Graduation Day

May 2016, Flagstaff Arizona

Maria found herself begrudging the summer heat, even as the sun was setting on her outdoor High School graduation ceremony. Sitting in one of those metal folding chairs, wearing a heavy, satin graduation gown that was too big for her, her thick, dusty brown hair tied back into a tight braid starting from just below her cap. Sweat was getting in here eyes, causing her to rub at them constantly, careful not to dislodge her single contact lense.

She didn't really need it, it's not like she had bad eyesight or anything, but her complete heterochromia had caused her enough trouble in grade school, that she had started to wear a single contact lense over her green eye to make it match with her brown eye. But soon any of those worries should be behind her. She was eighteen and graduating from Coconino High School. Soon she would be going to NAU and begin studying medicine. A state university is no Med-school, but it was a step, get at least some of her schooling out of the way while she works and saves money to go to a specialist college.

So absorbed in her thoughts of the future, she was mildly shocked when the other students around her started to stand in preparation to get their diplomas. Maria sighed and stood with them, shuffling to get into the carefully planned alphabetical line as she waited for her name to be called.

This ceremony had already been going on far too long, for her liking, but it was nearly done. Once the rolled up papers were handed out, a photo was taken, and hats thrown, it would be over with, and Maria would no longer have to deal with Highschool life.

"David Greene!" Applause as the tall boy with blonde hair made his way to the small stage. He took the paper from the principle, shook his hand and smiled for a photo, before hopping off the stage. David was one of the schools biggest jocks. Surprisingly, however, he was a part of the soccer team, not football, which actually made him a much more bearable guy, way more humble. Unfortunately media has ingrained into people that boys who play football need to be total dicks, and the team at this school played that part perfectly. However, it must be a hit to the ego that the golee for the soccer team was the one who got the full-ride sports scholarship instead of the football quarterback. Nice to see stereotypes kicked in the face with a cleet.

"Patricia Harris!"

Talk about a stereotype. Patricia was that "Mean girl cheerleader" that is supposed to exist in every high school in the world. Luckily, most of the cheerleader stereotypes were avoided in Coconino, the majority of them being fairly decent people who just had way too much energy for Maria's taste. Patricia, on the other hand, was the queen of all bitches. She had all the points checked off. Loaded Father, waif Mother, newest phone, shoes, car, clothes, etc. Had breast implants at the age of 16, died her hair barbie blonde, and always wore the most obnoxious shades of pink lipgloss. Maria had to wander how someone like this could ACTUALLY exist outside of television shows, despite the fact that she has seen it first hand for the last four years. It was baffling. Maria rolled her eyes and sighed as the petite blonde skipped onto the stage, took her photo, and winked and waved to the whole football field, as if she was the star of a play. If luck was on Maria's side, Patricia would be going down to the Valley for college, or not going for a higher education at all. But, luck was rarely on her side.

A few more names were called, "Matt Iris, Ruth Ister, Kaylin June, George Key,..." One after one the class of 2016 was walking up and taking their pictures before making their way to a set of bleachers and sitting down next to friends, getting ready for the big group photo and cap toss that would end this circus.

"Maria Reigns!" Finally! Maria made her way up to the stage, having to pick up her gown as she walked up the stairs. The Principle of the school gave her a slightly disapproving look before handing her the ribbon bound scroll and shaking her hand. Maria turned to the camera and gave the best fake smile she could muster. Once the photo was taken she carefully made her way down the other side of the stage and to the metal bleachers, taking a seat on the lowest rung, in an attempt not to get completely surrounded by this mass of sweaty teenagers.

As she sat down she looked around at the crowd of parents, siblings, and friends in the stands, hoping to pinpoint her father. It was hard to see because of lights, but even so, she doubted he would be there. The man had a tendency to forget things, even his only child's graduation ceremony. While Maria actually had a very very good memory, for example in that moment she was still able to remember the time her father forgot to pick her up after school in the second grade, and a cop ended having to take her home when he found her sitting alone in the school parking lot nearly four hours after school got out.

Letting out a sigh, Maria gave up on trying to find her father, instead picking out faces she recognised. Allot of them she knew better than she had hopped. Parents of children who should have been walking in today's ceremony, sitting in the front row, looking through all of the gown-wearing students, in vain hope that they would see their baby. Over twelve people had gone missing in the last four months, ranging from the ages of ten to twenty. Apparently the FBI had been called in to try and help, but so far nothing had been found save for a few small belongings...and limbs.

