𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲

xix. my husband.

THE CROWD grows quiet when the principal taps the microphone, before speaking into it, "good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the graduation ceremony for the class of '89." He announced, making everyone clap and cheer them on. Just then, Mike finally arrived with Hopper. James glanced over as the Wheeler boy hugged his mom and Jim made his way over to Joyce, smiling at his son on the way over. James gave him a small nod.

He'd talked to Jim about it, over some coffee last week, which is when Hopper revealed he'd also been waiting for a perfect time to propose to Joyce. James was so happy for his dad, smiling as the man sat down with Joyce, giving his partner a quick side hug. "And now it's my great pleasure to introduce someone who has truly excelled during their time here. Ladies and gentlemen, give a warm welcome to your valedictorian, Dustin Henderson." The man announced as the boy stood up, the crowd clapping and cheering.

Steve stood up, whooping and clapping loudly, as James cups his hands. "Yeah, Dustin!" He shouted, clapping louder. The Henderson walked up, clearing his throat, "I just wanted a normal childhood. But that childhood was stolen from me. It was stolen from us. And this past year, if you wanna know the truth, I've been pretty pissed off about it." Dustin said and James glanced at Steve who was listening intently.

Steve then took off his sunglasses, holding them in his hands now. "But then I thought back to the past six years, and I realized that even though there was a lot of bad, there was so much good too." The Henderson said, looking around the crowd. "There's this game I like to play. It's called Dungeons & Dragons." He said, which caused his friends to cheer and clap, "and in this game, there are two types of chaos classes, chaotic good and chaotic bad." He goes on.

"Now, bad chaos brings anarchy, destruction, war. But good chaos can bring innovation, change. And this school, frankly, it needed to change. Because we were so divided into the jocks, the nerds, freaks. And in the chaos, all those walls broke down," at this, Robin glanced over at Steve and James, smiling, "and I made friends. I made friends who were never even supposed to be my friends." He goes on as the Buckley bumps into the Harrington gently.

Steve glanced at her, smiling faintly before he looked over at James now who's already staring at him. "And this wasn't just me. I saw this happen with so many others. And when you get to know people who are different from you, you begin to learn more about yourself. You change. You grow. I'm a better person now. I'm a better person because of them, because of my friends. So, I'm not pissed off anymore." Dustin said and James smiled wider at the boy.

"But I am worried. Worried because now that the chaos is over, Prinicipal Higgins and every square like him," at this, the crowd gasped, but he goes on, "is gonna do their damndest to put everything back in order. And I don't want order, which is why it's hypocritical that I'm wearing this thing." He said, looking down at his graduation gown. "I mean, we look ridiculous. What is this? We look like Roman senators."

At that, the other graduates laugh, "I mean, it's not who I am. I don't think it's who any of us are. So, honestly, just screw it." He took off his gown, revealing a Hellfire Lives shirt underneath. James whoops and claps, as Steve and Robin. "Screw the school." Dustin ignores his principal. "Screw the system." He goes on as the man tries to grab the microphone. "Screw conformity! Screw everyone and everything!"

"Yes!" Claudia said, proud of her son. "Trying to hold you back and tear us apart, because this, this is our year!" The boy shouts, and his classmates all got up, cheering and clapping their hands. Dustin tossed the microphone, grabbed his degree and flipped off his principal. James laughed, whooping again as even the attending audience all stood up, giving the Henderson a standing ovation and then confetti erupts in the air. The graduates all toss their caps up, still cheering, even when their principal threatens to send them to summer school.