The Good Old Days

June 1988 (Graduation)

The months passed by and the weather changed to warm sunny days once again. Daisy Fields had quickly integrated into Adam, Cathy, and Melissa's friend group after that first day that they met, and you'd have never been able to guess she was a new kid in the neighborhood. With the upcoming summer, the quartet of friends had big plans to spend their vacation from school playing outside all together everyday. Before that was a possibility, though, the young friends had one big day to get through: Elementary School graduation.

Adam sat in the backseat of his parents car, his father, Seth Busch, was driving. Adam was dressed in a short sleeved, pale green and blue checkered button up and khakis. He had a child sized clip on tie around his neck that he was fidgeting with in slight discomfort.

"Adam, leave the tie alone. You look so handsome!" Ann said as she turned in the passenger seat to see her son.

"Uh huh.." Adam replied.

As Seth pulled up to the school he saw how full the parking lot was. He circled around the lot searching for an empty space.

"I told you we should have left earlier.." Ann scoffed.

"You can just drop me off and meet me inside?" Adam suggested. 

"You sure, Peanut?" Ann asked.

"Yeah! I'll see you in the crowd, bye!" Adam said as he hopped out the car door and ran up to the front entrance of the school.

Adam entered through the door and was met by a large crowd of parents and staff slowly inching down the hallway. He shimmied his way past them until he reached the gymnasium, where his teacher had told him and his classmates to meet up while the auditorium filled up with the graduating students' families. In the gymnasium, Adam found his friends, Cathy, Melissa, and Daisy, who were all standing close together within the larger group of students.

"Hey hey!" Adam cheered happily, causing his friends to turn around to look at him.

"Hey, Adam," Cathy greeted.

"What took you?" Mel asked.

"Must have taken a bit to get all spiffied up like that," Daisy said, before Adam could answer, "it looks good."

"You girls all look good, too," Adam said, with his eyes especially focused on Daisy. She was in a flowy white sundress, it looked so soft and beautiful on her.

"Thankss," Daisy said with a smile, she shyly swung her arms behind her back.

One of the teachers spoke into a microphone and grabbed the students' attention.

"Alright, little ladies and gentlemen, we're going to be moving to the auditorium now. So, let's get lined up and follow Principal Frogert into the hallways; quietly and orderly."

With those words, the line of children started to move and so Adam, Catherine, Melissa and Daisy slowly followed their classmates towards where the ceremony would be. Adam stuck his hand out as he walked down the hallway. He was feeling the tiles of the wall, blue and yellow, alternating like a checkerboard. His fingers felt funny as he glided his hand across the bumpy surface. The traffic of students came to a stop as the kids in front of Adam slowed down to enter the room one by one. They were all on the stage now, the curtain separating them from the audience was still down. Adam had to split from his friends now as one of their teachers directed the students to their respective seats. They were being seated in alphabetical order, which meant Adam Busch would be in the front row, with only a few kids before him. Cathy, being a Collins, was just one row behind him. She smiled at him as he turned around in his seat. Adam looked for where Daisy and Mel were. He saw Daisy, a few rows back, and even further than that was Melissa, she was sat next to her twin sister, Marissa. He turned back around to face forward again. After a few moments he heard Principal Frogert's voice from the other side of the curtains.

"Friends and Family, on behalf of all our staff and faculty, I welcome each and every one of you to this very special day in these students' young lives," he said into the microphone, "these children have waited six years for this moment, and we are all so very proud of them, so without much further a do, here's Barkley Boulevard's very own class of 1988!"

With that, the curtains opened, and Adam saw the hundreds of seats filled with people. He looked for his parents' faces in the crowd. He found them when his mom threw her hands in the air and waved them back and forth excitedly. He blushed and just hoped Daisy wouldn't see his mom embarrass him. Mr. Frogert started to list off his classmates' names one by one as they walked up to him and were handed a certificate. Before long it was Adam's turn. He walked up to Principal Frogert and shook his clammy hand and received his certificate of Elementary School completion. He saw Mom's digital camera flash a photograph of him from a few rows back in the crowd. Then he had to turn around and head back to his chair on stage.

After he returned to his seat, Adam thought about what middle school would be like for him and his friends. They'd have later curfews, more freedom, a whole new school with new teachers and classes, they could make some new friends, before long he and his friends would become teenagers. Maybe in Middle School some of them would even start... dating?

Adam smiled at the thought and let his eyes relax as he gleefully twiddled his paws together that hung off his chair. He blushed to himself. Adam had a good feeling that Middle School was going to be great. Growing up, things were just going to get better.