Part Two: Graduation
Riley's POV:
"I don't like graduation practice." I said as I stood next to Farkle. "I don't either and I don't like how Lucas and Maya are so far away from us." He said. "Were going to be separated too, you know. I have to go sit on the other side of the field once we get to the red line." He said "Let's enjoy this moment while it last." I said. "Hopefully it doesn't last too long because it is burning out here." he said. I looked over at the other line and I saw Lucas staring at me with that cute little smile of his. "Thank god today is the last day of grad practice." Farkle said. "Hmm-what oh yeah." I said as I snapped out of my gaze. "Daydreaming, I see. How does it feel to be back on the football field again?" he asked. "It feels a little weird, I'll say that." I said. Once we got to the red line, Farkle and I separated to our rows.
After grad practice, we all went to Starbucks to cool ourselves down. "Practice was brutal today." Maya said. "We were just sitting in the sun." Lucas said. "For like two hours." Maya said. "Well at least we weren't in a desert." I said. "It felt like we were." Maya said. "Everyone took all the good tables and we would probably have to sit outside. In the hot air." Farkle said. "Don't worry, we'll have our iced coffee to cool us off." I said.
Lucas's POV:
"So, babe what do you want to drink?" I asked Riley. "I'll just get a Grande caramel ribbon crunch. But I'll pay for It." she said. "You're funny. I'm paying." I said as I took out my wallet. "Riley, you know you like it when he pays for you." Maya teased. "Of course I do, but maybe I want to pay for myself sometimes." She said. "Well when you're with me, you don't get to." I teased. After we got our drinks, we all sat down at the table and started to talk about summer. "So what should we do this summer?" Farkle asked. "Well, Riley and I are going on a road trip for about a month. My dad has a cabin in Vermont and we were going to have a girls get away." Maya said. "I can't believe you're going to take my girlfriend away from me for a month." I said. "Oh, get over it huckleberry." Maya said.
"And when you get back you're only going to have two weeks with us." Farkle said. "I know, but we can make the most of It." she said. "Yeah, summer is going to be full of surprises." I said as I winked at Riley. She had a confused look on her face because she had no idea what I was trying to hint at her. "Why don't you guys come to Europe with me?" Maya asked. "Before summer ends, we can travel through Europe together. We can go to Rome, Italy, Paris." She said. "But don't you want to spend time with your family as well?" Riley asked. "I will. Of course I will. But I mean I want to spend time with you guys as well." She said. "I can't believe I'm actually hearing those words come out of your mouth." I joked.
Maya's POV:
"So Europe?" I asked. "Yup!" they all said. "Oh, I can't wait!" Riley said as she jumped in her seat. "Anyways, I have to go. My dad is having a dinner tonight and I told him I would help him. I'll see you guys later." Farkle said as he got up. "Yeah, I have to go too. My mom is having a garage sale and I better be there so that she doesn't sell anything important to me. I'll see you later babe." Lucas said as he gave Riley a kiss. "Well, that leaves just us two." I said. "I guess it does. What should we do?" she asked. "What we always do… Shop?" I suggested. "We shop way too much. I mean we work at H&M. But the discounts don't help as much." she said. "Well, it's better than nothing, my darling." I said. "Very true. But still we have to stop shopping Maya." We looked at each other and burst out laughing. "I think it would be cool if our families came with us to Europe so I don't have to separate times. We'll all be there together." I said. "Yeah that sounds like a good idea." Riley said.
Riley's POV:
After Maya and I went our separate ways, I drove to Lucas's house to check out the garage sale. He was right. I saw him following his mom around and convincing her to not sell any of his old possessions. "You're going to have to let go eventually." I heard his mom say as I walked up to the house. "Riley!" Lucas's mom said as she dropped a ball and walked over to hug me. "Hi, Mrs. Friar!" I said. "Look at you, are you here to browse or see Lucas?" she asked. "A little bit of both." I said with a smile. "Well, help yourself honey and feel free to stay for dinner tonight. I'm making my famous lasagna." She said as she went back to customers. "So, how's it going over here?" I asked as I walked up to Lucas. "I've been able to save a few of my things." Lucas said. I picked up a cape from his box. "Like this?" I asked as I held up the cape. "That's Dylan's." He said. "Sure it is." I said as I put it around him. "Now, you're back to being a little boy again." I said as I finish tying the strings together.
"Lucas, you are not keeping the cape." His mom said as she walked over to him. I started to feel a little guilty. "What if I buy the cape?" I asked. "It's a dollar for you." she said with a smile. I gave her a dollar. Lucas was about to take the cape off but I stopped him. "No, the cape is yours." I said as I gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you," he said. "Do you want to go inside?" he asked. "Please." I said as he took my hand and guided me inside. "So what do you want to do?" he asked. "Is that a tree house?" I asked as I looked out into his backyard. "How come I've never noticed that?" I asked. "We finally cut down the tree that has been blocking It." he said as he came over and stood by my side. "Do you want to go up there?" he asked. "Hell yeah." I said as I opened the backyard door.
