Guns For Hands

Graduation

The day has come, we struggled through the last week of high school, attendance was rough, but we some how all made it. We passed our exams, finished out last papers, and said goodbye to our teachers and class mates. Josh, Jenna, and I stared at the building we were about to enter.

"This is it." Josh said as we looked in the tall building.

"We are done." Jenna added.

"But never finished." I kissed her head. We all grabbed hands and walked hesitantly into the building. We broke up in to our rows, Jenna with the B's, Josh with the D's, and myself with the J's. There weren't a ton of graduates, but enough to make the room rather crowded.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." Our principal started. I zoned out soon after she began talking. I didn't have much of a plan, I was going to go to community college, so was Josh and Jenna for now. We were going to get our general education credits and Josh and I were going to work on music while we decided what we where actually going to do with our lives. All of the seniors gave speeches at our graduation, it made it take a little longer, but it was nice see what everyone had to say. Most kids got up there, thanked everyone and went back to take their seats. Some, like me, however; took time to write a nice speech. I heard Jenna's name get called, my gorgeous girl walked up there, hair curled and bouncing with every step, a bright smile was plastered on her face. She thanked her teachers, her friends, and her family then walked off stage. I was proud of her for saying that much, I know her anxiety gets the best of her a lot, I could see the fear in her eyes even though she was smiling, but she did great. A little while later Josh's name got called, he, like Jenna, thanked his teachers and friends then walked off stage. After what felt like forever I heard Luke's name get called, then a girl named Carly, then Freddy, and so on. Finally I heard it, "Tyler Joseph." For someone with horrible anxiety, speaking in front of crowds didn't phase me.

I walked up to the stage, and shook hands with my principal as he handed me my diploma. I walked over to the microphone, our speeches where to be no longer than five minutes so as soon as I could, I began, "Hello fellow seniors, I'm going to say what I need to in a short and simple manor."

"Dork!" I heard Luke yell from the crowd.

"Haha, funny you should say that," I gained confidence with every word, "guys, being mean will get you no where in life. In the real world you can't bully people into doing things for you, you will get zero respect for that. Don't do anything you don't want to do, what I mean by that is don't let anyone tell you what to do or what your dreams should be, don't let anyone discourage you from following your dreams either. Do what makes you happy. Never give up on something you want, never give up on anything or anyone. Remember to forgive, but never forget. Forgetting will only lead to you getting hurt again by the same person, if five years from now Jimmy cheats on you, forgive him, but don't forget it because if you do, you'll end up going back to him and you'll repeat the same cycle. Don't back down, stand up for what you believe. Don't let the fear of unhappiness cripple your pursuit of what it is that you believe. Even if that means going against the crowd. Never stop creating, don't try to be someone else, you can be inspired by other people, but don't try to be them. If everyone was the same, where would the creativity come from? It would be boring, and nobody likes boring. Stay street, and stay alive." I through up a peace symbol as the crowd cheered for me, quickly I leaned back over to the microphone, "Oh, and one more thing, if you don't vote, you can't complain about who wins." I earned laughter and more cheering from the crowd. I found my seat and waited for what seemed like hours in the hard back chairs, finally the ceremony was over so I met up with Josh, Jenna was talking to her family.

"We did it." Josh smiled at me.

"Yes, we did." I smiled back. Soon Jenna joined us.

"Hey, sweet." She gave me a small kiss, "You did great on your speech."