Author's note: As you can probably tell, thanks to a user who had sent me a rude private message stating that I cannot upload stories with the names of authors in them I have changed the authors to OC's. (Celrock explains it a lot better than I do on her profile.) In fact, speaking of Celrock, I used the names she suggested on her profile in this story. Here is the list:
Sesealia = Celrock
Pete = TCKing12
Hunter = Olaughlinhunter
Tammy = Nairobi-Harper (me)
Brian = Boris-Yeltsin
Soyer = sovietlollipop
Nell = theblindwriter95
By the way, if it's in italics, that means that someone is thinking :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Rugrats, or Hey Arnold; Zack belongs to Celrock, and Peter belongs to TCKing12.
Sesealia's Graduation Story
On a sunny day in Yucaipa, a woman named Sesealia was happily walking down the street; having just graduated from college, she was, of course, very proud of herself! Her good friend, King Peter Albany, was proud of her too, which was why he'd invited her to his castle for a graduation party around a month back; since today had been her graduation day, she was now walking to his castle, feeling ecstatic.
'I can't wait to see what the party will be like!' Sesealia thought to herself as she approached the castle. Once she'd walked up the steps of the castle, she rung the door bell. 'This is going to be exciting! Ooh, what do they have planned for me?' A second later, Peter opened the door.
"Hello there, Sesealia!" Peter greeted. "You must be here for your graduation party!"
"That's right," Sesealia said, smiling.
"Please do come in," Peter requested. Sesealia nodded, walking inside of the humongous castle. On most days, she would've tried to look and see if there had been any re-decorations, but today, something in particular had caught her eye: the place was completely deserted.
"Peter, where is everyone?" Sesealia asked, befuddled.
"You're about to find out," he assured her. "Excuse me for a moment." He quickly left the room, leaving Sesealia standing there, confused.
'What are they doing for me? I thought they'd all be here to congratulate me!' She scorned. 'If they just, for some reason, fogot that today was my graduation day, well then, I just might…'
"I'm back!" Her eyes widened, and she turned to face him; however, what mostly caught her sight was a car-like object that was right next to him.
"Is that one of your inventions?" she asked him, pointing to it. He looked down.
"Oh, yes, it is," he began, "and it will be very important in assuring that we get where we'll need to be today. Please get inside of it."
She walked over to the vehicle, taking a seat inside of it; while the vehicle was small in terms of height, it was still large enough for at least four people to fit inside of it, which was why Sesealia didn't have many issues getting inside of it.
"What do you call this?" Sesealia asked. Considering that she'd never seen such a small vehicle in her life, she assumed it to be another one of Peter's inventions.
"Oh, I haven't come up with a name for it yet," Peter told her, "but, as a graduation gift, I'll let you personally name this invention." Sesealia's eyes widened.
"Really?" she asked, shocked.
"Yes," Peter said, chuckling, "really."
"Hmm, well, what does the vehicle do?" Sesealia asked.
"Well, I have to type the name of where we're going into this small computer right here using this keyboard," Peter began to explain, "and then, by clicking this little green button right here, we will automatically be taken there."
"Let's see… I think you should call this invention 'The Booster 107,' or something like that," Sesealia said. "It must be a very powerful machine for it to work so well, and, I think that it sounds pretty cool with a name like that!" Peter smiled.
"That's what it shall be called, then," he declared. "Now, we have to get to our destination." He typed something into the keyboard, clicked the green button, and soon enough, the Booster 107 was taking them where they needed to be.
Before they knew it, they'd arrived outside of what seemed to be some sort of beach house.
"Oh my dear Lord," Sesealia whispered to herself, staring at the place.
"It's huge, isn't it?" Peter noted, chuckling; he was nowhere near incorrect, either; the home had a pool, numerous chairs, dozens of lights, a great view, and clearly, there were many people inside of it.
"Peter, h-how did you get this?" Sesealia asked, still in shock.
"We rented it out for the night," Peter said as though it were no big deal. "It only cost around nine-hundred thousand; after all, it only will belong to us for just one night."
"Peter, are you kidding me?" Sesealia asked. "This is almost better than that driverless car you got me in December!"
"I'm glad that you like it," Peter said. As he and Sesealia walked inside, they saw the Rugrats characters and the Hey Arnold characters; however, the first people that they saw were the babies.
"Oh, hey guys!" Sesealia greeted. They waved to her, giggling; the only one that could actually speak was Susie, who made sure to greet Sesealia.
"Hi, Sesealia!" Susie greeted. "Are you liking the party?"
"You bet I am, Susie!" Sesealia replied with liveliness. She then saw the Hey Arnold characters, who were all sitting in a group on the floor.
"Konichiwa, Sesealia," Phoebe greeted once she'd noticed Sesealia waving at them. "Congratulations on graduating!"
"Congrats, Sesealia," they all told her.
"Thank you all so much," Sesealia said. "This whole thing is amazing!"
