SURPRISE! You all get two chapters in two days as a little thank you for reading all of my stories. Unfortunately, I cannot read the stats on the phone, but I've received a lot of notifications lately about my stories being followed favorited (especially with this story and "Never For Nothing"), so thank you so much!

So I'm doing a little experimenting with Lily as a possibility of what she might be doing while she goes to college. I hope you like this chapter. This is the last chapter of my "For Good" reimagination, so with that said, thank you for following along! The next chapter will start my small(?) reimagination of "Pride and Justice," which is the big story in Wilbur and Karena's relationship. Lily's senior year in high school will be very interesting to write. For now, I hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter about Wilbur's last moments in high school.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to "Meet the Robinsons" nor "TMNT," nor do I own Shakira's Try Everything. I only own Karena, Lilianna, Ryan, Venus, Athena, Principal Jameson, and James.


May 24, 2041 - Todayland, North Montana, USA

WILBUR'S POV

Things only went uphill ever since Karena got discharged from the hospital back in March. While she lost her job at Denny's, she continued to be a substitute teacher at Todayland High School. My dad also encouraged her to take up painting again, and she updated the paintings at Robinson Industries. I had never seen Karena so happy ever since she moved here from Los Angeles, and it made me extremely happy.

Besides Karena, Lily has been my biggest supporter. While my left shoulder was healing, she helped me carry my books to class. Actually, I had insisted I could handle it, but Lily would not take no for an answer. During these two months, Lily helped me learn that I, too, had a psychic power, but there was more emphasis on the defense. Lily could no longer read my mind due to the resistance I somehow had built up. In fact, it had hurt her every time she tried to enter my mind. I practiced shielding myself and others using only my mind from Lily and April's psychic attacks. I had doubted anything bad was ever going to happen in Todayland again, but learning this new power was well worth my time. Throughout these two months, Lily continues to prove again and again that she is the most powerful person I have ever met. I had no doubt that Lily would make an amazing teacher someday, just like her father.

The rest of the Hamato family encouraged me to continue going to New York to practice my ninjutsu. Most of my time, however, was spent with Leo mastering the art of meditation due to my left shoulder. Leo remained firm in his faith that I would become a full-pledged ninja by Lily's seventeenth birthday.

Lily took her big tests in April and she had just discovered her results very recently. She received perfect scores on both her ACT and her SAT, which could open up thousands of doors for her to explore and discover more of herself.

May came. Prom was on the eleventh this month, and I went stag. Lily went with my best friend James, and we were both excited when we all revealed we were on the court. To my disbelief, I won the Prom King title, and I was very happy when I danced with the Prom Queen, Betty Johnson. My shoulder had completely healed. But I did save one dance for Karena, whose apartment I went to after prom ended.

After prom came my last day of high school, which happened to fall on my eighteenth birthday. It turned out to be the best day of my life so far. I celebrated with the rest of my classmates, sharing some of our last memories at Todayland High School and marshaling a parade all around the city. We had our annual jazz show the band would host every year. Before the show, my band mates, as well as Karena, surprised me with a birthday party consisting of pizza and cupcakes. The only drink provided was water because we had to play our instruments and acts. Speaking of acts, the seniors put together an act dedicated to me as their birthday present. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. They had used all of my catchphrases, dressed up as me, and even listed all of my accomplishments during my four years at Todayland High School. I ended up being recognized again as I was the drum major and had to share the summary of what happened at Todayland High this school year.

And now, today was graduation day. While school was in session for the Hamato girls, I practiced for the ceremony with the other seniors. I learned last week that I was the valedictorian of my class, so I had to make a speech. After practice, I had called Donatello and asked him to visit me in my room. Karena was meeting with us as well.

"Thank you both for meeting me this afternoon," I greeted them.

"It's my pleasure," Don replied with a gap-toothed grin.

"Same!" Karena replied.

We all took seats in the orange beanbags.

"So, today's your graduation day," Don started the conversation. "How are you feeling?"

"A mix of excited and nervous," I answered. "And I'm valedictorian, so I have even more pressure to make a speech."

"Well, we're happy to help!" Karena replied happily. "I was the valedictorian of my school also."

"Oh, that's right! I remember that. I went to your high school graduation."

"And while I never was the valedictorian," Don chimed in. "I can still help you with your speech as one of your future professors."

"Okay, so I got the beginning down," I explained. "But I don't really know what else goes into a valedictorian speech."

"Well the speech is important because you get to talk about all the memories you made with your classmates," Karena explained. "What stands out as far as memories go?"

"Now, keep in mind, Wilbur, that this is only about you and your classmates," Don explained further. "Unfortunately, this does not include Lily since she's a junior."

"You know, it's ironic," I replied. "Sure, I'm the most popular kid in the school and not because of my family."

"Then talk about that," Karena encouraged me. "Talk about the unity of your classmates when special events happened around Todayland, like the virus."

