I'll Protect You (Re-Edit #2, 2016)

Graduation (Bonus Scene)

[a/n] i found this as i was emptying my drive and decided to see if any of you were up for a graduation scene. you can call it epilogue #2 if you'd like, because this is exactly how it's set up. a second epilogue. which defeats the point of an epilogue. 

also, listen to the song if you'd like, it's one of my favorite instrumentals. 

* * *

I remembered the very first day I entered Zachariah Cross Academy. 

I was a wee lass, still complaining about the discomfort the fake red strands brought me as Elijah and my father parked the car a little farther away from the rest of the vehicles crowding in the parking lots and around the entrances. The uniform for a pre-course student didn't fit well on me, the dark sweater too lose, the pleated skirt too stiff. My father took me out of the car, and I could still remember his atrocious outfit and how the sunglasses kept sliding down his nose. He knelt before ma and placed two strong hands on my shoulders, reminding me that I was not to phone Mother and let her know that he had stretched her sunglasses. Again. 

He didn't tell me to be careful. It was a moot point. "Careful" wasn't in our clan's vocabulary.

 I had been in awe of the architecture of the building, of just how much the style reminded me of home. I had been scared weaving my way through the crowds. Rumors had spread fast enough. It wasn't often a full scholarship was granted, and with a new addition to their city, the academy wouldn't stop buzzing about how Alex Finch had been generously bestowed with a full tuition to all seven years at Cross Academy. 

Logan Cross is here, my father told me. You won't remember him. His family moved away from Cimeria a few years back. Maybe you guys can be friends again. 

I never understood why he said "again." Not until now. 

But I never did find Logan Cross. By the time we did have contact, it was after the first exam results were released and the king of the academy had condemned me as an embarrassment of the golden halls he walked. The weeks passed and things only grew worse. I became Alex Finch, a pre-course student, unable to prove her worth among the geniuses of her class. 

Soon after, I remembered how no one wanted anything to do with me. To be seen with Alex Finch was social suicide. I remembered how, at first, the loneliness stung. Sitting in the seventh corridor by myself, sitting through lectures by myself, enduring everything all by myself. 

And I remembered how the school magazine published an article on foreign affairs, how they spoke about the decrease in attacks against the royal family of Cimeria ever since the young princess decided to go under the radar.  

I stood a little prouder, spoke a little louder, smiled a little bigger. All the insults, the bullying, the teasing--it didn't matter. I was protecting my family. And I resolved that I would be ending Cross Academy by myself. That there would be no one to congratulate me, embrace me, share my joy in finishing the challenging courses the academy had to offer me. The solitude was a small price to pay for the safety of everyone that I cared about. 

And yet, now I sat in a classroom, surrounded by my friends, all of us laughing over something Zen said. Solitude was not an option.

The ceremony was to take place in the academy  stadium, where everyone else but us was gathered. Minnie had managed to open one of the windows and the roar of the crowds could be heard from where we sat. People were streaming up the steps to file into the stadium, and a few students in black robes could be spotted darting past the line  as they sprinted to their seats in the green fields. 

We were all clad in black gowns and caps, silver tassels dangling from our heads. As we were all ranked among the highest of our class, gold lapels were sewn onto our robes. Logan was leaning against me as he stood between my legs, my arms wrapped around his chest.