I look around and all I can see are stares of hatred and malice.
Another girls voice breaks the silence as she suddenly exclaims
"NO FAIR! Choo! We agreed! No public displays of affection by you two!
"Since this is the last day, I'm going to do it too. The queen can't punish me now that we graduated!"
"Me two"
"Me Three!"
A wild flock off teenage girls and one over zealous drunk male suddenly ran towards me.
"BAECHU! Save me!"
She just shakes her head as she watches the chaos she caused, ignoring my desperate plight, and continues to enjoying the finger snacks.
'You are not watching a movie!'
'Your boyfriend is getting assaulted. Do something!'
The girls' claw and grab at every part of my body. Finding pure amusement in my terror.
"Dylan I hate you!" The vice president chimes in once more! "I'm going to sue you for stealing my heart!"
'You little .... , you are the one who started this in the first place'
Other boys start chiming in aswell half jealousy, half playfulness.
"Let's get him!"
"Dylan let go of my girl"
"Hey! she's the one grabbing on me" I retort to no avail
All at once the room is in utter chaos, plates, dishes, drinks, whole chickens and even kebabs are flung into the air.
"Stop wasting food! its a sin" preaches some religious dude in the background.
Causing the relentless food chuckers to turn their attention that way.
'May god be with you'
Deciding that now would be the perfect time to take a photo, the president of the photoclub proceeds to signal everyone to get ready, How many of us heard him is anyone's guess
"On three everyone say Kimchi!"
"ONE TWO THREE"
"KIMCHI!" The group cries out in perfect harmony.
*Snap*
Time stood still right then and there.
The picture frames two herds, female teens on the right and the other pubescent boys on the left with a outstandingly devilishly good-looking boy in the middle being treated like a human version of tug of war.
If you look closely enough in the far right background you can see a photogenic dark haired girl making a hand heart and smiling.
Eventually they relent and before everyone says their farewells, I'm handed a mic.
"Speech!"
"Yeah Speech!"
"Yeah come on Dylan Speech"
"Alright Guys sheesh" I stand up from my seat, my clothes still a mess. I'm even missing a few buttons from my pants.
"Now all of you may not really know me. I'm only a minor celebrity at this point in time" I say earning a few chuckles " Even though, I've only known you guys for a year. What a year its been. Today isn't the end of our journey, its the beginning of our first."
"Things may not always go the way we plan but be resilient. Life doesn't follow a straight road, it has turns, curves, bumps, ups, downs but it's our life. Control what we can control and what we can't we leave up to God. or whatever you believe in.
The only thing that never betrays you is HARD WORK. If someone is smarter than you. Work harder. If you are envious of someone, Work Harder. If you are not happy with where you are in life. Work harder.
When you fail after doing your best, you learn. If you fail after doing your worst, you regret.
Don't live with regrets.
Fall in love, find happiness and do something you love, do everything you love."
As I look towards Hora pausing, giving her my cool dude wink a chorus of boos rain supreme
"You suck!"
"Get off the stage"
"You guys wanted me to give a speech" I pout before continuing, "I want you all to remember the following tables turn, bridges burn, you live and learn.
Often times its the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.
While the idea of material success does influence our lives heavily, I tell you today, You aren't special. You shouldn't feel entitled to special things. Even if you are one in a million. On a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7000 people just like you.
If everyone is special then no-one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. There is no effort without error and shortcoming.
Your place should never be with those cold and timid souls who no neither victory nor defeat. We can't be the best at everything or at times anything.
What we can have at all times is moral strength. Moral strength is about making a conscious decision not to give up when it is easy to.
Jim Rohn once said, "Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you."
Of course doing this will mean that you will have to face your failure of falling short of looking like a fool. A fear of not being enough. Here's the thing, none of us get out of life alive so be gallant, be gracious and be grateful for the opportunities that you have. Some of us will never cross paths again.
Some of us we will only see on TV or in print or in prison. You know it's true.
I don't know where it goes from here for any of us, for me, for you but I wish you the very best in your journey and I thank you all for being a part of mine"
I bow in utmost sincerity facing the room.
I look around and see some girls and even boys teary eyed.
Did I say something wrong?
"Dylan, I am not going to give up!" Shouts the vice-president!
"Fighting!" I pump my fist in his direction giving him encouragement.
This causes the entire room to erupt into cheers and laughter.
And with that my time as a High Schooler is drawn to a close
*Fade to black*