"Come on, hurry up before we're late," Uncle Brian said.

                "I'm sorry! I got distracted singing in the shower again," I said, hurrying into his car. "Thanks for driving, Uncle Brian."

                "Yea, well, it's your fault we're late," he said, backing out of the driveway. "Do you have your stuff packed? You leave tomorrow."

                "Tyson came over yesterday to help me pack after rehearsal," I said. "I washed the sheets and pillowcase and put them back in the closet."

                "Good. I don't use that guest room often," he said.

                "Thank you for letting me stay here so I could go to Braxton," I said gratefully. "Really, thank you, Uncle Brian. I needed this schoolyear. It helped me a lot."

                "You clean up after yourself. It wasn't that big of a deal," he said, but I could tell the compliment made him a little uncomfortable. Even after all my time here, I hadn't grown much closer to my Uncle. But at least he'd let me stay here, and he'd made sure I was okay while I was under his care. I couldn't ask for anything more than that.

                I watched the town blur by as we drove. It was a nice day, almost a little too nice. I'd definitely be way too hot in my dark gown.

                The parking lot was a zoo, but Uncle Brian was used to navigating the busy hospital parking lot. He managed to find us a spot without hitting anyone or getting in an accident.

                "Go on," he said, shutting the car off. "If you're any later, it'll start without you."

                "See you after!" I said, getting out of the car and hurry around to the little building on the other side of the stadium.

                "Hey, Nolan actually showed up. We were placing bets on if you would or not," Talon said as I found my friends.

                "I was betting on no," Tyson said, offering a half-eaten donut. "You won't have time to fight your way through the crowd for one. It's just me who was eating it."

                "I missed breakfast because I was in a rush," I said, taking it from him and eating the rest. "I didn't mean to be running so late."

                "Students! Get in your lines. The ceremony is about to start," Principal Devin called.

                "Here we go. Try not to trip. Especially you, klutz," Tyson said to Connor.

                "I'm surprised you didn't sneak the rat in," Talon said

                "My mom has him in her bag," Connor said. "He didn't want to miss this."

                "Oh my god," Nyssa said, shaking her head. "Come on, Tal. Let's go line up."

                "Lead the way, Nys," Talon said, following his sister away.

                "Lucky me, my last name puts me next to Lisa Corst," Farren grumbled. "Wish me luck. I bet you anything she trips me on the way up."

                "You'll be fine," Tyson said. He turned to me. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go on. Get in line."

                "I'll find you after," I promised, heading off to get in my place in the lines.

                We were led out to our seats, facing the stands. A fairly massive crowd of people clapped from the stands as our graduating class was introduced by Principal Devin.

                I tried to see if I could spot my family, but there were just too many people. I tried to focus on the speeches being given, but honestly, I couldn't wait for this to be over. It was hot out, and our gowns were navy blue. The cap didn't help, either.

                But finally, they started calling up names. Several teachers were there to take turns calling up students alphabetically, and I could see Bishopp waiting for his turn. He'd asked to read for Tyson's group, a last send off for his most troublesome Braxton student.

                My group was ushered up and we waited our turns. I listened to the various amounts of applause for each student, some getting loud cheers and screams, and some getting just the polite clapping of the audience.

                "Nolan Aiden Fletcher."

                I heard the loud cheering from the stands as I walked up, taking my diploma and shaking hands with multiple people. I smiled for the photographer, my heart beating just from how loud the crowd had been. My family was up there somewhere, and so were the families of my friends. I'd gotten to know them all so well over my time here.

                I filed back around to my seat, clapping when my friends were called up. A smile came to my face as I saw Tyson nearing the little stage.

                He'd worked so hard. His grades landed him in the top ten for academics, and he'd been given several awards for his community service, the work of his school club, and his academic achievements. He'd headed big and small projects, keeping us constantly working once we'd finished our final revenge job and shut down the service for good.

                He'd also worked hard with Bishopp to put together a group to take over for next years. He'd picked good-spirited kids who knew the extent of the bullying problem, tasking them with focusing on that. Bishopp promised to keep them focused on their task during their time in the Social Action Club.