"Or something unique," Don chimed in. "Like the musical. Didn't a lot of you audition for the first time ever?"

"Yes."

"You know, you could also talk about the teachers that had inspired you too. You can even include Karena in that."

"I could," I replied in agreement.

"But the most important thing to do is to end your speech with inspiration," Karena explained, playing with her brown curls.

"Which may come easy for you," Don chimed in once again. "You're a Robinson. You're known for being inspiring."

Something suddenly clicked. I figured out how to write my speech!

"I think I got it!" I said happily. "Thank you both for your help."

"Anytime!" Don replied. "Would you like me to wish Lily luck too? She's singing at the ceremony."

"Oh! Yes, please. I actually didn't know that."

Don and Karena left the room. I took the levitation platform up to my bed and immediately started to write my valedictorian speech.


LILIANNA'S POV

Athena and I were finally released from school for the summer. Words could not describe how excited Athena was because she was happily screaming once she stepped foot outside.

"I survived one year of high school!" Athena yelled excitedly.

"Congratulations!" I replied with some sass in my voice. "Now you get to do that three more times!"

Athena gave me an unimpressed look.

"That was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

"I'd say about seventy percent sarcasm and thirty percent serious."

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Lilianna Mae, but you still have one more year to go."

"I know," I replied, releasing a contented sigh. "I cannot believe I'll be a senior next fall. Plus, we have Wilbur and Karena's wedding to look forward to. How can I not be excited right now?"

"Hey, that's true! I'm a bridesmaid too. I'm so excited about doing my hair and finding a dress."

"Tallulah's making our dresses."

Athena gasped happily.

"That's even better! Now let's go home so we can celebrate!"

"Uh... about that."

Athena's smile quickly faded.

"Don't tell me you have to stay here?"

I quickly grew annoyed.

"Athena Shea! One, Wilbur is graduating! I want to support him. Two, I got asked to sing a particular song before the ceremony starts to pump up the seniors. Three, I'm actually part of the ceremony myself."

"How?" Athena asked. "You're not a senior."

"I'm walking before the seniors do. I've been asked to do that by Principal Jameson because I'm actually first in my class too."

"So responsible," Athena replied sarcastically.

I frowned.

"Athena, are you okay?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"I was looking forward to celebrating with you tonight," she answered with a sad voice.

"We still can," I replied, now with a genuine smile. "Graduation isn't an all-night-long event. It's only an hour long. I'll be back in New York in time for our patrol. And besides, we've got more to celebrate too. Wilbur's high school graduation and his initiation into the Hamato Clan."

"Hey, that's true," Athena said with a smile. "And Venus and I successfully completed our vision quests."

"There you go! Though you are welcome to go to the ceremony tonight. My dad's going to be there too."

"Just your dad?"

I shrugged, and then I remembered something.

"Ryan's going with him. Ryan looks up to Wilbur a lot."

"I had forgotten Ryan and Wilbur are friends."

"Hey, would you like to watch me get ready?" I asked my youngest cousin. "Tallulah made me a dress for tonight."

"Sure! Let me text Mom real quick."

I watched my cousin text Auntie Renet. While we waited for a text back from her, we walked around the city. When we got a block away from the school, Athena received a text. She took out her phone to read it.

"Okay, but be sure you are with Lily and Uncle Donnie at all times. Have fun tonight!"

"It just dawned on me," I spoke up. "It's just my dad, Ryan, and you at the ceremony tonight. Next year, it'll be everybody."

"I think your high school graduation is going to be an even bigger deal than Wilbur's," Athena replied. "None of the Turtles went to school to go through a graduation."

"Very true. Only my mom did that. Technically, Auntie Karai did too, but she went to school--"

"In Japan."

"But Auntie Karai moved to New York when she was sixteen. She still would have gone to school."

"But keep in mind that she was still being raised by Shredder," Athena replied sternly. "I highly doubt a high school education was important for him."

"Hold on a minute."

I took out my T-Phone and did research on school systems in Japan.

"Okay, this is interesting," I spoke as I read. "The Japanese school system primarily consists of six-year elementary schools, three-year junior high schools, and three-year high schools, followed by two-or-three-year junior colleges or four-year colleges."

"Uh, Lily, that's the same school system as the one in the United States," Athena replied with a flat affect.

"Wait, really? So if that's the case..."

My eyes widened at the same time as Athena's.

"Auntie Karai never finished high school?!" we asked each other at the same time.

"Did Auntie Karai even attend school?" I asked.

"If she was raised by Shredder, I highly doubt that," Athena replied.

"On the other hand, if Shredder truly did care for her as his daughter, then maybe he did give her the best education in Japan. Maybe he put Auntie Karai in a vocational school instead of high school when she graduated junior high."

"Lily!" Athena exclaimed in horror. "Why would you believe Shredder actually cared for her?"

