The New Kid

Chapter 32- Graduation

I rode with Drake to Plaza East Center where Phoenix High's graduation was to be held. I dressed in all black, as is the norm of orchestral performances. I grabbed Paisley and went down to the loading ramp of the building.

"I'll catch up with you later," I said to Drake.

He nodded and continued walking towards the main entrance. I got Paisley out and began to tune. I went down the hallway. The seniors had gathered in the hallway waiting to be called out for the ceremony. People cheered when they say me, the loudest of them all being Jason, Preston and Davonte. As I passed by, the seniors patted my back and playfully hit my arm. Someone even came close to knocking Paisley out of my hands. My heart seemed to stop when Paisley almost fell from my hand. If it fell and smashed on the ground, that would have been nearly $5,000 gone to waste.

"Play fast, Wynter. I want to graduate already," Preston joked.

I got Paisley into playing position and played an excerpt of Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebees. Preston's jaw went agape. The seniors cheered for me again.

"Get out there and play for us," Preston said.

He lightly pushed me to the main floor of the center. Mr. Gregory was looking over his sheet music when I walked in.

"Ah, Scott, there you are. Go ahead and take a seat. The ceremony will start in about 20 minutes," he explained.

I took a seat in the first chair of the first violin section. I practiced Pomp and Circumstance for a little bit before I got stares from people. I assumed that the weren't happy that I was taking over the orchestra for this one concert. That was understandable. After all, I didn't know any of the people in the orchestra.

Mr. Gregory gave us the cue to get into playing positions. The seniors began to file in. I could see Preston and Jason hugging the football coach. Preston eventually broke away from the pack and moved to the front where the principal and valedictorian sat. I assumed he was the salutatorian. A girl with jet black hair rose to the podium. She was introduced as Harleigh McKellar, the valedictorian.

She gave her valedictorian speech. I didn't pay attention since I was invested into a book. But when Preston came up to the podium, I put my book down.

"I would like to welcome our salutatorian, Preston Halliday," Harleigh announced.

The audience clapped and Preston took stage.

"It took us four years to get to this moment. Four whole years. To put that into perspective, that's 48 months, 1,460 days, 35,040 hours, and 2,102,400 minutes. And we invested all of this time to culminate to this: a ceremony where we get a paper that says 'Congratulations! You graduated high school! Now we're gonna put you into school again.'" Preston began.

That line generated an uproar of laughter from the entire audience. Preston even chuckled at his remark.

"But, in reality, that time means so much more than a piece of paper. To sum up this time, I'll express it the way Charles Dickens opened his novel A Tale of Two Cities: we met good people, we met bad people, we fell in love, we got our hearts broken, we succeeded, we failed, we fell, we triumphed, we lost, but now, now we have won. All those memories that I shared with my peers...I'll never forget them. I want to wish everyone that I spent 4 years of my life with a happy life, and good fortune in what is yet to come. Before I end my speech, there's someone in here I want to thank. He's not part of this class, but he's become a monumental figure in my life. In my darkest time, he led me into light. He's such a great character, a funny comedian, and an even better friend. I extend my thanks to Scott Wynter. Scott, I can barely see you over in the orchestra, but I wanted to say thank you. For everything. You have no idea what you've done has meant to me. Thank you, everyone."

The auditorium erupted into a thunderous standing ovation. I was dumbfounded that he had mentioned me in his speech, but it was a nice gesture, nonetheless. The entire class went up and got their diplomas. Principal Yates then gave a speech, which was another one I didn't pay attention to. Harleigh went back up to the podium.

"If you could, please move your tassels from right to left to signify that you have graduated," Harleigh stated.

As soon as they turned their tassels, Mr. Gregory got us into playing position once again. We played Beethoven's Ode to Joy as they exited. We were then permitted to leave. I put Paisley away and went outside to find Preston.

"What'd you think of my speech?" Preston asked.

"Best one I've heard yet," I replied.

The entire senior class came to the front of Plaza East Center. Preston picked me up and put me on his shoulders.

"What's this for?" I asked Preston.

"This is gonna be our goodbye present to you, Wynter. Some of these people you'll probably never see again. So why don't we take a massive group picture with the entire senior class?" Preston explained.

Someone used a drone to take picture of the entire senior class and I. Preston let me down and I got separate pictures with him, Jason, Davonte, Tara and Natalia.

Later that night, I printed out the picture and hung it up over my bed.