                "Tyson Lee Strazio."

                The eruption of applause from the stands had a grin coming to Tyson's face as he walked up. He switched the grin back to his dazzling smile as he accepted his diploma and shook hands.

                I clapped until the next name was called, catching Tyson's eye as he headed back for his seat. He shrugged and waved his diploma at me a little. I held mine up and smiled, also shrugging.

                We'd done it. We'd made our difference and graduated without being caught.

                Once all the names had been called, we were instructed to switch our tassels over. Principal Devin made some closing remarks, and the crowd began to thunder their applause at us as we were officially declared Braxton graduates.

                We jumped up, throwing our caps in the air and cheering. I hugged some of the casual friends of mine that were near me, all of us smiling proudly. It hadn't been an easy time at Braxton, but we'd made it.

                I gathered my cap from the ground and dove into the crowd of students to find my friends. It took a minute, but I managed to find my way over to them.

                "We got out of that place," Talon said triumphantly, throwing a fist in the air. "Alright!"

                "And you didn't even fail a class," Nyssa said, patting her brother on the back. She slung an arm around his shoulders. "Next, college."

                "I still can't believe you guys are going to different colleges," Farren said.

                "Well, I got a scholarship to one for my track running, and Talon got one for his volleyball playing," Nyssa said. "We'll be okay, though. Right, Tal?"

                "Right, Nys," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Yea, yea, we'll be okay."

                "Fuck you losers, I'm going with my parents for a nice vacation out of state next month," Tyson said. "College can wait until I'm relaxed."

                "Nolan leaves soon, right?" Farren said, looking at me.

                "Tonight," I said. "But I'll be back for all your grad parties."

                "And we'll road trip our way out to yours. The food better be worth the drive," Tyson said.

                "It will be," I assured. "Even if it's not, you'll already be stuck there for the party."

                "Tyson!"

                We turned as Tyson's parents hurried over. His mom pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly.

                "I'm so proud of you," she said, kissing his head. "So, so proud."

                "We're both proud of you," his dad said, hugging both of them. "You went from being this helpless baby to this successful young man."

                Tyson hugged them back. "Thank you. Both of you."

                I looked around as families flooded the stadium, finding students to hug and congratulate. Farren's parents and sister dragged him into their arms, Connor's parents came over to hug him and let him see Jonesy, and the twins' parents and grandma came over to hug them.

                "Nolan?"

                I spun around and my mom hurried over, pulling me into her arms. "Congratulations, Nolan. I told you we'd be here."

                "Hey, there's the graduate," dad said, coming over and hugging me. "Good job, kid. You made us really proud. Your grades were fantastic."

                "I missed you guys," I said, hugging them back.

                My grandparents were behind them, smiling at me. My Uncle was talking with my grandpa, but at least he was here.

                "Your Uncle said you were good," mom said, kissing me. "It'll be so nice to have you back home."

                "It'll be nice to be back home," I said, pulling away from them. "Mom, dad, I want you guys to meet Tyson."

                I tugged them over to where he was. He faced me parents and smiled, holding his hand out to them.

                "Tyson Strazio," he said.

                "It's good to finally meet you," mom said, shaking his hand. "Nolan's sent us some pictures of the two of you."

                "You're just as polite as on the phone," dad said, laughing a little. His eyes widened and he put a hand over his mouth.

                "Phone?" I said in confusion.

                "Ah well, it was going to come out at some point," Tyson said. "I had Connor get me your house phone so I could call your parents."

                "But...why?" I said.

                "So I could plan to keep you here an extra night," Tyson said. "You and your parents are staying at my house tonight."

                "We are?" I said, unable to hide my surprise.

                "Actually, we worked it out with my brother," mom said. "Nolan will stay with you, we're going to stay with Nolan's Uncle."

                "That works too," Tyson said. He shrugged at me, grinning a little. "Not much of a surprise anymore. We planned you a going-away party."

