Chapter 90

Again, I don't own any of these characters

All the families and friends took their places in their seats, and numerous had camcorders out to tape the ceremony. As they sat there, the crowd was murmuring waiting for the ceremony to begin.

In the small ballroom, everyone was double checking that they looked alright and to make sure all of their tassels were on the right. Finally, it was time to line up. Everyone was in two lines side by side except for Bailey, Cody and Reina who were in line behind the faculty. Finally, Tut gave them their "pregame speech."

"Alright, this is the moment you've all been waiting for. When the music starts playing, begin to walk towards the ballroom like we practiced. And stay seated until Moseby tells you to sit down."

And with that, Tut gives the organist the signal. Pomp and Circumstance begins to fill the grand ballroom and the graduates begin to march in. As the music plays and and the rows begin to fill in with the graduates, the faculty begins to walk in to take their places on the stage with Bailey, Cody and Reina following them.

After everyone is standing in front of their chairs, Mr. Moseby moves to the podium.

"You all may be seated." Everyone sits down.

"I would like to welcome everyone to the commencement for the 2011 graduating class of Seven Seas High. In case you don't know me, I am Marion Moseby, the manager of the S.S. Tipton and on board administrator for Seven Seas High. At this moment, I would like to turn things over to Miss Emma Tutweiler, one of our most respected teachers and the school principal."

Moseby takes a seat and Emma walks up to the podium.

"Welcome everyone. It has been my pleasure to have been around this group of graduates. They have certainly made my life interesting and left me with many memories that I will never forget. All of the family and friends in attendance should be very proud of all of these students. They've worked really hard, and their futures are very bright. I know, personally, I will miss each and everyone of them. Now, let's move on with our program. First, I would like everyone to welcome our class Salutatorian, Reina James."

The crowd applauds as Reina takes the stage.

"Fellow graduates, we are on the precipice of our futures. After today, we all move on away from Seven Seas High as we say our final goodbyes. Its time for us to head into the future and make our impact on this world. Personally, I take that as a challenge and hope everyone else does as well. I'm ready to accept my destiny and follow my life's path. I hope everyone else is as well. We are ready. I know I stand here today in second place. But I take this as a challenge to never let that happen again. And I hope you all take it upon yourselves as a challenge as well. Be the best that you can. Show the world that Seven Seas High is the home of winners! Thank you..." And with that, Reina sits down.

Emma returns to the podium and Reina gets a polite applause from the audience. "Okay...Well, next, a select member of our junior class chorus will be singing the Seven Seas High school song.

A group of about twelve students gets up and serenades the graduates and the guests with a rendition of the school song. Sitting in his chair, Zack mumbles to himself that they maybe should have written a new school song after all. After they finish, they are applauded as well.

Emma takes the stage again. "Alright, the Class of 2011 has a senior class gift they want to present..." She walks over to an easel covered with a sheet over top of it. She lifts the sheet over it and everyone sees a picture of the mural painted on the wall of the skydeck with everyone's signatures underneath it. Emma immediately turns to Moseby who just shrugs. "Thank you, Class of 2011!"

Emma yet again returns to the podium. "Okay, this year we have something a little different. We had two students tie for the highest grade point average in the class. Normally, we would have two different valedictorian speeches, but these two have decided to make a joint speech. Of course, this should come as no surprise to anyone who knows these two. So, please welcome our valedictorians, Bailey Pickett and Cody Martin." Everyone applauds, with several of the more enthusiastic ones coming from their families.

Bailey begins. "Distinguished faculty, families, friends, and fellow graduates, today is a day we have all looked forward to for quite a long time."

Cody continues. "We think it appropriate to begin with the words of someone that all of us have no doubt learned quite a bit from. Dr. Seuss tells us 'You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go'..."

"And he was right. We have all been given what we need to go out into the world and decide which directions we will go. Some of us are off to continue our educations. Some of us are off to join the military. Some of us are off to join the real world. And some of us are still trying to figure out which direction we want to go next..."

