Several months had passed, and it was finally there. Graduation day. Andie and her friends had been waiting for this day for weeks. It was the perfect day for a graduation, too. The sun was illuminating the campus, which was covered in brightly colored flowers, shiny banners with "Congratulations Graduates" painted on them with the school's emblem. Everyone else was just as excited as the girls, though probably more about the graduation party Vicki was hosting in her huge house than the actual graduation ceremony.

"Stop fidgeting, I'm almost done!" Andie grinned.

She was trying to button up Isabelle's cream strapless dress (which Jessica had insisted she buy and did, in fact, look great on her). They were getting ready for the ceremony, which would be followed by a private celebration at Bane's house.

"Sorry," Isabelle sighed, standing still at last. "I'm just so nervous..."

"You've been rehearsing your speech for a week, now. You'll be fine." Andie assured her.

"Yeah, and look sexy at the same time," Jessica assured her.

She was wearing an electric blue dress with a single strap. Andie had gone for a simple white backless dress, while Emily had gone for an emerald green, cap-sleeve dress.

"It is a shame though to hide these awesome dresses under those god awful gowns..."

"Come on, they're not that bad," Andie argued as she pulled hers on.

"Ugh, this shade is terrible on my skin tone," Jessica complained, ignoring her.

"It'll only be a few hours," Isabelle told her with a smile.

Soon, they were all ready and made their way down Andie's stairs.

"Oh, girls, you look amazing!" Lauren exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Ooh, let me take a picture, please!"

"Mom..." Andie grumbled, flushing.

Soon, Lauren was back with a camera, taking pictures. Andie was trying to smile but her unease made it difficult. Isabelle seemed to sense it, because she poked her lightly in the sides, tickling her and making them all laugh.

"All right, Lauren, that's enough pictures," Hank grinned. "Now go, you'll be late. We'll be right behind you."

"Okay. Love you Mom, love you Dad," she said and followed her friends out.

She came out to find Bane waiting for them, leaning against his car. He grinned at them and stepped away from the car to greet them. When Andie reached him, he looked around, as though searching for something.

"Bane, I'm right here!" Andie laughed.

He turned to her.

"Oh, there you are!" he teased. "I almost didn't see you under all that blue."

"You idiot," Andie giggled and kissed him.

"Come on, let's move! Ben and Michael are waiting for us," Jessica ordered.

Andie rolled her eyes, but didn't comment. Soon enough, they were all heading to St Martin's Pavilion, where the ceremony was to be held. Isabelle decided to ride with Bane and Andie, worried that Jessica would only make her even more nervous than she was already.

The sight of the crowd did little to help. She had been texting her parents from the back seat, and didn't look up until the car had stopped. Bane and Andie got out, glancing at the already crowded entrance. Isabelle poked her head out timidly, then shrank back into the car.

"Ooooh, I can't do this! I'm sorry, I can't!" she yelped.

Andie reached in and pulled her out.

"Yes, you can," she said confidently.

"No, really, I can't... speaking in front of all of them... the students is bad enough, but what if the teachers look at me and think "oh, no, why did we chose her?", I'd die!"

"They won't," Andie promised. "Look at me, Isabelle. You are smart. You are strong, you are beautiful. You've got this."

Isabelle glanced at Bane, though whether she wanted hindrance or support, Andie wasn't sure. He simply smiled encouragingly.

"You'll be fine," he assured her. "Come on."

He and Andie took her arm and led her towards the building.

"Okay, okay, I'm going." Isabelle said, nervously. "But you'll be responsible if I throw up or make a fool of myself."

Andie would have said that wouldn't happen, but knew that it wouldn't make much difference at this point.

It was rather chaotic inside, with parents fussing over their children's gowns or caps, telling them to "put that ruddy gum away!", or taking pictures and tearing up over how their "baby got so big and grown up". Eventually, Andie, Isabelle and Bane found Emily and Jessica, who was (yet again) complaining about how uncomfortable the robe was over her dress.

"I mean, this thing is acrylic! I hate acrylic!" she was saying. "And I look like a giant blueberry gone bad!"

"Please, someone shut her up before I do something permanent!" Emily begged when she saw the others.

Jessica glared indignantly at Emily. Before anyone could reply, however, a familiar voice behind them said:

"You look fine, Jessica, and it'll be over before you know it."

Andie looked around to find Robert and, to her surprise, Zarias.

"Thanks Mr. Davis," Jessica said, though Andie wasn't sure her friend believed him.

Just then, a beaming Isabelle flung her arms around Zarias.

"I didn't know you were coming!" she exclaimed.

Then, as they all stood in shock, she realized what she was doing.

"Oh," she stammered, her face red. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me..."

To everyone's astonishment, Zarias didn't seem bothered at all. A little flustered, maybe... and was he smiling?!

"Don't worry, it's fine."

"This is a pleasant surprise," Andie told Zarias before Jessica could ruin the moment, "what brought this on?"

"Well, it sounded like this was important to you... and I wanted to be there."

He was looking straight at Isabelle as he spoke, and she was red as a sunset sky.

"Will all the graduates and guests please take their seats, the ceremony will begin momentarily. Thank you."

Andie and the others exchanged glances.

"We have to sit at the front, we'll see you later," Isabelle said.

They turned to leave, but Zarias caught Isabelle's wrist.

"Erm... don't break a leg," he said, his face bright red.

Isabelle, even redder than him, said:

"Uh... it's break a leg, but thanks."

She kissed him swiftly on the cheek and hurried away. The girls followed. They started with a speech from the principal about how proud he was of his student body, how confident he was that they would succeed in everything they wanted.

"You are the embodiment of our proud establishment's motto: We, the Olympia High School Community, are dedicated to personal excellence and responsible citizenship. And now, please welcome our bright and dedicated valedictorian, miss Isabelle Woodland," he said.

Isabelle, her face now pale, got to her feet and slowly made her way up to the stand. She and the principal exchanged a smile (which looked more like a grimace on Isabelle's part), then she took her place. She gulped three times, pushed her hair out of her eyes, and cleared her throat.

"... Graduation." Isabelle began. "It's one of the most important words in our society. We fear it, we crave it, we dread it, we celebrate it. And when it finally comes around, we can't wait for it to be over."

Some people laughed at that. Isabelle smiled nervously, but pushed on, her voice stronger.

"But graduation is more than just a ceremony. It's a symbol. It's the end of high school, the beginning of college... though I'm not sure if that's good or not," she added with a chuckle. "It's the first step into adulthood, the first chance we have at really choosing which direction we want to go in life. And that is, I think, the most important part of it."

"There are plenty of things we can't choose. Paying the bills, finding a job to provide for yourself and your family... those are necessary for a decent life. But we can choose whether we become a policeman or a baker, or even a bank manager. Some choices will be the right ones. Some you'll realize weren't for you, and you'll want to go back. You might be able to, you might not."

"But that doesn't matter. You'll always find something. Having options is meaningless unless you actually chose a path. That's what graduation is for me."

She paused for effect. She was much more relaxed now, though it was often how one felt in that position.

"What I'm trying tell you today is: don't be afraid of choosing wrong. Be afraid of not being able to choose at all."