"Hear me out. Shredder may have thought that Splinter had died in the fire along with Tang Shen and found Auntie Karai. He may have raised her because it was the right thing to do... in his opinion, even if his thinking was twisted. And from the stories I heard from Bebop and Rocksteady, Shredder still cared for Auntie Karai, even after she discovered the truth about her family."

"Wait a minute, why would you care about what Bebop and Rocksteady have to say?" Athena asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The world is not black-and-white," I answered. "Villains have lives too. Take Chris Bradford. He made a living owning dojos and training ninjas. There's nothing wrong with that. His allegiance was just in the wrong place. And Athena, believe me when I say change is always possible. Take Bebop and Rocksteady. Bebop used to be a thief named Anton Zeck while Rocksteady was a weapons dealer named Ivan Steranko. Yes, they were under Shredder's employ until he died. But they still wanted to live normal lives. In fact, they didn't start doing that until they saved the world from the forces of Dimension X all those years ago and Cornelius helped pass the Mutants Among Us bill into law. But Bebop and Rocksteady didn't go back to a life of crime. They settled in Russia to save lives. And they couldn't be happier."

"You've got just as much compassion as your dad, if not more," Athena replied. "I don't know how you do it."

"Says the girl who would spend hours reading history books."

"But then again, ever since you discovered your passion for psychology, you've read those books often. Heck, you've even borrowed Kirby's books!"

"I hope to remain neutral whenever something comes up and analyze both sides of the story," I explained.

"You'd make a terrible politician," Athena replied with a smirk. "But you'd make one heck of a queen! A queen's job is to listen to her people and make her decisions based on what is best for her people. Politicians seem to only care for themselves."

"I have to agree with you there," I replied. "It's all about money to them, even in today's standards. Politics have not gotten any better since all of those assassinations happened in the 1960s."

"Try 2016."

"Let's not go there, Athena. It's better if that year was buried in the ground. Speaking of which, I need to go get ready for the graduation ceremony tonight."

"Lily?"

I paused and turned around before entering the dress shop.

"Can we not end our conversation like this? That was kind of a downer."

I frowned.

"Come here, Athena."

We embraced each other.

"You know what's funny?" I asked. "When you said I'd make the best queen, it brought me back to a game I played where I actually was in the running to be Cordonia's next queen and I ended up not only winning the competition, but I also ended up marrying the king. I really did make the best queen in the game."

"Maybe James is a prince in disguise?" Athena asked.

We cracked up laughing.

"Ironically, I had named my king James," I replied. "I doubt it though. I'm content with my life here in the United States."

"Same here," Athena said with a smile on her face. "Now go in there and wow us!"

"Will do!"


WILBUR'S POV

I got out of the shower and did my hair. I combed my cowlick and applied hair gel so that it would stay up. Then it dawned on me that I was going to wear a graduation cap this time, which meant that my cowlick would be completely covered up. I crossed my fingers, hoping that the cap will not mess it up somehow.

I walked back into my bedroom to find an outfit only to find a note taped to my closet door: Wilbur, I picked out your outfit for you. It's on your bed. Love, Karena. I smiled as I saw my fiancée's name on the paper. The smile stayed on my face as I went up the levitation platform to my bed. What I saw surprised me. There was an emerald-green shirt and a pair of black pants on my bed. I knew I did not own any green shirts, which probably meant Karena had bought this as either a graduation or birthday gift. There was also a pair of black shoes. I rolled my eyes at the thought of wearing them, but I knew that it was just for one night, so I stopped mentally complaining.

I changed clothes with the city of Todayland in sight. Then I went down the levitation platform and opened the door. To my surprise, Karen was standing there about to knock. We both chuckled awkwardly.

"Perfect timing, huh?" I asked sheepishly.

"Wilbur, you look amazing!" Karena said in awe. "That green is perfect!"

"Is it? I'd have to look."

Karena followed me through the travel tube into the bathroom upstairs where I examined myself in the mirror. She was right. With my black hair, brown eyes, and pale skin, this shade of green was absolutely perfect on me. I turned around and hugged her affectionately.

"It feels so amazing to hug you with both arms without any pain this time," I said with a big smile.

"I know blue is the color you like to wear," Karena explained, her index finger touching her chin. "But I think this shade of green is your color. It brings your eves out."

I blushed at her compliment.

"Are you ready to show yourself off?" Karena asked.

"I'm ready!" I answered with confidence. "All that's missing is the cap and gown."

We walked out of the bathroom and down the stairs hand-in-hand. The entire family was waiting for us, and Leo and Ryan were also with them.

"Leo? Ryan?" I asked with surprise. "What are you two doing here?"

"We're here to support you," Ryan answered with a smile as we hugged. "Congratulations, Wilbur."

"First high school, then the Hamato Clan, and then the world," Leo chimed in, shaking my hand.

I laughed. Leo spoke the truth. Not only was I graduating high school tonight, but in just two days, I was to be initiated into the Hamato Clan as a full-pledged ninja.