"It'd better be," Helga grumbled, scowling. Though she was often… tolerable of Helga, Sesealia chose to ignore the comment; instead, she looked around the place, noticing that the others were nowhere to be seen.
"Where's everyone else?" Sesealia asked.
"Oh, they're all in the kitchen," Peter explained. He smiled. "They're cooking up a meal that they think you'll enjoy." A smile came to Sesealia's face as images went through her mind of what they might be cooking for her.
'Fried chicken with rice… ooh, or maybe pizza! Burritos would also be nice, or maybe some Chinese food…'
"The first meal is ready!" a voice announced. Sesealia's eyes grew wide, and she became excited; she recognized the voice to be that of her friend Brian's.
'Ooh, I remember the meal that he and Tammy made me for my birthday party! I'm hoping that this one will be just as good!'
He and Soyer came out carrying a dish that was covered with a white cloth.
'It smells really good…'
She stared with delight as many more meals were brought out; by the time that every meal that had been made was brought out, Sesealia had counted about eight dishes.
'Wow!' she thought to herself as her stomach growled. 'This is going to be very tasty!'
"Congratulations on graduating, Sesealia!" they all said as they walked by.
"Thank you," she'd responded.
By now, she was pretty sure that every meal was on the large dining table, as she saw that everyone was starting to take their seats in the other room.
'Yay, it must be time!' she thought to herself. Her suspicions were confirmed once Peter walked into the room.
"It's time to go into the dining room, Sesealia," Peter told her.
"Okay, Peter," she told him, trying to hold in her excitement.
Once they'd walked into the dining room, they saw that everyone was now seated; she was about to find a seat herself, before Peter began talking.
"Dinner time will be used to have discussions with those around us, and, of course, as the person who will be graduating today, Sesealia will receive the very first serving of every meal, starting with the pizza," Peter announced. "Sesealia, please come up here." Sesealia walked up to the very front of the dining table. "Tammy has agreed to put your first slice, or slices, of pizza on your plate ." Just as he said this, Tammy came walking up with gloves on her hands.
"To start, Sesealia, congratulations on graduating!" Tammy told her. She opened up what was the largest box of pizza that Sesealia had ever seen. "Secondly, which slices do you want?" Sesealia stared at the boxes of pizza, amazed.
"I'll take these three," she finally said, pointing to the slices that she personally felt looked the best. Tammy put the slices on her plate before moving over to the ice cream.
'So, looks like it was pizza, ice cream, burritos, cookies, cake, fried chicken, baked chicken, and burgers,' Sesealia thought to herself. She received the ice cream, and, eventually, she'd gotten everything that she wanted; satisfied with her meal, she walked back to the dining table, taking a seat next to Didi and Brian.
"Hunter, you will be served next for your hard work in the kitchen," Peter declared.
Boris was served, and eventually, everyone else in the room had been served as well, and were now seated.
"Attention, everyone!" Peter shouted. They all looked up at him. "Before you continue eating, please congratulate Sesealia once again!"
"Congratulations, Sesealia!" everyone shouted.
"Awe, thanks you guys!" Sesealia replied.
"Discussion shall now begin," Peter clarified as he took his seat; once again, the room became noisy as everyone conversed with one another.
"So, how's your day been so far?" Brian asked Sesealia; they'd been sitting across from one another, and they hadn't exchanged many words since the party had started.
"Oh, it's been amazing!" Sesealia exclaimed. "I had graduation this morning, and I was so excited! Even my dad congratulated me on Twitter, and he and my mom are supposed to take me out for dinner tonight! Overall, I'm just, really happy, and I'm even happier now that I'm here!" She ate another spoonful of ice cream. "Mmm, this ice cream tastes really good! Where did you guys get it from?"
"Sadly, I've forgotten what the place is called, but Tammy and her mother go there rather often," Brian responded. Hearing her name, Tammy looked towards them, only to see that it was Brian and Sesealia.
"Oh, hey guys!" Tammy said. She'd been sitting about two seats away from Brian, and hadn't actually realized that they were there. "By the way, congratulations on graduating, Sesealia!"
"Thanks, Tammy," Sesealia said, smiling. "How's your week been going? I remember that you said you were on hiatus, but I don't remember you saying when you're coming off of it."
"My week's been going pretty well, but I've been having a lot of testing lately, which was the main reason why I had to put myself on hiatus in the first place," Tammy explained. "I just had my Chemistry and Math test, and on the twenty-fourth of this month, I'm supposed to take my English test. This year has been a breeze when it comes to English, but I'm still going to study for the test just to be safe."
"So, in other words, you'll be coming off hiatus once testing is all done for you, right?" Sesealia asked her.
"That is correct," Tammy responded. "I'm kind of upset that we're having testing so late into the year, though. I mean, school's about to be over, why do I need to be even more stressed out than I was at the beginning of the year?" Zabrea, who was sitting next to Brian, joined in on the conversation.
"I understand how you feel, Tammy," Zabrea told her. "I've been having a lot of work, too, which has actually delayed my own stories. It really is a shame how the school system is set up." She turned to Sesealia. "By the way, congratulations, Sesealia!"