"But he was wrong in one aspect. We aren't on our own. No matter which direction we go, we all know that we aren't on this journey by ourselves. When we were younger, it was our families who were there to support us and they still are. And as we got older, our friends joined that support system as well. So, no matter which direction we go in life, we know they are always there right behind us..."

"Our families are the ones who instilled in us all those basic values that are we hold so dear today. They are the ones who taught us the most basic of things that we unfortunately may take for granted. They were the ones to set a good example and hoped we listened to them enough. Well, we all sit here hoping we heard what you were trying to tell us. We've tried to live by your words and examples, and in doing so, we hope we have made you proud..."

"Our friends are the ones we count on to pick us up when we are down, and we in turn will be there to catch them. They are the ones who will come to your aid in a time of need and willing to go along with our crazy ideas no matter how stupid or silly it makes them look. They are the ones you cram with at all hours of the morning, and the ones you want to celebrate with after a job well done. They are the ones we want to sit back with in fifty years and laugh about all the good times we've had no matter how crazy and absurd they seem at the time..."

"Cody and I consider ourselves very fortunate. We happen to think we have the best friends in the world. We hope they know just how much they mean to us, and we can't imagine our lives without them. Without each and everyone of them, these past few years wouldn't have been the same. And these are all memories we wouldn't trade for anything..."

"Seven Seas High will mean different things to different people. To some of us, its getting a top notch education and an educational experience unmatched by any other school. To others of us, its finding those relationships that will continue for the rest of our lives. And to some of us..." He turns to Bailey and smiles. "Its finding our futures..."

Bailey smiled back. "When we leave her today, we will all be going our different directions, but we are all leaving from the same staring point..."

"In the future, I hope we can all find our ways back again some day..."

"So, in farewell to the Class of 2011, go out and make the world a better place. Take life by the horns and hold on for the ride. Just make sure you enjoy that ride though. Life is a journey, but don't forget to enjoy the trip. Shoot for the stars. Don't be afraid to take risks. Do what will make you happy. But just know, we are all forever bound together in our allegiance to Seven Seas High. We are the Class of 2011."

"So, Class of 2011, We refuse to say goodbye though. We know we will see you all again someday. And we look forward to hearing about all of your successes and achievements and other thing in which you take great pride. So, no, we won't say goodbye. Instead, we say 'Until we meet again'..."

Cody and Bailey return to their seats as everyone stands up and applauds. Reina rolls her eyes.

Tut returns to the podium. "Its time for what everyone has been waiting for...the presentation of diplomas. Graduates, please rise."

Tut proceeded to call their names as Moseby shook everyone's hand and handed them a representation of their diplomas. Eventually, all of the graduates heard their names called.

"Woody Fink." Woody walked along the stage and gave Moseby a pat on the back.

"Marcus Little." Marcus fist pumped Moseby instead.

"Cody Martin." Cody walked over and instead of shaking Moseby's hand gave him a hug.

"Zack Martin." This time, it was Moseby who hugged Zack. While in the hug, Zack slipped a list of all "unsolved" pranks over the years into Moseby's pocket.

"Cassie Patterson." Moseby hugged her too and whispered to her to take care of Zack.

"Bailey Pickett." Bailey hugged Moseby too and he again told her to take care of Cody.

"Addison Reynolds." Addison crossed the stage trying to keep from crying.

"London Tipton." London crossed the stage and Moseby pulled her into a tight embrace telling her how proud of her he was.

Once the last student had received their diplomas, Moseby moved to the podium again.

"Okay, confession time. Several of these young men and women here are more than just students to me. Some of them are the children I've never had. I will miss them all very much and hope they will come back and see me from time to time. I am extremely proud of them all and can't wait to see what they will accomplish." Moseby gathers himself. "Class of 2011, please rise."

The graduates all stand up.

"Please take your tassels and move them from the right side to the left."

Everyone does so.

"Congratulations, you are now all officially graduates of Seven Seas High! Good luck to you all!"

And with that, everyone throws their caps into the air and celebrates.

The End

Author's Note: There will be three Summer Shorts, one covering June, one for July and one for August. They are already written. I hope everyone enjoyed the story. I'm just wondering how many ideas I have left in my head now.