A/N: 03.02.2022
WHELP! Turns out I was wrong! Part 1 isn't done yet! Well, almost! I went back and forth about how to do this but I decided that these next three stories needed to be in Part 1. This story idea came from what I put in Chapter 8 of "All This Time" where Chelsea mentions how Max gave her graduation speech after her father promised to be there, didn't show, and Terry talked her down. Then... this turned into something I'm calling the unofficial "When it Comes to Dana Tan…" trilogy. This is the first story of that trilogy. Enjoy!
Synopsis: The day of high school graduation is proving to be difficult for Max. Until Terry comes to her rescue. Pre-"Count On Me".
Graduation
Graduation day was a day Terry swore he'd never see with the rest of his classmates. When Principal Nakamura told Terry that, by the skin of his teeth, he would be walking the stage with his classmates, Terry nearly fainted. He couldn't believe it, but he was grateful all the same.
The graduation ceremony took place at the Hikari Center, a medium-sized stadium used mainly for sporting events and conventions. As Terry stood around in the waiting area with his classmates, he noticed Max had disappeared somewhere, leaving him a bit worried. He saw Dana approach and he smiled at her.
"Hey, babe," Terry greeted.
"Hey," Dana smiled. She kissed his cheek. "Ready?"
"I guess. More surprised that it's happening."
"Stop it!" Dana giggled. "You earned it. I'm proud of you."
Terry smiled. "Thanks. Luckily, I just get to sit there. Max has the hard part."
"And how. But… valedictorian. Surprising, literally, no one."
"The spiders in Hill High knew she was valedictorian," Terry joked.
Dana laughed.
"Do know where she went?"
"Yeah. She walked off into the hallway. I think her sister called her."
"Melissa made it?" Terry smiled. "Awesome!" He nodded, "Wow. Guess she really did move back. Good!"
"Good for Max, for sure!" Dana agreed. "Guess that means she'll stay in Gotham."
"We'll see. It's not like she hasn't got offers from every…"
Terry stopped when he saw Chelsea coming toward them, a concerned look on her face.
"Chels?" Dana asked.
"What's up?" Terry asked.
Chelsea looked at Terry, "You need to go talk to Max. Like, now!"
Terry's worry spiked immediately. "Why? What's wrong?"
"I don't know but she's crying and she…"
Terry was already walking when he heard the word "crying" leave Chelsea's mouth.
Dana blinked. "Wow, he can move fast when he wants to."
"Max is crying," Chelsea reminded. "I don't blame him. It scared me, too."
Terry made it to the hallway and looked up and down the hall, until he saw Max leaning her back against a vending machine, with her hands pressed up to her face. Terry hurried over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Max," he said, caringly.
Max looked up at him, tears still falling from her eyes.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
She sniffed. "My dad…"
"Oh, no…"
"He's… he's not coming."
Terry closed his eyes and exhaled. He looked back at Max, "No…"
"He called Mel," Max cried. "She made him call me! He wasn't even gonna tell me!"
"Oh, my God," Terry groaned, regrettably.
"He lied…" Max whispered.
"Max…"
"Mom told me she couldn't make it! I get it! Dad swore he'd be here! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!"
"Max, Max!" Terry hugged her.
She cried against him.
"It's okay, it's okay."
Max managed to get a hold of herself, transitioning to silently weeping. "I can't do this, Terry. I can't keep being strong."
"Like hell, you can't."
"I'm serious. I just… I've done everything I can, but I can't anymore. I can't even give this speech. I can't…"
Terry broke the hug and gripped Max's shoulders. "No, you listen to me!"
Max started to look down.
"Look at me."
Max couldn't bring herself to look up.
"Max," Terry insisted. "I'm serious. Look at me."
Max lifted her eyes to meet his.
"Your dad sucks. Plain and simple. But your sister is here. All you guys have been through, and she's here because she loves you. My mom loves you! Matty loves you! I love you!"
Max smiled. "I love you, too."
