"Anonymous asked: High school lambrose"
Since this suggestion said "high school" and not "secondary", I'm just assuming that anon wanted this to take place somewhere in North America during a modern time period since there technically was no existence of "high school" in the 1800s.
"Ahhh." Lilly exhaled in relief when the car's engine shut off, parked at its destination. She stretched out her limbs, propping her feet on top of the dashboard, her battered black Converse high tops nearly scuffing the front window.
From her left, she felt a frosty glare burrow into her tanned legs, exposed by the pair of shorts she was wearing. A moment of cold silence passed before an equally icy tone filled the small space of the car — in her opinion, far more effective than the air conditioning system.
"Feet. Off. Now."
"Alright, alright." Lilly grumbled, complying at the command. She turned expectantly to the driver sitting next to her.
The car may have been a used one, but was recently purchased as a present to him from his parents shortly after he had passed the driving test and received his license. Their insistence to him that it was both a privilege and a responsibility to have a car was one that he held remarkably to utmost seriousness.
His sea-colored eyes reflected annoyance as he reached over in front of her to open the glovebox, pulling out a white cloth and rubbing at the area on the dashboard where her shoes had been. She glared at him.
"Oh, come on! I just threw these in the laundry last week." She protested, gesturing to her high tops.
He cast a distasteful glance downwards at her feet, clearly unconvinced at the sight of the faded, worn-down shoes before vigorously wiping down the dashboard for a few more seconds. He returned the cloth back to the glovebox and closed it, still not saying anything.
Lilly sighed. "Rick, live a little. We're supposed to be celebrating."
He finally broke the silence, raising a black eyebrow. "Celebrating what?"
"You know, finishing high school? Surviving eight torturous hours of classes five days a week for the past four years?"
"Technically, we still haven't received our diplomas yet. Nor do we know our final grades for this semester." He pointed out coolly.
"Don't be a buzzkill. Graduation is tomorrow and I bet you aced all your exams like usual. I'll eat my shoes otherwise."
He snorted. "Very well, celebration it is then. Is that why you didn't want to go home yet?"
"Yep." She chirped. She opened the car door and stepped out, with Rick following suit.
They had just departed from an outing with the rest of their friends at the town's local diner. The place had been packed, with many of their other classmates there as well to feast for the occasion. To say the least, the diner would have stellar business for the night but also one hell of a cleanup job afterwards. Lilly decided she had socialized enough once the noise level had reached to a peak, enough to be headache-inducing. After promising to meet up with their group before and after tomorrow's ceremony, both she and Rick had left since he was her ride for the evening. Once they sat in his car, she told him that she wanted to make a quick stop at a particular place. He was surprised but nonetheless, silently obliged.
A gust of hot air blew in her face when she closed the car door. Grumbling, she pulled her hair back into a short ponytail using the hair tie around her wrist in a vain attempt to mitigate the frizz from the summer weather. Lilly could already feel the heat clinging to her skin and hear the mosquitos buzzing about in the humid air. She was thankful that she had remembered last minute to spray on repellant before leaving the house.
Rick locked the car before falling in step beside her. They said nothing as they trekked a short distance through the grass, finally sitting side-by-side on a concrete bench directly under a lamppost.
He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his dark track pants, speaking up.
"So…" Rick began. "Any particular reason you wanted come here?"
"Kinda." A deep crease settled by the corner of her frown while her nose scrunched. He recognized it as the expression she wore whenever she was lost in thought.
She continued. "I wanted to have some time to think among all this…craziness."
He waited for her to elaborate.
"I dunno. It just feels like everything happened so suddenly, you know? First it was college applications, then semester exams, then waiting on college acceptances, then club activities and dances, and then even more exams. Now we're graduating tomorrow. Like, bam!" She clapped her hands for extra emphasis. "Where did all the time go this year?"
"You're right." He spoke quietly. "Things felt hectic."