                "Yea, we had to send our favorite outcast off with a bang," Talon said, hitting my shoulder lightly.

                "We won't get to see you as much as we see everyone else this summer. We thought you deserved a proper send-off," Nyssa said.

                "We even told Connor he could bring the rat," Farren said, wincing when Connor hit him.

                "A goodbye party, then," I said.

                "'Goodbye' sounds too permanent. You're coming back," Tyson said.

                "Of course he's coming back. There are grad parties happening here, and we have that cookout every summer with fireworks, and we don't want Nolan to miss the pool!" Mrs. Strazio said.

                I laughed. "I'll come back, I promise."

                "You better," Tyson said. I held my hand out to him and he took it, squeezing it.

                "Hey guys. Sorry, I got caught up talking with old students," Bishopp said, coming over to us. "Congratulations to all of you."

                "Thanks, Bishopp," Tyson said. "Maybe I'll stop in next year to keep an eye on the Social Action Club."

                Bishopp sighed and smiled. "Just what we need, you corrupting the younger students."

                "I would never." That dazzling smile, hiding away all the things he'd done over his time at Braxton.

                And he'd done so much. Thanks to Tyson, the bullying problem had gone down tremendously, especially after Tiffany's mom released the names and reasons we'd left her. There was still a ton of work to be done to protect students from bullies there, but Tyson seemed confident that the group he'd picked could do it- and do it without resorting to illegal methods.

                We'd hit one last job, leaving a note that we'd always be watching. Then we'd called it quits, focusing on volunteer projects instead.

                And without any new evidence, the police slowly began to give up. Farren said they'd never admit it to the public, but they didn't have a damn clue who was behind it. He said he expected the case to be abandoned by next year. His dad was already talking about how much of a waste of time and resources the investigation had become.

                "Here, all of you get together. I want pictures," Mrs. Strazio said, shoving us together.

                Our parents lined up as we smiled with each other, taking so many pictures I thought I'd be blinded by the flash. They pulled us apart to take individual pictures, eventually pushing us together with different friends so they had a variety of pictures.

                My parents and the Strazio family took so many pictures of me and Tyson together. Tyson rubbed his eye real eye when they were done.

                "Congratulations, I think you just blinded my only remaining eye," Tyson said.

                "Oh, stop it," his mom said, thumping him in the back of the head. "You'll be grateful to have these pictures someday."

                I knew I would be. I never wanted to forget about my time here. I'd grown so much since meeting Tyson and the others.

                Without them, I doubted I would've made the progress that I did. Everything we'd been through together had opened my eyes to just how much I'd been holding my own life back after Dylan's death.

                When I went home, I had plans to go talk with Dylan's parents. I'd been too guilty and ashamed to face them after Dylan's death, but that wasn't fair to them. They'd lost their son, and I wanted to give proper condolences. I also wanted to visit Dylan's grave, something I hadn't done since the day I left my hoodie at it.

                But I was staying here another night, which meant that could wait. And it could wait. I couldn't let my life revolve around my dead best friend forever. I couldn't hate myself for moving on. The living had to keep living. There was no shame in finding my own success and happiness while cherishing the memory of Dylan.

                Tyson looked out at the emptying stands, and I knew who he was looking for. But Mallory wasn't there, and Tyson turned his attention back to his parents, a real smile on his face as he showed them his diploma and shared more hugs with them.

                "Everyone meet at our house," Mrs. Strazio said. "We're going to head back there now."

                We waved to each other as we went off with our families. My grandparents hugged me and congratulated me as we walked towards our cars.

                "My parents are going to drive back home, but your mom's parents are staying with Uncle Brian tonight," dad said to me. "They're going to take us to breakfast tomorrow morning before we leave."

                "I'm glad they came," I said.

                "We're all glad we're here for this," dad said, squeezing my shoulder.

                I got in the car with my parents. We all knew there was too much catching up to do in one car ride, so I directed them to Tyson's and told them about the rehearsal for graduation yesterday. It took place at Braxton's sports stadium to fit everyone, and we'd had a hell of time trying not to trip on the slick turf during rehearsal.