Terry smiled a bit. "You can do this. Forget your dad. He screwed up. Not you."
"I know."
"And you can do this! You're Max Gibson. You are Maxine… freakin'… Gibson! You are one of the most awesome, near-perfect people ever. You're smart, amazing, schway, hot, gorgeous, and badass!"
Max blinked. The words "hot" and "gorgeous" did not escape her notice.
"You're so awesome Bruce Wayne almost admits he kinda likes you!" Terry continued, causing Max to giggle. "You're going to give this speech and you're going to kill it! You're gonna go on that stage, give your speech, and it's gonna be one of the best ones in human history."
Max laughed. She stared into his eyes. "Thanks, Terry."
"Hey! What else am I here for?"
"Making sure Mad Stan doesn't blow up a restaurant for giving him a medium-well stake instead of well-done one?"
Terry glared at her. "Wow. How long was that one tucked away?"
"I'd been working on it for a couple of weeks," Max sneered. They laughed.
Max exhaled. "Thanks. Seriously. I just… I can't believe he lied to me again."
Terry shrugged, "Yeah. It sucks. I… I'm really sorry about that."
"It's not your fault." She sighed. "Maybe things will never get better between us."
"Ya never know. He could change. Some day."
"Yeah, right! Short of a miracle."
He thought it over, "Well! I've seen more miracles than you think. Another one could happen."
Max considered that. "Maybe. But worry about that another day. C'mon. Let's get back."
They walked back into the gathering room, finding Chelsea and Dana talking. As they approached, Chelsea and Dana looked up, relieved looks on their faces.
"Hey!" Chelsea smiled as she studied Max. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Max reassured. "Thanks. Just had a… small breakdown." She shrugged, "My Dad's not coming."
"What?!" Chelsea said in disbelief.
"Oh, Max," Dana said, regrettably. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," Max said. "I got something really important to focus on."
"You sure you're good to give your speech?"
Max nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do it. I'll probably be focusing on the three of you during the whole speech."
"Oh, wow," Chelsea said, sarcastically, "it's almost like we're friends and that's exactly what we're for!"
Terry, Max, and Dana laughed.
"You're gonna get on that stage and blow everyone away! And I don't mean with your twerk game."
"You swore never to speak of that again!" Max fired back.
"I did not. You said I shouldn't, and I said 'maybe'."
"That's true," Terry shrugged.
"Shut up!" Max ordered.
Dana giggled but sobered a bit. "I'm gonna miss moments like this." They all looked at her. "Joking, talking. It's… gonna be hard without you guys. Get what I mean?"
"Yeah," Chelsea agreed, sadly.
"Everything really does change after tonight," Max noted.
"But that's why technology's so great," Terry declared.
The girls looked at him, curiously.
"There's calling. Texting. Everything. No matter what happens… we can be connected somehow."
The girls smiled.
"Not bad, McGinnis," Max complimented. "Comin' through with the saves today!"
"Eh," Terry nudged his head. "It's a gift. Like good looks and stunning personality, it's just something I was born with. Can't really teach it."
"Also being late, annoying, arrogant," Max added.
"I stopped listening after I stopped talking."
"And that's why you're barely graduating."
Terry stared at her in shock. "Ouch! My feelings!"
They all laughed again. An announcement over the loudspeakers advised the students to start getting ready to head out for the ceremony.
Max sighed. "Well…" she looked at her friends, "I guess I… better get ready."
"You're gonna do awesome," Dana smiled.
"Totally!" Chelsea agreed.
"Thanks." Max looked at Terry. "Any last-minute advice?"
"Don't forget who you are," Terry responded.
Max stared at him, appreciatively. "Thanks, Terry."
"You got this, Max. I believe that, 100%."
Max and Terry smiled at each other. Dana observed them for a moment. And almost swore she something in those smiles she hadn't before.
"Alright," Max said. "Let me get going."
"We'll be out there." Chelsea smirked, "Alphabetically, so look at me first."