"Thanks, Zabrea," Sesealia told her, smiling. They were about to continue eating, before something dawned on Brian.
"Wait… Tammy, didn't you say that you wanted to have fifty stories up by the time that your two-year anniversary comes up?" Brian asked her.
"Yeah…" Tammy said, a bit confused. However, her eyes widened once she realized what he meant. "Oh my gosh! My two-year anniversary is on June seventh!" She frowned. "If I want those fifty stories up, I'm really going to have to start working hard, whether I have testing or not!"
"Well, you did say that you have about six requests, don't you?" Brian asked.
"Well, yeah, six people have requested that I write them stories," Tammy confirmed.
"So, possibly - and this is just an idea - if you want those six spots filled, since you now have forty-four stories, you could write all of those requests, which, by the time that you're out of school, will also give you time to work on your own stories," Brian suggested.
"I like that idea, Brian," Tammy replied, beginning to calm down a bit. "Then, people wouldn't have to wait as long for their stories to be posted." She put her finger on her lip. "I'll think about it."
"Glad to hear so, Tammy," Brian responded.
They then all got back to eating, and, by the time that it had hit noon, they were finished with their food, and quite full; it turned out that everyone else was, too.
"Now, it is time to give you gifts and money," Peter stated. "Helga has said that she wants to start, so we will recycle and throw our food away before going to the next room."
They all did as told before walking into the other room.
"Here's twenty-five bucks," Helga said as soon as Sesealia had entered the room; she handed her an envelope.
"Thank you," she said, smiling.
"I have something I'm gonna send you in the mail, too," Helga said quietly. Seeing the look of exhilaration on Sesealia's face, she added, "But don't expect anything that will make you go straight into happy mode; it's just another gift, that's all."
"Okay then," Sesealia replied; however, she knew that what Helga was going to give her would likely be a lot better than she was making it sound.
'Probably something crafty, knowing Helga.'
"The DeVille's are next," Pete announced.
"Oh, um, Betty and I got you a book," Howard quietly stated. He handed the book to Sesealia.
She looked at the cover, which read "The Years After College."
'I wonder what this is about.'
"It covers stuff that will be useful now that you're outta college," Betty explained. "This'll show ya stuff like how to get through a job interview, do taxes, balance a checkbook, change a tire, and all that stuff." She smiled. "I read this book as soon as I graduated, and trust me, even if you already know how to do some of the stuff in here, it'll probably be a lot more helpful than ya think!"
"And then Betty and I have thirty dollars for you," Howard added, handing Sesealia an evelope.
"Thanks, guys!" Sesealia said. "I think this book will be really helpful, and, I'm looking forward to reading it!"
"Next, it is our turn," Pete said, turning to Peter and Stu. "Are you all ready to show her what we invented?"
'Ooh, ooh, what did they invent for me?' Sesealia wondered. Knowing who Pete, Peter, and Stu were, she had the feeling that this invention would be quite exciting.
They handed her a gift wrapped with blue ribbon.
'I definitely like the wrapping paper,' Sesealia thought to herself as she unwrapped the gift. However, the gift didn't seem to be what she expected.
"It's… a bag," Sesealia observed, confused.
'I thought that it would be more exciting than this…'
"Yes, but try to open it up," Pete told her. Perplexed, Sesealia tried to open the bag, only for it to pop into what seemed to be an umbrella.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "It's an umbrella too?" Peter nodded.
"An umbrella-bag," he corrected. "If it starts raining, you can pop it out. If it stops raining, you can turn it back into a bag to make things easier."
"Well, I really like it!" Sesealia said. "Thanks, guys!"
"You're welcome," they all said.
"It's now Didi's turn," Pete said, continuing to read from the notepad.
"Oh, well, I got you a Glass Globe of Hope Necklace," Didi told her, smiling. "The Internet gave me the idea." Sesealia held the necklace in her hands.
"I love it, Didi!" Sesealia told her. "I'll wear it as much as I can!"
"It's Arnold's turn," Pete read. Arnold handed Sesealia the gift that he'd gotten her.
"I thought that you'd like a Self Success Journal," Arnold told her as she opened it. "Since you just graduated from college, maybe your first entry can be about how you feel about it, your struggles, and how you got through those struggles. Just an idea, though."
"And a great idea, it is!" she told him. "Not only am I a huge fan of writing, but I can also reflect on my best and worst times! Thank you, Arnold!"
"You're welcome," Arnold said. He handed an envelope to Sesealia. "Oh, and I saved up twenty dollars."
"Thank you very much, Arnold!" Sesealia said again. Getting the feeling that Arnold had given Sesealia everything that he had for her, Pete announced who was next.
"Brian is next," Pete announced. Brian walked up to Sesealia, giving her a gift wrapped with sky blue ribbon.
'Ooh, I wonder what this is,' Sesealia thought to herself as she
"I got you a Seamless Gift Card," Brian told her. "I didn't bring you any money in an envelope because this gift card is basically equivalent to money."
