See You Next Fall

"And now", the principal announced, "Please welcome your valedictorian, Zephyr Blake". As soon as she finished, she began clapping with all the teachers, students and parents immediately following in her footsteps. Turning to look at Zephyr, the principal gave him a nod, causing him to stand up and make his way to the podium.

[Flashback]

"And in this corner", Matt began, walking up the stairs as Desiree filmed him, "We have the genius, the prodigy, the man who finished first in his class, the legend who successfully broke the school record for the most full marks in his end of year exams. ZEPHYR BLAKE!".

"Urgh", Zephyr groaned, "Please stop embarrassing me".

"Oooooh", Matt whispered, looking at the camera, "It appears that the champion is nervous".

"I'm not nervous", Zephyr defended himself, "I'm just going to wing the speech and be done with it".

Waving his hand, Desiree quickly stopped recording. "Come on Zephyr. At least pretend for the camera".

"I'm not going to debase myself just for your sake", Zephyr argued, "And besides. We have to go to the Pritchett's in an hour. You should be getting ready".

"Stop being such a spoilsport", Matt muttered in frustration, "This is a momentous event. You should be happy and excited not boring, dull and dreary like you normally are".

"Okay. One. I find that offensive", Zephyr countered, "And two. I'm just graduating from middle school. In four years, I'll graduate from high school and three years after that, university".

"That's exactly my point", Matt dramatically said, hugging Zephyr, "You're growing up so quickly. It feels like it was just yesterday when you'd call Papa".

"Please don't remind me of that", Zephyr groaned in embarrassment, "Can you stop acting like a child? I'm sure that Alex's parents are handling it much better than you are".

[Dunphy Residence]

"And in this corner, finishing second in her class", Phil muttered into a hairbrush he was pretending was a microphone, "weighing in at, uh, how much do you weigh honey?"

"Dad!", Alex exclaimed.

"Weighing a healthy amount for a girl her age", Phil continued, ignoring the look of anger he was getting from Alex. "Are you getting this buddy?", Phil asked Luke who was recording the interaction.

"Pure gold", Luke said, smirking while nodding his head.

"She's the main brain, actually the second main brain. The cerebellum of the ball. ALEX DUNPHY!".

"Oh keep rolling. The news will eventually want this for when I eventually snap", Alex snarked.

"So Zephyr beat you huh?", Haley muttered, walking behind Alex.

"Of course he did", Alex answered, "Even after spending most of his time with those games of his".

"Oof", Haley murmured, "Must be a tough pill to swallow. Getting outdone by your boyfriend like that".

"Actually. I'm happy", Alex remarked, "Now I don't have to give the stupid commencement address and I beat Sanjay Patel".

Wrapping her arms around Alex, Claire whispered, "Honey. How about we go and get your nails done?".

"You know what?", Alex asked herself, "Why not? I don't have anything else to do today".

"Yay", Claire clapped, "Gloria, Desiree and I were planning on going but you'll make for a fun addition".

"Huh!", Haley screamed, "But I want to get my nails done as well".

"You can come as well then", Claire conceded, not wishing to ruin the mood.

"Oh yeah", Alex interrupted, "Haley, Zephyr's going to drive with us".

"That's cool", Haley waved her off, her attention on her phone.

[Time Skip]

"Bye!", Desiree cried, waving at Zephyr and Alex as Haley reversed out of their lawn.

Seeing this, Matt and Bella both hugged Desure with Matt wiping her tears with a tissue, "It's fine", Matt whispered into her ear.

As the car drove towards Palisades Middle School, silence enveloped the trio, until Alex broke it by asking, "Have you prepared your speech?"

"I guess", Zephyr shrugged, not too worried.

"You guess?", Haley asked, looking at him with the rearview mirror.

"I'm planning on winging most of it", Zephyr answered nonchalantly.

"What?!", Alex screamed, "You can not wing the graduation speech of all things".

"Why?", Zephyr questioned, "I'm going to have to give it in high school and university as well. What's the point of putting too much effort now when I'll have to do it again later".

"You're that certain that you're going to be valedictorian in high school and university?", Alex asked, shocked by the arrogance he displayed.

"I'm not arrogant", Zephyr said, as though reading Alex's mind, "I'm merely confident in my abilities".

Alex scoffed at his words, however, deep down, she knew he was right. Zephyr was a genius beyond normal human comprehension and the likelihood of him not being valedictorian was smaller than the likelihood of him being valedictorian. "At least put some effort into it", Alex muttered, "Not everyone's going to go to Palisades High School like we are".

"You're right", Zephyr agreed, "But everyone I care about is going to Palisades High School. You. Michael. Raul. Paolo. Most of the guys from the soccer team. Why would I care about the extras who are coming along for the ride?"

Haley sighed hearing this, "It pains me to agree with Alex, but she's right".

