Trixie graduates eighth grade and discusses summer plans with her family.
Trixie's POV
My eighth grade graduation felt... rather weird.
I had predicted this and had therefore not wanted to go, but Mom said we needed to go to quell any suspicions given my recent string of sudden absences from school.
The school really didn't end after eighth grade; the associated high school was barely a block away, but there was a mostly-for-show eighth grade graduation anyway. I was one of only a small handful of students who wouldn't be attending the high school as I would be attending St. Smithens Science Academy for Boys and Girls. Spy school.
I sat outside in the courtyard with a group of friends before the ceremony and listened to them making summer plans for vacations and camps and get-togethers. The sort of things you'd expect kids who go to a boarding school to do.
"What are you doing Trixie?" one of my friends asked.
"I'm going to camp," I said.
"Why are you doing that? Won't camp be boring?"
"No," I said. "I mean, Mike's going to be there."
"Ohh. So that's why."
I smiled. While it was far from the only reason I was excited for camp, I really was looking forward to seeing Mike more. After I had first met Mike at the hospital, all our communication had been via text and phone call. It would have been impossible to keep us physically seeing each other a secret from my parents, but now that they knew, we could actually see each other and go on dates together like a normal couple.
"How did you guys even meet each other?" another one of my friends asked.
"Mike's friends with my sister's boyfriend."
"Wait. When did your sister get a boyfriend? I thought she didn't talk to anyone."
"Very recently. As for how, I've still got no idea." Then, wanting to change the subject, I asked, "So, are you excited for high school?"
This brought a variety of responses ranging from "Of course!" to "Not really," but at least we had moved away from my personal life, which lately had been too much for even me to keep track of. Even Mike felt like someone I shouldn't risk telling my friends too much about.
I could see Erica and my parents standing off to the side of the crowd of family members making small talk with my English teacher. Erica looked bored while Mom looked way too emotional considering the ceremony hadn't even started yet. Dad had his arm around Mom's shoulders, which just served as yet another reminder as to how weird this situation was. I mean, I've barely seen my parents in the same room as each other since I was in preschool, and now they were acting like newlyweds. Erica claimed this was because now Dad knows Mom's a spy, but I knew that couldn't be all there was. That explanation was just way too simple.
Not that I thought Mom and Dad getting back together was a bad thing, because it wasn't. It was just abnormally fast.
I turned back to my friends as the teachers started gathering all of the graduates to line up alphabetically while our family members went into the auditorium.
I was near the front, which allowed me to peer into the auditorium where the audience members were walking through the rows of chairs and finding their seats. I found my family sitting down toward the back, probably trying to keep a low profile.
The school band was poorly playing "Pomp and Circumstance" while we processed in, and this all began to feel strangely official. Sure, most of the rest of the kids were staying through high school, but for me, this was it. I was never coming back to this place. And I honestly didn't know how to feel about it.
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Spy School Oneshot Collection
أدب الهواةA collection of my Spy School oneshots from AO3, featuring Alexander blowing up his kitchen, Erica going to kindergarten, and more.