"Did we get everything?" Hal asked as I did a sweep of our room.

"Looks like it," I said. "It's weird to think we're leaving."

"If I miss your snoring, I'll just have you sleepover," Hal said.

I looked at him indignantly. "I do not snore."

"No, but your alarm's fucking annoying as hell," Hal said. "I sure as sumos having internal turmoil won't miss that."

I frowned. "The year's over, Hal. We're graduating. You can say 'shit' again."

He frowned right back. "The Academy really did break me."

I laughed and slung my arm over his shoulders, pulling him against me. "We made it. We really made it."

He put his arm around me. "And you get to stay a Yankee. Yeehaw for the USA."

We'd practiced spending reasonable amounts of time apart. Hal was a part of my life I'd never truly be without, but I'd tried to widen the scope of my world to include more than just him.

There was a knock on our door and we dropped our arms from each other, turning as the door opened. Cara came in, Wyatt bounding along behind her.

"Hey," Hal greeted, flicking Wyatt in the forehead and good naturedly punching Cara in the arm. "You said your goodbyes?"

"To the kids from my rotation this morning, yea," Cara said. "Mikayla and I are going to get in touch over the summer and meet up for lunch."

Wyatt glanced down at his feet. I nudged him.

"What's got you looking like someone shot your puppy?" I said.

"I just...you guys will be gone," he said, shoulders dropping a little. "And I'll come back and still have four more years without you. I still have my friends but...it just kinda sucks. You know?"

"Would it suck less if I gave you a gift?" I said, pulling a folded up paper out of my pocket and pushing it into his hands.

He unfolded it suspiciously, but then his face brightened. It was a carefully detailed map of the library, and I'd marked all the rooms he could find some privacy in. The basement of the library was like a damn maze, but now he'd be able to navigate it easily.

"You can show your friends," I said.

He threw his arms around me and hugged me tightly. I stumbled back, caught myself, and hugged him back.

"You'll be fine," I promised him. "You'll have all the 14 year old angst that we did, but you can have your emo isolation time in the library now."

He pulled away from me. "I...made friends. With a Maroon kid. He was trying to find a book in the library and I helped him and we got talking and I said I'd see him again next year. He gave me his number so we could talk over the summer! He'll be 13 next year and I'll be 14. I think he's kind of scared of the school. But I'll be his friend." He smiled a little. "But I'll never forget you guys!"

"I sure as hell hope not. You're still in our group text," Hal said in irritation. "Christ, Wyatt, we're graduating, not dying."

"Screw you, Hal," Wyatt said fondly.

"Piss off," Hal said.

"I see you guys are parting on good terms," Jordan said, coming into the room with Evan. "All packed up?"

"Obviously," Hal said.

"Should we go out to the zoo of parents?" I said. "Might as well get this over with."

"Can't put it off forever," Evan said, smiling easily. "Let's get a move on, then."

We went down and left the dorm together. Kids were waiting for their parents and moving their stuff out of the dorms. We stood together, waiting for our folks to find us.

"Cara!"

"Oh, shit, I'm first," Cara groaned.

Hal rolled his eyes, bumping her shoulder with his. "For fuck's sake, it'll be fine. You walked the line all year."

A couple came over, and Cara allowed herself to be passed between them for hugs. Her mom put her hands on Cara's shoulders and smiled.

"We're so proud of you. You really pulled yourself together," she said.

Cara seemed surprised at that. "Proud...of me?"

Her mom hugged her tightly. "Absolutely. Let's go get your stuff."

Cara looked over her shoulder at us helplessly, and we waved her away, knowing she'd be back when she was done. Hal smiled at her and she beamed back with joy before following her parents towards her dorm.

"Hal!"

Hal's mom seemed to launch out of the crowd, grabbing him into a hug. "You pain in the ass son of mine. I can't wait to have you home."

"Oh, for fuck's sake, you didn't have to preface it like that!" Hal said.

"Do you hear him, Nick Waymire? You did that. You and your filthy mouth," Mrs. Waymire said sternly. "Clean up your language around me, Hal. Oh! Griffin!" She shoved Hal at her husband in favor of hugging me. "Look at you! You look so happy. I'm so glad to see it."

I laughed and hugged her back. "Yea, I'm all good, Mrs. Waymire. Sorry I couldn't get your son to stop swearing."

"Like you ever tried," she said, but she was grinning at me. She kissed my cheek and moved back to draw Hal into another hug.

Mr. Waymire came over and clapped me on the shoulder. "Congratulations on making it through, kid. We're both really proud of you boys." He tugged me into a hug.

I looked past him and smiled as my dad and grandpa approached. Dad was already smiling as he watched me hug Mr. Waymire, and he opened his arms to me when I was done.

