Falling → Stefan Salvatore [2]

Graduation

Chapter 22: Graduation

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Once a year, seniors all over the country endure a simple ceremony that somehow seems to define how they view their high school experience for the rest of their lives. It's their graduation day. The day that truly transforms them from teenagers to adults in only a twenty four hour time period. The day in which, though it doesn't feel like it, they begin the rest of their life the moment their graduation cap meets the air.

"Rise and shine, graduate." Lydia Schultz shook the bed that her sister was sleeping on relentlessly, eager for the girl to finally wake up so they could enjoy their last few hours in each other's company.

"Go away." Amalia mumbled, refusing to open her eyes as she grabbed onto her pillow and covered her head with it to block out the noise of Lydia's voice.

"Choose your words very carefully. You only have me for so long." Lydia crossed her arms over her chest, assuming that the reminder of their reunion not being permanent would be enough to bring Amalia back into the reality of the awakened world.

And she was right. Amalia groaned before sitting up in the bed, leaning her frame against the headboard and wiping her eyes free of blurry vision. "Fine. Good morning. Ugh. What is that noise?"

"That would be your unfortunate taste in men and his unfortunate taste in music." Lydia replied, clearly as annoyed by Stefan and Lexi's sudden need to party first thing in the morning as Amalia was.

"Oh." she shrugged, not even surprised, "Permission to kill him?"

"Permission granted." Lydia nodded her head, seeming to find the idea just as enlightening as Amalia did. Lydia then sat down on the bed right beside the other girl and turned her head to look at her in preparation for the next words that were to leave her mouth. "Alright, we don't have time to dilly dally. Up and at em'. You have a big day ahead of you."

"Do I have to?" Amalia threw her head back at the reminder of all she had to do that day. Which, really wasn't as much as she made it out to be. Although in her defense, she wasn't exactly eager to have to do anything at all that day in particular.

"Yup." She nodded her head as she watched Amalia finally get up from the bed, going against all of her protests. Lydia slapped Amalia's butt as she walked away from her, to which Amalia responded by turning her head around once again and glaring at the girl. "Off you go."

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The moment all of them had been waiting for since what felt like the beginning of time had finally come, and they were graduating onto the next step of all of their lives. It was odd, really. The way that one ceremony changed the outlook of everyone on how old someone truly was. Those who were still in high school were known to be children, and those who were in college, yet the same age as those in high school, were seen as adults.