Beverly Hills: Season 4

Season 4, Episode 20: I Hope You had the Time of Your Life

~~~(Chasing Cars by Bely Basarte)~~~
   Israel and Rhyannon stand side by side in their bathroom mirror together. Both of them are wearing the forest green cap and gown for the graduation ceremony being held tonight at the school. It hasn't really hit Israel until now that he will be walking into Seaview the last time today and then walking out without having to return. It's almost sad, in a way. A lot of stuff went down in that school.
   "You look so bad in a cap and gown." Rhyannon tells his brother, looking somewhat nervous.
   "Yeah, well you look worse." Israel shoots back.
   "Green isn't my color." Rhyannon adjusts his hair under his cap, the blue tassel swinging back and forth.
   "Graduating wasn't mine." Israel laughs at himself as he adjusts his own cap.
   "At least we made it out alive." Rhyannon turns this way and that to look at himself in the mirror.
   "Hey, we haven't walked across that stage yet." Israel points out, drawing in a breath as he thinks about him and his brother walking across the stage to receive their diplomas. It kind of sets him on edge. "Don't get too comfortable."
   "I learned not to do that ages ago." Rhyannon lets out a laugh just before Mrs. Sepulveda walks into the bathroom, dressed for work.
   "Oh shit." Mrs. Sepulveda puts a hand on her chest as she stares at her sons. From the look on her face, Israel can tell she's about to cry at any second here. "I told myself that I wouldn't shed a single tear after seeing you guys wearing these costumes."
   "Costumes?" Rhyannon lets out another laugh. "I like it."
   "I know that you might not think your dad would have been proud but he would've been, I know it." Mrs. Sepulveda steps between them and wraps an arm around each of them to pull them closer to her. "Okay?"
   Israel and his brother both shake their heads. Israel doesn't mind that his dad isn't here to see him graduate high school. He won't be sad when his dad isn't there to see him get married or see when his daughter is born. Mr. Sepulveda doesn't deserve it. Israel holds his chin high in the air, looking at himself in the mirror again proudly. He's graduating tonight.

   "We're the new generation, we're the future, we're the world." Kai reads off the twelfth piece of paper he had used to write his valedictorian speech down on as he glances up from his paper at Emlyn in his bedroom. Being picked at his class's valedictorian wasn't a surprise at all. Kai was expecting it. It's only been his dream since giving his sixth grade graduation speech to his class back then too. "What do you think? I don't like it. People will think it's dumb and they'll look at me like I'm a joke and-"
   "It's good." Emlyn interrupts, folding a pair of Kai's pants. Emlyn has offered to help Kai pack for New York so that he can kind of cope with his boyfriend leaving him for the other side of the country. He's so cute in that way. "If it comes from your heart, you're good."
   "Okay." Kai exhales, feeling a little bit of stress coming off of him. He's been making changes to this speech for days now but he's still worried that it's not good enough for people to actually enjoy. All of his peers will be looking up at him on stage to hear him speak. It's a little nerve wracking but Kai has been through worse. He can do this.
   "I can't believe my dude is graduating high school today." Emlyn puts the pair of pants he's folding into the suitcase that waits to be filled on the bed. "And then he leaves the next morning."
   Kai heavily sighs as he gets up off his bed for one of the last times. He really doesn't want to leave Beverly Hills so soon but his adviser told him that he should probably move in as soon as possible to get to know his roommate and get a feel for the campus before it's time to actually start classes in the fall. Kai reluctantly agreed, knowing that he'll hate leaving everyone so soon after graduation. "I'm sorry."
   "Hey, no apologies." Emlyn taps his nose with his finger before pulling him close with a weak smile. "I'm happy to watch you chase what you want. It makes me excited for you."
   "Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve you." Kai holds Emlyn at his sides. "I love you, Emlyn Crawford."
   "I love you too, Kai Evans." Emlyn nearly whispers as he leans in and kisses Kai's lips. Kai kisses him back, not wanting to stop. Who knows when the next time they'll be standing in his room doing this?