Hammel Graduation Ceremony, 2014

[Event !]

Last year's commencement had been a smaller, more intimate affair, due to the fluctuation in class size at Hammel. This year, unlike the year before it but more like the year before that, saw a relatively large graduating class. Moreover, some of the more notorious students were graduating, much to the collective relief of Hammel staff. This included Sam Rixon (finally!).

Immediately following the graduation ceremony was the beginning of Hammel's summer break. Current students would have a respite before the next term began, while the graduating seniors would join the ranks of those with high school diplomas. Some would attend college in the fall, while others would enter the work force, and others would try to find themselves.

The Headmistress sat on the stage, watching as the students, their friends and families, and the faculty filed into the auditorium. This was a momentous occasion, and she hoped that all of the students would cherish these memories.

((This thread is now open to all students, staff, family, and friends of graduates. I will post Yvette's speech on Jun. 27. For now, feel free to send your characters into the ceremony and post about their impressions!

If you still want to make your character graduate but didn't sign up, post in this thread.))

[Aryana Darcy]

Five years. Five long years of frustrating classes, teachers, students... But all during that she had always felt like she had a home. A home with the alternating roommates, and yes, that included the little asshole that was Oriel Vanguard. She always had a way to get away when irritated, when on the verge of hitting someone, or just simply to get away. There was always something to do in the school, recreationally or otherwise. So to say she wouldn't miss this, well, that was a lie.

But as she sat in the auditorium with a typical graduation cap and gown, the reality sank in that she would no longer be waking up in her dorm to the smell of Oriel's cookies, or get to bash him every waking moment for no apparent reason. It was almost, though she never would admit it, like she was going to lose a little brother. It was an odd feeling, truly it was, but she was also surging with pride. She made it. She did it herself.

Aryana Darcy was graduating Highschool, and her mum stood on the sidelines with tears in her eyes, most likely. It was a shock to see the woman she hadn't really had anything but phone contact with for the longest time. She looked good, really good. So good, in fact, she looked more like a sister than a mother. It was nice seeing the woman smiling, happy on her own and glad to see her baby graduating. She would have to treat her to a nice dinner somewhere in Burlington, though she'd probably insist on paying. Knowing her mum, she probably was going to go on at how small, odd, and green the bills were, and how she was still confused by the fact that they used bills for a single dollar. Rya smiled to herself, looking down as the rest of the crowd began to pile in.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

This was it. The amount that Gryph had been thinking about it, it really shouldn't have felt like some weird surprise, but it really did feel like it'd snuck up on him. He knew what it meant, what would happen. He wouldn't be walking around this ridiculous school any more, with these weird, amazing people.

He was feeling a lot of things at once, and this made him increasingly quiet - where he might usually be talking with those who were already around him, making friendly conversation - or even better, talking to one of his actual friends, Gryphon sat in his seat, fiddling with the robe he had on, which felt stupidly awkward. He was proud. Of course he was - he was proud of himself for actually getting the right grades and being able to graduate, and not doing completely crap in the process. He was... confused. The idea of not being in this place any more was too foreign to make much sense. He was glad not to be leaving the area, but... it still wouldn't be the same. He was also really quite happy. Fiona had been able to travel out all the way from Seattle to come and be there for him. He looked up and scanned the sidelines for her. She might not've been his actual mom, but she sure felt like it to him.

Jeez, that sounded cliché.

He also tried to single out anyone else he might know, but there were a lot of faces and not a lot of recognition. Gryph sighed quietly and went back to picking at his robe. He could hear people talking, coming in, sitting down, doing whatever else. He just glanced up at the stage and the people on it, before looking down again and thinking about the number of times he'd danced up there. Man, this was so strange.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope had been ready to graduate high school since she was fourteen. And today she was finally was able to do so…in a sense. She never thought she’d stay at Hammel after graduating academically, but because of her psychometry, the Brit was set to stay. Even more so, Penelope never thought she’d be thankful for that fact.

For once, she wanted to stay.

Still, she was thankful to be graduating, even if she wasn’t fully leaving. As usually, the Brit was early. Much earlier than needed. Despite how hard it was to leave her still mostly asleep counterpart alone in bed, Penny had stirred her enough to make it known that she had to leave. Was she expecting the Australian to show up? Of course not. Lucy hardly made it to class, let alone school functions.

When she entered the auditorium, she found her seat with ease. Alphabetical order, although traditionally she should have sat in the front. Valedictorian. Regardless of Hammel’s pathetic excuse for a grading system, Penelope knew she had the highest GPA, if that sort of thing counted in such a school. Adjusting the graduation cap on her head, she sat. Back straight, legs crossed, and hands folded together. A typical Penelope Blaise pose.

