G R A D U A T I O N
POV~Kyle
"And now, South Park High's graduating valedictorian will give his commencement speech. Ladies and gentlemen, Kyle Broflovski!" Principal Douglas announced. This was it- my chance to shine and give my speech. I took a deep breath and slowly made my way over to the podium. My yellow note-cards had been neatly arranged, and rested on the desk before me. I could feel everybody's eyes on me, and I knew that I was the center of attention. Even to Wendy, who had fought against me to gain rightful title as South Park High's valedictorian, for the graduating class of 2011. I had won. Pretty soon, the applause died down and I started my speech.
But first, I paused and looked around at all of the familiar faces that belonged to whom I knew to be my class-mates and friends. I knew they respected me and wanted to hear what I had to say, so I continued.
"I must first and foremost thank God for this blessing and honor to stand before you as the Valedictorian of the class of 2011," don't ask about the whole 'God' part. My mom made me include Him somewhere in my speech. "Yet, today is not only my day to shine. Every graduate present here is deserving of high praise and recognition and I would like to congratulate each of you on reaching this milestone in life. I think I speak for my fellow graduates when I say that this is a moment we have always imagined and one we will remember for the rest of our lives,"
"I come from a family where the values of hard work, persistence and drive are never overlooked," from somewhere in the audience, I heard my mom cry:
"That's my Bubulah!" Damn, mom. But I continued.
"My teachers, friends, and family inspired me to do great things. I thank each and every one of you for showing me that no matter how many times you fall down on your ass, you have to get up, shake it off, and keep trying. And we all know how difficult that is. There are many obstacles in life, some that may seem impossible to overcome, and others that you can accomplish with ease. But no matter the difficulty of each challenge in life, you should put forth the same effort for each one and try your best.
"When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were things like, astronaut, president, or in my case, a fireman," laughter erupted throughout the auditorium and I knew I had the audience's attention. "When we were ten, they asked again. We answered, rock star, cowboy, or in my case, a teacher. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how about this? Who the hell knows?" cheers and clapping filled the room, and I smiled. "This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions, this is the time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere, fall in love- a lot, major in philosophy because there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind and change it again because nothing's permanent. So, make as many mistakes as you can, that way someday when they ask what we want to be, we won't have to guess, we'll know."
The audience paused for a moment, making sure that I was done, and then burst out in whistles, cheering, clapping, and laughter. Some parents started crying, others hugged their kids, my mom was shouting my name, Stan was grinning from ear to ear, and I knew I had just made a pretty damn impressive commencement speech. I nodded, and walked off stage to take my seat beside Stan. He attacked me with a huge hug and I giggled, going red in the cheeks.
"That was awesome, dude," Stan complimented, patting me on the back. "Now I know why you had to spend so much time and effort on it, because it turned out perfect."
I smiled, nodded, and tried to hold the tears back. Stan was my best friend, we had known each other ever since I could remember, and we had been through so much together. And now that we had graduated high school, we were about to go our separate ways. I didn't know if I could process the fact that I wouldn't have Stan beside me every day for the rest of my life. For some reason I thought we'd go to the same college together, and grow up and into men together, and never be separated. But that was not the way it went. We applied to different colleges, I would be attending Harvard next fall, and he'd be going to the University of Colorado. We'd be so far apart. I would miss him, and I didn't want to leave him.
But I knew that part of growing up and becoming an adult meant doing things I didn't want to do. I had to accept that I couldn't hold onto the past forever, and that I had to move on and make a future for myself. But somewhere in my heart, I knew, that nothing could truly ever separate Stan and I, because we had something. We had friendship. True, pure, honest to god solid friendship. And that never ends. Even if you grow up.
"This is it, dude." I whispered. I looked up at Stan with my glassy eyes and felt my heart nearly burst. He returned the same sort of glance, and mumbled a reply.
"Yeah. Kyle... I'll miss you so much. You are the best friend anybody could ever ask for," he sighed, and embraced me in a tight hug. I hugged back, realizing this could be the last time I ever got to see him. Stan. My super best friend.
"We'll keep in touch, r-right?" I asked, worried we might loose contact.
"I'll call you everyday."
I smiled, and grabbed my suit case, and walked out of my house. The house I'd grown up in, had all my memories in, the house I would never see again. But the house I would never forget. Stan followed me out to my car, and helped me put my stuff in the trunk.
"I'll miss you," I whispered.
"We'll see eachother again, dude. I promise. But yeah, I'll miss you too, Kyle," he replied, smiling. I nodded, waved a little bit, and muttered a "Good-Bye, Stan" before I hopped into my car. I let the warm, salty tears start to fall as I rolled down my window and waved. He waved back, and a tear escaped his eyes. I drove away, watching him in the rear-view mirror until he disappeared like a speck in the distance. But he would never disappear from my life. I would always hold onto the memories of my past. But right now my mind was set on the road I was driving, the road of my future.