Graduation Day Ch. 01

I went to a graduation this year, and the Valedictorian did something similar to what happened in this story. This is a mainly fictional account as I had only attended the graduation ceremony Enjoy. =]

High School graduation day is always a day of mixed emotions for those in attendance; the parents feel proud of their children and of the things they accomplished during High School, but also feel somewhat sad, knowing that their children will soon leave the nest and head off to college. For the teachers and faculty, there is a certain sense of pride, in knowing that the students whom you have watched grow up since freshman year are now adults. For the graduates, excitement and nervousness are abundantly found. In one particular graduate, nervousness far outweighed his excitement, to the point in which he found breathing difficult.

Jacen wasn't asthmatic, nor was he out of shape. In fact, he was in excellent shape, and had a large, muscular body that many his age would kill to have. Physically, he was perfectly fine. Mentally, however, his mind was screaming all sorts of things to him, ranging from "KISS HER!!!" to "Shrivel up and die. You'd never have a chance."

Jacen's mind was referring to Erin, the girl sitting next to him. Since the 6th grade, his crush on her had been unending, and those who knew about the crush would often tease him about it. "She's way out of your league, Jace," he would hear from consoling friends, time and time again. And the were right.

Erin was the school knockout, the kind of girl who was beautiful without trying, and she knew it. She wore her dark red hair down and straight today, her fair skin and perfectly trimmed bangs accented her gorgeous green eyes. If anybody could wear the ugly black and orange graduation gown and look good in it, it was her. Her slightly larger than average chest pushed the material in an alluring way, and Jacen felt the need to rebuke himself for glancing at her.

"A girl like Erin will always have a boyfriend," he thought, glancing over at the most current man Erin had deigned to grace. He shook his head and continued listening to the speeches the principal, and the salutorian made. When the Valedictorian was called, Jacen somewhat nervously stood up, took a deep breath to steady himself, and made his way to the podium.

Jacen got up on stage and grabbed his cue cards from the floor, and glanced at the audience. "Hey, everyone" he said into the microphone, grinning his boyish grin as the audience chuckled at the break in formality. He'd practiced this speech multiple times in front of his mirror, and it was memorized from top to bottom. He shuffled his cue cards into place, and began his speech.

"Good afternoon: Board of Trustees, Principal O'Brien, Faculty, Administration, Staff, Family, Friends, and my fellow graduates. It is an honor to address you all today. Wow. We made it. After 12 years of going through the daily grind known as school, we have finished primary education and are preparing to move on with our lives. It's an exciting feeling!

It's a nostalgic, yet slightly melancholy feeling, knowing that this time in our lives is over. That we will never sit in the student section during football games, nor will we ever attend Prom again. It's sort of sad, isn't it?

However, a new chapter in our lives is beginning. While our story has been written for us for the last 18 or so years, we are going to be in control of our own lives from now on. Its kinda scary to think about, but exciting at the same time.

Some of us will attend college to prepare for careers, others will go into trade school to begin their careers, and others will do other things. Obviously." Jacen smiled, allowing his audience time to chortle.

"It is my personal hope that each and every one of us will live our lives the fullest extent with the time we are given." Jacen paused, and took a deep breath, contemplating the ramifications of what he was about to do.

"I stand before you today to tell you that I have not lived life to the fullest extent. I have only one regret, which I plan to rectify right now. Those of you who know me understand that I am a shy individual, and really, really hate public speaking; but this is the best time for me to do this." Jacen's eyes shifted from looking at the audience, until he was staring straight into Erin's. As he stared at her, her face slowly changed from a look of confusion to one of pure dread.

Jacen gulped, and said the fateful words: "Erin McCarthy, I am truly, deeply in love with you." He closed his eyes and tilted his head down, embarrassed. When he looked back up, and saw the entire audience in complete shock. Erin's face had gone white, and she stared at him in disbelief.

Jacen took a big breath, and spoke into the microphone again. "Now, I have no regrets," he said, his voice shaky. With that, Jacen turned and sprinted off the stage, all the way down the aisle and out of the doors to the auditorium.

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Jacen's parents were furious, to say the least. He was grounded until July, at the earliest, and that meant that freedom to enjoy the warm June sun was no more than a silly wish. His room had become his jail cell, and his house was a prison.

However, even prisons allowed visitors, for short periods of time, and Jacen's parents were giving people. He was allowed to have friends over, and had free reign of the inside of the house, but was unable to go outside.

The night after the bomb had been dropped on the Graduation ceremony, his best friend, Luke, invited himself over to hang out.

"Jacen, I still can't believe that you went through with it! Everybody on Facebook and Twitter are going nuts!" Luke said, in between rounds of the latest fighting video game. Jacen sighed, and shrugged. "After going through four years of wrestling, you learn that there isn't anything worse than loosing to an opponent in front of 20,000 people."

