I was planning to write an epic piece at the beginning of summer, but I apparently only wrote the first bit. I like it, so I figured I'd share.
Danny shivered in his cap and gown. Would it kill them to pump a little heat in here? Even the valedictorian, a girl Danny had never met, was shivering. Or, more likely, shaking. Public speaking was terrifying, he knew, especially without the shield of a public persona.
Danny glanced over to his right. Two seats down, his best friend was giving him a thumbs up. Danny grinned and nodded to him. Heh, Tucker probably thought his quiver and pale face was from nerves.
Nervous? Him? He was Danny Phantom, savior of the Ghost Zone and Human Realm, most recently from the Disasteroid just a few short weeks ago. And yet, the loose gown and sweaty palms proved that he wasn't. Ghosts didn't graduate from high school. Ghosts didn't get so nervous that they sweated through the armpits of their gown.
Right now, he was just Fenton.
A rangy, sweaty dork who wasn't even paying attention to his own graduation.
The valedictorian droned on about herself. Wow, she must be full of herself. If she'd just cut to the chase, we could all leave and live our lives. Danny sunk in his seat.
Yeah, he could go home and have a nice, long, overdue talk with his parents. 'Hey guys, nice to see you! Sorry we haven't talked much about the variety of secrets that you recently found out about, but you know finals. What? Avoiding you? I would never avoid having a deeply uncomfortable talk with my overprotective parents.'
He sunk even lower in his seat.
He needed a distraction. Maybe he could see Sam from where he was seated? He craned his neck around, searching among the M row to try to spot her. Nope, nope… Maybe her? No. Crap. A few people gave him knowing smirks.
He heard his name and nearly broke his neck to look back at the platform.
"...Danny Phantom's heroics may be glamorous," the valedictorian chirped, "but the passion and drive of us on the Amity Park Ghostly Cleanup Crew really…"
Danny sat up in his seat, vowing to pay more attention to the ceremony. A few sentences about "an honestly open community" and "making the world a better place" later, Danny was fidgeting again. A glance at Tucker revealed that the speech had enthralled him.
Figured. A pretty girl giving a speech about Amity Park, and the honorary mayor was hooked. Honestly, Danny couldn't see the appeal. The bags under his best friend's eyes told volumes about the amount of work he'd put into this town. Being a public dignitary must be tiresome, but he loved the attention.
Danny tried to subtly scan the crowd for his family, just now realizing that people could see his squirming. He didn't have to search long. His parents were wearing their customary jumpsuits, and Jazz was excitedly pointing a video camera straight at him.
Crap. Now his nerves were going to be immortalized on film.
His parents looked heartbreakingly proud, even at a distance. They were the best. Danny felt a small tear well up. Even after all this, they were proud. Proud of him and all he had accomplished, even with all the secrets. They never pushed when he asked to wait until after graduation to talk about all this.
Danny wiped his eye with his hand. Heroes don't cry. He didn't cry when he was kidnapped. He didn't cry when he was tortured. He didn't cry when all hope seemed lost.
Danny set his shoulders and straightened his cap.
It was go time.
