"Best Friends"

Words of Hope

For Dark, the week leading up to graduation was a blur of tears from his classmates, inspirational speeches from teachers, and watching Disney movies in class since there was nothing else to do.

It was already Friday, meaning that after school all of the seniors would return to walk across the stage before they could put high school behind them for good.

"You glad to be graduating?" Anti asked Dark as they walked through the lunch line, pulling him from his thoughts.

"I guess." Dark shrugged.

In reality, he was scared since he had no idea what he was going to do, his future still undetermined.

"I'm looking forward to a summer of doing nothing!" Anti exclaimed excitedly as he picked up his tray of pizza.

"You still have work." Dark reminded him with a light snicker as he grabbed his own food.

Dark worked at McDonalds while Anti worked at a Waffle House not far from Dark, Mark spending his time doing odd jobs for people instead of finding a workplace to stay at.

"Well yeah, but I get free food." Anti countered as they walked to their usual table to find a few unexpected faces waiting for them.

"Hey guys!" Anti greeted Schneep, Jackaboy-Man, Marvin, Chase, and Robbie as he sat down.

"Velcome, it's been too long since ve had time to talk." Schneep replied, acknowledging Dark with a simple nod as the awkward teen sat down next to Anti.

Dark glanced around to see that Mark had relocated to a different table so he could play Cards Against Humanity with Felix, Marzia, Signe, Jack, and Amy.

"I know! Are any of you a senior?" Anti asked.

Schneep and Jackaboy-Man were the only ones that raised their hands.

"Robbie not old, Robbie fresh!" The pale faced male declared proudly.

"What he means to say is that he's a freshman." Marvin translated.

From what little Dark knew, Robbie was a nice kid that had trouble keeping up with his class and had speaking issues, causing many students to not like him even though he was nice to everyone.

"What about you guys?" Dark prompted Chase and Marvin curiously.

"I'm a junior." Chase answered.

"Sophomore." Marvin chimed in.

"Oof, good luck next year." Chase told Marvin teasingly with a pat on the shoulder.

Before they could say more, the bell echoed through the cafeteria, sending the students towards the trash cans to dump their trays before darting to their next classes.

It wasn't long until school was released, Dark driving Anti home on the back of his motorcycle.

"Hey, Jack is holding a graduation party at his house since his parents are out of town, you wanna come?" Anti shouted over the wind as Dark drove slightly above the speed limit.

"That sounds awesome!" Dark yelled back before he pulled up at Anti's house, waving goodbye to him before he walked his motorcycle back to his house.

Mark's mom was already waiting for him with a hairbrush in hand, ushering him to the bathroom and sitting him down on the edge of the tub while she fussed with his unruly hair.

Mark laughed at Dark from the doorway until Mark's mom dragged him inside as well and sat him down on the toilet, helping both seniors get prepared.