This Is Not The End

"As I stand here today looking out upon all of you, I know the last four years of my life have been good. Filled with hard times, like making the extremely pressuring deadlines of an essay which would potentially decide my future. Good times, like meeting my best friends, the people I know that would do anything for me and knowing I would do the same back. I don't know whether I would've survived high school without my four closet friends. I know everyone sees me as the smart kid, always getting straight A's but that doesn't come naturally to me and those four girls saw that in me.
I don't know how high school would've gone if I had never met them, I don't think I would've been that straight A student living up to the Hastings name. To my friends I wasn't a Hastings; I was just Spencer who happened to have lawyers for parents. But anyway I'm getting off track, everyone sitting here today and about to walk across this stage to collect their much earn diploma has deserve it.
We all suffered at the hands of our teachers but it was for our own good because now we know any challenge that we are given, won't be that bad because we know double Maths with Mr Gomez was tough and you were lucky to make it out alive," I paused to regain myself and for laughter from my fellow students who knew he was a tough teacher.

"Today marks the end of our high school career and I can't believe the time we wished would hurry up is now here, and I'm not ready to say goodbye. How can you say goodbye to the place that has given you so much? How can we just leave this building and go out into the unknown? How do we do this? Well that's an answer I don't actually know, this place has given me so much and I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay the people who were here to make this place so hard to leave. As you all know I meet my fiancée here, or my girlfriend since we hadn't announced our engagement yet but I thought what better time than when saying goodbye to the place I met her and my fellow students.
Emily Marie Fields, I met you four years ago in this very room which not many people knew. There are a lot of things people didn't know about how we met, they don't know that you were actually wanted to be in the Drama club and you were heartbroken when you found out that this school didn't have one. I found you in here crying over the idea of no longer being able to do big drama production and playing the lead role. I told you that drama club wasn't the only good thing at this school; I was still on chlorine high that day from swimming that day.
I told you how the pool made me feel and little did I know that you were going to try-out for the team that day. We've been friends, best friends, swimming teammates, co-captains of the swimming team, friends who wanted to be more than friends but scared of the others reaction, finally girlfriend which was met by joy from everyone who knew us closely and now we are fiancée. In four years I have found my soulmate, so how can Emily and I leave a place that gave us each other? While I couldn't answer this question Emily actually gave me the perfect answer, which was we do it the same way we did it first day. We walk out together with our heads held high because we survived, we survived high school together and that's how we leave."

"I would just like to say a quick thank-you to everyone who has helped shape my high school career into being the most amazing experience of my life and I can't wait for our ten year reunion to hear what everyone has been doing. I'll leave you with these words, Don't cry because it's over, Smile because it happened, Dr Seuss." Smiling out at my fellow classmates one last time before picking up my sheets of paper, I step away from the microphone and everyone claps.

Principal Young steps up to the microphone after I take my seat next to Emily and said "What excellent and inspiring words from Spencer Hastings, your valedictorian. I would now like in alphabetically order to hand you your diploma's, congratulated you on this achievement and wish you all the best for the future." The deputy principal Mrs Ashford began reading off everyone's name and they would go up on stage to collect their diplomas. I cheered the loudest when Emily's name was called out, which had embarrassed her but made everyone laugh.

Principal Young spoke again after everyone had collect their diploma's "Fellow student, staff and parents, I would like to introduce you to the class of 2017!" As he shouted the last bit myself and my fellow classmates stood in a shout from our chairs to do the traditional cap toss. I was congratulating a girl that had been sitting behind me, when I was suddenly pulled from into her arm and into another pair of familiar pair.

My sweet Emily's arms, she turned me around to face her and we both held big bright smile with tear drops in our eyes, trying not to fall. While to celebration went on behind and around us, all we did was stare deeply into each other's eyes before it was broken by us leaning forward for a sweet and bliss kiss. Our future was certainly ours and to take in whatever direction we pleased, and I was going to make sure that Emily was always in my future and her lips too.

The End.

A/N: Sometimes I talk at the end of the story and other times I don't but I just wanted to talk a little bit or a lot at the end of this one-shot. I wanted to write a graduation story because this year (grades providing) I will finally graduate from high school. Saying/typing that makes me happy but at the same time sad. Happy because it's finally my turn, it's my turn to graduate and it's finally happening. The high school I went to wasn't a very good one, they only cared about the students that were into sport or were smart; not the ones with learning difficulties. Granted I wasn't there much of the time but how can you be if you don't enjoy going, even with having many friends, if your not able to go because of your friends; then somethings not working. So after year 10, I dropped out of mainstream school and was luckily pick up by this non-mainstream school. What that meant was I no longer had to wear a uniform, I got to pick the classes I actually wanted to be in (unless it was a requirement for that year, like English or maths) and I began to enjoy school again. Joining this school was a little odd, especially because we called our teachers by their first name which was actually easier than I thought it would be.

Going to VOC as we call it here was the best decision of my life, yes it meant living my friends at my other school but I needed to make a decision on how my future was going to go. VOC has given me new friends, some amazing memories that will last a lifetime and confidence. Before VOC I was the shy, quiet kid in class and it took me a while to speak to someone. VOC gave me my voice, gave me the confidence in my voice to ask questions when I needed them answer. So while that's all kind of happy stuff, I'm also sad because I don't want to leave VOC. That place has meant everything to me over the last three years. It has taken me three years to get to this stage where I am graduating and while it's great, it also sucks and is sad because I have to leave. I have to leave a place that gave me so much, that helped me discover things about myself that I hadn't yet known. So how can I just leave that place and go into the unknown and scary world.

This last year has been hard because I knew from the start that this year was my last year at high school and I made sure I would enjoy this year, that I was going to study hard and get all my work done. The whole year it's felt like my swan song, I haven't been able to think of a song or find a song that can express how I feel (suggestion appreciated) but it's just how this year has gone. My friends from my old high school all graduate last year, so I didn't really have any of them so I had to relay on myself to get this work done. I'm proud to say I have achieved all my work this year and I'm going to graduated this year! I won't get the big stage to walk across or wear those cap and gown; or however graduation is done; I don't know.

But I know I won't get that, I'll just get a simple letter telling me whether I passed or not. That'll be my graduation, I don't know what celebration will come but when I do find out the grade I'll let you all know, and be thankful to everyone who has helped me get to this stage. I have met so many people through high school and it's crazy how much high school can give you, especially when all you want to do is give up. While I won't miss the assignments and the 2,000 word explain why this experience was good or whatever the question was. I'll miss the adventure and people who came with those assignments. I'm happy to say that I'm almost friends with my teachers and that is why VOC is the greatest thing to ever happen to me!

Thank-you for reading all of this, I just want to explain how I was feeling while writing this one-shot. I hope you liked the story and didn't mind me talking afterwards. Until the next one-shot ~KJ99!