𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐊 / scott reed ✓

𝟔𝟗. graduation day

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐊
69 / GRADUATION DAY
↳ season four, episode ten: graduation
act two / monty was framed

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 finally here. Graduation Day.

Today would mark the end of a lot of things for Nessa Dempsey and her dysfunctional group of friends. Today would mark the end of their journey in the Liberty Independent School District, where they all met various years ago and cultivated their friendships, whether they were good or bad. Today would be the last time that they ever acknowledged themselves as Liberty Tigers, before embarking on their journeys with multiple different schools all across the country. Today would be the last time that Nessa attended the same school as all of her friends, her boyfriend, and most importantly, her twin brother, Zach.

Graduation day was going to be the end of one chapter, but the beginning of so many more.

Nessa stood in her room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She looked at the blue gown that rested over her body, her yellow 'Valedictorian' stole sitting on top of her shoulders. Her brown hair was perfectly curled, and her white heels peeked out from under her gown. She never would have imagined that this day would come, but it did.

The emotion of today was overwhelming, as Nessa knew that it would be. She couldn't allow herself to get excited in the slightest, because she knew that something was missing. Someone was missing.

Tears pooled in Nessa's eyes as she took the blue graduation cap off of her head, holding it in her hands as she looked at the inside of the band, a small picture of her and Justin sitting inside of it.

He should be here.

"Ready to go, Ness?" Zach called softly from her doorway, snapping the girl out of her emotional gaze. Nessa took a deep breath, pulling herself together and forcing the tears back inside of her eyes as she turned to face her brother.

"Yeah." Nessa replied quietly, walking slowly toward her twin brother. He knew, without even asking, how hard this day was going to be on both of them. He had cried in the shower for twenty minutes this morning, asking himself why Justin couldn't be here today.

"He'd be really proud of you, you know?" Zach asked, and Nessa bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from completely breaking down into tears.

"I know." Nessa replied, her voice breaking. "But it feels...so wrong, Zach."

He nodded. He knew exactly what she meant. The heavy feeling in their heart hadn't gone away since the second that Justin took his last breath just a few days ago.

"Like..." Nessa trailed off, trying to keep her tears from ruining her makeup. She had redone it at least three times, trying to keep herself from crying. "Like I shouldn't be celebrating my life moving on when my best friend's just stopped."

"But, you know that's what he would want, Ness." Zach told her, pulling his twin sister into a soft hug. If love could heal his sister's broken heart, Zach's would have had her healed instantly.

"I know." Nessa said, her head buried into Zach's shoulder. "So, let's do this. For him."

"For Justin." Zach announced, a stiff smile on his face.