Class of '24

“Hey, James, listen.” I pull on his sleeve. 

He’s so much taller than me. I have to look up at his gorgeous brown eyes...

No! I have to focus!

“Oh what up shorty? I didn’t see you there!” He rests his arm on my head, exaggerating our height difference.

“C'mon, stop that! You know I hate that.” I lied.

It was the last day of high school, and we were dressed in incredibly cheap nylon robes. This whole graduation ceremony was incredibly tacky. 

“Seriously, I need to say-” A loud tapping rang through the hall. Someone stood in front of the podium, testing the microphone. The loud noise reverberated through my skull, shaking the words right out of my head.

“Hello class of ‘24! Welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives!”

Ugh, I hated Sarah, the class president. Well, hate is a strong word. She just never really clicked with me. Everything just came so easily to her, and she was so infuriatingly humble. 

“Especially since, you know,” she gestured around her head, “everything that has happened.”

A chuckle rumbled through the audience. Yeah, this was a... hard year. There was just so much turmoil and uncertainty. 

She started talking about what happened. Of course her speech was a very sanitized and general summary of the year. People around us started to murmur. We didn’t need much of a reminder of what happened.

“James,” I tug on his sleeve again. “Listen.”

He turns around and makes a big show of looking to see who said that. He peers over the crowd, leaning over me to look across the crown. I cough.

He looks down “Oh there you are!”

“Haha, very funny. Now shut up and let me-”

“OI JAMES IS THAT YOU?!” A loud booming voice echoed over my head.

Goddamn Frank. This loud, boisterous, arrogant, loud, jock, fitness obsessed, loud, brute was always hanging around somewhere. Of course he and James were best friends since kindergarten, and of course they always hung out. 

The mountain of muscle himself shouldered his way through the loosely packed crowd. Nobody was listening to Sarah anymore. Everyone knew that her speech about this year was going to take a while.

Frank barrels into me, almost knocking me down. He was like a big dog, he never meant any harm, just underestimated his size. 

“Woah there, pipsqueek, you okay? You gotta wear a flag or something!” He slapped me on the back, guffawing.

My face burned with embarrassment. I really did not like it when people made fun of my height.

“C’mon Frank, she can’t help it. Besides, it’s not like you would pay attention. Remember when you hit your head on a stop sign and knocked yourself out?”

Both laughed. I smiled a bit, remembering the day. 

“So, what’s up with you, you big lug? You get that scholarship?”

Frank was on the school’s football team, and could probably go pro. He was one of those freaks that actually found exercising to be enjoyable. Like, the act of doing fifty pushups was soothing for him. 

“Oh shit man, I completely forgot to mail the form! Listen, after this, you think you can help me? All these A4 and WD-40s forms get me all tangled up inside.”

“Yeah man, I aint got anything to do today. I was just gonna go home and sit on the computer.”

“Wait, James, I just gotta say-” I was goddamn cut off again by someone else getting on the microphone.

This time it was the principal, Mr. Stevens. I was surprised to see him actually on the stage, considering the year he had.

“Hello students!” The room called back “Hey Steve!” A little inside joke the school had after one of the first graders kept calling him Steve.

I actually liked Mr. Stevens. He was a cool dude who, while not really “getting” the modern youths, always made time. He even let me set up a DnD club during lunch, and even joined in on a session. 

“After this” he gestured around his head, “everything, I am glad to see most of you here. And for those at home, WELCOME FROM THE WORLD OF YESTERDAY!” The big goof always loved his jokes. 

“I know that you are all excited to get out of here, so I’ll keep it brief. I really am glad that I was able to help students over this year. It really touches me that you would come to me” he started sniffing “with your problems. Every time I saw a frown turn to a smile, it brightened my day.”

An ‘awww’ spread throughout the room. There were a few kids that were in dark places, but personally got help from Steve. It really did seem like he cared, especially with everything going on lately. 

He even helped James when he was in a... dark place. I was just glad I was able to get a hold of  Mr. Stevens that day.

“You all are entering a complex and confusing world, and it is my deepest hope that you thrive. I know many-” he stopped himself, “most of you,” pausing again, “basically all of you will face hardships. And it will be hard. But remember that all of us are still here for you.”

James looked at me. I looked at him. I like to think we had a bond after what happened. 

Lowering my voice to a whisper, “James, there’s something I need to say.”

“What is it Klara?” I knew he was actually paying attention when he used my name.

“Now let’s give three cheers for Belmont High!” The principal was rousing everyone with a hearty cheer. “Hip-hip!”

“James, I-” 

“HOORAY!” The earth shook. The walls shuddered. My ears rang. But even I had to admit this was pretty cathartic.

But I wasn’t cheering, and neither was James. 

“Hip-hip!”

“Here’s the thi-”

“HOORAY!”

“Hip-hip!”

“James, I-” I closed my eyes, preparing myself.

The power went out. The room plunged into darkness. Everyone stopped in their tracks. Everyone, except me.

“JAMES I LOVE YOU!” I screamed. Into the silent room. 

Then I fainted.