"How are you graduating high school already?" he mumbled against my hair as he held me close. "It feels like just yesterday that you said your first word."

"And your first word was 'mama', much to your father's despair," grandpa said, putting a hand on my back. "But I guess that just showed how smart you were. We're really proud, Griffin. Your grades were great."

"It'll be good to go home," I said. Dad had taken some time off work while I got settled back home and enjoyed the summer before heading off to college. He wanted to spend time with me and grandpa, which had me excited.

I turned as a man called Evan's name. Evan hugged his dad, though his mom lingered nearby.

"Congratulations on graduating," she said to him when he pulled away from his dad. "You...did very well academically. We're proud."

"Damn right we are!" Mr. Copeland said, shaking Evan's shoulder a little. "I might have even bragged a little to my coworkers. 'Shut up about your boy already', that's what John told me by the end of the week. Ah, he's just mad his son failed math again."

Evan rolled his eyes, but leaned into his dad a little. "You flatter me."

I noticed that Wyatt and Jordan were with their parents, sharing hugs. We all split up to get to our dorms and move our stuff out. My dad and grandpa talked happily with Hal's parents as they helped us carry everything out, unconcerned if our stuff got mixed up since we'd be seeing each other all the time anyways.

When we were done, Hal and I lingered. Cara came up to us first, followed shortly by Evan, and then Jordan, and finally, Wyatt.

"This is it, huh?" Jordan said with a sigh. "No more stressing myself about keeping you three in line."

"Hey," Hal, Cara, and I all protested.

"I might even miss the Denny's trips," Wyatt admitted.

"Oh, we'll drag you there again. Don't worry about that," Hal said dismissively.

But Wyatt perked up. It was a promise that we'd come back for him.

"Hey, Evan."

Evan stiffened beside me. He turned slowly, and I copied him.

The girl standing there wore a pretty red dress. She had a card in her hand and walked towards him.

"Here," she said, holding the card out.

"Lena," Evan said, his voice quiet.

"Well? Do you want the card or not?" she said.

He took it and opened it. As he opened the card, he caught a paper before it could flutter to the ground. His smile stretched across his face.

"Coupons for pizza, huh?" he said.

"It's a date," she said sternly. "Tomorrow, after you've settled in back home. We'll get dinner." She hesitated before leaning forward and hugging him. "Thank you for calling me. We're good." She grinned playfully up at him. "You were even worth the gas money to drive out here to surprise."

He hugged her back, relief washing over him. "God, that's good to hear. That's really good to hear."

"I loved the painting," Lena said.

"That's even better to hear. Shit, okay, yea, we're good. Good." He pulled back a little. "These are my friends, Lena. Griffin, Hal, Wyatt, Cara, and Jordan. Guys, this is my best friend from home. Lena."

We all greeted her. She seemed at ease despite all the new people, and casually lingered by Evan as we all spoke.

I spotted the twins before anyone else. Thevan grinned despite knowing the shitstorm it would cause if Constance caught him on campus.

"Hey," he greeted.

"You aren't supposed to be here," I said.

He shrugged. "Constance should just be grateful I kept Sloane from tagging this place again. He really wanted to."

"You're a saint," I said. I turned to Anika. "Thank you. For helping me, for believing in me."

"I knew Griffin Flynn," she said. "I'm glad you know him now, too. He's pretty great." She reached out and I let her lock our fingers together, adjusting my grip so her ring didn't press into my skin. "I hope I get to see him a lot this summer."

"You will," I promised her, squeezing her hand. "Plenty."

She smiled at me, and it was warm and inviting and promised so much more for us. My heart beat a little faster, but her grip on my hand was confident and familiar.

Neither of us let go.

"This is turning out to be a really good day," Evan said to me.

"You're telling me," I said, nearly dizzy with joy at how everything had shaped up in the end.

"Hey, Griffin!"

I looked up in surprise as Caroline jogged over. Anika released my hand just before Caroline flung her arms around me.

I hugged her back for a moment before we released each other. She tucked her hair behind her ear and offered me a smile.

"Next year is my last year here," she said. She glanced at Wyatt and lowered her voice. "I'll keep an eye on him for you. I promise."

"Thank you," I said.

"My older brother is here, and you know he's back from his first year of college and I think it shoved the stick farther up his ass. But I don't want to be like that." She shook her head a little. "I love my brothers and I love my parents, but I want to be my own person. I...I told my dad I want my brother Adam to take over the Academy by himself. I'm going to do my own thing. I still want to be involved in education, I think. Maybe administrative work. But not here."

"I hope you find what you want to do," I said sincerely. "I hope you find who you want to be. I did, and it's a pretty great feeling."

