A/N: This isn't the last chapter. There's probably one more after this one. :)

Marcel's POV

“Good evening, I'm Marcel. No, that sounded bad. Hello everyone, I'm Marcel. No, that's even worse. Hi, I'm Marcel. Yeah, that was good,” I say to myself in the mirror. I take a deep breath and put on my tie, “You are smart. You'll be fine. You can do this,” I repeat, giving myself a pep talk.

Tonight's the night.

It's time.

I'm finally graduating.

I've been waiting for this day for so long and it's here. It doesn't seem real.

My mom walks in and fixes my hair, “Look at you. All grown up.”

“Mommm...”

Her eyes start to tear up, “My baby is graduating.”

“We're not even at the school yet and you're already emotional,” I say, hugging her.

“I love you,” she says into my shoulder, “I'm so proud of you.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

She wipes her eyes, “I'm going to go get the camera set up. Come down when you're ready.”

I look around my room slowly. I run my fingers along the familiar map taped on my wall. I look at me plain blue bed spread. I reach up to touch one of the stars plastered to my ceiling.

Everything's the same as it always has been in here.

Yet everything else is changing.

I shut off my light and look in the darkness one last time before shutting my door.

Cami is downstairs, looking gorgeous. Her hair is curled and she's wearing a light blue dress.

“Tonight's the night,” she says, smiling, “You nervous?”

“Me? Nervous? Talking in front of the whole school? Psht, no,” I say jokingly, “Of course I am,” a say frowning.

“You'll be fine,” she tells me, adjusting my tie, “You look nice.”

I kiss her lightly, “You look beautiful.”

She gives me hand a squeeze, “Are you ready?”

I sigh and try to ignore the butterflies in my stomach, “I guess so...”

*

“And now for your Valedictorian, Marcel Styles.”

I wipe my palms on my lap and slowly stand up. I'm so nervous.

You can do this Marcel.

I slowly walk up to the podium and adjust the microphone, “Hi, everyone. I'm Marcel,” I feel like I can't breathe, “A lot of you know me as Mars or that nerd from the back of the classroom,” a few people laugh, “Some of you probably don't even know me. But today's the day we've all waited for. It's graduation. We'll no longer be high schoolers after this. We may never see each other again.

“I've dreamed about this day for years. I couldn't wait to graduate,” my heart starts to race, “Some people just want to graduate so they can sit at home. Others want to party. A lot of us will go to college. And for the longest time, I just wanted to get out of here.

“I'm not going to pretend that high school was the best four years of my life, because it wasn't. I've been hiding so many things... And now, it's time you all know the real me. Me, Marcel. Not that nerd in the back of the class. For most of my life, I've been bullied. I spent most of my time alone, mostly listening to music and writing songs. I got tattoos to let out my pain...” I take off my robe and show them my arm. People begin to whisper, “People always said high school would get better. It didn't until a few months ago... Everyday, I'd get picked on. Teachers, students, no one did anything to help me. I'm not the only one either. It happens everywhere. And everyday, I debated whether or not I should kill myself. Just because other people treated me wrong. I tried one day, to commit,” a lot of people gasp, “and I decided I wasn't going to let them get the best of me. And it was the best decision of my life.

“Now I'm standing in front of you all, finally graduating and being valedictorian. I guess I did alright. We all did it. We made it. Some people's journeys were harder than others. And I'm not saying I have it the worse, but I want to make it aware to everyone that these things do happen. School isn't always a safe, fun place for people... I don't want to be some sob story and I don't want you to feel bad for me, I'm okay. But most of all, I want to thank the people who saved me,” I look over at Cami and smile. Niall gives me a thumbs up. I can see Louis, Liam, and Zayn in the bleachers, “I've made five best friends this year. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't give up. There's light at the end of the tunnel, and you can make it through. I hope this inspires some of you to be kind to others, even if it's just a simple compliment. That could change someone's life. And I know some of you don't even care, and you never will. But just think about your actions before you do them. Thank you all for your time.”

I slowly walk off the stage, my hands shaking and my knees are weak. I can barely feel my body.

Everyone is silently watching me.

One person stands up and begins to clap.

Followed by another and another.

Soon, everyone is clapping for me.

That's when I look at everyone's faces.

Shocked, confused, even some tears.

“Wait to go Marcel!” someone yells from behind me.

The principal walks up to the podium and tells everyone to quiet down. She wipes a tear from her eye, “Thank you, Marcel... Now, uh, let's go on to diplomas. Josh Allen, Ally Anderson.....”

I wait in shock for my name to be called.

What just happened?

It all happened so fast. I don't even remember giving my speech. This all feels fake. I must be dreaming.

“Niall Horan....”

Niall walks past me and gives me a slap on the back, “Good job, bud. You did it.”

“Cami O'Donnell....”

“Marcel Styles.”

Now normally, you wait until the end of the names to clap. But everyone started to clap for me again.

Did I really make that much of an impact?

I couldn't have, could I?

I sit back down and wait for the rest of the names to be called.

“Congratulations, everyone. You've all graduated,” the principal says.

We all throw our caps in the air. Hundreds of blue caps tossed up.

It's like a new start.

Our life as adults starts now.

We can take whatever path we want.

Cami pushes through the crowd and comes over to me. I wrap my arms around her and hug her tight. She looks up at me and smiles before we kiss.

She unconnects and smiles again, “You did it. You were great!”

“I'm still shaking!” I say laughing.

*

I'm standing with Cami and Niall when Ethan walks over to me.

“Hey, uh, Marcel, can I talk to you?” he mumbles.

I look at Cami and she nods.

“Um, sure...” I tell him.

We go over to a quiet area and Ethan looks down at his feet.

He finally meets my gaze and begins to speak, “Look, uh, I didn't know about all that. I thought... I don't know what I thought. I don't know why I thought it was okay to do all those things to you. And, uh, I feel... I'm just...” he takes a deep breath, “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Marcel,” he looks up at the ceiling and then he does something that surprises me.

He hugs me tightly.

“I'm so sorry,” he mumbles, “I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize that what I did was wrong.”

In that minute, I saw the Ethan I used to know. The boy who used to be my best friend.

I see the innocence in his face. I can tell that he's upset and ashamed.

I smile and hug him back, “Thank you.”

He looks at me, really looks at me for the first time in years, “I'm really sorry.”

He turns to leave but I stop him, “Ethan, be good to yourself and others, okay? And don't think too much about me. I'm fine.”

He nods, “Marcel, I don't think a day will go by where I don't regret what I did to you.”

“I'll be okay. It's over now and I made it.”

“I'm sorry,” he says before walking away. He turns around one last time, “You're going to do something amazing, Marcel. Don't change yourself like I did.”

They graduated!! I hope you liked this chapter!! What'd you think of his speech? Thank you so much to getting this to 9M reads! OMG! Ilysm <3

And when this hits 10M, I'm going to have a contest. So stay tuned for that!

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