"Exactly! And soon we're all supposed to be going off into the adult world. Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited. For starters, it'll be nice not having to ask for permission every time I want to go to the restroom." She rolled her eyes at the absurd concept. "But still, at the same time I don't feel ready having to say goodbye to all the friends I made. Meeting new people. Moving to a new environment by myself. Like I'm being thrown into this all at once and I'm so damn sure that I'm going to screw up."
"Then screw up."
"What?" She turned her head to glare at him directly. "How could you say that?"
"Look," he explained calmly. "You've made mistakes before and you're going to make them again. Expecting to not make mistakes is, frankly, rather stupid. What matters is how you use those mistakes. You're going to meet all kinds of people, ones that you'll get along with and ones that you won't. And you being you, you'll probably make some really dumb decisions along the way too. But also being you, you'll reflect on that and learn from them. Life would be dull and boring without its challenges."
She stared at him, her dark brown eyes widened and her mouth slightly ajar.
His voice lowered. "Don't forget, you're not alone in all of this. We are in the same boat together and we both will do stupid things in the future. It's guaranteed to happen. But we are going to the same college and you know you can rely on me whenever you need it. I'll always have your back, Lilly."
Her eyes were watery. "Have you considered switching your major to Philosophy instead?" She choked out, leaning forward to pull him in for a hug.
"Tempting, but I'll pass." He muttered into her ear as his arms wrapped around her.
Pulling away, the pads of his thumbs wiped at the moisture leaking out of her eyes. "I thought we were supposed to be celebrating?"
She coughed out a laugh, sniffling then hiccupping. "They're happy tears."
They sat back to their original positions, settling into a comfortable silence for several minutes.
Lilly raised her legs, bringing her feet on the bench and tucking her knees under her chin. While in her curled position, she stared ahead with her large brown eyes focused in the distance.
"Do you remember when we first met?" She slowly asked.
From the corner of her vision, she could see the teenage boy next to her shoot her an incredulous look.
"All I remember from our kindergarten days was you constantly ruining my finger paintings by smearing your grubby hands all over them."
"Good times." One corner of her mouth quirked up in a devilish smirk. "You used to cry for an hour afterwards."
"I did not." He scoffed. "Why are you asking me about our first meeting?"
"Because I don't remember," she confessed sheepishly. "So I was hoping that you did. But I do remember how we used to always hang out here at the park on weekends."
He chuckled. "Back when the biggest problems were who got to go down the slide first and use the shovel in the sandbox." His nodded in the direction of the playground out in the distance.
"Life used to be so much easier back then." Lilly frowned. "What happened?"
"Like with everything else, time happened." He simply said.
She pouted. "From the wise words of Einstein, 'time is an illusion.'"
"Technically it's freedom that is an illusion, not time."
She gave him a bland look. "Let's not argue about this again like last time."
They settled into comfortable silence once more. A few minutes passed until Lilly spoke up again.
"Rick?" She asked in a small voice, glancing sideways at him.
He met her gaze. "Yes, Lilly?"
"I, um, wanted to thank you. For all that you did for me during our senior year, especially at the beginning. It's because of you that I'm even able to participate tomorrow."
He stared at her, perplexed, and she elaborated.
"You know…the dress code incident."
Sometime during the start of the school year on a particularly warm day, Lilly had worn a red scoop neck blouse that had exposed her collarbone and partially her shoulders. Their widely unpopular school principal, Mr Ellingham, had spotted her during the lunch period and declared that she had violated student conduct for dress code rules. Despite Rick lending her his hoodie to cover up, Lilly had been written up for a two week suspension and sent home, with her privilege to walk at the graduation ceremony revoked. The official reason given had been stated as "insubordination", but it was obvious to Lilly that Mr Ellingham had never really liked her or her witty disposition from previous disputes — readily using the first available opportunity for his own subjective motivations.
To put it lightly, Rick was livid when he found out what had happened. As vice president of the student council, he had wasted no time in subtly spreading news of the incident. Within two days, the entire school had heard and was in a state of unrest. News had spread within the county and even out of state as well, all thanks to social media. When Rick had also informed his mother, she had taken direct action. As an active member of the school's parent-teacher association and a distinguished generous patron of the school district, Samantha Genevieve Ambrose had wasted no time in bringing awareness among her extensive social circle, which included those on the town's council and newspaper staff.