We climbed up the tree house and sat down on the wooden floors (hsm3). "So, can you believe were graduating tomorrow?" he asked. "No, I wish time would just slow down." I said as I put my head on Lucas's shoulder. "I don't either but at the same time I don't want it to slow down. I just want to get college done and over with." he said. "Why is that? Don't you want to get the full college experience?" I asked. "Not without you." he said. "We'll visit each other as much as we can, but hey we still have graduation and summer left to spend together. Let's not spend it sad." I said. Lucas kissed the top of my head and we sat in silence until dinner time.
*Graduation Day*
Lucas's POV:
This was it. We were graduating today. I really hope that I don't get choked up and start crying my eyes out as we walk through the stadium. It wouldn't be too manly of me. I was tying my tie when all of a sudden my mom walked into my room. She covered her mouth and her eyes began to water. "I can't believe my baby boy is graduating high school today." She said as she walked over and adjusted my tie. "I can't believe it either. But I won't be that far away mom and I'll visit as much as I can." I said. "I know, but it was just like yesterday you were in diapers." My mom said. "Mom." I said. "I'm sorry, I still have all summer to convince you to stay in New York." She joked. "Is Riley coming over?" she asked. "You really like her don't you?" I asked. "Yes I do, she has been a wonderful influence on you and you better not let her go again." she said. "I don't plan on it. I've actually been thinking about marriage." I said. My mom stopped and looked at me. "Marriage?" she asked. "Yeah…" I said as I took a step back. "Lucas, one step at time. Let's graduate first because I'm not ready to see you get married yet." she said. "Don't worry mom, I'm just saying I know that one day, I'm going to marry that girl." I said.
Riley's POV:
"I love this dress!" I said as I spun around. I was wearing a two strapped, white v-neck dress that had a short flowy bottom. It made me feel like an angel. Maya on the other hand was wearing a tight baby blue dress with a conservative top. "We look amazing, Maya." I said as I put my arm around her. "I can't believe it is graduation day. I've been waiting for this day to come." She said. "I know you have, peaches." I said as I put on simple black wedges. "Well it's almost five, we have to head off to the school now." I said. We grabbed our caps and gowns and drove off to the school.
As soon as we got to the school, Farkle and Lucas were already trying to open the car door to get us out. "Whoa there," I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt. "What's with all the excitement?" Maya said as she got out. "It's graduation day! SENIORS RULE!" Farkle yelled. "Hey…" Lucas said as he planted one on me. We all walked to the gymnasium to put on our caps and gowns. "Looks like guys on that side and girls on the other. See ya fellas!" Maya said as she took my hand and took me the other side. We put on our caps and gowns and went to go sit in our assigned seats. Since Farkle and I both have last names that started with the letter "M" we sat in the same section.
The principal then took the floor. "Alright seniors, this is the day you all have been waiting for. I am so proud of you all. This is the last day before you guys take on the world. Are you guys ready to graduate?!" he said. We all cheered as loud as we could. "Alright! Let's do this!" he said and with that the ceremony began and each row started walking out one by one. This is it. I said to myself. I started to get emotional. But I had to keep it in until after the ceremony. I didn't want to cry when I was walking out onto the stadium. As soon as we got onto the field, everyone was cheering and it made it harder to not cry. Because this would be the last time I walk this field until. This will be the last time I will be at John Adams high. This is the last time I'll be a senior. The rest of my life starts right now.
We found our seats and the honor students did their speech and then it was my turn to talk. I took a deep breath and went up to the podium. "To my fellow classmates, teachers, to all the families here tonight. Looks like we did it. Today is the last day before the rest of our life begins. We have been one big family ever since the first day of freshmen year. When we were getting out of our parents cars, with our id's hanging over our necks, and praying we don't get trash canned by upperclassmen. From breaking some rules, to fighting for what we believe in. I can't believe this is the last time we will be attending John Adams. All the lessons we've learned, all the memories we've made, we'll keep with us. John Adams is a place where we are tested to our abilities, where a super genius, becomes more than what he's labeled to be, where a rebel turns into believer, where a cowboy meets a city girl. We all stayed by each other's side as we entered the high school world and we plan on leaving the same. So I guess we really are one big family." I said. Once I finished my speech and went back to my seat, the principal took over again. "It's time for roll call." He said. Everyone cheered.
"…Isaiah Babino… Lucas Friar... Charlie Gardner… Maya Hart… Riley Matthews… Farkle Minkus…" the principal continued to call out the names and once we finished, we waited for the principal to give us his speech and throw our caps in the air. "…Alright families, friends, I present to you… the class of 2015!" he yelled. We all cheered and threw our caps in the air. "We did it!" Farkle said as he ran over to me. "We're college students now!" I said. Pretty soon, Lucas and Maya joined us. Lucas picked me up and spun me around, "Looks like we did it, Matthews." He said. "WE ARE OUT OF HERE!" Maya yelled as she jumped up and down. After a little, our families had joined us. We all took pictures and congratulated the other classmates. Then we headed off to grad night. We walked out of the stadium arms linked, we walked out as kings.
The core four has finally graduated high school! Off to the college life they go! I apologize if I was all over the place with this. But prepare yourselves for the SEQUEL. It's going to be a continuation of this story and you guys will be able to see how well their summer went and what's in store for college. So keep a look out for it