"I can't wait," I replied.

"Donnie and Athena are with us too," Leo said. "They're with Lily at the school helping set everything up."

I watched my mom walking over to me and she gave me a hug.

"Wow! I've never seen you in green before, but I have to admit it looks good on you."

"Thank Karena for that one, Mom," I replied. "She picked it out."

I paused, looking at my fiancée, who wore a dark purple dress with white swirls to compliment her brown curls.

"I take it Tallulah made your dress?" I asked.

"Actually, that was Lily," Karena answered. "And it was her idea that you wear green. I just never thought of it before. The emerald is your birthstone while the amethyst is mine."

"Lily made your dress? Wow! She's got just as much talent as Tallulah."

"Alright everyone, let's take some pictures!" Dad yelled happily. "This is a big night!"

"I can take the pictures if you'd like," Leo offered.

"That would be great, Leonardo. Thank you."

At first, we took pictures in the living room. Then my mom wanted to see me in my graduation gown, so went to the music room to get it and put it on. Once I came out, the entire family whistled and cheered.

"There's our graduate!" Dad announced.

We took more pictures.

"Wilbur, may I speak to you alone?" Dad asked. "Franny, you too?"

The three of us walked outside towards the garage, but we didn't actually go into the garage.

"Wilbur, I wanted to apologize to you," Dad explained.

I carried a look of surprise on my face.

"Apologize? How come?"

"Wilbur, sweetie, we may have moved forward," Mom explained. "But it's been brought to our attention that we've never forgiven you for your mistakes."

"This whole thing with Doris made us think about how we could have handled the situation better in 2037 when you brought my younger self to the future," Dad explained further. "We all make mistakes. Even though our mistakes when travelling in time will mostly always be costly--"

"How we handled it was a mistake all on its own," Mom finished. "We never even given you a chance to explain yourself."

"Mom, Dad, I do wish I had trusted you more," I replied. "But I was thirteen. I was stupid and I did stupid things. I so badly wanted to correct my wrongdoings that I messed up even more. Trust me, I deserved the talkings you two gave me. But I also needed to find out my identity too. I needed to learn who I am as a person."

"And instead of supporting you, we judged you," Dad said with a frown. "I held a grudge of your mistakes from your time-travelling adventure and decided not to trust you with the time lab. If anything, I may have scared you from using the time machine again."

"Donnie helped us open our eyes," Mom explained. "He told us that Lily told him you praised him more than us, how you wished Donnie was your father instead. While we've been supporting you, we got the hint that you didn't trust us. After some reflections of our actions the past four vears and seeing the way Donnie and Lily bonded, we don't blame you at all for how you feel. We'll forgive you for your mistakes in 2037--"

"If you forgive us for not trusting you all this time," Dad finished. "You ended up doing the right thing at the end by bringing my past self here to find my confidence, and we still didn't trust you after all of this. We promise to support you and to trust you to make the right choices from now on."

"Oh, Mom, Dad..."

I felt tears coming to my brown eyes as we drew each other into a hug.

"We just wanted to tell you all of this before we almost lose you again," Mom said into my shoulder. "Oh, I'm so thankful you're alive and with us."

"Mom, Dad, I forgive you," I replied.


An hour passed, and I was now in the high school auditorium with James and the other one hundred ninety-eight students. I had already performed a song with the band before heading downstairs. After we had finished our song, we heard someone playing a beautiful tune on the piano.

"Whoever is playing that is really good," James said.

"Karena and Don mentioned Lily was performing today," I replied. "I wonder if that's her. She's got quite the skills on the piano too."

"Even with three fingers on her hands, I'm impressed. I'm still shocked that Lily isn't joining the chorus. She is a better musician than all of us combined."

"Lily is talented at many things, just like her dad."

I let out a contented sigh.

"Are vou ready for this?" I asked

"I'm ready to graduate. But not seeing Lily next school year..."

James drifted off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

"If you're thinking what I am thinking, Lily won't be alone next year," I tried to comfort him. "She's got Athena."

"Wilbur, did Lily tell you she's applying for early graduation?"

I blinked a few times.

"No. But then again, I shouldn't be surprised. She's the smartest kid in the class. She got perfect scores on her tests. If anyone deserves early graduation, it's her. I mean, heck, she's been taking classes at Todayland University since her sophomore year. She's going places."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence."

We both turned around to see Lilianna Hamato, wearing a gold dress underneath a black graduation gown. Her red hair was wavy with her bangs swept to her right side.

Lily!" James exclaimed, giving her an affectionate embrace. "Was that you on the piano a minute ago?"

"It was," she replied with her gap-toothed grin.

"That was an amazing performance."

"Thank you so much! That's not the only surprise I have for you all tonight."

"Alright, seniors!" we heard Principal Jameson shout on the stage. "We have about ten minutes before the ceremony starts. Remember your places and let's start lining up."

