A Moment Of Silence ✓

Chapter 33: In Conclusion

"So, what happened to everyone?" Emma asked David.

"Well, Gold is in jail for life, Brennan and Sidney are in jail for a year, Milah, Graham, and Neal had to pay a fine," David explained. Emma had told him she didn't want anyone in her class to have to serve time.

"Okay," Emma nodded. "So it's finally over?"

David nodded and smiled. "It's over."

"Good," Emma said.

"It's not the time to be talking about this. Shouldn't Killian be coming over soon?" Mary Margaret asked, coming out from the kitchen area.

"Oh, yeah," Emma smiled. Today happened to be a very special day.

Graduation day.

The doorbell rang. "I think that's him," Emma said. She opened the door and revealed a dressed up Killian Jones. He had a blue gown on and a decorated graduation cap.

"Hey graduate," he said.

"Not yet," she pointed out. "How are you already dressed? Why? The ceremony doesn't start for hours."

"Oh, my mom wanted to get pictures and everything before I came over," Killain explained.

"You could have just changed though. Wait, you like wearing that, don't you?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, you caught me. It's so exciting," Killian smiled.

"Let me see your cap!" Emma said. The students all personally decorated theirs.

Killian took it off and showed it to her.

It had a painting of a house with balloons attached to it. In neat, calligraphy handwriting was written, Adventure is out there.

"Aw, it's so cute! I love it," Emma smiled. "Did you draw that yourself?"

"Yeah," Killian said.

"I didn't know you could draw! That's so good!"

"It's okay," Killian said, blushing a little.

"Is there anything you can't do?" Emma asked. "Seriously, you're perfect."

Killian shrugged. "Anyways. Can I see yours?"

"Sure. Let me go get it," she said. She came back downstairs with her cap.

It had pictures of her and Ruby, and her and Killian printed on it. In the blank spots near the top and bottom she wrote, How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye to so hard.

"Aw Swan, this is so sweet," he smiled. "I mean good thing we're going to the same college though."

"Exactly," she smiled.
-❀-
Emma was very stressed. She was sitting on the stage in her seat. So many bad things could happen. She could trip, she could fall, she could tumble right off the stage. The worst part was she couldn't even use Killian's hand as a stress ball right now because they were in alphabetical order. She was eight whole letters away from him.

If she did try to use someone's hand as a stress ball she'd just be squeezing a stranger's hand. She didn't think they'd appreciate that very much.

This was bad.

She had to stop thinking about it though, because Killian was going to give his speech soon. The salutatorian had just finished her speech. Killian was the grade's valedictorian; he was the top of his class. He was going to give a speech.

"Good afternoon everyone," Killian said, starting his speech. Emma could tell he was nervous. She could see him subtly bouncing on his feet behind the podium.

"I couldn't think of a good topic to write this speech on. Usually, assignments are easier than this for me. You could probably tell, seeming as though I'm giving this speech. This one was more than an assignment, though. It was a farewell and send-off to my fellow classmates. I decided maybe I didn't need a theme or message to focus on. So, I simply started to write. I started to reflect on what happened throughout high school.

I was never really much of a talker when I was younger. I had a reserved seat on the stairs to eat lunch. Don't worry, it wasn't because people were bullying me or didn't invite me to sit with them. I just wanted to be alone.

That changed, though, when a certain someone came up to me. She started talking to me everyday for the first few minutes of lunch. Her name is Emma Swan. You know her as the girl who went missing in her sophmore year. I know her as my best friend.

Now, here we are, four years later. Luckily I now get to call her my girlfriend. I was changed this past year by her. I've started talking to people and I've started to grow. That's the point of high school, right? To grow up and be prepared for college.

I truly hope everyone feels prepared for what's ahead. I hope high school and their experiences have granted them confidence moving forward. We can never really be prepared, can we? Things happen. Life is unpredictable.

I learned you can't control what happens. You can't control what other people do. You can control what you do. You can also control who you can keep around in your life, which I think is the greatest gift.

You can choose who you surround yourself with. If you're lucky, they are brilliant people who help you through unpredictable times and are with you to make them good. We are changed by the people who surround us, which is why it's important to choose good people.

So, as we leave what was our safe haven and enter the real world, I wish everyone the best of luck. High school has kept us safe and secure. We were protected from the dangers of the outside world, even if we felt stressed all week. We didn't have to pay taxes or worry about bills. We didn't have to pay rent or deal with bosses or co-workers. We now face real people and real problems. We won't live in a small, routine community. Now we create our own lives. It's time to be grown up and make our own choices. We need to learn from the people we have met and move on, keeping the best parts with us.

In conclusion, my classmates, good luck. Make good choices, choose good people. Take these valuable lessons with you, and if you're lucky, take your lifelong friends along too. I'm going to miss being here with all of you, and I wish you the best in life. Thank you."

Everyone clapped as Killian finished. He turned around and sat back down. I looked over and smiled at him.

Emma waited a long time before her name was called.

"Emma Swan," the vice principal, Mrs. Mills, announced. Mary Margaret handed Emma her diploma. Emma couldn't stop smiling. She did it. She made it.
-❀-
The next day Emma had a graduation party. A lot of family friends came. Emma only invited Ruby and Killian.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it!" Ruby practically screamed. "We're grown ups now."

"Yeah I guess," Emma said. She still couldn't believe she was finished with high school.

"Hey, Swan, come here. I want to show you something," Killian said. They had rented out a venue, which had a garden in the backyard.
Killian pulled out a ring from his back pocket.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah," Emma started.

"Calm down, Swan. I'm not proposing," Killian said, smirking. Yet, he added to himself. "It's a promise ring. I promise to love you forever because how could I not? I can't promise nothing bad is going to happen but I can promise I'm always going to be here for you."

"Promise?" Emma smiled, letting him put the ring on her finger.

"Promise."
-❀-
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!

Just to clear things up Belle had nothing to do with it, David was just scrambling for answers last chapter.

Love you all!