"The Carmichaels are next," Pete stated. As if right on cue, the family came up with a wrapped gift in their hands.
'I wonder what that is,' Sesealia thought to herself.
"We put all our money together to buy you a Wishing Jar," Lucy explained as Sesealia began to unwrap the gift.
"You put all your positive thoughts in it," Susie explained.
"I think that, with all these positivity gifts, I'm going to have a very enjoyable year," Sesealia noted, chuckling.
"Looks like the Finster's are next," Pete stated. Chaz walked up to Sesealia, handing her a wrapped gift.
" Chuckie and Kimi really wanted us to get 'Chanco the Good Luck Pig' for you," Chaz told her as Sesealia unwrapped it. "Supposedly, if you bring him everywhere with you, he'll give you good luck."
"Well, Chaz, I should probably bring Chanco with me as many places as I can!" Sesealia declared.
"We also brought you thirty dollars," Kira stated, smiling as she handed Sesealia an envelope.
"Thank you, Kira!" Sesealia said.
'With all this money, I could be rich by now!' Sesealia thought.
"It's Nadine's turn," Pete stated. The gift that Nadine gave her was so big that Sesealia looked at it twice.
'Wow! That's one big gift!'
"This gift is huge, Nadine," Sesealia noted as she sat down and began to tear off the wrapping paper.
"Once you open it, you'll see why," Nadine told her, smiling.
Nadine was right, as once Sesealia had opened the gift, she saw that it was a butterfly net.
'Hmm, I've never had one of these!' she thought to herself.
"Wow, Nadine, thanks!" Sesealia exclaimed.
"Now that you've graduated from college, I thought that you might have more time to spend at the park, so I thought that, if you have more time, you might be able to spend some of it catching butterflies with this net if you want to," Nadine explained.
"Well, Nadine, I'll certainly make sure to do so!" Sesealia told her.
"I also have twenty dollars to give you," Nadine added, handing her an envelope.
"It is Zabrea's turn," Pete read.
"I wrote you a little story and printed it out," Zabrea told her, smiling. She handed her the document. "I also brought fifteen dollars.." She handed her an envelope.
"Thank you, Zabrea!" Sesealia replied.
'Wow, that sounds nice!'
"It is Tammy's turn," Pete announced.
"I got you a Personalized Bear," Tammy explained, handing her a stuffed bear. "It has a graduation gown and cap; it also has your name on it."
"Thank you, Tammy!" Sesealia responded.
'This was an interesting choice for a gift,' Sesealia thought.
"It is Lila's turn," Pete read.
"I was just oh so sure that you'd like a book about Natural Brilliance, not to suggest that you're not already brilliant," Lila told her, giving Sesealia an ever-so-sweet smile.
"Oh, thank you, Lila," Sesealia said.
"I apologize if it's not much, but I managed to save up thirteen dollars once I'd heard about your graduation party," Lila added, handing her a pretty pink envelope.
"It's a good amount, Lila, and I think that I'm really going to like this book, so don't worry," Sesealia told her, smiling.
"Stinky, it's your turn," Pete said, looking up at the tall boy.
"Well, Sesealia, I reckon that, sadly, only thing I could afford to give ya was this dandelion that I found on the way here," Stinky said, giving Sesealia a dandelion that he'd pulled out of his pocket. "Oh, and also five dollars." He handed her an evelope.
"Thank you, Stinky," Sesealia said, faking a smile.
'Well, he still made an effort,' Sesealia thought, feeling a tad bit disappointed.
"It is Soyer's turn," Pete stated.
"I bought you a personalized jewelry box," Soyer told her, smiling as she unwrapped the small gift that he'd gotten her.
"This is wonderful!" Sesealia acknowledged. "Perfect place to put my jewelry!"
'Very useful,' Sesealia happily thought to herself.
"It's Gerald's turn," Pete announced.
"I bought you a basketball," Gerald said as she unwrapped her circle-shaped gift. "Not sure if you're into sports, but just in case!" Sesealia smiled.
"I'll practice as much as possible," she told him.
"It is Nell's turn," Pete read. Nell handed Sesealia a small gift, smiling.
"I bought you a Personalized Fleece Blanket," Nell told her. It had Sesealia's name on it, along with something that said "Congrats on Graduating!" and had the colors blue and pink.
'Wow, I sure am getting a lot of personalized stuff,' Sesealia thought to herself.
"It's Harold's turn next," Pete announced.
"Oh, well, uh, I was gonna give you some meat, but, uh," Harold said, stuttering, "when I was on my way here a… uh… dog ate it! That's it! A dog ate it!" Though Harold seemed to think that she'd believe it, Sesealia certainly didn't.
"Criminey, Harold, who the heck do you expect to believe that?" Helga asked, scowling. "The girl wasn't born yesterday!"
