Chapter 113: Here’s To The Future

It started with the first student whom was called up.

As the young lady made her way up the stage and towards its center, she naturally exchanged handshakes with the superintendent and the school board president.

Then, upon moving over to Principal Walters who handed her diploma, his shook her hands firmly and congratulated her with a proud smile.

Par for the course, the principal had expected her to take her leave as he awaited the next student to be called up by Mrs. Delacroix.

Instead, he watched in puzzled curiosity as the lady pulled out a small medal from her pocket and nervously gestured for him to lower his head so she could award him as well.

Thinking it to be one of many graduate shenanigans he’d seen over the past decade as a principal, the man obliged without giving it much thought.

Nonetheless, a thin smile tugged on his lips as the lady in question lightly smiled and stepped down afterwards, a few chuckles mixed with applauds rippling through the venue at the interaction.

Then the next student came, and it was the repeat of the former interaction, the only difference being that the youth gave his Principal a military salute!

Yet again, a wave of applauds mixed with amused chuckled spread through the hall.

Then, the next student came and it happened again, the lady blowing him a kiss afterwards.

By now, everyone was starting to realize that the act was seemingly planned, their amusement jacking up as they anticipated the sort of greeting the next student would give the man.

True to that effect, the hall soon started to laugh as each student found one creative way or the other to greet their principal.

Walters himself was progressively finding himself smiling more and more, his amusement crystal.

Even then, he managed to keep himself from grinning and kept his professionalism, his neck decorated with medals in the low tens.

But when Benjamin walked up to the man, received his diploma and in turn gently pinned a medal to his chest this time whilst giving him the ’call me’ gesture with a wink, Walters actually lowered his head to hide his grin, his shoulders visibly shaking.

At the same time, the audience was completely losing it, their laughter boisterous as they applauded.

Theo came shortly after, the youth pinning a medal to his chest and grinning afterwards as he offered the man the man the slickest dab he could muster.

The principal found himself shaking his head in amused resignation. Clearly, the rambunctious clique he’d joined had been a rather interesting influence on him.

Casper followed minutes later, the youth doing a little spin and snapping his fingers at the man with a mischievous grin, his infectious energy cracking Walter’s professional façade.

This time, the principal didn’t bother hiding his grin as he simply bobbed his head softly in acceptance.

Just like that, the rest of the graduates continued with their shenanigans, the gang’s especially being the highlight thus far.

Clarissa happened to do more damage to the man’s walls as she cat-walked up onto the stage, politely received her diploma, then exaggeratedly flicked her hair with a magisterially sassy air.

Clyde crumbled it some more, whipping out his phone and taking a quick selfie with the man as he ticked a finger off his head afterwards in farewell whilst leaving.

At this point, the auditorium was simply waiting on the man to crack so they could have something to celebrate alongside the award ceremonies as well.

Soon enough...

"Aiden North," Mrs. Delacroix announced his name and the wave of applauds and cheers that followed happened to be the loudest thus far.

With steady, evenly-paced strides, each one carrying the full weight of his confidence behind it, the coal-haired youth soon found himself standing before Principal Walters.

"Congratulations, North. You’ve been a real trailblazer." the man awarded him the diploma with an even prouder smile, their shakes firm as the youth replied with a reserved smile;

"Thank you, Principal Walters."

Pinning his medal onto the man’s chest afterwards, one that now accounted for five of six, Aiden then leaned forward slightly, his hand doing a perfect rendition of the Don Corleone gesture.

This time, Walters actually let out the first genuine chuckle of the day, one that had Aiden inwardly remarking in triumphant satisfaction as the entire auditorium burst into a roar of applauds and cheers;

’Aha! There it is.’

Granted the acapella was all Casper’s idea... one that had actually being in the list he’d sent at the start of their senior year, the reverse award and unique greeting was all Aiden’s... all of which had stemmed from his curiosity to see the man’s professional façade crack.

With how many times he’d seen the man do that subtle smirk thing over the past nine months, there was some part of him that was rather inclined to push a bit further.

It just so happened that he managed to find the perfect opportunity, and the perfect prank to go with to satiate his own curiosity whilst equally giving everyone something fun to laugh about and remember for years to come.

In any case, it didn’t take long before Larry found himself standing before the man as well.

As he was the last student to be awarded, he made sure to round things up with a bang by whipping out and popping a confetti canon he’d managed to keep hidden inside his blazer with no prior telltale signs.

