Graduation Cap pt. 2

Who knew deciding what to wear for graduation would be do hard thought Katie. They walk over to Katie’s closet to look at her dresses. The air from the window blows the fabric of the dresses into one another, the colors blend in well as they are all light pastel colors. Jessica runs her hands through the dresses, examining them. She brings one out at a time and puts it up next to Katie to check.

“I think this pink one will look the best with the makeup look,” says Jessica.

Leave it to Jessica to be the fashionista if het friends.

Jessica turns around while Katie changes into a dress. The look is completed with a pair of wedges with low platforms for ease of walking.

“Wow, you look great,” says Jessica.

“All thanks to you,” says Katie as she stares into the full-length mirror. Her medium-length brown hair is all that is left to do. Katie sits down to braid her hair from a tutorial she saw the other day, while Jessica retouches her makeup.

Seven A M.

Jake knocks on the door.

“Come in!” says Katie.

“Hey, it's time to head out,” says Jake.

“We’re done, we’ll be out soon,” says Katie.

Jake closes the door. The girls put on their green graduation attire over their dresses. They head out of the house, where they are stopped by Jake.

“Mom wants a picture,” says Jake.

Mr. and Mrs. Heard posed with Jessica and Katie once and then with Katie in another photo. The flash of Jake’s camera is blinding as it reflects Katie's glasses.

“I think you girls should drive with Jake in his car,” says Mrs. Heard.

Everyone agrees and they pell out of the driveway. Katie sits in the back next to Jessica. The pop music from the radio station vibrates inside the car. The girls talk loudly to hear one another in their ears.

“I am nervous. Are you?” asks Katie.

“Oh, yep, a little,” says Jessica, leaning back to rest her head on the car seat.

Katie watches her town, Pinetown, roll on by as they head into the center of town toward the high school. Before they reach the high school building, the car makes a right toward the road down the line of trees. They head to the football stadium where the lights can be seen from a distance. The ceremony will take place there. As they near, Jake slows down to find them a parking spot. The girls exit the car looking for Gate A as instructed in their email.

“We’ll be headed now,” says Katie to Jake.

“Okay, see you later,” says Jake, waving as he heads to the main entrance.

Katie and Jessica follow the other students clad in green standing at Gate A. There is a buzz in the air of excitement. Through the cluster of students, a set of curls underneath a cap comes toward the two girls. It is Raul.

“Hey, I saw Jake’s car,” says Raul.

“Look at you, you have bionic eyes,” says Jessica.

“I guess his car is pretty bright,” says Katie, laughing.

While they stand there talking, the teachers come in with clipboards.

“Assemble into their last names as we had done EVERYONE,” says their teacher.

Katie’s stomach does a flip for nervousness; she has to sit next to Roy Heart. He is not a sweetheart by any means. Since they were in grade school, he had found a way to bother her peace. For example, in the fourth grade, he put gum in his hair! He gets in line behind her. Luckily, he seems happy to ignore her today.

“Let’s go!” says the teacher.

The ceremony begins. They walked across the field in single file. Katie’s wedges sink a few millimeters into the soft earth. As the students sit in the sets assigned to them in the field, Katie looks for her parents in the bleachers. She spots them sitting with Jessica’s parents near the top bleacher. At the top of the bleachers, the sky looks very bleak with a dark hint of gray clouds. Katie hopes the ceremony ends soon, so they will not get soaked with rain.

“Katie Heard…” says the teacher, begging to hand out the diplomas.

Katie stands in line as her row is called up to the makeshift stage. As her name is called, she moves up to the step, a foot catches on hers from behind. Almost causing her to fall. Her cheeks flushed into dark pink. Darn that Roy, she thinks as she composes herself. She grabs her diploma and shakes the hand of her principal, teacher, and the mayor.

Katie goes to sit down in her assigned seat. She watches as the rest of her class get their diplomas. Jessica and Raul are near the end of the line of the class. She steals a glance at Roy for any hint of remorse for tripping her, but he doesn’t look at her.

All the students in green are seated in their seats. They look like spring buds on rows of vines. Katie notices the clouds overhead have turned a charcoal color as they move very fast in a rolling way. She watches the clouds lost in thought as the last speaker gives the motivational speech. Katie looked at her phone to check the weather, but it might be rude. She feels the weight of her cell phone in her hand as it feels hot for her. The thought of checking the weather weighs heavy in the back of her mind.

The speaker, the mayor, came to tell the students to move forward. Some of the students throw their caps in the air. The first green flecks in the sky move down toward the sky. Before they hit the ground, the surroundings go dark like night. Katie is looking at the sky when the clouds make a very fast movement, and they go dark. The space around is plunged into darkness.