"Helga's right, Harold," Sesealia said, scowling. "Look, I get that it can be a little hard for you to not eat whatever's in sight, but you could've at least tried to
"But I was so hungry!" Harold complained. "And I did try! I did! You can ask anyone that came with me! I really did try!" He fell at her knees. "I diiidd…" Sesealia sighed.
"Fine, Harold, I'll let you off this time, but the next time you come to one of my parties with an excuse like that, will be the last time that you come to any of my parties for a while," Sesealia said strictly. "Got it?" Harold nodded, frowning, as Sesealia sighed. "Who's next?"
"It appears that a boy named Sid is next," Pete said, reading his name off the list.
"Oh, uh, I saved up two dollars for you," Sid said, handing two crumpled dollars to her. "I didn't really have an envelope with me, so…"
"It's okay, Sid," Sesealia said. "I can put it in my pocket." She folded the two dollars gently before stuffing them into her pants pocket.
'These gifts are becoming worse and worse,' Sesealia thought to herself, trying to fight a scowl. 'I mean, a dandelion? Two wrinkled dollars? No gift at all? These gifts had better get beter, or I might be leaving this party angry!'
"Rhonda Lloyd appears to be next," Pete stated. Without the slightest hint of a smile, Rhonda handed her a small gift.
'This actually looks promising, especially since it's Rhonda,' Sesealia thought to herself.
"I got you just the best of makeup," Rhonda told her as she unwrapped the gift. "It was very expensive, and is of very high quality, so it would just be nonsensical if you didn't like it."
"Well, Rhonda," Sesealia said, giving her best smile, "this could be really useful for parties like this and special events! Thank you!" Though Sesealia had to admit that it was indeed a very nice gift, if she were being honest, she'd never liked makeup all that much.
"Oh, and here's one hundred dollars," Rhonda told her, handing her a purse. "It comes in the best purse that I could find!" The purse was pink in color, and was clearly designed to hold up long.
'The purse is beautiful!' Sesealia thought to herself. 'It has a lot of designs…'
"Next are two children named Eugene and Sheena," Pete read.
"Well, we got you a DVD that can teach you some of the best dance moves in the world!" Eugene explained as Sesealia unwrapped it.
'Very interesting,' she thought.
"Then we have Hunter," Pete read. Hunter handed her a medium-sized wrapped gift.
"Wow, is this a Marble Desk Clock?" Sesealia asked once she'd finished unwrapping it. She'd seen some of them around before, and recognized it.
"That's right," Hunter said, smiling. "I hope that you like it."
"I think that I'll like it very much, Hunter!" Sesealia assured him.
"And, last but not least, a girl named Phoebe had wanted to go," Pete read.
"Oh, um, I bought you a book called 'This is Water'," Phoebe told her. "It's gotten very positive reviews, and based on the summary, it seems to be rather helpful."
"Thank you very much, Phoebe, and I really appreciate it!"
"Oh, but we're not done yet with the money and gifts," Peter claimed. Sesealia raised an eyebrow.
"We're not?" she asked, confused.
"No," Peter stated. "Susie told me that she and the babies have something to show you." Right as he'd said this, Susie turned to Zack, whispering something to him; by the time that Sesealia had finally turned around to look at the babies, Zack was rushing out of the room.
"Huh?" Sesealia asked, nonplussed.
"Oh, he's just getting your surprise," Zack's Aunt Celeste assured her. "He should be back in a moment or so."
Her assumption turned out to be correct, as about a minute later, Zack came back with a large poster; surprised, yet eager to see everything, Sensealia waited, watching as Zack whispered something to his friends; whatever he'd whispered made the babies come stand next to him, each holding a side of the poster.
'What's on the poster?' Though the babies struggled a bit to hold the poster up, they were eventually ready to present the material; once they'd turned the poster around, the very first thing that Sensealia noticed was just how colorful it was. 'Wow! I've never seen so many colors mixed together…'
The second thing that she'd noticed was that the poster clearly said something; she wasn't sure what, as it seemed more like scribbles to her, though she could make out a few letters.
'Hmm… I think that that's a Z, and that's a c, and I can definitely read Susie's' -
"Happy graduation day, Sesealia!" the babies shouted; once again, the only one that she could understand was Susie, as Susie was the only one of the Rugrats who could currently speak in "adult" language. Of course, Sesealia could still take a guess as to what the others were saying, and smiled brightly at them.
'How sweet of them!' she thought. 'They definitely put in a lot of time to do this!'
"Awe, thank you so much, you guys!" Sesealia exclaimed. "I love it! You kids must've taken a lot of time to do this!" The babies nodded, with Phil and Lil giving sighs of exhaustion as if to make a point.
While the babies making anything like this in the first place surprised her, what Tommy did next surprised her even more; he had everyone else let go of the poster, and started taking steps toward Sesealia.
'Is he going to give me the poster?' Sesealia wondered to herself. Her assumption turned out to be correct, as by the time that Tommy had taken around six steps, he held the poster out to her. 'Wow!'