"And just look at me last," Terry joked. "Ya know… just cast me to the side and…"
"Oh, shut up!" Max groaned.
Dana giggled. "You got this, Max. You know it and we know it."
Max smiled and nodded. "See you guys out there."
"Then afterwards!" Chelsea smiled. "Party at my place!"
Max walked off and Terry studied her as she walked along. Before she left out of the door to meet with the faculty, she took one more look at Terry and headed on.
The ceremony went along as usual. Terry, Dana, and Chelsea faded in and out of most of it. It was mostly a lot of the teachers they didn't particularly care for giving speeches, anyway. Terry almost yawned until he remembered who was in the seats, and, if he was caught yawning, he would never hear the end of it.
But soon the event that pretty much the entire auditorium was waiting for was upon them.
Max's speech.
After being introduced by Principal Nakamura, in unequivocally glowing terms, Max stood up as the auditorium applauded. She got to the podium and looked Chelsea, who smiled at her. Max looked over at Dana, who gave her a thumbs up. Then Max looked at Terry, focusing on him for a few seconds. Terry gave her a reassuring smile and mimed breathing with her.
Max steadied her breathing. Then smiled and looked at the crowd. "Good evening, everyone. Thank you for the introduction, Principle Nakamura. First of all, I want to say what a privilege it is to stand before you as the Hill High valedictorian. I know that most will say that it's a position I've earned but… a lot of encouragement got me here. From valued friends to… to family." She smiled. "It wasn't easy. No matter what everyone tells you. People like my sister… my friends, Terry, Dana, Chelsea and many others… they got me through." She stopped. "My parents… believing in me… when I didn't believe in myself. Even parental figures who I didn't know I would see as parental figures made the difference. The teachers who challenged me to keep being better… thank you all of you."
Applause came from the crowd.
"To my class… it was a long road. Like, seriously? What else was gonna happen at this school? I know Gotham is a crazy town, typically, but it felt like we got some of the worst of it."
Scattered laughter came from the crowd.
"But, in a weird way, I guess that gets us ready for the rest of our lives and the world beyond the walls of our school." Max smiled. "Sorry. I said 'beyond the walls' and I had Attack on Titan and Game of Thrones jokes that I repeatedly told myself not to tell. For the record, they were hilarious. But if my mother heard me say them, I'd never hear the end of it. Plus my sister's here, and she'd absolutely disown me if I said them."
The crowd laughed again.
"But I digress. To be real, guys… it's gonna be tough out there. We all have a lot of challenges headed our way. Some of us… will have it harder than others. Sometimes. Some of us will have it easier than others, sometimes. But we will all face struggles and problems. In one way or the other. But I believe we can all make it. I truly believe every single person who is graduating with me can be a success in some way. Not all of us are going to be presidents or monetary successes or famous. But all of us can be successful. We can win. In our way. We can't define our success by everyone else. We have to do it based on how we feel. If you know you did your best, that's your win. That's your victory. You know, when I was preparing this, I listened to a lot of Eric Thomas speeches. He… has a lot of good stuff. I could've made a speech just from his speeches alone. But one thing he said, I think, applies to all of us. 'You're not a victim. You're a victor.'" (Kidadl Team) Max smiled. "That will always be true. For all of us. We are victors." She smirked. "'All we do is win. No matter what.'" (DJ Khaled)
Most of the students laughed at that. No one harder than Terry, with Chelsea and Dana a close second.
Max laughed. She also knew somewhere Mel was rolling her eyes. "I'm not all sorry I said that, by the way. But… thank you all for this. Thank you all for listening. To my friends… Terry, Dana, and Chelsea especially… thank you for always believing me. I always needed it. I always will." She scanned the auditorium. "Stay strong out there, everyone! The rest of our lives starts tonight and we earned it! So, congrats, my fellow graduates. We did it!"