She had to turn away from them. Maria couldn't look at their faces, so scared, sad and hopeful all at the same time. Maria suspected they were all dead at this point. What do they say, that the first forty-eight hours are the most crucial for finding a kidnapped victim alive? It had been four days since the last disappearance. Maria rubbed her hands over her face, glad that she hadn't tried to bother with makeup today, and sighed, wanting to go home and go to bed. Folding her hands together and pressing them against her mouth she looked straight ahead, hoping to find something to catch her interest as more and more students were called up and given diplomas. And, lucky her, something very interesting ended up catching her eye.

On the far end of the field she could see a large bundle of red balloons, well over a dozen or up and blinking past the lights, Maria tried to focus on them more, to see if they were just tied there or….no. Someone was holding them. There was...a clown in a silver suit just standing there, with a bunch of balloons. Had someone hired a clown for graduation? That seemed a little weird, considering they were hardly little kids. But something else was off. The clown seemed to be staring, right at Maria. Or so it felt. Intense eyes seemed to boor right into her as one gloved hand raised and started to wave. Maria frowned in confusion before giving a small wave back, which seemed to delight the man in white face paint.

"Hey!"

Maria thought she had lept ten feet into the air when she heard the familiar voice speak from right beside her. She turned to look at the wide grin and messy red hair of Charles Tristerson, the only person Maria could confidently call a friend. His bright green eyes and freckles gave him a permanent youthfulness, even if he was already over six feet tall. However as of right now he seemed confused and amused by her reaction to him.

"Whoa...didn't mean to scare ya!" He said with a laugh. 'What're you doing spacing out during graduation anyway?!"

"Oh, sorry….I was just looking at that Clown…" She replied turning to motion to the man with the balloons, but he was gone. She blinked and looked around, craning her neck to see if she could spot that big bundle of red again.

"A clown?" Charlie said, looking the general direction Maria was. "Come on Mar, is not very nice to call Jason a clown!" She said, slapping her on the back with a laugh, clearly thinking she had meant it as an insult to the kid currently on his way to get his diploma.

"No….A clown, like with a big grin and a red nose. He was over there, by the entrance." She said pointing to where she had seen him. Charlie shrugged and shook his head, fiddling with the paper in his hands.

"So what? Someone probably just hired him for the kids who came to watch their big siblings graduate. It's not important, what IS important is the fact that we are almost out of this fucking hell hole! "

Maria had to laugh, shrugging and nodding in agreement. He was right. Now wasn't the time to be wandering about some weird clown, they were about to move on past high school, have a nice long summer, before going off to college, really starting their lives in earnest from here on out. She bumped her shoulder against Charlie's and he laughed, putting an arm around her shoulder for a tight, friendly hug.

The two of them sat and chatted, applauding with everyone else as name after name was called until finally the last student, the poor girl, was called, photographed, and made her way to the bleachers with everyone else. Despite Maria's efforts, she still felt horribly claustrophobic being surrounded by so many students in such a small space, those big gowns not helping to alleviate any of it. Carlie and Maria put their arms over each other's shoulder and gave eachother a wry grin as the photographer prepared his camera.

"You ready to be free?" Charlie asked, having to practically yell over the noise of the other students.

"Hell yeah!" Maria replied, laughing.

"All right! On the count of three everyone yell 'Class of 2016!' " The photographer said with a grin. Maria, along with everyone else, all stood up, taking off their caps to be ready to toss them up into the air. She turned and gave Charlie one more big smile before looking back towards the camera, the photographer, and once again that big bundle of balloons, only now it was closer, much closer. The clown was standing right behind the photographer, standing at what looked like nearly seven feet tall. He was giving her a big, buck-toothed grin, bright yellow eyes staring right at her, no mistake. Maria blinked, wondering how he had gotten there so quickly, and why no one else, not even Charlie seemed to notice him.

"Okay, One, Two, THREE!" The photographer called and all the caps around Maria went flying upwards into the air as nearly one hundred students all called at once. "Class of Twenty Sixteen!"

Maria had not taken her eyes off the clown, had not called out the phrase or tossed her cap. She just stared as if transfixed, before a single cap passed into her line of vision, obscuring the clown, and then falling passed. Leaving nothing but a single balloon were the silver clown had stood.