"That sounds like my cue," Lily said. "Wish me luck."

"Wait, Lily, why are you wearing a graduation gown?" James asked. "You're not graduating now are you?"

Lily laughed loudly and merrily.

"Heavens, no! I'm leading the way for you guys. Speaking of which, I'm going to give you all my surprise now."

Lily suddenly turned around and walked away.

"I guess that means we need to get to our places," I told my best friend.

"My last name starts with A," James replied. "Which means I'm at the very front."

I groaned.

"And mine starts with R. I'm towards the back."

I let out a sigh and held my hand out. James took it and shook it.

"Good luck, James."

"Good luck, Wilbur."

We separated and went to our spots in our lines. Suddenly, we heard music coming over the speakers.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"

"Good evening, Todayland High School Class of 2041!" I heard Lily yell into a microphone on the stage. "LET'S MAKE SOME NOISE!"

The entire class cheered. I was very surprised to see Lily on the stage trying something new by pumping us up.

"We're going to Try Everything tonight!" Lily continued to yell excitedly. "Let's PUMP IT UP!"

With her widest gap-toothed grin, Lily started to sing into the microphone.

"I messed up tonight, I lost another fight. I still mess up, but I'll just start again. I keep fallin' down, I keep on hittin' the ground. I always get up now to see what's next. Birds don't just fly; they fall down and get up. Nobody learns without getting it wrong."

"I won't give up," we all started to sing along. "No, I won't give in til I reach the end and then I'll start again. No, I won't leave. I wanna try everything. I wanng try even though I could fail."

We started clapping as we sang the chorus again. This was the happiest I had ever seen Lily on the stage. She looked like she belonged there today.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!" the Class of 2041 sang.

"Try everything," Lily sang happily.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"

"Try everything!" Lily belted her voice out, holding her right arm out.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh."

"Try everything."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh," we all sang together.

"Look how far you've come," Lily continued on sweetly. "You filled your heart with love. Baby, you've done enough. Take a deep breath. Don't beat yourself up, no need to run so fast. Sometimes we come last, but we did our best."

"I won't give up," we all sang again. "No, I won't give in 'til I reach the end and then I'll start again. No, I won't leave. I wanna try everything. I wanna try even though I could fail. "

We sang the chorus again as we pumped our hands in the air and clapped. I took out my phone and took pictures of Lily and the people I was surrounded by, just having the time of our lives in that moment.

"I'll keep on making those new mistakes," Lily continued to sing, holding out her right arm, and tapping her right foot to the beat. "I'll keep on making them every day, those new mistakes."

She held out the microphone to us as we vocalized into it.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"

Lily brought the microphone back to her lips.

"Try everything."

She gave us the microphone again.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"

"Try everything!" Lily belted out once again.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"

"Try everything."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"

Lily brought the microphone back to her lips one more time.

"Try everything," she sang sweetly.

She was meet with wild cheering from all of us.

"Congratulations, Class of 2041!" Lily yelled excitedly into the microphone, pointing at us as we continued to cheer wildly. "YOU GOT THIS!"

Lily disappeared behind the curtain and we all settled down, now fully prepared to walk the pomp and circumstance march.


LILIANNA'S POV

After I gave Principal Jameson the microphone, I snuck back into the auditorium to take my place in line in front of James. A fellow junior student and I were prepared to start walking into the gymnasium right when the music started. And just like that, the band started playing. I looked at my partner. We nodded at each other. We started our walk into the gymnasium. I immediately spotted my dad, Uncle Leo, Athena and Ryan, and I waved as I walked past them. I turned the corner to go right, met up with my partner, and then I turned right again. Instead of taking seats, however, we continued walking down the aisle to the chairs that were set aside next to the stairs. We continued to stand as the seniors made their walk around the gym and down the aisle to their seats. I was staring right at James when he reached his seat and we blew each other kisses. After quite a while, I finally spotted Wilbur with a proud smile on his face as he walked to his seat in the second-to-last row.

Just like that, all of the seniors were settled in their spots, and the music stopped.

"Seniors, you may take your seats," Principal Jameson said into the microphone.

The seniors, plus the two of us, took our seats.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I would like to welcome to you to our eighteenth commencement ceremony at Todayland High School. The Todayland High School Class of 2041 has been one of the best group of students I have ever worked with. They will forever be missed."

I glanced at the principal and smiled at him.

"The Class of 2041 has made quite a few accomplishments in their four years at Todayland High School. They made history during our 2037 homecoming when they won the games as freshmen."

The entire senior class cheered.

"And they went on to win the games the next three years as well."

They cheered again.

"The most talked about subject among these students were who had the best cowlick and how the shortest freshman turned out to be the tallest senior in the class. There were also talks among them about Cornelius Robinson's son being a student in the class, and he is a true class act."

I turned back forward and watched the Robinson family clap for Wilbur.

