THIS IS LONG OVERDUE

LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG OVERDUE

BUT HERE IT FINALLY IS

THIS IS THE STORY OF ELLIE'S HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION!

HAVE FUN!

Ellie's P.O.V.
"Of course you're valedictorian." Jack teased, ramming his shoulder into mine

"Oh zitto (shush). Now I have to write a speech. But... I'm not great at speeches." I replied, hitching my backpack up farther on my shoulders. Jack opened the door, and the two of us walked out of the main office.

"You'll do fine." Jack insisted, holding open yet another door for me, this one leading to the outside world. I nodded, needing his false hope in me.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I agreed, muttering.

The next day:
"NOTHING! NO IDEAS! USELESS. EMPTY. BRAIN!" I said frustrated, hitting my head on my desk over and over.

"Wow, washed up at 14. How sad." I replied to myself

"I've got nothing, I'm done! I'm never getting in."

"Hey. I'm not giving up on you." I said spinning my chair around, and looking at myself in my window. I gasped as I flipped myself upside down, and stood on my hands.

"What are you doing!?" I asked annoyed, walking around on my hands.

"Shake things up! Use that big brain of yours to think your way out."

"What?"

"Look for a new angle." I insisted. I hand-walked on my hands over to my bed, and allowed myself to fall onto it. I looked up at the ceiling where the mural was painted and used my eyes to connect the stars into constellations. 

"Constellations are weird. How do Greek 'philosophers' see a line and a square of stars and say 'ahh, yes. A horse.'? It makes no sense to me. I used to be scared of going outside at night until dad took me outside to watch a meteor shower when I was 9." I sat up and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Granted when I was younger I was scared by a lot of things."

"You were scared by everything!" I replied to myself.

"Yeah... yeah I was." I agreed. "But I got over that. It took some time, but I got it." I furrowed my brow, and put my hands on my mirror. "I got over it." I smirked, and ran over to my desk.

I grabbed a marker, my smaller whiteboard and wrote down a large list of things. Then gave myself a small frown.

6 days later:
"Oh, Anna," Jack said from the door frame. I spun around quickly to see Jack leaning on the wall. "You look wonderful." I cocked my head in disbelief, and smiled. I huffed air out of my nose and turned back to the mirror. I smoothed, my light grey gown down, and picked up my hairbrush.

"Are we really graduating?" I asked, running the bristles through my hair a few times before using the small brush to pull my armpit length reddish hair up into a low bun. I fixed my cap upon my head, and sighed. I fiddled in a little bucket attached to my mirror and found my mascara.

"I mean..." Jack replied, standing up straighter, and walking over to me. "Yeah. We've earned it. You especially."

When we arrived at the building where the ceremony was taking place when I remembered and freaked. "I LEFT MY COILS BACK AT YOUR HOUSE!"

Jack chuckled, and toyed with the 10 coils around his neck. "JACK WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!" I asked my hands shaking. "I left my coils at your house and now I don't have them to graduate with."

"Oooooh," Jack said sympathetically, reaching over and hugging me. "Poor baby, you're shaking."

I sniffed, and tried to keep breathing. I probably shouldn't have been freaking out this much but for some reason I was. "Jack why are you laughing? I'm freaking out!"

Jack reached down next to him and pulled a large white box out from next to him. "Here. Remember them next time." I recognized the box as the one my coils were in.

"JACK!" I squealed elated, reaching over and hugging him tightly. "Thank you!"

"Yeah," He agreed. We got out of the car, and met at the hood. I opened my book tentatively, and looked down at my 23 coils. I carefully wrapped each coil around my neck, one tassel hanging down next to each of my shoulders.

I breathed in, then out, then in, then out again, and put the box back in Jack's car. "Are you ready?" Jack asked, offering me his arm.

"I think so." I replied, taking it, and looping mine through his.

"Devon Hertia." Our principle read off of the long list of names. The girl who was standing in front of me walked forwards and shook the principles hand. He took his diploma from someone else, and continued down the stage. "DiNi Elioriana." I walked forward, and took my diploma. Making sure to continue putting one foot in front of the other as I walked the rest of the way down the stage.

