"We're going to be leaving for our new life tomorrow!" Daniel said to Sorrell, nearly shouting to be heard over the drone of seniors. Sorrell, who was standing smooshed in the corner, couldn't even hear Daniel but knew exactly what he had said and simply nodded once. He was too focused on avoiding eye contact with the mean principal, Miss Reyes, to talk much. Though he was a good boy, he had smuggled his phone into his pocket and knew that by avoiding eye contact he wouldn't be singled out and asked to empty his pockets.
"GET IN LINE!" Miss Reyes shouted, her shrill and high voice piercing through the drone of seniors. "I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO GET LOST ON THE WAY IN!"
"Holy bones, woman, it's our own gymnasium," Sorrell muttered in a low voice, just loudly enough for Daniel to hear, "We're not going to get lost. Now get out of my life." Daniel stifled a laugh as he and Sorrell made their way to their place, conveniently, near the start of the line.
"I'M NOT YOUR BABYSITTER! LEAVE YOUR KEYS AND PHONES AT HOME!" the angry voice continued.
"Fat lot of good that does," Daniel said, "She didn't think this through at all. How else can we get here with no parents allowed?" Sorrell gave a sympathetic shrug as he adjusted the green and yellow tassel dangling in his face.
"THE TIME HAS COME! GET READY AND QUIET!!! I'LL MAKE YOU SIT OUT IF YOU DON'T STOP TALKING THIS INSTANT!" the voice shrieked, though her efforts to tame the mass of exactly 631 students was failing miserably as her threats were just empty now.
Before they knew it, Sorrell and Daniel were in the hallway that led to the giant gymnasium that their school had, where all major events took place. Most people weren't even out of the small gym but they were lucky enough to be near the top of the alphabet. The drone where they stood had died down to a whisper but even the shushing from Miss Reyes, which sounded to Sorrell as a kettle leaking steam, couldn't quiet them completely. Sorrell smiled at the thought and after making eye contact with his brother 4 people in front of him, somehow that image of Miss Reyes as a kettle with steam hissing from her nose and ears made it to him through their crazy twin powers and after a small facial expression and gesture to where she stood they both burst out laughing.
"SHHHHHHHHHH!" burst Miss Reyes again, giving them dirty looks. As soon as she turned around to harass someone else with pointless threats, they both did perfect imitations of her, trying to stifle their giggles. Silas, the guy standing in front of Sorrell, turned around, saying, "I'm gonna miss both of your humor. Thanks for being so awesome these past many years."
Sorrell was touched at Silas' sincerity and shook his hand. "No problem, baarlar! Us Burkes know how to imitate anything!"
"Hey, imitate a coconut!" shouted another Burke in line. This time it was Timothy who was behind all of them. In perfect unison all seven Burkes that stood in line that day began dancing wildly with their hands in fists above their heads. The line erupted in laughter which caused Miss Reyes to come running, ready to yell at them all for the millionth time. However, her time was cut short as an announcer opened the double doors and gave the signal to begin the march. Sounds of the band playing the beginning of the processional filled the small hallway and Hailey Abert, who was the head of the line, began marching pompously forward, not at all out of character for her.
"Go out there! and no talking!" Miss Reyes whispered angrily, knowing that if she yelled everyone in the arena would hear her.
Daniel looked back at his brother and winked right before he began to march forward into the packed gym. As they both marched out they had to pass the band before sitting in the third row of seats. As soon as Sorrell walked out and heard the band that he had played in for the past four years he teared up, knowing that the time for him to graduate was finally here. He looked over and saw Dyar, his younger brother, who had made an obvious effort to move his chair in such a way that he would have a direct line of sight to the seniors as they filed in. When Dyar made eye contact with both Sorrell and Daniel, he stopped playing his bass clarinet for a moment and made a crazy clown face at them. This made both of them feel better and any tension that had formed due to the enormity of the celebration melted away as they laughed all the way to their seats.
As the rest of their graduating class shuffled in, decked in bright yellow or dark green robes, Sorrell was free to slip his phone out and text Dyar who was going to be sitting for as long as they would be as soon as he finished playing. He didn't even notice the program under his seat until he noticed the people around him reaching for theirs. He reached down, his tassel once again flying in front of his face, and picked up the yellow tinted program to read the whole list of graduating seniors. Thankfully the list of speakers wasn't very long and he quickly found his name among the six other Burkes:
Daniel Rohan Burke
Erin Kelani Burke
Martin Hensley Burke
Silas Rasolo Burke
Sorrell Justus Burke
Steven Roy Thomas Edgeley Burke
Timothy Samsett Burke
It finally occurred to both Daniel and Sorrell, after reading through their names and the names of their distantly-related kin, that their parents were somewhere in the bleachers with their sisters. Their realization of things at the same moment further enhanced their twin status and was a theme throughout their lives at school. They began to look around, though it was not easy with their hats on, and finally spotted the unmistakable figures of their two little sisters waving madly at everyone passing by. They were sitting right above the band. Of course.