"But perhaps the most significant thing they have done this year was try out for this spring's musical, Beauty and the Beast... and they all got cast!"

The entire senior cast of Beauty and the Beast cheered.

"Wilbur made a fantastic Lumiere. James was an amazing, terrifying Beast. Luke made an intimidating Gaston. And Jacob was a humble Cogsworth. To the Todayland High School Class of 2041, thank you for an amazing four years, and as your principal, I wish you the best of luck in vour future endeavors."

We all clapped. My partner and I stood up to announce the transition to the next event of the evening.

"Now, we would like to announce the recipients of this year's scholarships and awards."

There was quite a list that was read and took about fifteen minutes to read. Wilbur earned the history award for being the best student in the history curriculum, and he also won an award for being the best jazz band participant. Wilbur was one of eight North Montana state scholars along with James. The last awards presentation had surrounded the highest-ranked students in the class based on their grade point average. Sophia Henley was this year's salutatorian while Wilbur was this year's valedictorian. My partner and I sat down as Sophia approached the microphone to give her speech. Sophia's speech was short and sweet as she talked about missed opportunities and learning the lesson about taking a risk in all the opportunities that will lead us to the best one.

"My name is Sophia Henley, salutatorian of the Todayland High School Class of 2041. And I am going to Todayland University to major in special education. Thank you."

My partner and I stood up, and everyone applauded as Sophia returned to her seat. Principal Jameson returned to the podium.

"And now, without further ado, here is the class president and valedictorian of the Todayland High School Class of 2041, Wilbur Robinson."

We all cheered as Wilbur, who had remained on the stage, walked up to the podium. Wilbur looked at me, and then he looked ahead at his family. He took a few deep breaths and gave us all a smile. I took a seat and looked at my best friend.

"Before I give my speech, I would like to thank not only my classmates, but also my family and everyone's families who have supported us since the very beginning as preschool kids. Without your support, we would not be here to partake in what is not the end of a book, but the beginning of a new one. My friends, family, and classmates, our lives are designed like a book we are writing every day, and supposedly, each big event represents a chapter. But high school is a whole entirely different book. It is different from our book about preschool, our book about grade school and junior high, and it is a different book from books we will write someday about college, marriage, our careers, and our new families.

"Life is a series of events that we take in and move forward with the fate that we control. Life is a beautiful thing. Growth is a beautiful thing. We learn about our grandparents' lives in the 1970s and 1980s until now. We learn about our parents' lives in the 1990s and 2000s. And now, those of us that were born in the 2010s and 2020s, it's our turn to live our lives. It's our turn to write our own books to tell the world not only about our ancestors, our grandparents, and our parents. But we're also telling the world about us, our children, and our grandchildren, our descendants."

I smiled fondly at Wilbur, who looked calm in his element.

"So how do we write these books?" he continued. "We go through life, one day at a time. There will be days when we have our successes. So, what do we do? We celebrate those successes and keep moving forward. Then there will be days when we have failures. What do we do then? My family celebrates those failures and encourages me to keep moving forward, learning from my mistakes as I go. Some of you will cry when you fail, and it happens to even the best of us. But allow me to encourage you now with a challenge: if you ever feel like you have failed, or if you have failed, learn from that failure, let it go, and keep moving forward. As Lilianna Hamato, a fellow student whom we will never forget, sang to us earlier tonight, we must never give up, because every day is an opportunity to get up and soar to new heights."

I grinned at the mention.

"We are living in the most hopeful time in history because the future has arrived today, and it is most certainly alive. My name is Wilbur Robinson, valedictorian of the Todayland High School Class of 2041, and l am going to Todayland University to major in history education. Thank you so much, everyone. My fellow classmates, we did it."

There was thunderous applause as my partner and I stood up. Wilbur shook hands with the principal, walked down the stairs and walked back to his seat. The choir was getting prepared to sing a song they picked just for this occasion. I sat down as I enjoyed the choir singing the song For Good, originally sung by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. My eyes landed on James, whose eyes landed on mine. I could not help but enter his mind and read it.

Wilbur's right. I'm here. I'm alive. I did it. I'm moving forward. And I'm staring at the most beautiful girl in the entire school sitting right in front of me.

I blushed as the choir sang the chorus one last time. My partner and I stood up as everyone clapped. The seniors returned to their seats while the rest of the choir returned to their seats in the bleachers.

Principal Jameson returned to the podium.

"It is now my privilege to ask the class secretary James Anderson to come up to the stage to announce the presenting of diplomas."

My partner and I stood up again as James walked up the stairs and to the podium, and this time, we remained standing.

"First row, please stand."

The rest of the front row stood up, and the first graduate walked out of the row to the wide line in the gym. James started reading the full names of each student. Slowly but surely, each row of students had walked up to grab their diplomas from Principal Jameson. After quite some time...

"Sixth row, you may be seated," James announced. "Seventh row, please stand."