It was only a matter of waiting now.

[Carter Chevalier]

Graduation, for Carter Chevalier, was bitter sweet. As much as he truly did enjoy his time in these halls, he was glad to be leaving. It really was time to move on from this place. For the most part. Things were still difficult, especially when it came to Dom's future, but he was trying to remain as optimistic as possible

As he glanced out amongst the crowd, he caught sight of an incredibly familiar set of faces. Blonde. Blue eyes. A Chevalier father, and indeed his twin. Had he paid more attention, he likely would have found his mother sitting on the other side of the auditorium with her husband in tow. Possibly, anyway. But he didn't look. Truthfully, he told them all evenly that it wasn't worth the trip. Graduation in Carter's eyes was nothing worth celebrating - it was simply a thing that happened. A few years late, but still nonetheless it happened.

He didn't search long enough to find if Dom had made it in the room yet. Rather, with a quick glance Carter found his attention had settled on Rya. If nothing else, he was glad to knew she was graduating with him.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

Monroe heard plenty of voices around him. 'I can't believe we're finally leaving Hammel' was often said and it reflected exactly how he felt. He couldn't believe he was leaving Hammel, even if he wasn't completely leaving Hammel. Part of him wondered why he was even allowed to graduate at all. His grades were mediocre, not something his mother would be incredibly proud of, but he'd survived academically. More so than socially anyway. He needed to continue his training though. He'd had several trainers, all who had mental powers, but were not able to fully help him with his ability. It wasn't their fault. Monroe knew dreamwalking was complicated and different for every person who had the power. He just wished there was someone else who specialized in it who could really help him out. He knew that he needed it. He felt so lost and so completely sleep deprived. Really, it was a day like any other day since he manifested, except he was wearing a cap and gown, which weren't his first choice, nor did he understand the tradition. But he was still wearing his combat boots, which could be seen, peeking out from underneath his gown.

It dawned on him, as he looked around, that he really didn't know anybody he was graduating with...that they were all just blurs of faces he'd seen on another sleep deprived day fueled by coffee, and that kind of bothered him, although he didn't let it show.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

There were a lot of people graduating Hammel this year. A lot of people Lucy had built some form of a connection with. There was Carter; despite the fact that she honestly wanted to kick him in the junk every time she saw him, she knew he was important in his own way. There was Monroe, who managed to get her talking even if she never really thought she'd be comfortable opening up to anyone. There was Rya, a recent, slightly tatted up addition to the Serrano ranks of friendships by pure chance.

And there was Penelope Blaise. Who was, in a word, everything.

She'd left Lucy early that morning, and the Australian had been half asleep when she'd done so. Truthfully, it was easier to sleep than it was to try and face the inevitable departure of her counterpart. It wouldn't be so easy to find her now. She couldn't just walk down the hall every second night at a generalised time. She couldn't look up at her own door at the exact right time and find her waiting on the other side with a regulated knock. She simply couldn't.

When Penny was well and truly gone, difficult as it was to let her go, Lucy had decided to get up and get moving. If nothing else, she had to do something to prove she could handle the change. That she was a little glad Penny was graduating, even if she really, selfishly wasn't.

On her white washed dorm room wall was a set of giant, forest green letters. At first Lucy was sure she shouldn't drop a swear against the wall. But what did it matter? Penny would only see it a handful of times before she left the room for good.

So there, on the wall in giant letters read the phrase; "Fucking Aye, you Graduated!"

Which of course, made her late for the thing she wasn't even sure Penny knew she was going to. Lucy took a little solace in the fact that her two best friends weren't graduating. It sucked for Sawyer and more for Rowan that this was how things had played out, but here she was. Selfishly glad. For them to still be stuck with her. And for one other thing.

As Lucy slipped into the auditorium just as things were settling and people were quietening down, she found a seat towards the back. Next to none other than Dominique Chevalier.

Her one other thing.

She looked at him once, her eyes taking in his features as she always did. She couldn't fault the way she looked at him; the way her gaze travelled over the line of his jaw. The hardened quality of his eyes. Something wasn't right with him. But then, nothing seemed right with him lately. It didn't take a genius to figure out what. Her mind shifted to that strange settlement between them the night she found him drunk. The night he admitted his failure. And she, finally, admitted her own. That she failed, too. That they had each other. That they were both inevitable losers. Useless in their own way.