I made a U turn and sat down at the foot of the stage next to Jack who was salutatorian. "Well done, you didn't fall like I thought you would." Jack whispered to me, nudging my shoulder.

"Shut up," I whispered back, looking around frantically. But I didn't see them. I didn't see any of them.

-20 minutes later-
"And now, we're going to hear some words from our valedictorian and our salutatorian. So, if Ms. Elioriana DiNi and Mr. Jack Ravenger would come up here," The principle invited, waving the two of us up. We stood, and I took Jacks hand, knowing I would fall over if I didn't clutch to it.

Jack let go of me at the podium, and I smiled at him. I clutched to the podium instead.

"Hi." I greeted lamely. "I'm Elioriana DiNi, but most of you know me as Leah. Kaylee used to call me Lori, my dad calls my Squirt, both my sister and my dad call me Ellie, and Jack calls me Anna. So whatever you know me as, hi.

"There's a poem that I've read over and over again. It keeps coming back to me no matter what I think about. So I figured I'd share it.

(I stole this poem... vvv)

https://youtu.be/Eu_Gl0woeOw

"'1. Take a shower you don't want to smell.
2. Pick out an outfit that will blend in with the latest trends and won't make you a laughing stock of the school more than you already are.
3. Put on some makeup so you can't even recognize yourself and your face tingles with an unbelievable issue. You can't satisfy otherwise you'll have ruined the hours of meticulous painting you apply to your face.
4. Don't forget to style your hair in elegant curls. You can't let everyone at school see how your hair frizzes up.
5. Shove your feet into those toe pinching blood blistering converse that everyone at school is wearing. You cannot be the odd one out.

"As you gaze into the bathroom mirror you see a stranger that somehow stole your reflection and replaced it with a completely different girl. Every part of your outfit is uncomfortable but even though you spend hours trying to look pretty you will never be as good as those other girls at school. You are actually holding back a few tears but you feel like you are holding back a tsunami of emotion, you can't let anyone else know what you feel otherwise they will never respect you the same way they used to. Or did they ever? Why am I not good enough?

"6. get off the bus.
7. Find a group of people you can walk to class with because heaven knows you can't just walk alone but you don't even like these people. They laugh and make fun of you. You know you shouldn't hang out with them but hey, they are the popular kids and you just want people to like you like they like them.

"You are in the stocks as people throw judging tomatoes and hating heads of lights at your insecure little head you cannot stand up for yourself because you are alone trapped and defenseless and you cannot stand up for yourself because these popular kids are like the royalty of the school and apparently what they say and do goes. You take each comment, each judgement, each assumption, each opinion, each strange look, each remark, each criticism, each review, each report, each assessment, and with it your self esteem plummets like a sinking ship. Down down down into the dark and dreary depths below.

"You look at all the other girls your mind racing a mile a minute I wish I had her eyes, I wish I had her hair, I wish I was as skinny as her, I wish I had her perfectly straight white teeth, I wish that I had her social confidence, I wish as many boys like me as they liked her, why am I not good enough? Your peers jealousy is a pollution that prevents a rainbow, the bulldozer that plows through the fields of once golden daisies the intangible objects that crushes your happiness like a bug. A's are getting you nothing but torment. Why am I not good enough?

"I've been told I can't compare apples and oranges, I've been told I'm distorted. I've been told I have to be grateful for who I am but going through your high school years you are on your own journey. To find yourself on a small jet where sometimes you cannot control what happens to you, the turbulence will throw you off course. You tell yourself I just want people to like me, I just want to be accepted but skipping meals and marking up your wrist isn't going to fix that. you look at other girls wishing you were them but other girls are looking at you wishing they were you.

"Society infers girls have to have skinny waists, tan skin, long silky hair, perfectly straight teeth, big butts, and etc.. Society infers girls have to wear tons of makeup to be pretty. Society infers girls have to wear skanky clothing and do inappropriate things with boys to be happy and considered cool.

"But society, is, wrong. You are loved, you are precious, you are beautiful, you are talented, you are capable, you are deserving of respect, you can eat that meal, you are one in seven billion. And most of all you are good enough.'

