Something Just Like This | ✔️

Chapter seventeen: Don't think that you have time

And then there was the graduation.

Time flied like a flow of wind. So much memories. So much joy, so many fights, so many deep conversations. The exams, staying up late, failures, assignments, class bunks.

They all came down to this.

They had their graduation coats ready. And their caps.

And that day, when they entered the school gate, they could feel the heaviness all around. They were happy. It was a new journey for them. But the place which made the start of so many journeys, was hard to let go of.

Before the ceremony ended, a few students were requested to give a speech. Formal graduation stuff.

Sam gave a speech.

He is not a writer. Nor a speaker. But the words that came out of his mouth that day, made every one cry. It made them feel.

The speech went like this:

"I know that we all think we're immortal,
we're supposed to feel that way, we're graduating.
The future is and should be bright, but,
like our brief four years in high school,
what makes life valuable is that it doesn't last forever,
what makes it precious is that it ends.

I know that now more than ever.
And I say it today of all days to remind us that time is luck.
So don't waste it living someone else's life,
make yours count for something.

Fight for what matters to you, no matter what.
Because even if you fall short, what better way is there to live?

It's easy to feel hopeful on a beautiful day like today,
but there will be dark days ahead of us too,
and there'll be days where you feel all alone,
and that's when hope is needed most.

Keep it alive. No matter how buried it gets,
or lost you feel, you must promise me,
that you will hold on to hope and keep it alive.

We have to be greater than what we suffer.
My wish for you, is to become hope. People need that.

I know it feels like we're saying goodbye,
but we will carry a piece of each other into everything that we do next,
to remind us of who we are, and of who we're meant to be.

I've had a great four three years with you,
and I'll miss you all very much."

Everyone stood up and gave a clap. The guy who knows to sing his heart out also seems good at making people feel to their bones. The heaviness just got more intense.

And Haley's speech didn't make it any easier either. She was already emotional after hearing his speech. But she had to make a statement. Even if a small one.

And that statement, It made tears fall, but also gave a beam of hope in their hearts.

It went something like this:

"There is a universal truth we all have to face, whether we want to or not, everything eventually ends. As much as I've looked forward to this day, I've always disliked endings. Last day of summer, the final chapter of a great book, parting ways with a close friend.
But endings are inevitable, Leaves fall, you close the book. You say goodbye. Today is one of those days for us. Today we say goodbye to everything that was familiar, everything that was comfortable. We're moving on. But just because we're leaving, and that hurts, there's some people who are so much a part of us, they'll be with us no matter what. They are our solid ground. Our North Star. And the small clear voices in our hearts that will be with us ... always."

She got teary saying those words. But she could hold them back till the speech was over.

Brooke was not the emotional kind. But she did say this:

"Detroit High School, Thank you for giving me memories and gifting me people whom I will hold onto forever and I know, they will hold onto me too. Thank you is all I can say today. Thank you so much."

And of course, there was that one moment. The moment when they throw their caps in the air, hoping that the future would be as bright as they could ever imagine.

All of them went to the same college. They knew it from years back, that whatever they studied in future, they would do it in one place. And they made sure that happened.

University of Detroit. It got the gift of six best friends. Who were as lost as all the other graduates. But who knew where they would always come back to.

Sam and Haley had the best time together. It took him long to tell her that he likes her in high school . And it took him even longer to tell her that she loves her.

And That is a whole other story.

They already knew that they loved each other. But they just didn't have a specific "I LOVE YOU" moment.

Like they do in the movies. The first time, when the guy says he loves her. Or the girl says the same.

They did not have an "I LOVE YOU" moment.

It didn't bother them that much either.

Whenever they thought about it, they would tell themselves,
"I'll say it when the time is right"

They were looking for the right time.

Little did they know, they might not have time at all.