Turning her attention out again, Lucy scanned the set of graduating individuals, allowing it to settle on the familiar faces she was losing. Until she caught sight of her British counterpart, and the corner of her mouth pulled into a smile. She could be pissed that she was graduating, yes. But she couldn't help the way she looked at her.

[Avinea Jale]

Finally.

It was finally graduation day a year after she was supposed to. Avi was excited as she sat there in the auditorium. She was more than happy to be leaving because she had realized over the past few weeks, there was nothing here for her. Everyone moved on, or was going to. She was going to have to sort herself out, herself. Doc, Neville tried to help, and she was trying to make the best of it, but the fact was she couldn’t afford college, and she wasn’t going to go into serious debt over an education. No, Avi was determined to make her own way in the world, even if that meant she was going to have to work her ass off.

By talking to her old gymnastics coach and talking to her mom, Avi had lined up a job as an assistant. She would be helping to teach the little ones gymnastics, and hoped that she could earn her way through college. This job was one of two. The second was at the local bakery, where she worked through the summer. Avi was somewhat excited to be able to work this much, and had decided on doing online classes and classes at night. This was the way she was going to make it and though she would be living at home, she would be paying rent as well as contributing to the groceries bill. This wouldn’t be easy, but it would be worth it, especially for Avi.

The teen looked around the gymnasium, looking for familiar faces, and not really seeing any. Mina, was up here as well, and like normal was ignoring her. She smiled a little and gave a wave, before looking out at the crowd hoping to see Odion and Lani, maybe even Ash. She wouldn’t keep her hopes up though and instead looked out to see her family in the back. Her sister looked put out to be here and her brother hadn’t shown up. Her dad was here and her mom was flipping through the leaflet looking at all the names no less.

She just wished this would be done already, she was tired of waiting.

[Deleted]

Anthony was traditionally a very good public speaker, rarely getting nervous in front of audiences, but today…he wasn’t even speaking or presenting anything and his knees were jittering in nervous excitement. Graduation, yup. He actually did it! Of course he did, Anthony never expected anything less, but it was still an achievement that was smile-worthy.

What made it especially pleasant was that his parents and little brother had made the trip out to celebrate with him. They were even sitting together, though it was clear that they were more focused on Anthony than each other. He wondered how long the peace was going to last before world war three started and he had to kidnap Daryll to take to Abe’s while the Colonel and Mom explosively sorted out their differences.

Eh heh heh heh….if that happened, he was gonna…

Be strong and take care of his brother, that’s what.

But first, he had to get through the ceremony. Anthony turned his eyes forward and waited patiently.

[Aryana Darcy]

While Rya could have spent her time smiling and staring down at her gown covered knees, she decided it was time to really see who was around and see if she could spot fellow family members of said people. Because of course, it was practically required of her to do so. After all, she had gone to school with most of these people for at least two years, so she figured she might want to at least see where they came from?

Plenty of men were already 'noticing' where she came from already, and she knew it.

Eyes scanned the room and then fell on some familiar faces, but the names were eluding her. It was kind of sad, truly, the lack of people that she knew by name, but it didn't bother her too much. When all of this was said and done, how many of these people would she really see again anyway?

Her eyes rested on blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed to already have found hers, and the brunette winked and offered a sly smile in return. Truthfully, she was hoping Dom would somehow miraculously slip through and be able to graduate, because she knew how much not graduating with his twin had bothered Carter. Hell, if she had a twin, she would have hated it, too.

But she didn't offer any sympathy in her gaze, nor her expression; he was a grown man, and her sympathy wouldn't do anything but remind him of what he was missing even more. She relieved him of her gaze to look for the other twin, to see if he had come, and she found him resting beside Lucy. Jesus, was she really leaving behind all these people?

Again, her gaze remained neutral, knowing enough that he was on the short end and really didn't need anything other than brief acknowledgement. She returned the nod and turned away, returning her gaze to the stage where the school officials sat and overlooked them all.

[Dominique Chevalier]

Dom was avoiding his family. His father was here, his uncle, his mother, and he very much did not want any of them to see him. This was Carter's moment, too long coming, and his presence there would only be a reminder that where one had succeeded, the other had failed. He didn't want to remind them of that.

But not going had never even occurred to him. Carter was graduating, and he would be supported, and make his family proud.

One of his crystals was held tightly in one hand, the pads of his fingers rubbing over the smooth surface as he sat still. With his family present, there'd been a need to dress a touch more formally than usual and the blue shirt he'd chosen was unbuttoned at the collar, leaving his throat bare.