"I'm going to keep in touch with you," she said. "If that's okay?"

"Of course it is," I said. "And when you graduate, I'll come see you. And when you're in college, we'll get lunch sometime and you can bitch to me about pointless gen eds and how annoying APA citation is. It'll be great."

"I look forward to it," she said, holding her hand out to me.

I shook it and pulled her in for one final hug before I left this place. I hoped to god she found herself, away from her family and their legacy. She deserved to be her own person. Not another Constance. Just Caroline. Whoever she found that to be.

"I've got to get back to my family." She glanced at the Ramesh twins. "Uh...I won't mention that."

"Much appreciated," Anika said. "Good luck with your senior year, Caroline."

"Thank you," Caroline said. "I'll talk to you later, Griffin."

It was a promise I was eager for us to keep. I waved to her as she darted off to find her family before they came looking for her.

Everyone moved in together and I looked around at everyone. Hal, Evan, Anika, Thevan, Jordan, Wyatt, and Lena.

I felt happy. I felt complete.

It had been a rough year. But I'd made it through. I'd found myself, and found some of the best damn people here.

"This is the end," I said.

"No speeches," Hal said sternly. "It's not the end of anything, fuck off. We're all hanging out over the summer."

"Well, obviously," I said. "I just meant this is the end of our time here. Well, except for Wyatt. Good luck with your friend next year. Keep an eye on him. It's a rough Maroon life. Some Blue friends help."

"See? Good guy. I told you," Evan said, elbowing me lightly.

"Nah," I said, grinning. "Don't ruin my reputation."

"Being an asshole is my reputation, get your own," Hal said.

Cara rolled her eyes. "You're both idiots. I can't wait to get to soccer camp and be around normal people for once."

Hal scoffed. "Like you'd ever be that lucky."

We all found ourselves huddling in close. It was the end of our time here, but not our time together. That thought lifted my spirits high enough that I could've painted the clouds in that moment.

Our mistakes hadn't defined us or destroyed us. They'd taught us, and we'd grown. We'd keep growing. Clean us up and let us go. Lesson learned.

"We'll see each other soon," I said.

"We better. I want Lena to get to know you guys," Evan said, reaching out to put his arm around her.

"Anyone who can put up with Evan has got to be a decent person," Lena said, and laughed when Evan scowled at her. She gave him a light shove. "We can't stand here forever. Those coupons are only good until the end of the week."

"You're right," he said. "Also, um...I don't think I told you before. But that dress is beautiful."

Lena smiled. Evan returned it, two friends reunited, a mend that made them stronger.

We all slowly broke apart. Looked at each other. Accepted we couldn't be kids forever. Accepted that didn't mean we had to part ways permanently.

So we said our goodbyes, gave our hugs, took some pictures, and made promises to see each other soon. After sharing another too-long hug with Anika and whispering in her ear about calling later tonight, I walked with Hal to our parents, and turned one last time.

Evan and Lena were talking together enthusiastically. Evan noticed me looking and raised a hand in a wave.

He'd be okay. His dad was watching him with a smile, and while his mom refused to look at him and Lena, she didn't stop them, either. She couldn't, not anymore. Evan had grown beyond her control.

"Bother me sometime," I called to him.

"I'm always good to annoy you," he called back.

It brought a smile to my face. Hal and I shared a look as we reached our cars.

"I used to be guilty, but it ended well. I don't regret it anymore, even if I am still sorry," he said, reaching out and lightly touching the scar on my eyebrow.

I caught his hand. "Don't be. It makes me look badass."

"Not as badass as me," he said.

We shared a hug, then. He'd stood by my side the whole time here.

"Let's go, Hal. We've got a whole life ahead of us," I said.

"Damn right we do," he said.

We got in our cars. As we drove away from the Academy, I didn't feel any sense of loss or regret. It hadn't been easy, but it hadn't broken me.

We'd made it.

And together, we'd keep making it.

-----------------------------------------------
A.N.- Thank you guys so much for reading this! It was so different from the books in the main series, but it was fun to explore the perspective of kids who weren't fighting back and who were just trying to get through the Academy together. At 85,458 words, I think this officially claimed the title of my longest story ever, so thanks for bearing with the length of it!

A special shoutout to the NFJC for letting me complain and brainstorm about this story, and maybe someday I'll give them a story about Hal and Pete and rugs as a thanks

I'm...also not sure why everyone thought this was bxb considering there was no mention of it in the title, description, or tags, and Griffin makes it clear he has a crush on Anika but...moving on...

As always, feel free to request prompts over on my account, promptingskenekidz. Thanks so much for giving this a read, and please let me know what you thought of it!