Chapter 7
The Last Day of Our High School Careers May 2013
The last day of school has now passed for seniors. Underclassmen are stuck there for one more week. Even I was feeling nostalgic. Although my nostalgia is often short lived as the group of idiots I hang out with often have to comment on everything; this is our last economics class, our last lunch, our last Sikowitz class, our last time in the girl's bathroom, our last time in the janitor's closet, and so forth and so on. I am also sick of yearbooks. I do not get asked to sign yearbooks very often as my standard signing is, "It wasn't too bad going to school with you, good luck in the future you'll need it." I thought I was actually being generous with that greeting. Meanwhile, lines of girls wanted Beck to sign their yearbook and all he wrote was his name. I was looking through Beck's yearbook and there were six girls that actually had the nerve to right down their phone number. Beck said he wasn't planning on calling any of those girls so I could feel free to take a marker and black them out. Usually if I try to deface his property he would be upset so he is getting a special reward later. Our last day of class went smoothly. There was no real work to be done. There were snacks and movies in many of the classes and we all took turns taking sugared snacks right out of Cat's hand. In economics we watched another movie and I slipped out of class to meet Beck in the janitor's closet for one last make out session, which turned into sex. I know we're bad but it felt good so I'm not sorry. The thing is once you've had sex it's hard to stop at making out. In Sikowitz's methods of acting class he entered our last class through the window and yelled that there was a fire. Of course none of us even blinked at his declaration of a fire since he has done this countless times and there has never been a fire. He claims that he only does this to catch us off guard and test our instincts because it will help us be better actors. All I can say about that is one day there really will be a fire and everyone will die. He gave Cat, Tori, Robbie, and Andre five dollars each and Beck and I 2.50 each because we are a couple. I asked why Beck and I didn't receive five dollars each and he stated it's because we're a couple so we get to split the gift. He also said we're lucky he had change so that we each got 2.50 instead of just splitting the five bucks. Anyways, our group got the gift because we seemed to participate more than the others that just sat in class, the shruggers, and as we all wanted to join show biz we would need money one day as our future was full of rejection, uncertainty, and sacrifice. We gave our teacher a potted coconut sapling because there never actually was a fire and although the man often abandoned us in times of need he always came back and he was a great acting teacher. He seemed to get a little choked up and told us we were leaving his class as professionals not amateurs. At the end of the day we cleaned out our lockers and Tori made hers dim. When I started high school four years ago I walked in alone and now, four years later, I was leaving hand in hand with Beck (four others were there too I guess that's suppose to be significant).
The Class of 2013 June 2013
Graduation is now over. I was valedictorian. What shocked that Sinjin or Robbie weren't since they're the schools resident nerds? Well, Sinjin is number three and Robbie is number five. Tori is number 11 and Beck is number 15, and Andre is number 16. After 20 they put the students in alphabetical order so who knows what number Cat was, I don't want to know, the same with Trina. They probably can't count that high. Beck and I are going to UCLA. I don't know what Cat will do as she didn't get into college, she's thinking about going to design school. Andre is going to a musical conservatory in Atlanta. Robbie is going to The Art Institute of California San Francisco to study film making and video production. Sinjin and Burt are going there as well. I don't think Robbie was thrilled about that one. Maybe those three freaks will finally fit in with the rest of those San Francisco freaks. Tori is majoring in music at California State University at Northridge. Yeah, Northridge.
So, since we're going our separate ways Vega had this idea that we do a time capsule, just our lunch gang. We all put in something significant and then at our 1st high school reunion or something we would dig it up together. I chose where we buried it, this little wooded area in the Hollywood Hills so we snuck up there after the school graduation party at like midnight, put our item in the capsule, and buried it. Tori put in the sheet music to Make It Shine, Robbie put in a sandwich bagful of his baby bottle nipples that adorned his locker, and Andre put in the lyrics to My Favorite Foods. Cat put in Mr. Giggles, a pink gorilla. She's not ready to part from that purple giraffe yet. She also put in a picture of her family; they're not doing so well now. Her brother has frequently been on suicide watch lately. Beck put in the trophy he got for being the actor m.v.p. He decided to put that in because the roles and work he put in during high school led to that trophy. In ten years he wanted to remember how much it meant to him at the time and all of the pure genuine reasons he loved acting. I left my "no" ring in the time capsule. I know that now that we are entering the real world I will have to yes more often. The people I encounter will have success, experience, be adults, and won't put up with a "goth freak" so intimidation
won't be my best friend anymore. I'm definitely mourning this idea but I'm holding onto the fact that I can once again put my talents to use and come to intimidate college in no time. Of course, once college ends I will once again be stripped of my head bitch title until I conquer the professional world and truly become a bitch in heels. Sikowitz should be proud that I will have to be saying yes more often whenever I am low on the totem pole. I also left behind an envelope with some things to remind me of the good times in high school. I only showed Beck what I put inside. I included a photo of Beck and I from our first dance freshman year, a newspaper article about "Well Wishes", and the lyrics to You Don't Know Me. We buried the time capsule and then went to eat breakfast at Waffle House.
Beck told his parents that he was sleeping at Robbie's with Andre as his parents are unlikely to confirm any plans he makes with puppet boy's mother. Instead I snuck him upstairs into my room. We're so stupid with our lies and sneaking around. But what other choice do we have? It just didn't feel right to spend the night apart. At the start of senior year we were apart and thinking that we would be going out into the world apart. Now we would be able to enter college together as well as our uncertain future. It was two thirty in the morning by the time we got back. We canoodled under the covers together and whispered to each other until we fell asleep. We confessed that when senior year started and we weren't together the thought of the future was daunting. After graduation we would go our separate ways. Perhaps we would see each other once again at our high school reunion. However, it never set well with either of us that we may be on the arm of someone else ten years from now, or that we wouldn't be pulling all nighters in college, or become starving artists together in a one room apartment. Luckily, we don't have to face the future alone. We have each other and that made the uncertainty of the future, which is an extra frightening idea when you want to be in show biz, a lot less scary. As my sappy boyfriend put it, "You're my partner, my girl, my friend and I am glad you'll be by my side. I love you with all of my heart." I simply replied back, "I love you with all my limbic system. " Beck then ruined the moment by saying, "Is my Jadey horny?" I kneed him and told him that the limbic system is responsible for the emotion of love and that maybe he should have paid more attention in anatomy class sophomore year. He claimed that it was my fault he wasn't paying better attention because he was so in love with me and I went from B cup to a C cup that year. Whatever. I just hope that I always remember how content and yes, happy, we felt as we drifted to sleep.
The End. I hope you enjoyed the series. Thanks to the people that reviewed. I'm so glad I got to get this out of my head and onto the page. My goal with this series was to use Jade's perspective to explore all four years of high school. I hope I achieved that and that you enjoyed the journey as well.