                We reached Tyson's house, where the others were already gathered. I pulled my graduation gown off and got out of the car with my parents. We went inside, and I smiled at the decorations around the house.

                "Of course the life of the party is late," Tyson said. There was food and drink stocked up in the kitchen. A banner over his living room read "Come Back Soon", and balloons floated along the house at an easy pace. There were streamers around, and music playing.

                "Thank you," I said, hugging Tyson tightly.

                He turned his head and kissed my neck. "Promise you'll come back."

                "A week and a half and I'll be back like I never left," I promised.

                He released me and waited until I offered him my hand. He took it and pulled me through to the living room, where the others were gathered. The adults were all talking with each other, and our friends were gathered in the center of the room with drinks.

                "Here, we got you a glass," Nyssa said, handing it to me. "Mr. Strazio made alcoholic punch for the adults, and nonalcoholic for us. It's really good, though."

                "So this is it, huh? We never go back to being the Social Action Club," Connor said.

                "Someone else takes over now," Tyson said. "Bishopp will make sure it all goes well. And I'll stop by from time to time to sit in on meetings. They'll fight back in a new way."

                "Everything worked out in the end. It was a little stressful for a bit, but we made it here," I said.

                And we had. Tyson still planned to out Mallory once his kids were both away at college. I knew he'd already talked to his parents about his decision, wanting to make sure his mom was okay with the truth coming out.

                It would be hard on all of them, but Tyson told me they'd all agreed it needed to happen. Mallory couldn't keep getting away with it, and it wasn't fair to keep it a secret from his wife. She was living with a cheater, and who knew if he'd taken other women on the side?

                The blackmail had worked, though. Mallory had reluctantly kept his silence and backed off the school. He'd stepped away from the investigation, Farren's dad saying how relieved he and other cops were to have Mallory out of the picture.

                And with the investigation against us dying down, Tyson wasn't afraid of that coming out when he came out with the truth about Mallory. Tyson could prove his claims, but Mallory couldn't prove his. His blackmail was dying fast.

                I'd asked Tyson if he planned to meet his siblings. He was nervous about that, pretty sure they wouldn't want anything to do with him once he revealed the truth about their beloved father. But he said someday, when he was ready, he wanted to meet them for real. Only if they were okay with it once they knew everything.

                "Hey, you're zoning out," Tyson said, nudging me.

                "Oh, sorry. Just thinking about the future," I said, shaking my head a bit. "It's creeping up fast."

                "We'll live in it, though. No more living in the past," he said, clinking his drink against mine. "To the future."

                I smiled and sipped my drink. "To the future."

                "We'll be real adults before we know it. College is only a few years," Nyssa said. "It's kind of unbelievable. It feels like just yesterday Tyson forced himself into our lives."

                "I really hated you back then," Talon said, laughing and slapping Tyson on the shoulder. "Fucking annoying ass kid bothering me and my sister at lunch."

                "I was persistent. You're welcome," Tyson said.

                "You were really annoying," Connor said. "But I guess it worked out. I definitely improved my hacking skills, being your friend."

                "I'm not sure that's a good thing," Farren said. But he grinned at Tyson. "Better still have our movie nights."

                "Anytime we're home, we can watch all the bad Netflix movies you want," Tyson said, returning the grin. "Nothing with more than two stars."

                I leaned against Tyson and he wrapped his arm around my waist. It would be a rough start for our long-distance relationship, but we were confident we could make it work. Once we started improving ourselves, we'd be stronger, and it would make it easier to maintain a good, healthy relationship with each other.

                "A toast!" Mr. Strazio said, holding up his drink. "To the Braxton graduates, for all their hard work and volunteering. To their futures and success. And to Nolan Fletcher." Mr. Strazio smiled at me. "Thank you, for being so good for that stubborn son of mine."

                Everyone raised their glasses and hit them together, cheering. Mrs. Strazio turned the music up and went to go put out the main meal.

                Tyson gripped the front of my shirt. "I miss your tie," he said before pulling me in for a kiss.