The auditorium erupted into applause with Terry, Dana, and Chelsea jumping to her feet after Max concluded. Max smiled, letting a few tears fall as she breathed a sigh of relief. Max focused on her three friends, smiled at them, and blew them kisses.
Terry gave her two thumbs up.
Max mouthed, "Thank you."
Terry nodded.
The rest of the ceremony went along just fine. Everyone received their diplomas and the ceremony concluded. Terry walked out into the hallway and was greeted by Mary and Matty.
Mary hugged Terry immediately, "I'm so proud of you, son!"
"Thanks, Mom," Terry replied as they separated.
"Meh. I guess you did okay."
Terry laughed. "Thanks, twip."
A moment later, Max walked up to them. "Hey, to my favorite family!"
"Max!" Mary said, happily. "Oh, my goodness, your speech was amazing! I was moved to tears!" She gave Max a strong, motherly hug.
"Awww!" Max smiled. "Thank you!" They separated.
"You were awesome, Max!" Matty smiled at her.
Max bent over and smiled at him. "You're the best, Matty." She kissed his cheek.
Matty blushed immediately.
"Alright, alright!" Mary pulled out her phone. "We need pictures!"
"Sure!" Max said. "Can we take more when my…"
"MAX!" Mel shouted as she rushed up and hugged Max from behind, lifting her off the ground.
Max laughed. "Hi, Mel! I was just talking about you."
"Oh, my God, that speech was soooooo amazing! I'm not even mad you used a DJ Khaled song!"
Max smiled. "Thanks, sis."
Mel looked at the McGinnis, "Terry McGinnis! As I live and breathe!"
"Hey, Mel!" Terry greeted as they hugged.
They released the hug and Mel looked at the rest of Terry's family. She pointed at them, "Mrs. McGinnis and Matty. Am I right?"
"Very much so," Mary smiled. "And you're the incomparable Mel! Max's wonderful sister."
"Oooh, I like her!"
"Yeah, Mrs. McGinnis is pretty schway!" Max agreed.
They took a ton of photos in the hallway. Even more when Chelsea, Dana, and a couple of other high school friends happened along. Max also received compliments from seemingly every person attendance whenever they passed her. After the pictures, Mary and Matty decided to head home, leaving Terry to celebrate with his friends. They would have a family celebration that weekend; with Max, automatically, invited. Terry and Max were standing outside, alone, while Mel spoke to a couple of old friends she ran across.
"You really did awesome," Terry said to Max.
"Thanks," Max replied. "I really did make it… because you were there."
"Happy I could help." Terry glanced behind her, quickly, then looked back at her. "And… I did get a little surprise for you."
"What?"
Terry smiled and looked behind her, nudging his head. Max turned around and saw Bruce standing behind her.
Max gasped. "Bruce?!"
Bruce walked up to her. "I know I'm not the person you wanted to be here. But…"
Max threw her arms around Bruce, hugging him as tightly as she could.
"I know you're here for Terry," Max said, "but…"
"Actually," Bruce interrupted. He hugged her back.
Max gasped.
"…I'm here for both of you. I'm very proud of you, Max."
Max closed her eyes and sighed, contently. "Thanks, Bruce. That means more to me than you know."
As they separated, Bruce looked at Terry, "Good job."
Smiling, Terry nodded.
Mel walked up to the group and stopped, her eyes wide. "Holy crap," she whispered. "Bruce Wayne!"
Bruce smiled at her. "You must be Melissa, Max's sister." He offered his hand, "A pleasure to meet you."
Mel shook his hand, "Bruce Wayne knows my name. Okay, this night just got better."
Bruce chuckled and Terry and Max laughed.
"I'm sorry! It's… really an honor to meet you, Mr. Wayne!"
"Same," Bruce replied as they broke the handshake.
"Well, I was gonna treat the graduates to a dinner before they went off their party," Mel explained. "Do you wanna come with us, Mr. Wayne?"
"No, thank you, Melissa," Bruce replied. "I should be getting home."
"Need me to drive you?" Terry asked.