"Awe, thank you, Tommy!" Sesealia said, smiling. "I'll hang it up on one of the walls of my home!" Tommy simply giggled in response; Sesealia, meanwhile, folded the poster up a little to assure that it would fit inside of the umbrella-bag that Peter had given her.
"Now, for the last part of the day, those who had graduated from college themselves will be giving Sesealia advice with a Powerpoint Presentation," Peter announced. Sesealia perked up.
'This was the last thing that I expected,' she thought to herself. 'This will probably be really helpful, and it's also going to be an actual presentation just for me!'
"They will?" Sesealia asked, quite surprised.
"Yes, I had arranged for that, and I'm sure that you'll like the advice very much," Peter stated.
'Well, I knew that this party would be fun, but I didn't think I'd end up learning about what path everyone took after college!' Sesealia thought to herself. 'This should be very exciting!' She put her hands in her lap, feeling very giddy.
"I'm sure that I will, Peter!" she replied. "Who's starting first?" Pete, who was also a friend of Peter's, glanced at a notepad before responding.
"I do believe that Didi was supposed to go first," Pete stated. Didi nodded.
"We'll have to take this to the other room," Peter announced. "Everyone, follow me." They all followed him into the other room,
The first slide read "My Graduation Story: By Didi Pickles" and had a beautiful blue background.
"Hello everyone," Didi said, smiling warmly. "Today I will be talking about what I did after college, whether or not I regret what I did after graduating, and if, looking back on it, I would've done anything differently." She waved her hand to Lucy, who then switched to the next slide; the next slide had no title, and instead showed a picture of the college that Didi had went to. "This right here is a picture of the first college that I had ever gone to; I was studying to become a teacher, and since there sadly aren't many colleges in Yucaipa for a degree as a teacher, I ended up going to University of North California." She paused. "That's not to say I disliked this school, though. If anything, it's one of the best schools that I've ever been to, and I learned a lot more than I expected!" Seeing that she was finished, Lucy clicked on the next slide.
'Wow,' Sesealia thought as Didi spoke. 'Looks like Didi learned a lot at this school, and she really enjoyed going there, even if there aren't many schools to go to for teaching in Yucaipa!'
Though it took a while, Didi had eventually gotten to explaining what she'd done after college. She put her hands behind her back, clearing her throat once again.
"Well, of course, I ended up marrying my wonderful husband, Stu, after college, and had two wonderful children," she began; of course, her husband blushed as she said this, while Tommy and Dil smiled. "But that's not exactly what I did after college." She walked around. "After I'd graduated from college, I decided that I wanted to first take a teaching internship instead of just immediately starting to teach; I took a two-semester internship at a public high school near Yucaipa, and let me tell you, I enjoyed it very much!" She smiled as she said this. "By the time that I was done with it, I felt like I was perfectly ready to be a teacher, which was why, at twenty-four years old, I started looking for teaching jobs in Yucaipa." She walked around a little bit more. "Though it took me a while, I eventually found a job as a Home Ec teacher at Monks High School, which is actually rather close to our home!" She finally stopped walking around, standing right in place. "Still, I felt like I wanted to know more, which was why I ended up going back to college last year."
'Oh yeah, I remember Didi telling me about that!' Sesealia thought to herself.
"As I'm sure that everyone in this room knows, I graduated from that college a little while ago, and since then, I feel like I know a lot more, and personally, I feel very happy with my life," Didi stated.
'I'm glad to hear that Didi's a lot happier now.' Seeing that Didi was ready to give her advice, Sesealia sat up straight in her chair, making sure to put all of her focus on what Didi had to say.
"Before I presented this, I tried to really look back and see if there was anything that I would've changed from the first time that I graduated from college," Didi stated, "and I decided that yes, there was one thing in particular that I certainly would've changed." Staring straight at her audience, she said, "I hadn't said this before, but one thing that happened to me was that I was told a lot that just because I'm not making the highest amount of money as a teacher, that means my career is worthless." She turned to Sesealia, her smile disappearing. "Sesealia, if anyone ever tells you that your degree, your career, or what you majored in was worthless just because you don't have a six-figure salary, well, you shouldn't let them!"
Sesealia nodded as Didi finished her speech, completely understanding what Didi was saying; she herself had been told before that her degree was worthless, and though it was hurtful, she'd managed to stand up for herself in the end, letting the person know that she was still proud of herself nonetheless.
"Trust me, if anyone ever tells me that my degree is worthless, well, I'll give them a piece of my mind!" Sesealia assured Didi. Didi smiled at her, starting to calm down a bit.
"I'm glad to hear that, Sesealia," Didi stated. She frowned. "I usually just let people walk over me until I finally snap."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Didi, and well, now that you've given me some advice, I have some advice for you," Sesealia said. "I think that, if anyone ever tells you that your teaching degree is worthless, you should tell them that you like doing your job, and you're a lot happier being a teacher than you would be if you were, say, a doctor."
