The Statistic

Graduation Day

"Blair Ubel," the man's deep and scratchy voice called.

She walked across the stage, her posture stiff. She quickly gazed to the side, towards the crowd. Her gaze trailed along the faces of people in the crowd, but she wasn't happy with what she saw.

She came to the podium; taking the empty scroll from the man she had called her principal for the last four years. He smiled at her, and for once she could tell it was genuine.

"Congratulations, Ubel." He said after shaking her hand, turning away and calling out the next name.

Blair walked away from him, mindlessly shaking the hands of the other adults lined up on the stage. The other principals, the main guidance counselor, and then the superintendent of the entire district. She didn't remember half their names, but their smiling faces were nice to see after a long day.

She faced the man at the end, the cold and calculating man with dark eyes. They shook hands. His hand was like ice, sending chills that shocked her spine.

"Congratulations, Ubel." He said, his eyes slowly narrowing. He reminded her of a snake; ruthless and ready to bite.

"Thank you," Blair found her voice to say, pulling her hand away. She exited the stage, walking down the stairs and back to her seat.

She knew what they were thinking. She beat the statistics. She didn't drop out as a teen mother. She thought about it, too many times to count. When Ella, he already four and a half year old daughter, would scream into the night or get bundles of energy randomly when the clock hit midnight. Blair knew motherhood would be challenging, but she never imagined this hard.

She had her father to thank for most of her success getting through high school. He would babysit Ella while Blair studied, he would take Ella out to the park and let her play so Blair could focus on her studies, or sometimes he would even hold Blair herself as she sobbed about how tired she was.

Blair took a seat in the creaky white chair, gazing forward. The girl at her right reached over and squeezed her hand, "Congrats, Blair!" She whispered excitedly.

"Congrats, Sammy." She responded, less enthusiastic.

The boy who walked behind her sat beside Blair, leaning back with a low groan. "I'm glad that's over." He said.

Blair slightly looked over, but faced the front again. Was he talking to her? She couldn't tell. His name was Steve, known to be quite the crackhead of the school.

"Hey," Steve whispered to Blair, reaching into his gown. He pulled out a little baggie, occupied with the color green inside.

"Want some?"

"What?"

"Do you want some?"

"Uh... No, not really."

"Suit yourself," he said, sliding it away. "It's my graduation gift to everyone," he explained in a softer whisper.

"Oh? Isn't that expensive?" She asked, earning a wide grin in response.

"Not when its parsley."

She stared at him for a moment before slowly shaking her head. Laughter bubbled from her lips. People turned in their chairs and gave her dirty looks, but Blair and Steven were in their own little world.

—

She stood by the entrance, her face blank of emotions. She watched as her classmates joined their parents, who kissed them and wore big smiles. Everyone seemed so happy, all but one.