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"Welcome, 2015 Class of Dalton High," Principal Howard announces, his voice booming throughout the whole football field, "to the day you've all been waiting for — your graduation ceremony."
Cheers and shrieks resonate around me, the assembly of students and relatives sounding much more bigger than that. Like a Taylor Swift concert or something.
"Trust me, it's all I've been looking forward to, too."
Laughter ensues. I make eye contact with Trey and Vic, who, by their surnames, are seated not so far from me; we're all wearing our graduation attire, although my hat keeps falling off for some reason and I've been adjusting it every five minutes. Then I turn my head across the seats where Liv is — I wave at her frantically and she immediately sees me, giving me a thumbs-up and the hugest smile.
Time passes by as the Principal and the School Board make their speeches, and my mind floats away. Looking at my fellow classmates right now, it seems almost surreal. I've spent three or more years with these people, going through my own ups and downs, discovering myself, succeeding and failing and doing it all over again. Despite it not always being pleasant, it's become my second home. Even with assholes like TJ Barnett and teacher pets like Jonathan from Chess Club.
I might get emotional before it even starts.
It doesn't make it better knowing that, somewhere in the back of the crowd, my family, Justine and Jude Reynolds sit side by side. For me.
Ugh. Too late.
"It's time for a speech from your valedictorian, Trey Ramiro Gonzalez."
And just like that, Trey, my best friend, walks up to the big stage by himself, with our cheers acting like fuel to his already huge ego. But it's not ego, not like I thought when I first met him — that's confidence, fully in the flesh and overwhelming. A lot of people would mistaken the two, but that's what it really is. Who he really is.
"The Great Gonzalez!" I shout with my hands covering my mouth, causing a snort of laughter to travelin the crowd. I'm close enough to see Trey falter in his steps, shaking his head and failing to hide the smile that creeps up to him. My grin widens.
"Thank you, thank you." He taps a finger on the microphone. "My apologies. Is it working? Do I — okay, perfect."
When we all simmer down, he doesn't waste time.
"As your Student Body President, I understand that not all of you like me since there was an 80% vote on my part." A single cough from the crowd. "However, I'm here to say that, despite our differences, we have all come here together for one reason only: getting to celebrate the fact that we've been through hell and back all these three years and still made it out alive. That makes us a batch of badasses, I assume?"