Finally the entirety of the graduating class of 2012 had marched in and taken their seats and the music had stopped. Shielded from cameras of every angle, Sorrell quietly slipped his phone out, texting Dyar as he sat in the band as well as Daniel who also had managed to smuggle his phone and keys into the ceremony. Neither were terribly excited to be there and were just excited for the party afterwards, which would be the last time they would be in the city for a while. After what felt like hours, the ceremony began with the Kiillaanian anthem played by the band and then the talks by the principal, vice principal of the senior class, and the teacher of the year were underway.
A whole eternity later (really, only 25 minutes) it was time to begin calling names. Daniel was pleased to know that Mr. Carrow, his favorite teacher, would be reading his row with the diplomas handed out by Mr. Sorela, another favorite. Sorrell and Daniel looked over and saw their signal to rise and began inching their way towards the stage where they would end their high school careers with a handshake and a photograph. There was another photo op off to the side with a fake diploma that would give proud parents a nice, clean, posed picture of their children before they headed off to the front for the real thing. Daniel gracefully posed with the fake cover, being sure to look off to the left as the photographer snapped away. When Sorrell got there, he had to hold back a laugh as he bent his knees awkwardly and turned his head to the right with a little half smile before heading again for the stage. They had been planning this moment since they had read about it and had to wait until this random semi-informal photo op to make it happen. They posed so that when the photos were hung up side by side they would be looking at each other. As they made eye contact, they did an air fist bump and then waited for their names to be called.
"DANIEL ROHAN BURKE" Mr. Carrow boomed, carefully enunciating every detail. The crowd, specifically the area around the band, gave very loud cheers and as Daniel looked back he could see the entire clarinet section standing and clapping as he climbed the stairs. Before he knew it he had shaken the hands of at least three people, had posed with his new diploma, and was walking back down the stairs as Erin's name was called. He looked up and waved at his family who waved back at him with lots of energy. He reached his seat just in time to hear his twin brother's name.
"SORRELL JUSTUS BURKE" Mr. Carrow said once again. Daniel, who hadn't sat down yet, cheered wildly from his seat. The clarinet section was once again standing and clapping for him although time seemed to go slowly for him. To Sorrell, it felt like it took five minutes to climb the steps and receive his certificate of completion. The whole time, the music of Yehai Sorela filled his head and he again pictured Miss Reyes with steam coming out of her face. Before he climbed down the steps he fist pumped the air with both hands and sort of waltzed back to his seat. Before he got there though, he and his brother embraced and the people around them clapped for them.
The rest of the ceremony was a blur. Nothing could have made the twins focus and they, along with most of the student body in the chairs, were texting or playing games on their phones. They only paid attention and clapped for their friends and band members and were counting the minutes until they were free from Raanlen High School forever. The advice of Mr. Kye, their band director, buzzed around in Sorrell's mind:
"We don't want to miss you. We want you to leave and never come back because you are entering a whole new plane of musical existence. You will remain in our hearts and memories always but don't let this school hold you back from succeeding in college and beyond."
Finally, Elston Zarlai walked across the stage and the concluding speech was given. It was finally time to turn the tassels! As they did so, the arena erupted into deafening cheers and it was all official. Moments later, hundreds of yellow and green hats were flying through the air, never to be seen again, though most students took the time to save their tassels first. Finally they could get out of there! The twins were proud of what they had accomplished and the memories the had made during their four years at Raanlen High School but both were more than ready to move on to college life. The recessional began to play and, as luck would have it, the A's and B's were the first to leave and return to the tiny gym and immediately go outside to the large field.
When Sorrell and Daniel reached the gym they found it had been transformed into a room of snacks, goodies, and photo areas. They already had their keys and phones on them so they could avoid the annoying returns station and made their way outside where they easily met up with their family, minus Dyar who was still playing for those who hadn't even left the arena yet. Chelsea and Christine ran right up to the twins and hugged them both, their parents quick to follow. Many pictures were taken, both outside and in, as they waited for Dyar to arrive for a family photo. After a good half an hour, Dyar finally appeared on the lawn, his bass clarinet case on his back.
"Wow, that recessional sure is a workout," he said breathlessly, "My reeds were all being stupid today too."
"Haha, it's all right, brother, you rocked it up there!" said Daniel, putting his hand on Dyar's shoulder.
"I love the face you made us," Sorrell said, laughing.
"Oh yeah! I thought you'd appreciate that," Dyar replied. All of them laughed, their parents and sisters knowing all too well exactly what he had done.
"Let's go now," Sorrell said after a number of family pictures had been taken, "let's get a pic or a movie or both of us walking down the hall and out the front door for the last time ever!"
"Great idea!" Daniel beamed. "Dad, you know what to do."
They could only talk about their graduation party later that night with their friends and family as they happily walked out the doors and their high school life came to a peaceful close.
No comments:
Post a Comment