Chaos | A Ninjago High School AU

Epilogue

*8 months later*

Jay's POV

I walk up to the stage past the entire senior class and most of their families. The sun is blaring down on all of us, a majority of people sweating. Everyone is tightly packed together, and it looks like the crowd goes on forever.

I reach the podium before clearing my throat and adjusting the mic to my height. "Parents, teachers, administrators, and students, I'd like to thank you for coming to this year's graduation! Our class has worked very hard to get here, and it deserves a celebration.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow once said, 'One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.' All of us have been terrified to do something throughout high school. We've been scared to walk into class after forgetting about that paper, scared to ask the girl out, scared to let go of something.

I had an intense fear of public speaking and terrible anxiety when this school year started. I couldn't even read off a notecard in front of ten people without freaking out and shutting down. However, I took a risk and became the ASB president knowing I'd have to do many, many speeches. It wasn't easy, but I did it, and now I'm able to do what I never thought possible.

Every single student in this class grew, and our class as a whole grew together. We all took risks along the way, but we made it. We made it through the hard times, the impossible times. They pushed us to become better. They pushed us to grow.

High school pushed us all to become better people. Our fights with friends taught us how to handle people. We found our places in life, our callings, and we're going to follow them.

After today, many of us will never see each other again, and that's okay. We're going to go to college, start our careers, start our families, whatever our hearts desire, but in the end we'll always have this shared experience with hundreds of other people. We'll always share this crazy high school experience. It was filled with chaos at times, but it payed off. We had the time of our lives. We had fun. We fell in love. The chaos was worth the end result.

At the homecoming rally, I asked us to unite and be kinder, and we achieved that. Everywhere I looked, people were smiling and having the time of their lives. Everyone looked so much happier. We grew, and I couldn't be more proud of us.

We need to keep this positivity going. The power of positive thinking is one of the strongest things out there, and if we take it with us past high school, we'll be unstoppable. Nothing will be able to beat us. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of the ceremony."

I feel a surge of energy when I finish talking. The crowd erupts in cheers. I don't rush off like I would've when I this year. Now, I take in a deep breath, looking out at the crowd of people and smile.

---

"Hey Motormouth," while I'm looking for my parents, Kai sneaks up on me, sliding into step next to me. "That was a nice speech you gave."

"Thanks. I was going to make it longer, but I decided that would bore people, which I really didn't want," I elaborate. He nods as the two of us make our way through the crowd.

Ever since Nya and Kai rekindled, Kai has been a lot nicer to me. He's not a bad guy when he's not calling you an off brand version of his best friend. Now, Kai and I are actually friends. However, if I hurt Nya he still wouldn't hesitate to hurt me.

"I was partially expecting a repeat of your speech from the first day of school. You talked for all of what...10 seconds?"

"Hey, in my defense, that was my first time talking in front of a large crowd," I shrug.