And then Lucy arrived. He shifted his legs slightly to give her room, not quite willing to look just yet. By the time he did, she was smiling at someone in a graduation gown. The english girl. He didn't know her, and the molten surge of and frustrated envy in his chest suggested it would be better if he never did.

"Hey," he said finally, glancing over to the australian. His eyes flickered to her mouth, the curve of her neck, and then away again quickly.There was that relief again; he wouldn't be sitting through this alone. Erik wouldn't come, he had no reason to, and Dom would have been able to handle it, he knew that. Was sure of it.

But still. He wouldn't have to.

Leaning back a little, so he'd be harder to spot if his father turned to look, Dom scanned the row of black for Carter. He saw Rya and managed a slight nod in return, but his jaw twitched. It was hard not to feel humiliated.

[Deleted]

Whelp, Brooke didn’t quite get the kick-ass grades that she was trying to, but still, rising from the low things she had before up to something typically considered good was quite a feat, if she did say so herself. Her mom and pop weren’t there, which wasn’t surprising. They lived all the way on the other side of the country, after all, and while they could afford to provide Brooke with a considerably decent allowance, forking over cash to come see Brooke walk down an aisle in a cap and gown for a day was just a lot of too unpractical. Even Brooke thought so, so she wasn’t disheartened to not see them there. In fact, it made it easier, because then she could concentrate on taking care of things afterwards in her own way.

She’d secured a spot in an apartment with her lovely friends Kristina and Jade, whom she’d met both on the University campus and at various house parties. They’d clicked well, so she was excited to be sharing a space with people who weren’t such prudes like 99%(okay maybe not that many) of the students at the Institute were.

If she could, Brooke would have bypassed the ceremony altogether and had them send it to her in the mail. Oh welllll!! Brooke closed her eyes and replayed the entire Star Wars Symphony in her head.

[Samuel Rixon]

Sam was torn in his mood when it came to graduating. On one hand, he was graduating. Which was more than Manson had ever accomplished, the lame drop out loser that he was. On the other, he'd spent five years of his life at Hammel. It was a long time to spend anywhere, let alone a school, and he'd miss it. A little. He'd miss some of the teachers, and even Dr. Neville.

And Batman. He'd miss his Batman a lot.

The pyro sat squirming in his seat. Despite the t-shirt underneath his collared shirt, the stiff material felt itchy, and he couldn't wait to take it off. Already the top buttons were undone, revealing the cotton t-shirt beneath, but he didn't care. His parents might, but when did his parents not care about his antics?

His parents had actually made the trip out, along with several of his siblings. He'd already spotted them and waved like an idiot before taking his seat properly. Sitting properly had only lasted so long, as his feet were now up on the seat in front of him, forcing whoever had been sitting there to move. Was he sorry? Not really. Because he was graduating, bitches.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb was doing his best to keep it together.

True, he was mostly happy. And true, he usually wasn't one to cry happy tears. And true, he'd been to enough of these that they really shouldn't effect him anymore.

And still he couldn't help but get a bit emotional. These were his "kids" after all.

He was sitting with several of the other staff members, a smile taking up most of his face and forcing his eyes to crinkle a bit. He caught Sam Rixon smiling. He was sure that boy was glad to be moving on from this place. Zeb only hoped he would keep his head on straight during the next phase of his life.

He also caught Monroe's eye. He was going to miss that boy. And of course he'd have to catch up with him after the ceremony was over just so he could tell him how proud he was. And also that if he ever needed anything, he should know where to find him.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope hadn’t bothered looking though the crowds for familiar faces as she continued to wait for the speech to begin. She hadn’t been expecting anyone, so she hadn’t found much of a point in looking. However, when someone walked in late, it grabbed her attention. Penny couldn’t help but to glance in the direction of the person, annoyed with general tardiness. The moment her dark eyes fell on the person, they widened.

Of course if Lucy Serrano were to show up, she’d do so late.

Penny felt the corner of her lip pull upward. She honestly hadn’t expected the Australian to come; Penny hadn’t asked her to, but if the Brit wanted anyone to be there, it was her. She had been completely oblivious to her family, who ended up coming to the event unexpectedly as well. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on Lucy as she sat down.

Only briefly did her gaze waver to who she sat down next to. The French boy. Instinctively, Penny pressed her lips into a hard line. Despite the fact that she never met him, something about Dominique was unsettling. Quite possibly because she never met him, and he was evidently important to the Australian.

But the moment she looked back towards Lucy, she caught the Australian’s gaze. Although she was sitting in the back, Penny could still see the undeniable smile that formed on her counterpart’s lips. Any thoughts of the blonde had disappeared the moment she saw it, and she couldn’t help but to smile back.