I grinned when I saw Wilbur among the students standing, and the girl he was standing next to walked out of the row.

"Dakota Elise Quinn."

Dakota walked up the steps and across the stage to receive her diploma.

"Wilbur James Cornelius Robinson."

Wilbur carried a big grin on his face as his family and my family cheered for him. Once Wilbur walked up to me, I walked to him and hugged him. He hugged me back.

"Congratulations, Wilbur," I whispered to him. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Lily," he whispered back.

We let go. Wilbur walked up the steps. To our surprise, instead of the principal giving his student his diploma, it was Cornelius presenting it to his son. The father-and-son duo shared a hug, and then Wilbur walked off the stage and down the stairs. Karena met him there to give him a bouquet of tiger lilies. They hugged, and then Wilbur finally walked back to his seat.

Not much time was left for the remaining students to be presented with their diplomas, and the last student made her way back to her seat. James then moved aside and Principal Jameson returned to the podium once more.

"James Nicholas Anderson."

I watched my boyfriend being presented with his diploma, and he finally walked back to his seat.

"Seniors, please stand," Principal Jameson told them.

Every senior stood up at their seats and turned around toward the audience.

"Families and friends of Todayland," Principal Jameson announced with a big smile on his face. "Allow me to introduce you to the Todayland High School Class of 2041."

We heard thunderous applause. I clapped along with my partner, congratulating the seniors on concluding their journey once and for all at Todayland High School. Tears started to come to my eyes as the recessional started to play upstairs. At this time next year, it would be my turn to be in those seats. I could hardly believe how much time had passed ever since I first stepped foot in this school in November of 2038. The seniors started to walk out of the gym in reverse order. At the end, my partner and I took our walk up the aisle and back around the gym back into the auditorium. I did not have to meet in the auditorium again, so I was free to find my family and enjoy the rest of the night with them.


May 26, 2041 - New York City, New York, USA

Uncle Leo held an initiation ceremony for Wilbur, who had been training with him for the past couple years. As Wilbur was a black belt in karate, the art of ninjutsu came easy to him as he had been trained all his life. Karena and Shinigami were invited to join us. The initiation was short and sweet with Wilbur and Uncle Leo speaking Japanese back and forth to each other. After the initiation, all fifteen of us went on a patrol around the city. The city had remained free of crime.

We returned home to the lair and discovered Uncle Mikey had made not one but four cakes.

"Mikey, that is a lot of cake," Uncle Leo said with shock. "How are we going to eat all of that?"

"One, there are fifteen of us," Uncle Mikey said. "That is enough to eat two cakes! We can save one cake for us, and then Wilbur and Karena can take Wilbur's graduation cake home."

I examined the cakes that my uncle so proudly made. The first cake said, Happy Birthday, Wilbur! The next cake was also a birthday cake: Happy Birthday, Lily! The third cake was Wilbur's graduation cake with a graduation cap. The last cake was a Congratulations! cake with a masked ninja emoji on it.

"Okay, Lily loves red velvet cake," Uncle Mikey explained. "So it's obvious what kind of cake hers is. Wilbur's birthday cake is devil's food cake. Wilbur's graduation cake is yellow cake. And Wilbur's ninja initiation cake is carrot cake."

"Very interesting choices," Wilbur replied. "I also feel so special for having three cakes. My family's never done that before."

"Mikey has always been about celebrating things," Dad replied. "He makes three cakes every September."

"On what occasion?" Karena asked.

"Venus' birthday is in August and Athena's is in September. In fact, her birthday is right after our Mutation Day."

All fifteen of us chose our selection of cake after they sang happy birthday to me and Wilbur. After Wilbur and I blew our candles, my dad walked over to me, hugged me, and kissed me on the forehead.

"I cannot believe you're going to be seventeen in just three days," Dad said with a kind smile. "It only seems like yesterday that you were a baby."

"That reminds me, how are you going to handle being in school without Wilbur?" Auntie Karai asked. "I know you have a friendship like no other."

"If Auntie Renet and Uncle Mikey are okay with it, I'll have Athena with me," I answered. "And I... actually applied for early graduation."

Everyone stopped eating their cake and turned towards me with shock written on all of their faces. Actually, Wilbur was the only one who did not have a look of shock. In fact, he had a smile on his face as though he already knew.

"Lily, are you sure you want to do this?" Mom asked with worry.

"Yes, Mom, I'm positive. After fall semester, I will have completed all of the school requirements for a high school diploma. And I already have quite a few college credits under my belt. I can spend my winter semester at Todayland University part time while still cheering for my team at the high school."

"No, Lily, you won't," Dad replied with a frown. "If your early graduation application gets accepted, you won't be able to participate in cheerleading because you won't be a student at the high school."

"What?" I replied, a feeling of sadness suddenly washing over me. "Excuse me."

