the end of an era

I'm breaking my posting laziness for an incredibly important occasion: my last day of high school.

Okay, first of all, how weird is that? I still can hardly believe I'm a senior, much less a graduate. True, I still have an hour and fifteen minutes before I'm officially done, and I'm not an alum until graduation one week from today...but seriously guys, we ARE done.

I'm sitting in the library now, trying to tie together a coherent blog post while I soak the cushions with my saturated uniform. My light olive dress is now a lovely shade of forest green, and my hair's hanging in disgusting strings down my collar. Oh yeah.

Today really has been wonderful. The last two days have been wonderful - May Day was yesterday, which is another weird milestone I cannot believe I've passed. I remember hugging Carole Mabry our sophomore year and telling her how gorgeous she looked - the only thing she had to say was "you just watch, it'll be your time soon enough." And good gracious, she was right.

I mean, I know that's arbitrary - time is relative anyways - but the idea that I'm no longer a student at GPS is so foreign. GPS is a massive chunk of my identity. I go to this school, wear this uniform, see these people, eat this food, go to these classes, and participate in these activities. It's as much a part of I am as, well, anything.

But our time has come to move on. I've survived seven years of Girls Preparatory School, from getting kicked out of Mrs. Harr's sixth grade math class to actually going toe-to-toe with Mr. Wells in a debate. (well, I don't know if we were toe-to-toe, but I was arguing with him. That was a Big Deal.) I've passed the milestones. I've given a chapel talk, walked in May Day, taken my senior bows, and bruised my shins more times than I can count leaping onto the stage to hug my friends. It's my time now. It's no longer Laura or Payton up there, but me. I cannot get over how bizarre this is.

Last night the seniors were here for over two hours, "decorating" the campus and just generally getting into (tame) mischief. It was a beautiful night. I was standing on the front lawn with the grass dewy and soft between my toes, smelling spray paint on the air and listening to my classmates laugh and yell as we left our mark on the school, at least for a little while. I was struck by how much I'm going to miss these girls, so quickly and violently it left me breathless. So I grabbed Elizabeth's hand and dragged her over to the Naiads where Eller was blowing up balloons. It's the way we make everything okay - by living.

Amy in the cafeteria made her delicious chocolate-chip-banana muffins this morning, like she told me she would. They were heavenly, and so hot the chocolate chips were liquid. There's nothing like a warm, chocolaty muffin on your last day of high school.

Lunch was wonderful - I ended up at a giant double-table with everyone from Robyn and Caroline to Kelsaba and Natalie. We flash-mobbed the Macarena, raved in the food aisles, and conga lined all around the cafeteria with Ms. Gordon and some other teachers hanging on to the back. Kelsey's hands kept slipping off my shoulders, and we all just about hit the ground when we ran into a chair in that odd side conference room. But it was lovely. And then we wiped tables and danced and sang songs from our middle school years at the top of our lungs. Backstreet Boys for the win.

The giant inflatable slide on the front lawn was deadly in the rain. But so much fun. I'm soaked, and so happy.

I'm so happy. But this is so sad.

Since I'm in this writing frame of mind, I'm going to make a list of the seniors (I'll do teachers and underclassmen later) I'll miss dearly, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER. I'm just coming up with these as I go along. I love each and every one of you.

Kelsaba - Eller - Robyn - Bronte - Caroline - Emily - Samira - Nicole - Ame - Abby - Taylor - Chloe - Jordan G - Julia N - Julia R - Jaya - Blair - Morgan - Archer - Brandi - Nisha - Danielle - Kaitlyn E - Michelle - Yashi - Cecilia - Annie H - Natalie H - SD - Sadie - Ryn - Johanna - Audrey K - Audrey P - Lauren S - Lauren J - Teddie - Laura H - Elizabeth - Chloe - Candace - Katie F - Hadley - Laynie - Kristen

Graaaah. Anyways. This post brought to you by sentimentality. I really need to go clean out my locker.