The Tree in the Forest

Chapter Thirty-Three

~~~

  It's graduation day. Today's the day that you finally finish school.

  Your stomach is churning almost painfully. You were excited, but you were also scared. This isn't something you really planned for, and you hardly know what to expect.

  You and Rose are being driven to the ceremony, graduation dresses and all. You had to wear really dressy clothes under it, too, for some reason. It's not like anyone will see it.

  Rose looked calm, but you could tell she was freaking out internally. You could tell because she had that overly calm look on her face that didn't look natural.

  Bro and Roxy were babbling on an on about their graduations and how proud they were of you two. That felt nice, but it also made you all the more nervous.

You mostly stared out of the window on the drive to the school. You thought about what everything will be like after this. It'll probably be mostly the same except with more responsibilities, pressuring to do things that you don't want to do, and having to do things you wish you didn't have to simply because money is a part of the deal.

When you got to the school, you felt like you could implode on yourself. Your stomach had fallen to your feet and your knees buckled underneath you.

"Come on, Dave, everything's fine," Rose muttered, putting her hand on your shoulder. You nodded and caught up with the her, Bro, and Roxy. You walked into the school, leading them to the school auditorium. Bro said he remembered when he went there, and Roxy said that it was nice, even though it really wasn't. It was just average.

The auditorium was already full of people. All of you separated, you and Rose having to sit in your seats, which were numbered. You have to write your number on a post-it note that you stuck in your pocket. Chair No. 57.

You got scared when you separated from Rose. She sat a couple of rows ahead of you because her last name began with an 'L' and yours started with an 'S'. Karkat wouldn't be next to you, either. He'd be way in the back. It'd be shocking if he wasn't one of the last to be called. His last name did start with 'V' after all.

You saw Vriska sit in the row in front of you. You remembered that her last name started with an 'S' as well. You leaned your arm against the back of her chair.

"Hey, Serket," You said. Vriska jumped a little and turned around, relaxing when she saw you.

"Hey, dickface. Graduation day, huh? Seems like we were heading into highschool just a few weeks ago, doesn't it?" She said.

"Yeah. Kinda crazy," You replied, letting a few memories flood your heads.

"I'm excited, though. I mean, we've had some crazy shit happen during these last four years, and now even more of our life can begin. We can actually do stuff. John's really excited for college. He ended up going for marine biology," She said.

"Oh cool. Have you applied yet?"

"No, but I'm thinking about applying for a college soon and majoring in art shit like you did,"

You two continued talking for a while before the ceremony started. You both settled back into your seats properly. The speeches at the beginning were boring, but you still payed attention to it. You didn't exactly process it, though. You were too nervous.

The first of your friends to be called up was Eridan. He was dressed just as crisply as ever. You could see the collar of his dress shirt over the edge of his gown. He held his head high like he usually did, but his face was flushed. He was a little scared.