By the time Lilly's suspension had ended and she was back in school, Rick had informed her that the school and the district had been on the receiving end for public complaints and anonymous threats for the overly harsh treatment towards an honor roll student with a clean record for no previous incidents of misconduct. A few months later, Mr Ellingham had resigned and had been replaced by Mrs Gibbons, an older, no-nonsense lady with a heart of gold. The new principal had been well-liked by the student body instantly, especially by Lilly for giving her a written formal apology on behalf of the school and clearance to participate in the graduation ceremony.
Understanding dawned on Rick's face as he recalled the whirlwind of overwhelming events from the year. "You don't need to thank me for that. I was just doing what any student council member– no, what any person with decent morals would have done."
"But still…you were the one that spoke up about it first and it means a lot to me. And also just for these past four years in general. I never got to say it properly but I really appreciate everything that you did. How much you looked out for me."
"Who are you and what have you done with the real Lilly Linton?" He squinted at her suspiciously.
She lightly punched him in the arm. "Don't ruin the moment, I'm trying to be nice here."
"Nice? I guess miracles really do happen."
Her eyes narrowed into slits. "Why are we best friends again?"
"I have no idea." His face was deadpan but his eyes sparkled with amusement. "You tell me."
She couldn't help but to roll her eyes.
"But thank you as well." He added seriously, with sincerity. "For being by my side during all these years, Lilly."
She looked at him for a moment then reached over and squeezed his hand, smiling up at him. Letting go, she abruptly stood up.
"Alright, let's go now. We've stayed long enough and the air here is making us both sappy. I need my beauty sleep for tomorrow anyway."
He rose from the bench and they left the park. They walked back to his car, her arm linked with his.
— — —
Rivulets of sweat trickled down Lilly's neck as she squinted up at the weathered brick building in front of her. Placing a tanned hand over her eyes to shield from the sun's harsh glare, she stared wistfully at the familiar black plaque letters above the main entrance
Empire High School.
She pulled her phone out from her small crossbody purse to glance at the time. 8:43 A.M., the brightly-lit screen displayed. She was early, all of the seniors were supposed to meet in the gymnasium by 9:30 in preparation to go over the ceremony procession order.
Lilly yawned, casting off any traces of sleepiness as her hand reached out and grabbed the metal handle of the door. It was unexpectedly hot, absorbent of the outside heat. She yelped and flinched, yanking the door open as fast as possible before slipping inside.
A cool gust of air hit her face, and she instinctively closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation of the air-conditioned interior of the school. A bittersweet feeling washed over her, knowing that it was the last time she had entered the place as a student. It had been a crucial part of her life for the past four years — with hours spent in the library fussing over chemistry notes, gossip exchanged in passing while going to lockers, lunch periods filled with comically absurd discussions, and after-school meetings reserved for dreaded group projects.
She walked through the maze of empty hallways, frowning when she could not spot another student in sight. She fiddled with the golden graduation cap pinned to her hair and adjusted the matching golden gown draped over her arm.
As she drew closer to the gym's entrance, she could hear laughter. A turn of the corner and she saw some of her classmates already in their attire, chattering animatedly with their friends and taking pictures. Some of them smiled in greeting and even waved when they noticed her, the dress code incident having made her more well-known among her peers. It was something that had bothered her at earlier in the year until she became used to it with time, learning to automatically smile and wave back.
"There she is!" A voice squealed excitedly.
A second later, something slammed into her. Hard. She wheezed and stumbled back, the breath knocked out of her lungs. She steadied herself, ready to give a piece of her mind to the person that had rudely crashed into her. Looking up, she saw who it was and her glare melted when she recognized the wildly grinning face of Eve Sanders.
She gave Lilly a slow once-over, nodding her head in approval. "Well, well, well. You look amazing if I do say so myself. That dress is gorgeous on you."