"Thank you for the advice, Sesealia, and if anyone insults my career again, I'll make sure to tell them that," Didi clarified; seeing that she was done speaking, everyone in the room began clapping, causing Didi's smile to return. "Thank you everyone for listening to this presentation! Are there any questions or comments?" She looked around, only to see that no one had their hand raised. "Thank you, everyone." She went over to the computer, signing herself out of Gmail, and walked back over to sit with everyone else.
"It seems that Lucy is next," Pete noted. Claps could be heard as Lucy got out of her seat, walking up to the Chromebook where she could open up Google Slides; after about a minute, she was ready to present the material.
"I'm ready," she whispered to Pete and Peter. Seeing that many were chatting, she clapped her hands together loudly enough to be heard; the room quieted down quickly. "Thank you, everyone." She put her hands behind her back. "As you all know, today, I will be telling you about where I went to college, what I did after graduating, and whether or not I would change anything when it comes to what I majored in, and what my career is today." The first slide that she was showing's background was notably a beautiful picture of Boston; however, this picture would not be projected for much longer, as she then gestured to Pete, her "computer person," to change to the next slide. The second slide in particular showed a picture of Harvard Medical School. "This right here is a picture of Harvard Medical School, located in Boston. I'm sure that many of you in the room have familiarized yourselves with Harvard, seeing as how it's one of the most well known universities in the world, and also one of the hardest to get into."
'Lucy must've worked really hard in high school to get accepted into that school,' Sesealia thought to herself. She'd heard that the university cost a lot to get into, which was something that Lucy also talked about a moment later.
"Now, I'm sure that any of you who have heard about college, know about college, or have gone to college know that college tuition money is very expensive," Lucy stated. A few people said "that's right" after she'd said this. "You might be surprised to know that, even though my husband and I are making a good amount of money these days, back when I was about to go to college, I still was having trouble raising money for my tuition payments." She walked around a bit. "Now, you might be wondering, where did that money come from?" Lucy smiled. "I can thank my Aunt T for that. She funded my tuition payments for Harvard Medical University, and to this day, I still continue to thank her for that."
'Oh, I remember hearing about that,' Sesealia thought to herself. 'Lucy's Aunt T sounds like a great woman!'
For around ten more minutes, Lucy told everyone more about her life at Harvard Medical University, before she'd finally gotten to what she'd decided to do after graduating.
"Much like Didi, after I completed my years at Harvard Medical School, I took an internship," Lucy explained. "I must say, it was a lot more difficult than I had expected, though I managed to get through it with hard work and dedication." She turned to face the other side of the audience. "After my internship, I continued to work hard, and eventually, I was a certified doctor."
'I'm glad that Lucy got to complete her dreams,' Sesealia thought, smiling. 'And I can't wait to hear her advice for me!'
"Looking back on it, I honestly don't think I would've changed a thing," Lucy admitted. "I worked very hard throughout my years in medical school, and I honestly can't think of anything that I would've done differently. However, I still do have some advice for you, Sesealia." She turned to face the woman in question. "Now that you've graduated from college yourself, I think that you should continue to work hard when it comes to anything that you really want to succeed in. If you want a break after going to college for all those years, you should go ahead and do it; still, I think that you should try to make sure that you continue to work hard with everything that you do."
"Even though I'll be taking a break, I'll make sure that I work very hard, Lucy," Sesealia assured her. Lucy smiled.
"I'm sure you will, Sesealia," Lucy stated. "Any questions?" She called on her daughter, Susie, who's hand was raised high in the air. "Yes, Susie?"
"Mommy, doesn't Harvard Medical School only accept 3.7% of the people who apply?" Susie asked.
"As of now, that is the acceptance rate," Lucy told her. "If I tried to get in now, it'd probably be harder."
"I'll have to work pretty hard if I wanna become a doctor, then," Susie noted. Her mother chuckled.
"Indeed you will, Susie," she said. She looked around. "Any more questions?" Since there were no more hands raised, Lucy walked over to the audience, about to take her seat; however, just before she did, everyone began clapping.
"That was very informative, Lucy!" Sesealia told her as she sat down.
"Thank you, Sesealia," Lucy said, smiling.
"It seems that Stu is next," Pete announced. "Stu, please come up." Stu got out of his chair, walking up to the Chromebook; he typed in all the information needed to open up his presentation, and was ready in about a minute.
"Please quiet down, everyone," Peter said very loudly. "Stu is ready to start!" He turned to Stu, who smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "Stu, please begin."
"Well, just as the picture here shows, I went to Haywood Community College," Stu explained. "I majored in Mechanical Engineering, which is how I became an inventor today!" He gestured for the next slide to be shown.
'Well, that makes sense,' Sesealia thought to herself. 'As an inventor, he would've had to major in Engineering during college if he wanted to get the best jobs.'
After going through a few more slides, Stu eventually began to talk about what he did after graduation.
"Well, eventually, after I'd graduated, Didi and I got married, and we bought our first house together," Stu explained, smiling at Didi. "I started to work on inventions in our basement, and I began selling my ideas to people."
'And so far, a lot of those ideas have been pretty successful.'
