Ecstasy

Gilinsky

I got out of the car as soon as my dad parked, with the Johnsons not too far behind. My father made me wait for Jack and his parents to park so Jack and I could go in together.
I shuffle my feet awkwardly as the Johnsons get out of their car. I avoid eye contact with Jack, although we share a few curt and polite words to not worry our parents.
"Alright, Jacks, you should probably head in. See you guys up there," My dad claps me on the shoulder, and John and Jennifer Johnson start laughing and congratulating us.
Jack and I walk in silence to the graduation stadium. The hall is mostly empty except for a few stragglers, then we turn down a different hall and it's empty.
"Jack, I think we're going the wro-" I never get to finish my sentence, because suddenly I'm slammed against the wall and Jack's lips are on mine, silencing me.
I take a moment to kiss him back, from being purely startled, but when I do, I kiss him back passionately. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, tugging him closer to me.
"Jack...I...don't...think we...should be doing... this," I say in between kisses.
"Shut up, Gilinsky."
I nod, and Jack's fingers are tugging on my clothes.
We stay like that for a while, until we hear over the intercom that the ceremony is about to start. We break away from each other and hastily fix our appearances, then Jack looks me up and down and walks away. I sigh and follow him, neither of us saying anything to the other.
We sit next to each other on the stands, and I keep my face down to hide my growing flush. Curse that boy for making me feel this way. I'm like a schoolgirl with a crush.
"Jack Gilinsky," the principal calls my name, and I stand up and accept my diploma and sit back down. I hear a few murmurs about my robes, but I ignore them. I should've gotten better grades so I could've read my mother's valedictorian speech.
A few people later, Jack Johnson is called up. He stares at the crowd emotionlessly, but eventually his lips break into a smile and everyone cheers. He looks around and his eyes land on me, sparkling with some cold mischief. His eyes then flick over my shoulder and he smiles, and I just know on instinct that he's smiling at Mallory Thompson. He then comes and sits down by me again, and I squirm in my seat.
The next few people are called up, and Jack is one of the loudest cheerers for Mallory. I don't cheer at all for her. Sam is a while after, and the principal smiles at Wilky. They exchange a few words, and Sam goes and stands off to the side.
"Now, for the traditional speech from our valedictorian. Everyone, please welcome Sam Wilkinson!" The Principal says.
Wait a minute, Sam got valedictorian? Wow. Good for him.
Sam goes up to the stage, and smiles.
"Thank you all for attending this ceremony. I guess it wasn't really a choice, because if you hadn't, then I think your children would've beaten you up," at this part the crowd laughs, and I do too. Sam's always masked his poor speech writing skills with humour.
"Anyways, past with the formalities. Today is a very big day for all of us, especially for those who thought they would never make it. And for you too, parents. For some, this may be your first graduate, or your last. It's probably hard letting your children go. I wouldn't know, because I don't have children." Sam clears his throat. "Hopefully." The crowd laughs again, and Sam smiles when he sees that they're entertained by him.
"I just wanted to thank principal Mccarthy for helping me get this far. Without him, I wouldn't be here. I'd be living in a box, a homeless high school dropout." Here nobody laughs, because Sam is being serious.
"I also want to thank my best friends, Jack Gilinsky and Jack Johnson. Those two made the school day bearable, and even at the toughest times they kept me going. They were like a set of younger, gay, fun parents to me. So, thank you Jack and Jack for making the real world less harsh than it is."
I stare at Sam. I didn't know that. He was like a slightly older, very irresponsible parent to me. I start clapping and whistling, and Sam smiles at me as others do the same.
"Now, before I draw this completely horrible speech to a close, I just want to thank all parents for coming here tonight. Words cannot describe how much I wish my parents were here," I stare at Sam again. His parents abandoned him in the tenth grade, which is why he got held back. The parents awe out loud, and someone yells "We love you, Sam!"
"Also, I'm really not sure how I got valedictorian. There are other students who were much more deserving of it than me, so I think that the school just gave it to me as a pity fund." A couple of people laugh here.
Sam smiles then touches the tip of his cap with two fingers. "So, I wish you all a great summer and very good lives." Everyone cheers as Sam bowed to the crowd, finishing his speech.

Later, after we had all thrown out caps into the air, Jack and I went to find Sam. He was still not talking to me, but that was okay, as long as he kissed me. We found Sam outside, shaking and rubbing his hands on his thighs to calm himself down.
I walk over to him, and punch his arm playfully. "Hey, son. You did great out there," and Sam smiled. Jack, however, looked rather angry.
"Way to give us away, Wilkinson. But it was a good speech."
Sam shook his head. "God, it was terrible! Mccarthy should've never picked me as valedictorian."
I shrug. "I don't know, I liked the part about gay parents."
And Sam starts laughing.
"Sorry 'bout that, Jacks. I just had to include it," and I laugh too.
"No worries, man." I see Johnson gesturing for me to come with him, so I follow him out of the hall, leaving Sam to talk to other people.
Jack leads me down the empty hall again, but this time he shoves me into into a closet.
"Take off your clothes, Gilinsky. We're gonna have sex."