35Chapter 45
"I cannot believe we're graduating," said Bruce.
They were all sitting in the auditorium, in the exact same spots they had been sitting in on the first day of school. It was graduation day. They were finally leaving the middle school and were about to embark on their high school years. The idea was a little scary to contemplate. In just a few months, they'd be freshmen, at the bottom of the school hierarchy food chain. Such was the cycle of like, Mitch supposed.
The four of them were dressed in their finest, sans a full tuxedo. Jason was wearing a white dress shirt and black pinstripe pants, and looking quite snazzy and cool, as always. Bruce was sporting a black blazer with a plain white shit underneath and tuxedo pants, as were Matt and Mitch, only Matt's blazer was blue and Mitch's shirt had a simple design on it. They were all wearing extremely shiny dress shoes.
"I feel like an idiot," Matt muttered, staring at his feet. "These shoes look ridiculous."
"I can't believe we're graduating," Bruce repeated.
"Shut up," said Jason, hitting Bruce playfully upside the head.
"Eighth graders, please go sit in your assigned alphabetical seats," Mr. Martinez said into the microphone on stage. The four friends sighed and stood up.
"Well...see you later, guys," said Mitch.
"Word," said Bruce.
"Yo yo yo," said Matt with a wry smirk.
Bruce groaned and made his way to his own aisle, Matt trailing behind him. Jason went to the first row and Mitch walked over to his aisle somewhere in the middle.
His seat was on the edge, next to Miranda Peppingfield, so he slid into it with ease. He'd always hated sitting the middle of aisles and having to push past everyone else when you had to go to the bathroom. Mitch let his eyes idly wander when he spotted Vanessa. His jaw dropped.
She was...stunning. More stunning than usual, if that was humanly possible. A medium-length beige-yellow dress hung loosely over her shoulders, frills dangling at the bottom and a flower pinned on the right side of her chest. Her hair was curled and in an up-do, with a matching flower behind her ear. She was walking serenely down the aisle, and Mitch could've sworn she looked at him before she sat down
Mitch let out the breath he had been suppressing. God, she was so beautiful. Was it possible for a human being to be that exquisite? Maybe she had come from some other world, another galaxy, where mere mortals worshiped the ground she walked on. Mitch stared down at the palms of his hands sadly. What was he doing? Why couldn't he just get over her?
Mr. Martinez called for order, and Mitch looked up.
The ceremony was starting.
After the hours-long ceremony, where too many administrators and teachers had made long, boring speeches, and kids were called up in droves to receive their "diplomas" (which were really just certificates saying "GOOD JOB!" in huge letters), Mitch found his friends standing in the back of the auditorium.
"Hey, Mitch," said Jason when Mitch reached them. "How's it feel to be a freshman?"
"Well, I wouldn't know yet, would I," Mitch responded, "since we're not actually in high school yet."
Bruce glanced around the auditorium. "I see our parents all talking over by the fire exit."
Mitch looked; sure enough, all of their parents were having a very intense discussion. That is, it looked like an intense discussion, up until the point where Bruce's mom made a motion like she was taking off her top and whirling it around. All the adults laughed hysterically.
Bruce made a face. "I hate my parents."
"Anyway," said Matt, "does anybody need to get stuff from their lockers? Because they cut off locker clean-out the other day by, like, ten minutes."
"Yeah, I do," said Mitch, remembering the book and the scraps of paper that were still in his, "I need to get a couple things out of there."
"Okay, let's go," said Matt, and they exited the auditorium.
Mitch's locker was only a couple hallways away, so it didn't take very long to get there. Mitch did the combination while his friends stood around waiting for him. Jason took a small green ball out of his pocket and threw it against the wall.
Mitch opened his locker and grabbed The Divine Comedy out, and picked up the papers lying around. One slipped out of his hand and fluttered down to the floor.
"What's this?" Matt asked, picking it up. "Who's that old guy?"
"Oh, yeah!" said Mitch, suddenly remembering. He had drawn a picture of Hubert, the old man in the park, one day during Science when he was bored, and had stuffed it in his locker and forgotten about it. Mitch nervously waited for his friends' responses. Would they call him an emo pussy again? Mitch didn't care if they did, he was still going to draw no matter what they said, but he just wanted to see what they would say.
"This is cool," said Matt, nodding, seeming impressed. "It's really good. I like it. When'd you do this?"
"Sometime in March, I think," said Mitch.