"No. The car will do most of the work tonight. I'm giving you the night off."
Terry gasped then slowly smiled, "It's a MIRACLE!"
"Keep your phone on," Bruce ordered.
"It's ALMOST a miracle!"
Max and Mel laughed as Bruce rolled his eyes.
"It was lovely to meet you, Melissa," Bruce nodded.
"Same, sir," Melissa replied.
"Have a good night, all," Bruce said. "Terry. Max. I'm very proud of you. You earned this. Congratulations."
Terry smiled and nodded, "Thanks."
"Thanks for coming, Bruce," Max smiled. "Seriously."
Bruce inclined his head then headed for his car.
"Think he'll be okay tonight?" Max asked Terry.
"Sure," Terry replied. "I'll call him later anyway. Make sure he made it home."
"Cool."
"So, where do you guys wanna eat?" Mel asked. "Anywhere you want! My treat!"
"You don't have to do that, Mel," Terry replied. "Especially for me. It can just be you two."
"And miss out hanging with my sister's bestie? Not a chance!"
Dana walked over and found them, "There you guys are!"
Everyone looked up and Terry greeted, "Hey, babe!"
"Your mom takeoff already?"
"Yeah. We'll celebrate with her tomorrow. Can you still make it?"
"You bet."
"We were about to go eat before going to Chelsea's," Max said. "Mel's treat. Wanna come along?"
Dana thought for a moment. Then shook her head. "No, it's cool. You guys go."
Terry jerked his head back. "You sure?"
"Yeah," Mel said, "you're more than welcome, Dana. Max told me you and her are good friends. I was gonna invite Chelsea, too, but I know she's hosting her party."
"Yeah, I'm sure. But thank you." Dana looked at Terry and Max, "You guys are gonna come to Chelsea's later, right?"
"For sure," Max answered. "Just wanted to hang with Mel for a few first."
"Go ahead," Dana reassured. "We'll meet up later."
Terry couldn't help but notice something was a bit off with Dana's demeanor. Not wrong but she seemed different. "Babe?"
"I'm serious, Terry," Dana reassured. "You three have fun. I'll see you at Chelsea's."
Terry shrugged, "I mean… okay. You sure?"
"Positive. Go."
Terry and Max looked at each other and shrugged, then looked back at Dana. "We'll see you later at Chelsea's," Max said.
"Schway!" Dana smiled.
"Alright, terrible twosome!" Mel joked. "Let's go! My bank account is gonna hate me after this!"
"No worse than one of your shipping trips," Max pointed out as they headed for Mel's car.
"Retail therapy is a thing. Shut up!"
Terry laughed. He turned and looked at Dana, giving her a wave.
Dana held her smile and waved back. She stared at them until she was sure they couldn't really make out her face anymore and she let her smile slowly fell away.
Chelsea walked up next to Dana. "Hey, found you. I was about to head to my place and…" She studied her. "Dana? You okay?"
"Yeah." Dana stared at Terry and Max. "Just… realizing a few things." She paused for a moment. "More like… coming to terms with some things."
"Like what?"
"Stuff to worry about tomorrow. Tonight… we celebrate. Have some fun."
Chelsea eyed her curiously. "Dana? Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Dana answered. "I'm good."
A/N: What did you guys think? A piece of Max's speech partially inspired by Big Hero 6 at Hiro's presentation where Tadashi calms him down. Alright, as I mentioned earlier, there will be two more parts coming up; in the next few minutes, in fact. I'll explain why in the next story. See you there!
Works Cited:
Kidadl Team. "100 Best Eric Thomas Quotes To Motivate You To Achieve." Kidadl. Last modified on Nov 11, 2021. /articles/best-eric-thomas-quotes-to-motivate-you-to-achieve.
DJ Khaled, "All I Do Is Win," by DJ Nasty & LVM and DJ Khaled, recorded 2009, track 2 on Victory, 2010, We the Best Music Group, compact disc.