I set my cake down and ran into my dad's old bedroom. Feeling heartbroken over the fact that I may never be cheering in the winter season ever again, I started to let the tears fall on my dad's purple pillow. After about five minutes, I heard knocking on the door.

"Lily, it's Dad. May I come in?"

I sniffed and yelled my answer.

"Yeah, Dad!"

I put my head back on the pillow as my dad opened and closed the door. I felt his weight on the bed as he sat on it next to me. He rubbed my back, and I could tell he had a frown on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

I shook my head.

"Suddenly, I wish I wasn't smart," I told him. "Then I wouldn't have taken all those college classes and completed my high school classes early and still be able to enjoy my senior year. How can I now that it's been cut short?"

"Oh, Lily."

I started feeling a tad better just from hearing my dad's sad but kind voice. My dad continued to rub my back.

"Sweetheart, Principal Jameson cannot decide your future in a day. It takes time for applications to be processed. But please don't go thinking like that. There's also a chance Principal Jameson will turn down your application and you'll be able to enjoy your senior year to the fullest."

I sat up and looked at my dad.

"Dad, I got perfect scores on my college tests and I've been taking college classes since my sophomore year. Why wouldn't my application be denied?"

"Lily, I'm going to really hate saying this, but as your father, I must. You're not going to get everything you want in life. God will tell you, no, because I have something better planned for you. Your intelligence is the gift God gave you, and you are going to save so many lives with it."

Dad paused, clearing his throat as if he made a mistake.

"Excuse me, you are already saving lives with your intelligence. You saved Karena's life not once but twice. You saved Wilbur's life not once but twice. Heck, you've saved my life! Don't ever take your intelligence for granted, Lily Mae. And your intelligence may get your early graduation application approved. There's a high chance of that. But Lily, you don't need to dwell on what could happen. You get to enjoy your fall semester in high school with Athena and your squad. Cherish that! Enjoy it to the fullest. Your senior year of high school only happens once, whether you get to experience it for four months or nine. If your application gets denied, then great! You get to finish your year at Todayland High. If it gets accepted, then use that to your advantage. You said you were going to go to Todayland University part-time, right?"

I nodded.

"So what will you do with the rest of your time?"

"I was thinking cheerleading, but I don't think that's going to be an option."

"Now hold on, winter cheerleading starts in October, doesn't it?" Dad asked.

"November, actually."

"I will admit, it doesn't make sense that you would just not go to practices and games mid-season after graduating early. I mean, heck, you're the captain of the squad!"

Dad pondered for a few moments.

"Let me talk to Principal Jameson about it, see if we can come up with some sort of compromise. Knowing him, he wants what's best for you, Lily Mae, and so do I."

"You promise?" I asked with a glimmer of hope in my blue eyes.

"Of course, I promise," Dad replied with a chuckle. "But pray about this, alright? Whatever decision Principal Jameson makes will be decided in the time this needs to take. He'll let you know the outcome when the time is right."

I smiled for the first time since I entered this room.

"Thank you for listening, Dad."

"Anytime. I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, Daddy."

I scutched closer to him and hugged him, putting my head on his plastron. My dad embraced me, putting his head on top of mine.

"Are you ready to go back out there?" Dad asked me.

"Yeah, I am."

We broke our hug and smiled at each other with confidence.

"Good. After all, you are being celebrated too. It sucks not celebrating with all the guests of honor."

I giggled as I followed my dad out of the bedroom.

"Lily, are you okay?" Wilbur asked with genuine concern.

"I'm fine now," I answered.

"For all it's worth, I do hope you're able to follow your dreams. If you still want to do cheerleading, you should be able to do that. Not even early graduation can stop that."

"I hope you're right."

"And besides, I'd hate to be the only Hamato cheering," Athena chimed in.

"You will be the only one in a couple of years, silly," Venus replied.

"Actually, I'm kind of hoping Lily's application gets declined," Athena said. "I don't want to go to school like a sore loser."

"Athena Shea!" Uncle Mikey yelled with shock in his voice, and the room suddenly quieted down. "Don't ever talk about yourself like that. You're not a sore loser! You're a winner!"

"Listen to your dad, Athena," Auntie Renet chimed in. "If Lily graduates early, then you will find a way to thrive. You have friends in the student council, right?"

"I have friends, just not from the student council."

"Athena, listen," I spoke up. "I do plan on being home in New York more often during the winter. I'm long overdue on honing my ninja skills. I'd love to spar with you and hear about your day."

"Lily, I'm going to be busy with cheerleading."

"So was I and I still made time for family. If I can do it, so can you. You are an amazing person, Athena. You're strong, so own it."

Athena let out a sigh and then she smiled.

"Alright, I'll be strong just for you."

"Good girl," Uncle Mikey replied with a smile. "Now who's ready for ice cream?!"

As if we were still little children, we ran into the kitchen for Ice Cream Kitty to give us generous servings of ice cream to continue celebrating all of our achievements.