"Lemmee see," said Jason, and snatched the drawing out of Matt's hand. "Woah! That's awesome! I didn't know you could draw, man!"
"Well..."
Jason passed the paper over to Bruce, who took it reluctantly and glanced at it.
"Cool," he said, and gave the drawing back to Mitch.
Mitch took it, and stuffed it inside his book. He threw the other scraps of paper in a trash can. Well, that was good. They weren't going to bother him about his drawings, it seemed like. That was a relief.
"Come on. Let's wait for our parents outside," said Jason, and they all went.
"Oh, I just realized," said Matt suddenly as they all strolled towards the exit. "I didn't see your brother anywhere, Mitch."
Mitch almost choked on his own spit. "He, uh, didn't want to come."
"What!" Jason exclaimed, looking shocked. "Why? Even my brother came, man, and he had to take a day off school for it!"
"Um...I dunno," Mitch muttered. "He just...didn't want to come."
"What an asshole," Jason declared. "You should kick his ass, Mitch. Seriously."
"I'll take note of that." Of course, this was not the real reason Quentin wasn't there. Quentin wasn't there because Quentin was in the hospital again. His parents had had enough with Quentin's muteness and had called their doctor, who suggested more treatment at the psychiatric hospital. Why hadn't Mitch told his friends this? He didn't think it was any of their business, is why. Mitch was sick of telling his friends absolutely everything. He didn't see any reason to tell them, at least not now. Maybe when Quentin was better...if he ever got better.
"Does anyone know why they played Viking music at the end?" Bruce asked as they left the building.
"No," said Jason.
"Maybe it's because high school is equal to savagery, which is where we're going," Matt theorized. Mitch laughed. They sat against the brick wall, waiting for their parents.
"You know, it's strange," said Jason. "I built up graduation to be this whole big thing, but really it was one of the more boring experiences of my life."
"Not counting that field trip to the town newspaper offices in third grade, of course," Mitch reminded him.
"God no," groaned Jason. "Nothing in the world is more boring than that."
"I dunno," said Matt, pulling his knees up to his chest. "Dead skin cells are pretty boring."
"So is watching educational televison," said Bruce.
"Watching the grass grow."
"Peeling paint."
"Listening to A.M. radio."
"Clipping your toenails."
"Okay, okay!" Jason laughed.
Just then, the doors burst open, and out came Vanessa and a few of her friends, laughing it up. Their parents trailed behind them although it appeared that one set was missing. The two curly haired people must be the curly-haired guys parents, the Spanish couple must be Yvonne's parents, and the plain, brown-haired couple must be the lunch table girl's parents...where were Vanessa's?
Mitch didn't spend too much time pondering this, however, and just stared after her, her radiant smile twinkling as it caught in the sunlight. She twirled around, her arms stretched upwards, looking so happy and beautiful it made Mitch's heart ache.
She and her friends piled into their respective cars, and said cars drove away into the distance. Mitch sighed.
"Don't worry, man," said Jason sympathetically. "There's always next year."
"Yeah," said Mitch, sighing again, "I guess..."
"I know what we should do," said Matt suddenly. "Let's go out tonight and celebrate!"
"And do what?" Bruce asked.
"I dunno," Matt shrugged. "Just go out and do stuff. Paint the town red or something."
Jason burst out laughing. "'Paint the town red'?"
Matt grinned sheepishly. "What? That's what my grandma says. 'Let's go out and paint the town red, sonny!'."
"Where are our parents?" asked Bruce, turning his head as though expecting them to pop out of nowhere. "I'm fucking hungry."
"They're probably still talking," said Mitch.
"Yeah, and I wonder what about," said Jason thoughtfully. "Since Bruce's mom was miming taking her top off..."
"Shut up," said Bruce.
"Let's just leave," said Matt, standing up. "There's a cool restaurant around here. We'll call our parents and tell them we're going to eat there."
"Do you have any money?" Mitch asked.
"Yes," said Matt. "Thirty dollars, in fact. And maybe Jason can sell that stupid green ball of his."
"Hey!" Jason protested. "It's not stupid!"
"Sure it isn't," said Matt sarcastically. "Anyway, let's go."
They all stood up and started to leave. When they approached the next street, Matt suddenly declared, "I've just decided. This is going to be the summer of Matt! Like George on Seinfeld, only better."
Mitch laughed, and so did Jason and Bruce.
Jason was right, Mitch mused. There was always next year. Not necessarily for romance.
But for friendship? Definitely.