As it was also a streamer variant of the thing, he didn’t leave a single mess on the ground as the auditorium gave yet another fervent wave of cheers and applauds!

With the award session out of the way, Principal Walters gave his final remarks and without further ado, brought the ceremony to an end as the youths flipped their tassels from right to left to seal the deal.

Immediately after, everyone began to file out the hall, most graduates taking pictures with their peers, families, teachers, friends and well-wishers upon arriving at the lawns.

The gang was no different as they joined in the reverie, a palpable sense of triumph in the air.

Soon enough, their set soon began informing themselves of the joint graduation picture they were yet to take, one that was going to have them toss their mortarboards into the air in a show of jubilation.

Considering it was bound to take place on the football field, the gang happened to have headed there earlier than most.

Currently, they were all leaning on the sideline barricade whilst waiting for the rest of their set to arrive as they engaged in a conversation of their own, their gazes taking in the general ambience of chattering students scattered across its grounds.

"So, what now?" Aiden asked of his buddies, his smile relaxed, a sentiment they all equally shared.

Granted it was still a couple months away before they all headed to the same college, they were more than aware that they would have to go on their own respective journeys throughout their stay there nonetheless.

Which was why, even though they’d all had a vague idea of what they wanted, they hadn’t really discussed much on that front.

At the very moment though, they saw no reason not to... especially since the ambience felt perfect for a colloquy of such.

"I’ve been thinking of building a game engine..." Theo spoke first, then added with a soft bob of his head;

"Something similar to the Nimbus Engine... but lighter, more intuitive, allows for far more complexity, and can transition smoothly between building for mobile and PC."

Ever since the headache they’d had to go through to essentially reverse engineer the engine to work on PC--which they luckily didn’t have to for their recent game as they had that much more experience--the curly-haired youth had begun tinkering with the idea.

It was only in this moment though, that he’d finally decided that he would go for it.

"That’s definitely something to look forward to," Casper remarked in response to which everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Well then, we shall be watching your progress with great interest, Jedi Brooks." Aiden joked as he gently patted the youth on the shoulder, one that earned amused chuckles from the gang.

"I reckon I’ll be focusin’ on honin’ me craft... tryin’ to pen meself a best-sellin’ masterpiece, arrr!" Casper suddenly spread out his arms, busting out a pirate lingo with a theatrical flair that immediately had his buddies in stitches.

Grinning to himself in pride like the self-assured clown that he was, they all looked to him with genuine assurance in his skills, Aiden especially.

As for the trio who birthed Hi-Fi Radio...

"Well, we intend to keep the gig going. Keep it alive, keep it fresh... have myself a solo music career on the side if I can," Larry tilted his head in a relaxed yet cocky gesture to which Benjamin remarked;

"Well lucky me then ’cause I intend to startup a restaurant and a café just in case things go bust..."

"...or you know, Larry slimes us later on." he jokingly added as his head slightly bobbed from side to side.

"Phew~. It’s a good thing I intend to take my disc jockeying on the road then as well." Clyde casually chipped in, his tone amusedly thoughtful as he squinted whilst cleaning his glasses.

"Hey!" the slightly-lanky youth punched sideways with both hands, one landing on his chubby buddy’s shoulder, while the bespectacled youth evaded the assault with a slight tilt of his arm.

As the gang shared yet another hearty chuckle following that, everyone finally looked to the coal-haired youth whose goals had already crystallized a long time ago.

Nonetheless, he shared his plans more concretely.

"Granted I plan to establish a few ventures on the side, I very much intend to take Crashout Interactive, very, very far." he declared.

"And though, I understand we all have our individual goals and might have to part ways at some point, I’d really love for us to stick together for as long as we can," he then looked to all five briefly, a brotherly smile on his lips.

Reciprocating his gaze with a similar expression of their own, the gang simply nodded in the affirmative, their fists hitting their chests gently as a show of promise.

No sooner had they had that interaction, the rest of their peers arrived and without being told, they all made their way to the center of the field where everyone was gathering.

Upon arranging themselves, hired photographers alongside families, friends, teachers and well-wishers coming around to snap their group photo, they ensured they were ready.

Then, they counted down in sync, tossed their mortarboards into the air and chanted in unison like they’d planned weeks ahead;

"Here’s to the future...!"

The result, was the best graduating photo any set of Silverlake High had ever taken, every single face frozen in a moment of triumphant and hopeful optimism as they looked towards the future.

PS: Read notice below in Author’s Thoughts.