• In the end, I decided to wear a hunter green blouse and black dress pants. My school didn’t bother with robes, just caps, and I can’t say the royal blue went very well with my pathetic attempt at a nice outfit. Still, there I stood on the school steps, beside the fifty-two other members of the senior class. We stared out at the sea of umbrellas that made up our dearest family and friends. Luckily, the awning above the school entrance protected the rest of us from the rain I had predicted. None of us would look like we had just gone for a swim before our graduation pictures.

    After my dismal and completely uninspiring speech as valedictorian (though my mother did cry), the entire ceremony was a bit of a blur. There were claps on the back and handshakes from most of the staff, and the principal pulled my parents and myself aside to discuss my college options, I believe. My father did most of the talking, and my mother did all the enthusiastic nodding for me, so I was free to let my mind wander as I watched several maple leaves fall to the ground. I ate dinner inside with one of my friends, Sierra, and her grandmother. Eventually, the food was cleared and everyone else headed home. I decided to stay.

    My parents went home after I promised to follow in my dented, lightly rusted Beetle in a few minutes. I gave the hallways a once over, thinking that I would feel some kind of sorrow, or remember some funny occurrence that would make me miss the deserted halls of my high school. Instead, I felt nothing.

    I drove home, drenched but dry eyed.