Graduation and beyond

[mitochondriaaya]

Graduation was just before her birthday, so Aya was fifteen when she slithered into the graduation gown and tried her hat on. Walking with a tassel (as practice proved) was distracting. She wasn't katzu, true, but she still had the urge to bat at it. Instead she had to look calm. Sedate. Grown up.

Yeeeeah.

At least she wasn't Valedictorian, that would have added a whole new level of stress to her last year of school! And still she'd almost been swayed by the teacher who suggested she stay another year. Almost. Life didn't wait though and the boys were already so far ahead of her that it was a laughable idea to 'catch up' but hey, at least they could all be in college for some of the same years! Sure, not the same college but...yeah. She went out with her friends the night before graduation, a low key party out on a floating dock with a lot of silliness and loud music, but hey, they were all seniors, it was expected!

She made it home in the morning in time to toss back a mug of coffee and try to think about breakfast. "Have to be at the field at...four? Four thirty. Right. Yeah." More coffee. The message light on the answering machine was flashing so she hit the button and listened as her dad rambled cheerfully about it being the day, and he had his ticket to the graduation, and he wasn't going to lose it and what else did he need to remember? "Your head," she chuckled, listening. He'd been leaving messages all week as the day rolled closer. It was nice for Jerrig to be excited.

Granted, traffic was going to be hell with the town turning out to see graduation at the nearest sports field and tourists flooding in to see the surfing competition in the town nearby, but as long as everyone left early they'd be fine right? Right. It wasn't like she had to drive.

Maaaaaaaybe staying out all night hadn't been the best plan though. The coffee waqs sitting heavy in her stomach and she felt her hands tensing around the mug as REAL LIFE loomed up in her mind.

Ouch.

Yeah.

"What was I thinking?!" It was totally okay to ask these things of the empty kitchen, yep.

Comments

[sliceitwithwind]

"Prooooooooobably that you didn't expect us to be here and were just going to drag through the day." Braig said, entering the kitchen. He'd heard her, but the boys had just gotten there. "Gimme coffee, monkey-butt."

[mitochondriaaya]

"...not until later no." Her coffee! Her coffee mug! Eep! Watch her hug her coffee mug (a habit she'd picked up this last school year) and shoot wounded looks at Braig.

Oh, wait, there was more in the pot. Yes, she could pour them other coffee yes. "Hey, I"m graduating today! I'm totally not a monkey butt anymore!" Sheesh. Sandy legs maybe? She's rinsed her feet in the surf but her legs still bore evidence of the night party.

[sliceitwithwind]

"Totally a monkey-butt." Braig said, taking the newly poured coffee (and leaving hers alone), "You will always be my monkey-butt."

"Forgive him." Dilan said, bopping Braig on the head, "He didn't get enough sleep either."

[mitochondriaaya]

"See, this is why I'm kind of looking forward to meeting people you guys haven't yet. They won't meet me and imagine me as a baboon or something." She snorted and tucked herself up on the counter. "I'll forgive him later."

[sliceitwithwind]

Dilan offered her a muffin from the bag of them he'd carried in...he made them before waking Braig up that morning, and set the bag on the counter. "I don't call you monkey-butt." he protested, "Just monkey."

"Mphghl." Braig informed his coffee.

[mitochondriaaya]

"Yeah, and while not incredibly flattering it's at least something we've always agreed on. The monkey-butt thing is recent." And kind of annoying for a fifteen year old ego! Mmmm, muffin! "Did you guys stay out partying too before graduation?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Yup." Dilan said, "And were even more miserable...that's when I found out I have no alcohol tolerance."

"And I got fucked up." Braig said cheerfully, "And the monkey-butt thing is so that you remember me when you've gone off to college."

[mitochondriaaya]

"I," she noted mock-primly, "had Pixie Stix. A lot of them." Because yes, the girlfriends had taken her off camping the weekend before to make sure she got to try alcohol when someone had an epi pen, but no one was crazy enough to give it to her at a party before graduation!

"Braig? I'm pretty sure it would take head trauma for me to forget you."

[sliceitwithwind]

"Yeah, well. You're going into CJ." Braig pointed out, "You don't really do the getting fucked up thing." He pulled her into a hug, "Have to make sure...you're too important to risk."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Hey, I was seeing sparkles and having a headache for hours!" Aya countered cheerfully, "But...yeah. And it's for the best right? My allergies getting fucked up would be like playing Russian Roulette." Dumb. Incredibly dumb.

She set her mug aside so she could hug him back then rested her chin on his shoulder. "Risk? Braig, monkey-butt is the risk! If I were slightly more uptight I'd have arranged your death by now!"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Yup." Braig agreed, "Heh. It'd be a whole new drama in our relationship...worthy of our first halloween costumes together."

"Dork." Dilan said to Braig.

[mitochondriaaya]

"Yep, me, secretly paying someone to arrange an accident for you for minor insults, all the while never knowing those insults were actually given by your evil twin so I'd kill you..." or something. Sure. "We're never going to live that Halloween down are we?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Nope, never." Braig said, surprisingly cheerfully.

Dilan said, "Oh, man, I get to be in a coma as the only one knowing that Braig has an evil twin, right?"

[mitochondriaaya]

"Don't worry, you get to wake up and tear yourself from your sickbed just in time to save the real Braig's life then keep the evil twin from proposing!" Aya laughed and toasted him with her coffee mug. "You're the hero! And I get to feel horribly guilty about the plotting death thing and lead into the next story arc!"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Yeah." Braig said, kissing her hair and pouring more coffee. Nom nom nom.

[mitochondriaaya]

Wasn't that suppose to be slurp slurp slurp? If the coffee was chewable she wanted to try some! "Hey, speaking of Halloween, want to do it at your campus or mine? I'm sure we can find someplace to dress up at!"

[sliceitwithwind]

Not the way they made coffee. "Lets see what parties are planned and go from there."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Eh, but parties might have themes," which meant they couldn't plan ahead until they knew! "Anyway, I guess there's time for figuring out costumes." Months and months of it anyway.

[sliceitwithwind]

"We'll figure it out." Braig said, kissing her forehead, "A lot of them advertise early, so we'll have time to figure out plans."

[mitochondriaaya]

"They do? Wow." She'd kind of assumed that colleges were like the town, the established party people could be expected to have a party but everyone else was last minute! "Obviously I have stuff to learn about campus life. Supervised visits apparently don't cut it."

[sliceitwithwind]

"You're going to do great." Braig said, flopping into a chair after grabbing a muffin, "You know that, right?"

"And we'll be just a phone call away."

[mitochondriaaya]

"I'm graduating today," she squeaked after a moment and finishing her muffin. "What if my teachers are right and I'm not ready?!" Because this was the boys and they knew she needed to flail sometimes.

And she was fifteen (okay, sixteen soon but still), she'd be doing things alone because she was an idiot sometimes and it was one thing to be young on campus with a Braig to watch your back, it was another to just be young. Cripes. Why had all this seemed like a good idea the past year?!

Yes, arm and hand flailing. Then it made more sense to grab another muffin.

[sliceitwithwind]

"Bah." Braig said, "You're totally ready."

Dilan hugged her while she was flailing, "You'll be fine. If you're really worried, you could work for a year?"

[mitochondriaaya]

"I already got accepted and my scholarships in motion," Aya admitted. That meant no backing out of college even for a year right? And Braig...Braig was no help! "Isn't that what you uised to say that one summer they had you trying to teach surfing to other kids?!"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Well, yeah." Braig said, "But also I'm lazy."