"Thanks." Lilly glanced down at the burgundy skirt of her dress that flowed to her knees. "The same goes for you too, Eve." She appraised the small bit of the white floral print dress peeking out from her unzipped graduation gown.
Her two other best friends, Patsy Cusack and Flora Milton emerged into view. They were fully attired in the golden graduation gown, cap and matching tassel assigned to all of the graduating females. Lilly gave them both a hug.
"We have to take pictures." Flora insisted, taking out her phone. They posed for a few pictures until Eve asked them to wait.
"I have to keep fixing my hair." She complained, tugging at it. "The humidity outside made it all frizzy."
"I'm pretty sure the heat melted half of my makeup off already. I bet I can pass for a haunted wax doll after today." Lilly remarked.
"Ugh. Girls, girls! You're both pretty. Can I go home now?" Patsy quipped.
Eve and Lilly glared at Patsy.
"Children's movie quotes? How original." Lilly sarcastically commented.
It was Patsy's turn to glare this time, scowling at her.
Lilly turned and spotted an approaching familiar face in the distance. She went up to him.
"May I say," she said a sickly-sweet tone while fluttering her eyelashes, "that navy blue graduation gown really brings out the color of your eyes?"
Rick's face turned sour. "You absolutely may not. Speaking of graduation gowns, why aren't you wearing yours yet?"
She sighed. "It was too hot outside. Don't you feel it too? You're wearing two thick layers of dark colors." She nodded to the hem of his black dress pants peeking out from the bottom of his customary male blue graduation gown that nicely contrasted with her golden one, the two school colors in sync.
"The heat isn't as bad as you think. You're just being dramatic."
"Or you're obviously a robot." She mumbled under her breath.
"I heard that."
A group of classmates approached him and he turned to speak with them. Shaking her head, Lilly headed back to her group of friends, putting on her gown and zipping it up. Together they headed to the gym, forced to separate into clusters based on the first letter of their last name.
What proceeded afterwards could only be described as boring, with her former history teacher, Mr Pearson, attempting to arrange the students in her group alphabetically and droning on in a monotonous tone for "appropriate presentation".
When they finally filed out of the gym and onto the athletic field an hour later, Lilly felt a short-lived sense of relief which quickly dissipated once she went out into the heat. The sun was unforgiving on all those trapped in its presence, the multitude of floppy hats and waving hand-held paper fans as tell-tale signs within the sea of people seated in plastic folding chairs on the field's trimmed grass.
The tones cut from a section of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 played as the typical designated graduation theme song while they stepped onto the grass. The groups of students walked in two separate lines down the center of the two halves of the group of chairs.
Ten minutes later and Lilly was internally screaming, still standing out in the sweltering sun while her group waited for their turn to be seated. She felt like she was turning into a baked potato from the heat, the square top of her graduation cap not wide enough to provide shade for her face. Under her graduation gown, she could feel her dress plastered to her skin from the sweat and her ears wanted to bleed from hearing the same music played on loop. She had seen Rick enter among the first of students and sit at the first row, as per the alphabetical order of last names.
When she was able to finally enter an empty row of chairs and sit down, she passed the rest of the time waiting for the other seniors to be seated by perusing through the booklet of graduation ceremony agenda, a copy set on each empty chair. The last row of students sat down another thirty minutes later and Lilly let out a sigh, leaning back into her chair as the principal, Mrs Gibbons, opened the ceremony.
The rest of the event passed by without a hitch. Speeches were made by the selected speakers, both graduating seniors and favored faculty members. Heartfelt songs were performed by those from the music club, from their own original compositions. When the time came to bring the seniors forward to individually receive their diplomas, a hush fell through the crowd. The graduating students automatically straightened in their seats, ready for the moment that they had all been waiting for since the start of the year.
They were dismissed by rows, ascending to the stage one by one after their names were announced. When a "Rikkard Ambrose" was called, people cheered for their vice president and Lilly jumped out of her chair, whooping excitedly, earning laughter from those around her. A certain boy, tall and lean with sea-colored eyes, saw her and shook his head in embarrassment as he stepped forward and accepted the embellished proof for something he had worked rigorously to achieve, with the aid of sheer willpower and countless hours of skipped sleep.
