Chemistry - A Sander's Sides Fanfiction

- 54 -

I'm so sorry that this has come so late! However, I really wanted to make sure that I was satisfied with Chapter 54 before I posted because this, ladies, gentlemen, and non binary pals, is the final chapter!

(Brief note: Thanks to @PassionateALot for the rat's name idea. There were a lot of cute ones in there — that's why it took so long to pick haha — but Ratatouille + Thomas's Sleep character was too good of a combo to pass up!)

Anyway, I love you all. Please enjoy.

Virgil nervously adjusted the shiny fabric draped over his shoulders. He looked hesitantly up at the clouds, an anxious grimace present on his face as he squinted his eyes to combat the sun. He took a deep breath, trying not to make accidental eye contact with the unfamiliar students sitting next to him.

Why did this have to be alphabetized, Virgil cursed bitterly to himself.

He was sitting in an uncomfortable folding chair for the third time that week, glaring humorlessly at a makeshift stage -- decorated this time, mind you. And why? Well, because, Virgil was graduating.

It was sort of crazy how fast time flies. One second, Virgil was staring at the colored hallway tiles for the first time, foreign to him on his first day of senior year. Now, he was sat between two strangers, just about ready to wave his miserable high school career behind. However, unlike Virgil's original prediction for senior year, he actually had friends -- friends who, unfortunately, did not have last names anywhere near his.

There was something about sitting in direct sunlight in the middle of June that really dulled down the potential excitement for graduation. Virgil had felt somewhat enthusiastic beforehand -- and anxious, of course -- but after listening to speeches and watching people march across stage for roughly an hour, he was just ready to go home. Luckily, though, the worst part of it was over, for he had already been up on stage himself to receive the very impressive high school diploma and the other papers that came with it. But now that the anxiety-inducing event was over, Virgil was just straight-up bored.

And frickin' hot.

Jeez, why do they make us wear black?

Again, Virgil cast his eyes up towards the sky, glaring at it as though that would scare the clouds into providing shade. No such thing happened, however. Not that he was particularly surprised.

As Virgil waited, he couldn't help thinking about the future. Part of him really didn't want the year to end. Sure, he was staying nearby, going to community college in the city, but all of his friends would be packing their bags in a few months' time and traveling off to wherever they would be spending the next four years of their lives (or perhaps more, if you're Logan). He had really enjoyed senior year, even though it had been excruciating at first. But now... Virgil shook his head even just thinking about it.

Then suddenly, before Virgil knew it, everyone was standing up. He had been too far in his own head to hear the instructions that had just been given, but they had rehearsed graduation enough times for him to have a pretty good idea. On the count of three, every newly-graduated senior grabbed hold of their hats and tossed them up into the air. Virgil could hear whistles and horns being blown from the audience in the stands, and for a second, that feeling of excitement came back and welled up in his chest. Something about seeing that black cap sailing in the breeze really did something to him. But once it came back down, Virgil's dread from just a few moments earlier resurfaced.