Luke was not an athlete, by any means. At 5'9 and 120 pounds, he was an unimposing figure, and nobody would have picked the 6'1, 200 pound all-state wrestler to be friends with a computer geek. But they were, and both liked it that way.

Luke shook his head. "Dan is furious. He hates your guts for what you did, and says he is gonna kill you." Dan was Erin's current boyfriend, and was known for his volatile temper. If there was anyone who might be a match in a fight against Jacen in the high school, it was Dan.

Jacen shrugged, feeling a bit of fear course through his body. As tough a wrestler and Jacen was, he was a pacifist off the mat. Heck, the majority of Jacen's wins were through his flawless technique, as opposed to using his strength. He hopped it wouldn't come to fighting. "Hopefully he backs off."

Luke shook his head. "I doubt he will-" and was cut off mid-sentence by the doorbell.

Jacen groaned and stood up. "Don't start without me," he said, heading through the kitchen to the front door. Jacen found it odd that the doorbell was ringing, as it was 11 at night. He hoped that it wasn't Dan.

Jacen reached for the latch, unlocked the door, and twisted the handle. Almost as if in slow motion, the door opened inward, and it seemed as if time stood still. Standing on his front porch was a girl. But not just any girl. It was HER. In the flesh.

Erin was wearing a revealing, button up blue plaid shirt with the top three buttons undone, and had on a pair of khaki shorts which snuggled firmly against her perfectly formed ass and long legs. He outfit left little to the imagination, but it didn't appear skanky on her at all. It was just plain hot.

Jacen was sure that his mouth was hanging open, and was almost as certain that his cock was jumping into action. Realizing that he had better say something, he swallowed hard and tried to smile. "H-h-hi," he said, stammering out his greeting.

She didn't return the smile. "Hi," she said, clearly unhappy. "So, what did you think that you were accomplishing by humiliating yourself, your family, my family, and me?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Jacen.

Jacen was at a loss for words. "I, um, well, you see.."

She didn't want to hear it. "Jacen, that was not only the creepiest thing anybody has ever done to me, but also the most embarrassing. I hope you didn't have delusions about me suddenly falling in love with you, because that speech did exactly the opposite."

Jacen was flabbergasted. He had no idea what he had the outcome would be, but he hadn't thought that Erin AND her boyfriend would be this angry.

Jacen lowered his eyes and stared at the ground. "Erin, I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I don't know what made me think it was a good idea, regardless of how I feel about you." He looked up into her eyes, and when he saw the outrage, he braced himself for another tirade.

"Sorry?! Is that all you can think of?" she asked angrily. "You hardly even know me, and you put up this preposterous claim to the ENTIRE world that you are in love with me. How can you possibly be in love with me if you don't know me?!"

"I know that in the 6th grade, you had a crush in Ricky Betori and that you followed him around for 3 months before he noticed you," Jacen said softly, his eyes on the floor. "He made it public to the school that all he wanted from you was a kiss, and when he got it he left. In 7th grade, Miles Bennet managed to cop a feel on you, and you let him because he was a popular guy. He dumped you shortly. In 8th grade, you dated three guys who played football at the Boy's club in three months, and each one progressed farther and farther upon your innocence. Freshman year thru senior year, you had dated so many men that nobody can remember them all, and you seemed to have a new one every month. After each breakup, I had to watch the hundreds of guys fling themselves at you, to be able to say that they were dating Erin McCarthy, and that they had gone all of the way with you." Jacen's eyes left the floor and stared into hers.

"Not a single one of them cared in the least about you. Not a single one wanted anything more than to get in your pants, and not a single one of them gave a rip about you when they kicked you aside for an easier girl. You never noticed me before that speech, you had no idea who I was or that I even existed. I've never been that kind of guy, nor will I ever be. I fell in love with you because I honestly care about you as a person, and would do nearly anything for you." Jacen finished. He hadn't raised his voice once; in fact, Erin had to strain to hear him towards the end of his mini-speech.

She was silent for a long moment, staring into Jacen's eyes, looking for even the slightest hint that he was lying. Finding none, she sighed, and spoke again. "Look, I don't know where you got the idea that judging me for my past choices was okay, but I sure as hell didn't say that it was." She said, now openly glaring at Jacen. "I graduated, same as you Jacen Michaels, and I know that some of the things I have done were stupid. That gives you no right to sit here and judge me. I make my own decisions, and I will continue to do so, thank you very much."

She stepped off the porch and started down the steps, only to turn around and look at him again. "If you ever come near me again... Dan will rip your head off. I'm the only reason he hasn't yet." She said cooly, then turned and continued down the steps toward her car.