Socialite II Finnick Odair

III

"ladies and gentlemen, students, parents and teachers, i am happy to inform you all, that every single person sitting in one of these forty chairs is graduating today. when i met these pupils they were freshly out of elementary school, children, who needed to be guided. now i have forty fully functioning members of our societies elite sitting in front of me. forty grown adults, each and every one of them on track for greatness.
the academy has high standards, i know you all are aware of that, so excelling at this fine school surely isn't an easy thing to do. it takes determination and discipline to make it this far. i, as the headmaster, can still say with a good conscience, that these graduates are something to be proud of. they are the future of our beautiful country.
i know over the years you all will have a fair share of trials and tribulations, but be sure that you are prepared for them. we, being the teachers, have prepared you for everything the future might hold for you. there is nothing that could stop you from being the greatest version of yourselves.
always remember: in the end it isn't about who your parents are, it is about who you are. you all can write your own destiny."

i hear sobs. literal. unironic. sobs. as if headmaster finnigan hasn't been saying the same bullshit every year since he got the part. i mean even the delivery was trash. instead of filling me with emotion this speech did the exact opposite. i'm bored. the man with stars for eyebrows and yellow hair has really done it... bore me. with a speech that meant to be inspiring. so this is not how you do it.

"so know, after saying all that, i want to give proper credit to this years valedictorian. they did a brilliant job at setting the curve."

i can feel my blood pressure rising and a thin layer of sweat is forming on my forehead. i don't know what i will do if i don't get this prize. you don't have to because you will get it.

the whole room explodes in cheers. shit did he already call out their name? i feel a
wave of cold disappointment wash over me, taking my last glimmer of hope with it. that was it. i already feel the tears trying to spill over when iva starts slightly nudging me to stand up.

i look over and she's smiling. iva is pointing her head in the stages direction. i did win it. i just didn't pay attention. that never happened to me before... i always perk up when i hear my name.

i stand up, smiling as brightly as i possibly can. i try looking as thankful and happy about it as possible. i don't want anyone to think i don't appreciate this, because i do.

standing on this stage feels weird. instead of watching from the sidelines i am the main attraction, something i will have to get used to if i want to be the next president.

while getting my diploma i try spotting my parents in the crowd. when i finally find them, i see my mother crying. she is holding onto my fathers hand with one of hers, in the other holding a tissue. my father only has a grim smile on his lips. that's at least something.

after shaking headmaster finnigans hand and smiling into the crowd for one last time i strut back to my seat. when i sit down i can't stop my legs from shaking. iva immediately tries taking my hand, but i refuse it as physical contact feels like hell in this moment.

for the next hour or so i listen to all of my fellow students also getting officially dismissed from school. this feels like the end of an era and honestly, there is not a better feeling in this world.

my good mood is slightly dampened when i remember that the most important person of this nation wasn't here. in the last years he always made time for it, but of course the year i graduate is also the year in which president snow decides to change it up and be a no-show. just my luck.