… it’s been a week, and today’s graduation day. Fang and I passed finals thanks to all the teachers drilling everything into our heads with those study guides. All of them had enough pages to be considered a novel. I decided to buy Fang and me caps and gowns, and as we sat waiting for our names to be called, I couldn’t even begin to fathom how grateful I was for this moment. From what I’ve seen, Fang has been doing a lot better. No new preening bald spots, only one episode that ended pretty quickly. I’m so proud of her. She’s made so much progress in only a few weeks. I feel like I’m about to cry sitting next to Fang. I don’t know what would’ve happened that day if I didn’t wake up in time, but… I’m glad I checked on her, even if it did give me a few scars.

Reed came up to me a couple days after finals…

- 1 WEEK AGO -

I hear Reed approaching me as I make my way to the cafeteria, “Hey man, wait up.”

I stop and turn on a dime to see him walking toward me, “What’s up, Reed?”

He rubs his neck looking down, “I uh… Trish wanted me to tell you guys that she’s gonna give you guys some space; whenever Fang wants to talk to her, she’ll be ready.”

I nod slightly, “Alright… thanks, man, have a good day.”

He returns the nod smiling softly, “You too, man.”

Can’t believe Trish actually took my advice. Glad she’s giving us some space, though. We sure as hell need it.

- PRESENT -

I’m still surprised that Trish took my advice and kept her word. I haven’t seen her outside of math, and Fang hasn’t gotten any texts from her. I’m happy that Reed is still cool with us. In fact, everything’s been going pretty smoothly. The only person not here is… Naomi. I still feel wrong about that, she didn’t deserve this, but at least she’s somewhere where she’s happier now, I think. I haven’t had contact with her since she moved.

Stella gave me a tarot reading the other day, “Upright sun, upright judgment, annnnd upright emperor.” she looked at me expectantly with a massive smile on her face, as if I knew what any of that meant, “Anon!”

“Uh, cool… what’s that mean.”

She places the cards back into her deck, “Well… what would be the fun in telling? I’d rather watch this play out. You have an exciting future ahead of you, a happy one, Anon.”

I nod at Stella’s vagueness, “Cool, so can I go eat lunch now?”

She looks at me, slightly disappointed, and a smile quickly takes its place, “Yeah… go eat lunch with Fang.”

I get up and awkwardly scurry away from the corner of the math room towards the cafeteria. I still can’t believe I shared that class with her this whole year and didn’t know it. I don’t even know how she convinced me to do the tarot reading… pretty sure it was involuntary.

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear Fang’s name yelled out by Spears, “NEXT UP, FANG AARAN!”

Fang glances at me with a smile and walks up, grabbing her diploma and shaking hands with Spears. They talk with each other for a moment before she makes her way back down the ocean of students and sits down next to me.

She has the widest smile on her face. She glances between the diploma and me, and I return the smile, giggling at her reaction. Before I know it, I’m wrapped in her soft wings as she hugs me tightly, “I wouldn’t have been able to get here without you, Anon. Thank you… I love you so much.”

I return the hug wrapping my arms around her, “I love you too, Fang.” I look over her shoulder to see her dad shooting daggers at me. “Hey, uh, might want to let go before your dad kills me….”

She loosens her grip, shooting daggers back at her dad, who huffs before watching the next student take the stage. Surprisingly, Trish and Reed passed their finals as they went up to the location to get their diplomas. Trish looks happy, and Reed looks… not all there. He’s wearing some aviators but is clearly stumbling across the stage, celebratory carfe, I guess… I hear my name called, “...ANON MOUS!” and I make my way up to the stage. My parents didn’t show up, but I’ve got Fang.

I shake Spears’s hand before he talks to me. “I’m really proud of you, son. Also… my door is still always open to anime suggestions.”

He guffaws before slapping me on the back, almost sending me face-first onto the stage. I make my way down the rows of students and sit back next to Fang. I smile warmly at her as we silently take at the moment together.