"Not you too", Zephyr complained.

"You're going to go high school now. You're transitioning from a child to an adult and things are going to get hard. At some point in high school, you're going to look back on the past. Do you want such an important memory to be stained by you giving a half-assed speech?", Haley eloquently voiced.

"What Haley said", Alex agreed, lost for words for once.

Zephyr sighed. Seeing their persistence, he decided to give up, "Sure".

"Good", Alex said, nodding her head.

[Time Skip]

"I am so proud to be standing in front of this group of extraordinary youngsters", the principal began, "Or should I say 'oldsters' now?". At her words, a negligible number of people laughed. "But seriously. The word 'commencement' means 'beginning'. And now. Please welcome your valedictorian, Zephyr Blake", the principal finished, beginning to clap with all the teachers, students and parents immediately following in her footsteps. Turning to look at Zephyr, the principal gave him a nod, causing him to stand up and make his way to the podium.

Tapping the microphone to make sure it was working, Zephyr began his speech. "To everyone who doesn't know, I'm Zephyr Blake. Despite my outstanding grades, all the teachers will tell you that my attitude towards lessons was poor. I slept in class, I didn't do the homework, and I ignored their attempts at helping me. So it won't be a surprise when I say that today, when I woke up, I didn't really care about this speech. I told myself, it's just middle school. It doesn't need to matter. But then, thanks to the persistence of someone very important to me, I realised the error in my judgement". At his words, a smile graced Alex's lips with an identical one forming on Matt, who believed that Zephyr referred to him. "The past three years have been a great experience and I hope that looking at where you are now and where you've been, you'll realise that you've all gotten a little taller, a little stronger and a little smarter ... I hope". At this, the audience chuckled. "Everyone has their own interests and faults. Whether you're popular, athletic, a drama geek, or even a nerd, we all have our insecurities. We're all on a journey to figure out who we are. Some of us may find out early on while some of us may be in our 40s and still be searching, cough cough, Michael, cough cough". Michael, who had been sitting, stood up but was immediately pulled down by Paolo, who shook his head. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, keep up the good work and never stop believing in yourself. Now, with the boring stuff over, let's get this party started!".

As soon as he finished his speech, Zephyr was met with a wave of applause from the students and a few seconds later, that audience gave him a standing ovation, which lasted for at least a few minutes.

As Zephyr walked down the stage, Alex stood up and rushed over to him, "You know. That was a pretty good speech".

"I know", Zephyr replied with a smile on his face, "I'm awesome at everything I do".

Rolling her eyes, Alex continued, "I couldn't help but notice that you didn't name the very important person. Any hints on who it is?"

A grin appeared on his face as Zephyr wrapped his arm around Alex's waist and pulled her close. Before she could realise what he was doing, Zephyr's lips were on hers. Although shocked for a second, Alex reacted in an instant and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulling him in even closer. Once they separated, their foreheads were touching with Zephyr gazing at Alex's eye, "Does that answer your question?". Instead of replying, she pulled him back in for another kiss.

"Argh!", Phil retched, "My eyes! I can't unsee that!".

Claire sighed but opted not to comment for once.

"Ay. That's so romantic Jay", Gloria whispered, hugging Jay's left arm.

"They're so cute", Desiree cooed.

"And I've got it all in HD", Matt muttered, zooming in with his camera.

"Oh My God!", Cam wiped a tear from his eye, "I can't believe he did that".

"I know right", Mitchell agreed, "He's so bold".

"He's growing up so quickly", Elena muttered, blowing into a tissue.

"There there", Nikos patted her. Then he turned to look at Melaina, grinning, "You need to hurry up, otherwise Zephyr's going to get married before you".

Melaina screamed, "I told you to stop bringing that up!".

"My heart can't handle this cuteness overload", Elena whimpered.

As the celebrations began, Zephyr and Alex made their way to their families. As soon as he got within 5 feet, Desiree rushed forward and gave him a bone-crushing hug, "That was a great speech".

"Your speech moved me", Cam added, patting his shoulder.

"I loved how you were honest about everything", Gloria continued.

"You did great kid", Nikos complimented, ruffling his hair.

"You were soo romantic", Elena dreamily said, "I got goosebumps".

"Urgh", Melaian groaned, "Stop embarrassing him".

"Hey!", Elena complained indignantly.

"I recorded everything kiddo", Matt stated, earning claps from Elena and Gloria.

"What do you say we all get something to eat?", Claire asked, releasing Alex from the hug she was giving her.

"No can do", Zephyr replied, grabbing Alex's hand and leading her away, "We have a party to attend to".

"We do?", Alex asked.

"Yep", Zephyr answered. "Now hurry up!", he exclaimed, pulling her away.

"Bye!", everyone shouted, looking at their retreating figures.