                I kissed him back, putting my arms around his neck, careful not to spill my drink on him. He pulled away from me, taking my drink and setting it on the coffee table next to us.

                "Thank you for everything, Nolan. I was pissed off when I saw you being forced into our group, but you proved me very wrong," he said.

                "I'll take that as a compliment." I held out my hand until he took it. "We have a long way to go."

                "I like company on long trips," he said.

                "Tonight isn't the night for goodbyes. We'll have time for that in the morning. And even then, it'll only be temporary." I tugged on his hand a little. "Come on, let's get some food and tell embarrassing stories about each other. I still haven't told them about the 'casting you out, outcast' thing."

                "And you're never going to," he said, glaring at me.

                His expression softened and he gave me that real smile of his, something I'd seen more often. He'd been working on making his peace with his Mallory situation, and his anger had slowly been draining out of him.

                "You should smile more. It's much more welcoming than your grin," I said.

                "But if people know I'm a nice person instead of an egotistical jackass, it'll ruin my whole image," he said, smile dissolving into a grin. "I have a reputation, outcast."

                "A reputation of walking old ladies to their cars when it's icy," I said.

                He rolled his eyes and pulled me into the kitchen. We loaded plates with food and sat in the dining room with the rest of our group.

                "Enjoy it while it lasts. Things start changing tomorrow," Farren said.

                "Always the Debby downer," Talon said, throwing a roll at him. "Shut it and let people be happy."

                "You're one to talk," Nyssa said.

                "This group is so dysfunctional. I might actually miss it when I'm at college," Connor said, Jonesy resting on his shoulder, back paws in Connor's hood.

                "You'll have your dog, you'll be fine," Tyson said.

                "We'll get together plenty before we head off to college," I said. "And even then, we can see each other over breaks. I'll drive up here."

                "We can drive down to you, too," Nyssa said.

                "It makes more sense for him to drive to us," Farren said.

                "We'll figure out the driving situation later. I'm trying to focus on eating," Tyson said.

                We all agreed and dug into our plates. When we had finished eating, we got up and headed for the living room. Tyson caught my hand and waited until the others were gone.

                "He's right, you know. Everything starts changing tomorrow," he said.

                "I know. But it's not tomorrow. It's today. And today, I'm with my boyfriend and friends, enjoying a party they threw for me, and celebrating our high school graduation," I said.

                He gave me that real smile and kissed me. We kept our hands clasped together as we went out and joined the others, the music loud and our laughter louder.

                Things would change tomorrow. Things would keep changing. But we were looking forward to the future, our pasts in our minds but no longer controlling us. Someday we'd be more than the tragedies plaguing us. Someday we'd forge ourselves into the adults we'd wished we'd had in our lives. Someday we'd take all we'd learn and experienced and build something better in this world than the pain we'd faced. Someday we'd be more than just social menaces.

                But it wasn't someday. It was today. And today was a day to celebrate and enjoy each other.

                So I danced and joked and laughed with Farren, Nyssa, Talon, and Connor.

                And I kept my hand firmly clasped together with Tyson's. Whatever the future brought, Tyson would be by my side.

                I was no longer the Invisible Boy. I was visible, here for everyone to see. No longer hiding, but embracing the world, and all the good and bad that came with it.

                My friends surrounding me. My boyfriend laughing so hard his shoulders rocked against mine. My parents smiling in relief to see the life restored to their son. My past strengthening me instead of holding me back. And Tyson Strazio's genuine smile flashing at me.

                I finally knew what happiness was.

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A.N.- Thanks for sticking around for this story, guys! I was a bit nervous it would be compared to the Conversion Academy trilogy no matter what path it took, but you guys were supportive of it, which meant a ton to me.

As always, you can head over to my prompt account "promptingskenekidz" and request prompts for this story if you want more. I saw talk of a sequel in the comments, and I won't say it'll never happen, but I will say there's currently no plan for it, sorry.

Please let me know what you thought of the story and the characters! Thanks so much for reading and supporting this story!