"Help yourself, and help yourself. Don't think about what anyone else thinks about you because in 5 years no one's going to remember or care about what happened. Please, please, please don't worry about anyone but yourself. For years, and I mean years. I stressed myself out every morning, every day, and every night about the thoughts of my peers.

"If anyone of you out there is stressed out because they're trying to fit in with the popular kids, please let me remind you that the only thoughts that matter are yours. As Joseph Lovep once told me, "Don't lose confidence in yourself. Seriously, don't. Don't ever sell yourself short." I love you all. Please, please, please, remember to love yourself."

I hopped down from the podium, satisfied with what I had said. "Beat that" I whispered to Jack as we passed.

"Oh, that won't be hard."

I scoffed at him, and he chuckled. Jack took his place at the podium, and started his speech.

Jack's P.O.V.
I stood at the podium, and looked around at the people I was graduating with. 

"My parents both died when I was 11. 2 days after they died, before anyone could come and get me, one of my friends, Brock, grabbed me, and dragged me into the tennis closet on campus. He pushed me up against the wall of the closet, and looked me right in the eyes.

"'Tell me what happened.' He insisted, not wavering his gaze from my eyes. Now mind you, I hadn't told anyone about what happened. I was scared they would make me go live with another family I didn't know or love. And I broke. I explained everything to him. 

"About my parents, about trying to live on my own, everything. And you know what that son of a bwitch did? He took me in. He took care of me from then on. His parents adopted me. They had always wanted another kid, but couldn't have another biological one. Then, of course, he left this world with a bang."

"Not funny Jack." Anna hissed behind me.

"Ah, sure it is." I contradicted quickly before returning to the lines I had provided myself with. "After that happened, Anna and I became really close. We comforted each other after Brock passed. Then we started hanging out more and more. Ended up dating, and now we're here.

"But Anna and I wouldn't be here together if Brock hadn't passed, because when he, Anna and I were a threesome, Brock asked Anna out first, and I became a 2-and-a-half wheel. I'm not gonna say that I'm glad Brock died because I'm not. I miss him every single day. Walking around his house feels empty, so much so that I had to move out, and every time I think about him I start crying.

"What I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't be this high without having been that low first.  It's really... not. What's the high without the low? Life makes us go through lows before it gives us a high.

"Mark Fishbach once said, 'There's always a silver lining to be cherished even if most of it was terrible.'

"We. Are infinitely more than our limitations and afflictions. Try to find something good in your bad circumstances, because there's something there. Please please please please please don't focus on the bad situations because there is something to appreciate in every situation. What you take from your experience depends on your attitude.

"Effort is required to see this however. But it is effort that you will never, ever, regret giving.

"I love you guys, and I can't wait for whatever comes next."

I walked down from the podium, took Annas hand, and we walked down off the stage together.

Back to Ellie's P.O.V.
"Well done Jack," I said as we took our seats again.

"Why thank you," He replied, smiling at me.

When the ceremony was over Jack and I left each other to go and find our families. Jack found his easy enough, but I... still couldn't find mine. I couldn't see anyone. Not dad, Ziva, Tim, Gibbs, Abby, Ducky, anyone.

So, instead I just kept wandering around trying to find... someone. People I both knew, and didn't know, were friends with, and had no idea existed, people who hated me till this day, and people who were in 6 of my classes but I didn't know very well, all congratulating me, saying my speech was good, and asking how I got so many coils.

My footsteps echoed as I moved through waves, and crowds of people, only stopping a few times to avoid photobombing people.

"AAAH ELLIE!" Someone screamed behind me, running up and taking a picture with bright flash.

"Uragh," I said in exasperation, as little black dots clouded my vision for a few seconds. I was soon engulfed in black fabric, my breathing cut off my the tight hug. "Abby. I-I can't. Breathe!" I strained out.

"Oh, sorry. I just can't believe my little Ellie's a high school graduate! Aaah!!!! Congratulations!!!!"

"Thanks Abb." I replied, smiling. Maybe they did come?

"Well done young Elioriana." Ducky's familiar voice said, as a hand was placed in my shoulder.

"Aww, thanks Ducky." I replied, turning and hugging him -despite the difference in height, which was about a foot.

"I liked your speech Leah,"

"Thank you Tim!" I replied happily, embracing him next.

