Disclaimer: I do not own Recess!

angel9220042004: Thanks, yeah I was trying to think up some good memories for that chappie! Keep reading!

Fantasy3: Glad you liked it, would you believe somebody actually called a classmate of mine from Arkansas when they found a balloon? Keep reading!

Spinelli Woods, Esq.: Thanks, it was cute, our teacher that threw the party always had cute ideas like that! Keep reading!

Chapter Twenty-Four: Graduation Practice

Everyone had a great time at Hank and Miss Finster's party during their spring break. It made them temporarily forget about their issues with their principal and school staff. So it came to no surprise that nobody was in the mood to practice the ceremony. The singing of the Alma Mater wasn't too bad...but it wasn't too good either. When they practiced walking down the aisles in pairs, half the kids had running contests to see who would reach the stage faster.

"Stop clowning around, guys, this is a graduation practice," Mrs. Lawson insisted. "Not an audition for the circus!"

"Couldn't it be both?" Spinelli asked, shrugging her shoulders. "The way I figure, this place is gonna LOOK like a circus on graduation night."

"Settle down, please!" the tired guidance counselor pleaded, trying to keep the guys from climbing over the seats and secretly placing gum under them. She looked at her watch. "And where are the Ashley girls at? They should have been here fifteen minutes ago."

"They're dollying themselves up," Upside-Down Girl answered, rolling her eyes.

"Dollying up? For what? This is only a practice! Never mind, we'll have to start without them, let's practice walking down again."

Everyone got in the two lines they had formed, and waited for the piano player Miss Salamoni (who was now married to her opera-singing boyfriend Antonio, and had also been a teacher of Mikey's once) to start playing Pomp and Circumstance.

"Ya think with all the new music types they have now, a new graduation song could have been made," Vince grumbled.

"Then become a music man and make one up," a voice said behind him.

Vince turned around and breathed deeply. "Oh great, Lawson, what are you doing here? We're already miserable."

"Will you chill already?" Lawson asked. "I didn't know ya'll we're practicin' today anyway. I came to talk to Mom, but you guys are even better. I heard something about a projection screen, what's up with that?"

"Did Ashley Q tell ya?" T.J. asked with a certain look, before having to leave to walk down the aisle.

He started blushing. "Never mind where I heard it. What's the deal with it?"

"I don't know, something Skinner came up with and Prickly and the parents liked it, believe it or not," Spinelli growled.

"Yeah, and now they're trying to rob the money we promised to St. Jude's," Hustler Kid added, who as a friend of Guru Kid's was very upset about that.

"Aw, St. Jude's, that's sweet of ya'll," Lawson complimented. "What do they want the money for?"

"Flowers and programs," Randall stated, getting a glare from everyone. "What?"

"I can't believe you even dare show up you little rat fink!" Spinelli hissed, raising her fist in the air.

"Whoa, what's up with you guys, I'm just telling you what they want the money for is all," the weasel boy insisted. "And also that the projection screen they're going to use in the gym is about the size of a twin-sized mattress."

"WHAT?" Sammi cried. "That is so stupid! How do they expect people to see on that thing!"

Randall continued. "And that the air-conditioning has NOT been repaired as promised, and that the new microphone system promised has not been ordered, and that next year's class gets to have their graduation wherever they want."

They stared blankly at him. "What was that last one?" Gus asked, not believing what he heard.

"Yeah, next year's class already got permission from Prickly to have their graduation at Armstrong. It's already booked and everything," Randall explained.

"Why that dirty, no good, rotten–" Spinelli growled, getting a comforting pat on the back from Upside-Down Girl.

"How did you inquire all this information?" Gretchen asked curiously.

"I got it out of Prickly," he answered proudly. "See the only reason I started working with him in the first place was to try and get something out of him. But nothing really good came out until he started mentioning how this whole ceremony was going to be a real flop."

"Wow, so you really weren't betraying us?" Hustler Kid asked him.

"Of course not, what am I Benedict Arnold?"

A FEW NIGHTS LATER–KELSO'S

It was the night before the class of 2006 would be graduating from Ronald Reagan High School. In order to celebrate, the gang all gathered one last time at Kelso's to reflect on past times, and whatever else came up. Mr. Kelso was nice enough to give them all free ice cream!

"This year may have been a bad one," said Gus. "But I'm glad I got to spend it with you guys anyway."

"Yeah...," everyone nodded in agreement. They had to admit, although the year had pretty much stunk, it would have stunk worse if they weren't in it together.

"So, Gretchen, how's that valedictorian speech coming along?" Vince asked the straight-A student since first grade.

"It's coming along nicely," she replied. "Except the teachers wanted it to be FIVE pages long instead of three."

"Five pages!" Spinelli cried, nearly choking on her milkshake. "That's gonna take an eternity to read! Just go up there and say something like 'see ya' and go back to your seat."

"Does Guru Kid know what he's going to say for tomorrow when he gives the St. Jude representative the check?" Ashley B asked Hustler Kid.

"He's got a little speech wrote out," he answered. "I just hope he doesn't break down or anything while he's saying it. That would be awful."

"I think everyone ought to stand up after he says it and when he gives the check away," Sammi thought out loud. "You know, to show some sort of respect."

"Sure, it's okay to respect him, he's been through heck and all," Spinelli added. "But what about when we have to shake hands with Prickly when he hands us our diploma? It would be an insincere handshake, so I've got a good mind not to."

"Spin, you have to shake his hand," T.J. told her. "I mean, he's the principal, even if he did swindle us and all."

"Okay, but I'm still going with my plan of not wearing my shoes on stage," she argued, stealing the cherry off of T.J.'s sundae and eating it.

"No shoes?" Ashley A asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I think that since Prickly and the other staff members, except maybe Mrs. Mitchells, didn't respect us, I thought that maybe we'd embarrass them and not wear shoes on stage," Spinelli explained. "I kinda dreamed it last night."

"Hee hee, that would be funny," Upside-Down Girl giggled at the thought of everyone running around on stage looking like the Flintstones or something.

"That's stupid," Vince retorted. "I mean, what is that gonna prove? Except that we're a bunch of misbehaving wild animals, and that we deserved what we got."

"Whatever you say, Vince," Spinelli replied.

Hm, interesting, so Randall really wasn't in cahoots with Prickly! And, heh heh, what on earth is going to happen at graduation? Will it be a big flop? And is King Bob going to become un-missing or not?! Answers to these in the next chapter, which is the final chapter sadly. Stay tuned!