When the turn came for her row, she exhaled deeply, squaring her shoulders as she rose. She walked in line with the rest of her classmates to the stage, silently hoping that she wouldn't awkwardly trip. The stage's center drew closer and closer with each person in front of her called. Until finally…
"Lillian Linton."
Lilly felt as if she were in a dream as she stepped forward towards Mrs Gibbons, who held her diploma in an outstretched hand.
Cheering erupted from the crowd, people chanting her name. From her family, from her friends and everyone that had been sympathetic to her plight and supportive to her cause. Lilly couldn't help the tears that welled up in her eyes as she reached her principal, accepting the diploma and shaking her hand.
"Congratulations. You earned it." The older lady smiled proudly at her and Lilly beamed back.
She posed for pictures on the side of stage with the other faculty, taken by a professional photographer hired by the school and then descended the stairs onto the grass, heading back to her row and sitting in her seat.
The rest of the procession passed by without a hitch and once the last row of students returned to their seats, Mrs Gibbons spoke to the crowd again.
"Will the graduating class please rise?"
They all did in perfect synchronization, Lilly's heartbeat hammering furiously in anticipation.
"For the final closing gesture, you all may now move your tassels from right to left as you all have now…officially graduated!"
Thunderous cheering and roaring applause erupted from the crowd of attendees as the now-former students moved their tassels. Someone– Lilly did not know who– threw their graduation cap into the air, and the rest of her former classmates followed suit. Carefully unpinning her cap from her styled hair, she threw hers also– but not very high, as she wished to keep it as a memento.
The crowd began to scatter, as the new graduates wished to reunite with their families and their friends. People were crying and hugging, while others were laughing and cheering together. Lilly turned to head in the direction for her parents and sisters when she spotted a recognizable figure towering above the other graduates.
She pushed her way through the sea of gold and navy blue gowns, heading towards the person. When she finally reached him, he was facing away from her so she tugged on his gown's sleeve. He sharply turned around and upon recognizing her, he wordlessly pulled her to him.
They embraced each other fiercely for an immeasurable amount of time, her head tucked into his chest. In that moment, Lilly didn't care if her makeup got on his gown or that he was also sweaty as well. All she knew that in that very moment, both of them had shared something special together: that feeling of accomplishment when reaching a milestone.
They pulled away but still refused to let go of each other completely, their hands grasping onto each other's forearms. After staring at one another in disbelief, only then fully registering that they had just graduated high school, they both began to laugh.
Lilly let out a boisterous giggle while Rick just chuckled, a faint smile on his face while his broad shoulders shook. Their amusement died down eventually and they regarded each other with a look of understanding, recalling the previous night's conversation.
"Onto something new?" He asked, and she nodded in confirmation.
"Onto something new."
Hello, these are some oneshots I'm posting here from my Tumblr fanblog from asks that people send me for writing suggestions. The prompt suggestion will be written at the top of every chapter in bold font. If you're interested in sending me a prompt suggestion for a oneshot to write, my Tumblr is lambroseforlife. If you don't have a Tumblr account, then that's alright. You can still send me one if you go to my blog and click on the "Indeed? (Ask)". It will just be seen as an anonymous ask. (Just no really weird NSFW asks please, I will ignore those!)
Is Rikkard OOC in this chapter here? You bet. I always imagine his younger self as being nicer like how Lady Samantha mentioned in Silence Breaking before he left home (you'll know this quite well if you read my other fanfiction, Manor of Memories). And yes, I know I could have used this prompt to go in a different direction such as going with the whole "bad boy meets feisty girl" cliche. But I felt inspired to write something more realistic and coming-of-age despite being platonic.
On another note, the dress code incident that was discussed was actually based off of an actual event that a high school senior experienced in Charlotte, North Carolina back in spring 2017. In regards to controversies over dress code policies, it's become more outspoken as an issue within the past year in America.