"Yes, your speech was wonderful." Ziva agreed, taking her turn at a hug.

"Thank you, that means a lot coming from the two of you."

"Eh, not really. But coming from me, praise is invaluable." Gibbs said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"I'm sure." I replied, smiling. "Hey, where's dad?"

"I dunno, he was with us during the ceremony, but I guess we lost 'im." Abby informed me, looking around for dad.

"Oh, there you guys are." Someone said behind me, wrapping their arms around me. "Nicely done my Squirt."

"Dad!" I exclaimed, turning and hugging him properly. 

"I'm so proud of you kiddo."

"You lot really came! When I didn't see you during the ceremony, I was worried maybe you didn't come. I thought that maybe work, or something else got in the way."

"No, we wouldn't've missed this for the world," He insisted, kissing the top of my head, and rubbing my shoulder a few times. "Hey, where'd your guy friend go?"

"Jack? No idea. He went to go talk to his family, and his... people."

"His speech was pretty good too." Ziva agreed.

"I'M OVER HERE!" Some one called from across the yard. "ANNA! OVER HERE!"

"Oh, there he is." I said chuckling, and pushing through people in grey caps and gowns, and family members, administration, and... why is there a cow there? That's quite strange. 

"Did you find your people Anna?"

"Yeah, I did!"

"Hey, I brought you something," He said proudly. Jack turned to one of his other friends -Ridley- who handed him... something. Jack turned back to me, and handed me a singular orange tulip. "I know you don't like being given flowers, but I figured you needed something for graduation."

"I got you something too." I replied, pulling a little box out of my pocket, handing it to Jack. He opened it, reveling the small sewing pin inside.

"I don't understand."

"After graduation, I'm going to go and work at NCIS. But I'm going to put a pin in anything for you. Because you're important to me Jack, I love you, and I can't imagine my life without your eyes in it."

"Anna, thank you." He said, smiling and embracing me.

Jacks P.O.V.:
Anna pulled me over to her family, and all of us started talking, but something was nagging at me. I wanted to serve in the Navy, I wanted to work in the kitchens for the soldiers. I'd been considering it for 2 years, and signed up last month, but I still hadn't told her.

"Leah! You look really happy, did Jack not tell you?" Mark asked, as he approached us.

"What do you mean? Tell me what?" she asked, looked between Mark and I.

"Mark," I said annoyed, giving him a look to match my tone.

"Guess not, I thought you said you were gonna tell her." Mark said, a bit accusatory.

"I was going to, not right now, not during graduation!" I defended.

"Tell me what?!" Anna asked again, annoyed at was being ignored.

I sighed, and looked at her, finally.

"I'm gonna go and serve with the Navy. All the cooking lessons I've been taking make me want to serve in a subs kitchens. I think I could do a lot of good for the soldiers."

"Congratulations,"

"And I leave for deployment in 3 weeks."

"What? You're leaving?"

"Anna I-"

"I'm losing you too? I-I can't."

"I'm sorry, Anna, I-"

"I know, but... Jack I- are you really leaving? You can't be. Please don't leave. I can't lose you too."

"I- Anna, I'm sorry. But... We're gonna be alright. I promise. I'll write to you. We won't get to face time, or text or whatever but we'll still get to talk. I promise."

She took the few steps forward, and put her face into my chest. "I didn't want to tell you yet because I knew this would happen. I didn't want to spoil this day for you." I wrapped my arms around my girlfriend, and put my chin on the top of her head. "I love you though," I insisted.

"I know. And I love you too. And, I fully, one hundred percent will fully support you in this."

"Thank you, Anna."

"Are you doing this because you want to? Or because you feel an obligation to do so?"

"I do want to. But I also feel an obligation to. It's both, you know. Why are you going to work at NCIS?"

"Because I want to. But I also feel an obligation to." She replied, using my words. "Okay, I understand now."

"Exactly."

"I'll be waiting for you when you get back."

"I know you will."

THAT WAS VERY LONG OVERDUE
SORRY FOR THE DELAY

OH MY GOSH
DO Y'ALL WANT AN ELLIE AND JACK PROM CHAPTER?

Hope you liked that!

Love you guys!

-Eliza <3

(3348 words :) )