achievements, maybe most importantly, this school is where I met Yujin. I reminisced about that fateful afternoon; rushing to the lockers, trying to get my letter back, just to find some girl in all black hair, skateboard in hand, teasingly tell me that she was the one to receive my letter. Although completely depressed and embarrassed for an entire week at the time, I thought back to that moment with a fond smile on my face. Speaking of Yujin, I spotted her in the sea of students taking pictures. She ran around with her arm around Gaeul, with that puppy smile and the bouquet I bought her, her graduation cap flopping up-and-down.

Liz and I had to stop early and wait on the side to do one last cheer routine to celebrate how our cheer squad has won Regionals and Nationals this year; a feat that has never been accomplished in the history of this school. We were all outfitted in our school's graduation robes: black with outlines of light pink. Personally, I had a bunch of sashes on me from my involvement in the clubs here. I also had my homecoming crown and head cheerleader sash on which made me feel special since they were exclusive to me only. Most importantly, was that I was also given the "Valedictorian" title! The real valedictorian was Gaeul but since she's also class president, they passed it on to the next person in line, because, during graduation, they usually have both class president and valedictorian speak. They didn't want just Gaeul to speak so they sent the responsibilities to me. Nevertheless, I worked with Gaeul over the course of the last week to configure our speeches to make sure we didn't overlap and bore everyone, but with graduation, I think everyone will be bored regardless.

Another big piece of news that happened in this grad week was that Rei decided that she was actually not going to stay in Korea for college. With her mother's recent diagnosis, she decided to head back to Japan so that she could spend more time with her which meant she was gonna attend a Japanese university. Obviously, no one wanted this to happen, especially Liz, and even more especially, Rei, after seeing the normally energetic and cheerful Liz completely break down. Alas, we all knew that it was only right for Rei to go back home if she truly desired it and Liz could never dream of keeping Rei away from her frail mother. Luckily, Rei planned ahead and, just in case, applied to some universities in Japan in case she wanted to go back home after high school. She is going to attend Nagoya University while tending to her mother along with her family. It was bittersweet the rest of the week once Rei announced this news. I actually spent the entire day when the news broke comforting Liz at her house. I was supposed to go on a date with Yujin, so I had to cancel but she easily understood. She even brought Liz her favorite chocolates when she came to pick me up. Her sadness proceeded almost until the next day too but she slowly felt better when Rei personally came to comfort her.

I already took a ton of pictures with everyone. It made me happy. I tried to live my high school career being the nicest person I can be as well as being super sociable, which is part of the reason why I was in so many clubs; to meet people from everywhere on campus. I had to cleanse my entire phone of its storage so that I could have as much available storage as I could for the pictures. I was scrolling through all the pictures on my phone as teachers started explaining to us about what they wanted us to do. They've gone over the same routine like 50 times over the past week because they want the perfect graduation where nothing goes wrong but I doubt anyone ever makes such big mistakes when the time comes. When it came time for the ceremony to start, I put my phone back in my pocket and started my normal process to prepare for a cheer routine. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. I saw everyone important to me: Yujin, my parents, Leeseo, Liz, Rei, Gaeul, the Royal Court, and lastly I pictured me and Yujin in both our university jackets, rival schools, yet we were prancing through the street, my arm locked in hers which were in her jacket pocket. I pictured us in a living room: I'm reading a children's book to our kids while she's laying on the couch playing with our newborn. Suddenly, I felt a nudge to my right.

"Snap out of it Wonyo~, it's time to go out" Liz whispered.

I shook it off and led the team out. Along the path, I scoured the bleachers trying to find people that I knew. Undeniably, I tried to find my family, but honestly seeing any one of our families could make me secure. I assumed all our families would be with each other anyways. Though the sun was glaring in my eyes and there were constant cheers and shouts, I could make out the shouts of my family combined with the booming voice of Liz's dad and uncle.

Us cheerleaders quickly did our routine and were applauded for our work for this cheerleading season. It felt great to be acknowledged like that; I felt like I had made a real impact in this school. The rest of the ceremony went as planned. I will admit it was quite boring to be honest. A quarter of the way through, me and the people around me went on our phones to take more pictures and even play some text message games like Crazy 8. I lost each and every one of them. What a sad memory for such a big day in my life...

At last, Gaeul and I went up to speak. It was nerve-wracking to look out, not just in front of my class, but also every single person's family and talk. I almost froze but I saw Yujin down below. That bright puppy smile gave me back my confidence again. I gave my speech, trying to be the most powerful and inspirational I could be. I spoke about how it is best to just live life, unlike what I did. I declared how the best times of my life this year were when I spent my time with friends instead of hardcore studying, because friends will always be there for you to make you happy, while academics are just subpar compared to friendship. Admittedly, I got some glares from the faculty as I walked off but it's the truth! I wanted to preach this message not only to my classmates as we head to college but also to any youth in the crowd to take their time with school and just have fun with friends.

Finally, graduation ended. I ran out to meet my family. I saw that our families were all together: mine, Yujin's, Liz's, and Rei's. Leeseo, as usual, ran up at me Mach speed and gave me a grand hug. Leeseo stuck to me like a koala does a tree, completely dominating my front body. Everyone came soon after. First Liz came, then Yujin, then Rei, and... Gaeul was somewhere... This will be a day I won't forget.

Yujin rested her arm on my shoulder, "We're graduates now Youngie~!"

"We sure are..." I grazed her hand that was strapped over my shoulder. "I-I'm worried about what will happen at college though..."

"There's nothing to be afraid of. I'll come visit everyday even if it means skipping classes." 

"Don't joke about that." I chastised.

"Of course I'm joking," she chuckled, "but seriously, I'll call you every night. I think I'll need to see you at least once everyday to refuel my energy even if it does have to be by video. How can I live without my cutie patootie~"

"EWWW oh god you're so cringy!" I shook her arm off me in disgust, "We'll be good right...? Nothing is going to happen to us now that we're 'split up' at different schools?"

This time she turned to scold me, "Don't you ever use that phrase again." She wagged her finger at me, which made me also giggle from how serious she got.

Trying to switch topics, I broke the gaze that we shared. "I'm worried about them though" I nodded over to Liz and Rei who were getting their picture taken by Leeseo.

"Yeah... they'll be fine though... don't worry Wonyo~."

"How do you know? I don't want to see Liz cry ever again." I tightened my grip on Yujin's hand. She gave me a comforting squeeze back.

Yujin faced the ground and formed a slight smile. "I just know. I just feel it; that Rei would never let Liz out of her life, especially not over something like this."

"What makes you say that?"

Yujin laughed to herself, "Our girlfriends are both cheerleaders...we got very close over the year..."

I raised one eyebrow in confusion, "Alright babe...whatever you say..."

"C'mon, let's go get our picture taken by Leeseo!" she spun me around by the hand and dragged me over to the girls.

This was really the last day where us four will be at the same school. Me and Liz will be at Yonsei together, but Yujin will officially be our rival at Korea, Rei will be in Japan, and Gaeul will be at SNU. Yujin and I will always visit each other as much as we can, Gaeul is at least in the same city, but for Rei, it's much harder; she's not even in the same country. At least we have this summer!