"Now, onto my advice for Sesealia." He turned towards her, trying to compose himself. "I think that you should make sure before you get a job that it's exactly what you want to do; I knew that I wanted to be an inventor as a kid, and I've always really liked the idea. Along with that, I'm happy doing it, and I feel like my job is stable enough, so I think that you should make sure that you're happy with what you're doing."
"I can tell you, Stu, that I'm pretty happy with where my life's going, and, I personally wouldn't change a think so far," Sesealia stated. Stu gave her a slight smile.
"Any questions?" Stu asked; seeing that there were none, he went to sit down. Just as they had for the others, everyone began to clap. "Thank you, everybody!"
"Sadly, many of us will need to get going now," Peter reminded everyone into the microphone. "It's reaching three pm, and, unless you're me, it's likely that your parents are waiting for you to come home." Everyone nodded at this, knowing that he was correct. "I know that more of you wanted to go and give Sesealia advice, but many of us, including Sesealia, must be getting home now, so we might just have to create another event for it." A few sighs could be heard. "You will all be going home the way that you came." He turned to Sesealia. "Of course, Sesealia, that means that I will end up taking you home, while everyone else will be going home on their own."
"That's right," Sesealia said.
"I trust that you'll all do the jobs that you'd said you'll do," Peter reminded the others. "Remember to clean off the table and clean any scraps; even though we could afford it, we still wouldn't like to be charged extra because there was leftover food." The others nodded, seemingly having gotten the information into their heads. Peter turned to Sesealia. "Now, it's about time to take you home." From what Sesealia had guessed, they'd be taking the Booster 107 back to her house; she saw a second later that she was right as Peter opened the door of the vehicle for her. "I assume that your parents must be very proud of you for graduating, Sesealia."
"You're right about that, Peter," Sesealia replied as she got inside of the vehicle. "In fact, my dad actually made a post on his Twitter this morning, telling everyone how proud he is of me, and my parents are supposed to take me out for dinner later today!"
"Wow, Sesealia, I'm very glad to hear that," Peter said, smiling. Before starting the vehicle, up, he turned to face those who were still cleaning up. "Hey, everyone!" They all turned around. "I think that we should wish Sesealia a happy graduation day one last time before we leave!" Smiling, they all turned around to look at Sesealia.
"Happy graduation day, Sesealia!" they all shouted.
"Thanks, guys," she said to them; just as she said this, Peter typed where they'd be going into the computer. This was why, right after she'd said this, they began to move, though a tad bit slowly, as Peter had no interest in breaking the door; once they'd gotten through the door, Peter clicked a green button, making the vehicle go at a high speed; in fact, the vehicle went so quickly that, by the time that they'd finally arrived at their stop, Sesealia felt like they'd gotten there in a flash. "Wow, we're here that fast?"
"Yes, Sesealia," Peter said, chuckling. "This vehicle is designed to move quickly depending on the button that you press, and considering that your house is quite far away from that beach house, we would've had to go at a fast speed to assure that we didn't get bored during the ride." Nodding, Sesealia got out of the car.
"Thank you so much, Peter!" Sesealia called to him as she approached her home.
"You're very welcome, Sesealia!" he called back to her. "Have a nice day!"
"I certainly will!" Sesealia called back as she opened the door to her home. Once she saw that Peter had disappeared from plain sight, she closed it, sighing.
'Whoa, today was exhausting!' she thought to herself. 'That party was probably the best I've ever been to, though.' She yawned. 'I should probably take a nap before my parents pick me up. Then I can have enough energy for dinner later tonight.' She walked herself to her room, before falling onto her bed; though it took her about thirty minutes, she eventually found herself asleep, needing rest after such a long, great, day.
And, it was thanks to such a lovely graduation party, that on a wonderful Saturday, Sesealia slept peacefully.
I hope that you guys enjoyed the story, and, if there's anything you think I should change, please tell me!
Thank you for reading, and, if Celrock's reading this, I hope you liked it :)
I'd like to apologize for this story taking so long; as some of you know, this story had to be delayed because a user had sent me something telling me that I can't include the names of authors in my stories, which made me have to basically re-write the whole story.
Also, just wanted to quickly mention that my hiatus still isn't over, as my math teacher had revealed to us on Friday that we're having a huge math exam, in addition to state testing, at the end of this year, meaning that I'll have to make sure that I study for that, and just hope for the best. If you're wondering when my hiatus will be over, well, my last day of school is on June sixteenth, meaning that, while I do hope (not promising, just hoping,) that I can get fifty stories up by June seventh, which will be the day of my two-year anniversary, I can't exactly promise that it will happen, so I'm just warning you guys, that I might not get fifty stories up until after June sixteenth.
By the way, when I say hiatus, I don't mean that I'm going to be completely gone from uploading stories; I just mean that it's highly unlikely that I'll get some material posted every weekend, and more likely that, if I am releasing, I'll be releasing stories slowly, one at a time. Since it's the end of the year, I have a lot of work to do, and I hope that you guys understand.
Thank you.