Soon enough, the last student is called up, and everyone starts leaving in their groups of friends and family. I get up with Fang and her family and begin to make our way to the NasCar. Fang’s dad gets into his car with Fang’s mom, and they head home. Fang somehow convinced her dad that she and I could go on a date somewhere. Naser drives us to the local mall as we reminisce about the year. They started talking about the beginning of the year, and I quickly realized I wasn’t here for that. Yet they talk like I was always here, in Volcadara; it’s kinda nice. We get out, and all three of us walk into the mall. Fang immediately goes to the small pet store in the mall. She’s enamored by the cats and dogs that are sleeping in their little playpens. I think I have an idea of what to get her for Christmas… Fang and I wonder about the shop as Naser looks at overpriced clothes. A snake pops out at Fang, making her jump back a little. I laugh at her reaction as she punches me in the arm, letting out a small ‘hmph.’ She scurries away from the snakes and returns to staring at the cats and dogs.

I squat down next to her, “More of a cat or a dog person? Don’t know how I’ve never asked you that.”

She giggles a little, “I don’t know… I can’t choose.”

One of the puppies came waddling up to us and started barking. It’s got a longer nose than the rest of the dogs. “Hey, look, your cousin.”

Fang looks at me, confused. As I flash a huge grin, she glances at the dog’s nose and gets the joke. She punches me in the arm and moves to the cat’s section. She spots a cat with a scrunched-up face and starts laughing uncontrollably. I try my best not to laugh, but I can’t help; I join Fang and keel over, laughing at the cat that looks pissed at existence. The cat looks like it’s been slammed in the face with a 2x4, almost like a feline version of a pug. After we’re able to collect ourselves, we head to the food court, Fang gets a whole pizza, and I just stick with a couple of hotdogs. Probably equally as filling meals… wonder how that works. Fang and I finish our meals around the same time and start wandering around, looking for things to do. We’re able to spot some small toy stores, and I see… LEGOS?? Fang and I share the same reaction as we speed walk to the toy store and start staring at the legos. Eventually, we picked out a huge set…

I can’t wait to build this when we get to my place… wait a minute. “Hey, Fang?”

She looks at me, “Hm?”

We walk to the checkout as I haul the massive star destroyer that costs a small fortune, “Are you staying at my place after we dip?”

She nods, “Yeah, of course.”

I place the behemoth of a lego set on the counter, and before I can pay for it, Fang steps in and pays for it. It was 500 dollars… I had saved up plenty to splurge, and she just…

She laughs, looking at my reaction. “Naser, remember?”

I shake my head, picking up the lego set, and she reassures me, “He won’t even notice. He spends five times that on clothes, like once a month.”

I can’t believe he has that much money to splurge; how much is his dad making to be able to give his son that much money?!

As I walk out with the lego set under my arm, I return to asking her about staying at my place, “So you told your dad, right?”

She looks at me, “Uh… yesssssss?”

I give her a look, signaling I know that she’s lying out her ass. “Fine, I’ll tell him… can’t guarantee he won’t kill you, though.”

“Also, if we’re going to my place, we’re gonna have to go with Monarch.”

Her face cringes, “Why?”

I shrug, “Unless you want Naser to know we spent 500 bucks on a lego set, be my guest.”

She huffs, “Fuck… good point.”

She texts Naser and nods, “Alright, staying at your place officially.”

As we head out of the mall, I call Monarch, and he’s there in a couple minutes. “Speed guaranteed” is Written on the side of the taxi. We hop in, and Monarch looks like Naser, fully dressed in some shitty-looking expensive clothes and wearing bronze-framed aviators. He flashes that familiar grin at us with a gold tooth clearly visible. “Where you two lovebirds headed?” he glances between us.

Fang resists the urge to kick his seat, and I decide to talk before Fang gets any other ideas, “Take us home, Monarch.”

