Never Again

Chapter 1: Graduation

Hey guys, this is my first fanfiction. English isn't my first language, so feel free to correct me if you find any mistakes!

The sound of applause slowly faded away when everybody left the stage. Keira was beaming and tried to make her way to a group of three people standing in the crowd. They were smiling and one of them came running up to her. She felt two arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. She looked up and saw the face of her younger sister Louise, who had tears all over her face.

'I'm so proud of you sis!' she said excitedly.

Keira smiled and finally felt a little bit proud. She had done it, she finally graduated. She already knew for a couple of days, but holding the diploma in her hand made it more real.

Keira O'Donnell

Mechanical Engineering

Nobody could take this away from her and she felt happy, something that hadn't been the case for a long time. Looking down at the diploma she smiled, this was the start of something new, something exciting. She couldn't wait to finally start working, college was fine, but it was time for a new challenge. While hugging her sister she could see her parents standing a few meters back. They looked so proud, especially her father. Without them she couldn't have done it, they always had total faith in her and they always encouraged her to follow her dreams. Her father being an aviation engineer fuelled her interest in engineering already at a young age. She always imagined herself following in her father's footsteps, although he always told her that she didn't have to. That's why she was so fond of her parents, their support meant everything and she always felt free to pursue whatever her interests were.

She slowly let go of her sister and made her way over to her parents. They also hugged her and she could see tears in her father's eyes, although he tried to cover them up. She giggled, he always tried to look tough, but she knew he was a big softie. She gave both her parents a kiss and looked around the room. The room was full of people in the same situation as her, all proudly in possession of an engineering diploma. Proud families were filling the seats or were hugging their children, they all looked happy and content. A lot of the students received flowers or even gifts and all looked ready to take on the world. This was one of those days which you would remember when you're old and are looking back on your life.

She looked around to find a glimpse of her two best friends. She had met Abby and Tom during her first week at college. The first week had been tough, having moved from Belfast to London had been a big change and she didn't know anyone. She had been sitting alone and hadn't had the courage to talk to someone, so she had sat quietly and observed the people around her. Most people had looked nervous, but also excited to finally start college. All their stuff was new and people proudly had showed of their new laptops and books. Tom had been sat in front of her and had looked surprisingly calm, almost like it wasn't new for him. Later she learned it was his second year at college, he had switched to Mechanical Engineering after his first year. She had been so absorbed in observing people that she hadn't noticed her notebook laying dangerously on the edge of her table. When she had wanted to take a water bottle out of her bag, she had accidentally knocked the notebook of her table. With a look of horror on her face she had seen it drop right on the boy in front of her. He had yelped in surprise and had turned to look for where it came from, she had felt horrible and her cheeks had turned bright red. He had seen the look of horror on her face and had let out a little chuckle. He had held out his hand and Keira had shaken it shamefully, still with a smile on his face he had given her the notebook back.

'Hi, I'm Tom.'

'Hi,' she had sputtered. She still had felt ashamed and a lot of people had looked at her.