Jamie fidgeted through most of the speeches, and started playing cliche bingo in his head to amuse himself and pass the time. He was pretty sure he heard the words 'growth' and 'opportunity' at least ten times each, but he sort of expected that. And really, he knew this was a big milestone in the lives of him and his classmates, he got that.
The speeches finally wrapped up and they went up in rows, kids he'd gone to school with, some of them for over a decade, getting their diplomas and listening to their families cheer.
Finally, it was his row's turn. They filed up the center row and stood at the foot of the stairs leading up to the stage. There were about six people in front of him, and then he heard the principal say, "Jameson Kemp" into the microphone. The walk across the stage seemed both short and long all at once, and he shook the principal's hand and took both himself and his diploma back to his seat. They still had a whole half an alphabet to go.