*MAE, TORONTO*
"Mae Park"
The applause from the acting section of her school was overwhelming to say the least. The whoops and cheers of her fellow graduates filling the room, which was hilarious to her because she was from the writers section of the school.
The writers were mostly full of shy, reclusive students. Mostly being the key word since Mae's unusual penchant for making friends quite easily.
It's not that she tried to make friends, people just gravitated to her naturally from time to time. In full honesty rather likes being alone with her thoughts just as much as she liked being around others.
Stepping onto the stage, the directing and gaming sections of the school also joined the applause that rained down on her. She wasn't surprised the writing section didn't join in, according to her classmate, Joey, everyone was going to pretend to act all snooty and unengaged just so the party they had planned for her tonight would be even more of a surprise. Thank God Joey had a big mouth, because Mae was not big on surprises.
As she was handed her diploma, her teacher, as tall as a lamp post compared to her, gave her a strong handshake that turns into a giant hug. Laughing Mae pats his back, turning into him sideways just in time so that no one gets the wrong idea.
She joins her classmates in the pews as the last school section, Fashion, gets called up on stage one by one, taking their seats in turn.
"And that is the graduating class of 2021"
Each student stands as the dean reads out the school tradition of repositions their cap tassels and as he wishes them luck, they throw their caps in the air in excitement.
Mae turns, hugging Joey and a few other classmates before her best friend Izzy runs up from the guest section, giving her a hug. A hug so zealous that, if Mae didn't know any better, she would've guessed Izzy had just graduated Film school instead of Mae herself.
"Congrats girl!" Izzy says, holding her at arms length "you've done an amazing job"
"Thank you, Iz" Mae smiles, looking around her best friend.
Izzy's face drops a bit "he never showed"
Mae sighs "that's ok. I'll see him at home anyways"
"Yeah, after your congrats party!"
Mae smiles a bit shyly "I don't know, I'm a bit tired. I should just..."
"Mae" Izzy says, getting her best friends full attention "you are graduating from Toronto Film School with two different Korean broadcasting stations begging you to make your co-op Korean-Canadian drama with them and you want to head home?"
"Yeah, I just..." Mae shrugs.
"Mae, you are the only writer who didn't drop out of your semester! You're the only from that group who made it this far! The other writers wanna celebrate you and the fact that you're the only person leaving here with not one, but two job offers!"
Mae smiles a bit, looking around truly the only writer from her semester. Izzy gently regains her best friends attention with a gentle smile of her own.
"Hey, you said it yourself, you'll see him at home. But for now, right now, your classmates want to celebrate you and the accomplishments you guys have made up until this point. You know how rare it is to have a script noticed right before you graduate? Let alone have a place like South Korea notice it and want to produce it with you?"
