Our Journey // Phan

Chapter 18: Good bye HS

We came out to everyone a couple of months after that. They were all supportive of us thankfully. The always tease us though about Phil and I getting together. Out in the open, I would be all defensive and shit but in my mind, I hope for it to happen.

But anyways, guess what today is? If you guess high school graduation, you guessed right. God, if feels just like yesterday that we started 2nd grade and now... we're graduating high school, and I have Phil right by my side.

Seems surreal. If I could go back I would but I wouldn't. In a way, I don't want to leave high school but I do at the same time. And I feel like Phil feels the same way.

I was currently standing in front of my mirror looking at myself. My cap and gown being what I'm seeing through my brown eyes. So weird. I guess I must dozed off a bit because seconds later, Pj was standing there.

"Dan?" Pj said, snapping his fingers in my face.

I jumped up a bit, startled. "Hmm, what?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"

"Oh um yeah. I'm fine. Just dozed off a bit." I said, scratching my neck.

"Okay..." He said. "Well, come on. It's time for pictures and that crap our moms what to do."

I chuckled. "Okay. Let's go." I said, and we started walking.

"There you are Dan!" My mom said. "We need to take photos!" She said.

"Why though?" I whined.

She gave me a look. "So you can look back on this accomplishment of graduating high school! That's why!" She said.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Okay, okay. Let's take pictures." I said, giving in.

She smiled. "That's my boy." She said, kissing my cheek.

~~~~~At Graduation~~~~~

Graduation is set to last around an hour to two hours, give or take we are a graduating class of about 250-300 students approximately.

I really wasn't paying any attention to what was going on around me if I'm being honest. I guess my mind was just elsewhere. It wasn't until a friend of mine, Nicolas, nudged me a bit. I looked at him, once again alarmed.

"What?" I asked, trying to slow down my heart.

"We're coming up. Pay attention."

I looked even more startled. "We are?! Shit!" I said lowly.

Suddenly, my line was ordered to stand up. Why am I so nervous?! I don't like feeling this way...

We stood by the stairs to the stage, waiting to be called...

"Kyle Hadment."

"Lilith Hemmings."

"Hannah Hermone."

Name after name was being called and my heart got faster. This is it.. my name is coming up quickly.

"Olivia Hollin."

"George Holmes."

Shit, I'm next.

"Daniel Howell."

You heard some cheering from the crowd. I made my way up the stairs, careful not to trip over my feet as I tend to be such a freaking klutz. I made my way towards Mr. Hoden. He was actually one of very little teachers I liked at this school.

He shook my hand and smiled. "Congrats Dan. You deserved this."

I smiled. "Thanks."

I then made my way over to Mrs. Humble... and her name actually describes her personality. She was very humble...

I shook her hand and kept walking.

Lastly I made it over the principle, Mr. Lock. He was the one holding our diplomas. He held out his hand and I took it, shaking it. He handed me my diploma and smiled.

"Good job Howell." He said.

I smiled at him. "Thanks Mr. Lock."

He nodded and he released my hand. I carefully made my way down the stairs and back to my seat. I give a sigh a relief, thanking God that I didn't fall over myself...

About 15 to 20 minutes went by when the 'L's' were started to be said.

"Candace Landen."

More names.

"Logan Ledis."

Phil was next.

"Philip Lester." Again, more cheering.

He followed the exact same steps I took, being careful to not fall. He shook the hands, smiling proudly. I smiled to myself seeing how proud and happy he was.

He made his way down the stairs, walking back to his seat.

And graduation continued on...

~~~~~Some Time Later~~~~~

I was currently in my bedroom, hanging up my gown and setting my hat down. I turned my head and saw my diploma sitting on my desk. I make my way over and pick it up, looking at it.

Blah, blah, blah, Daniel Howell, blah, blah, blah, received this diploma from blah, blah, blah, on June 24th, 2014.

And some more writings with signatures and crap. I gently place it back down and make my way down the stairs from my room. I smile when I see my parents and Phil's parents having a conversation. They grew just as close as Phil and I did.

I walked into the kitchen to grab a drink. Everyone else was either in here, outside or living room. It's kind of like a graduation party but not really. There's only a few of us here... Well, kind of a few.

Alfie, Zoe, Joe, Marcus, Niomi, Louise, Louis, Jack, Finn, and of course Phil. By everyone else, I mean parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and such. Long story short, there are a lot of people here.

"Hey Dan." Jack said.

I smiled at them. "Hey guys." I said, closing the fridge after grabbing a water bottle.

"Hard to believe we're done with high school huh?" Zoe asked.

We nodded. "Yeah." Alfie said.

"But we'll still see each other in college... right?" Louise asked.

Zoe smiled and hugged her best friend. "Of course Chummy." She said.

We all chuckled. That was the name they had for each other.

Weird name but hey, girls will be girls.