He nods, turning to the road and speeding away, “So, how have you two been? Haven’t spoken to you kids in a hot minute.”

I nod, shocked by his speed. “We’ve been good; today was graduation, so we’re out of school now.”

He glances at us in the rearview mirror, “Kids no more, eh? Be careful out there… the world’s a tough place.” He says as he adjusts his suit that costs as much as this car.

“So, how’s business?”

“Oh, it’s been fantastic. We hired more drivers. We’re pulling in tons of cash from all the school kids who can’t drive yet or are just too lazy to. No shortage of lazy people around these parts….”

I nod a little, and he glances at both of us before his hand shoots towards the radio, and before I know it, I hear, “Ain’t no mountain high, ain’t no valley low…” and Monarch starts mouthing the lyrics. Fang and I glance at each other, our expressions opposite. Her face is full of malice, and I’m practically copying Monarch. Fang eventually cracks a smile at me and Monarch’s shenanigans. Right before, he screeches to a stop just as the song ends. We’re right next to the complex?

Monarch looked at us, “For old times’ sake, I thought I’d drop you, kids, off right next to your place. It’s on the house. Enjoy your graduation, yeah?”

Fang and I thank Monarch as he puts on “Come and Get Your Love” before speeding away again. Fang sighs, and I lead the way up to my room. I flick on the lights, and everything’s the same as this morning, RAYmba still bouncing around his reinforced enclosure. I immediately turn on a video essay and plop down on the floor tearing open the lego box and pouring the bags onto the carpet.

I start off the set and move to the kitchen to make some more food… hmmm. Maybe some shrimp and grits with pierogies on the side. I boil some water and throw some pierogies in the boiling water, cooking the shrimp and grits on the other two eyes. Everything’s pretty quick to cook, and before I know it, the whole apartment smells like a gourmet restaurant. I place the pierogies on a couple plates, slapping some shrimp and grits on the opposite side. I put a leaf of parsley over each pierogi and bring both plates of hot food into the living room where Fang’s sitting trying to figure out where a small piece is. Probably wasn’t the best idea to build on the carpet. I place both of the plates on the desk and move to grab an old cardboard moving box, placing it at the building site, so we have a flat hard surface. Fang carefully sets the base of the star destroyer on the cardboard and the unused pieces.

I eat, watching her piece together the colossal structure. She’s pretty fast at this. Before I know it, she’s through the first few bags as I finish my last bite. We swap places as I build, and she eats, watching the video essay. After she finishes her food, she starts working on the top half of the star destroyer. After a couple hours of constant building, it’s finished… I lift it up in all its glory, placing it on my desk.

Fang and I admire our work as the video essay wraps up. I check the time. It’s 1 AM. I glance at Fang, who looks incredibly tired, but she seems happy. “You ready to head to bed, Fang?” She nods, face-planting in the bed, snoring almost instantly. I giggle a little and go turn off the lights and the tv. I followed her lead, planting myself in the bed. Today was a good day…

THE NEXT DAY -

I wake up to… no alarm. I turned to see Fang still passed out. Naser said he had something planned today before graduation, I think. I get up to the sun beaming into my eyes, fuck you, Mr. Sun. I get up and stretch; I take a quick shower and go to the kitchen to make breakfast. I heat up the pan, putting a little butter on it to ensure the eggs don’t stick. I crack a couple eggs in a small Tupperware, add a tiny amount of water and start whisking the eggs, scrambled eggs with leftover grits for today. I pour the eggs into the pan with a sizzle and sprinkle some cheese and salt. I wait for the bottom to congeal, and I start scraping the bottom with a spatula. Eventually, the eggs coagulate, and I reheat the grits in another pot, adding water to make them rehydrated. I plop the eggs on a cheap paper plate along with a portion of grits and repeat the process on another plate. I turn off the oven returning to the living room to see Fang slowly getting up, perfect timing. I place her plate on the desk and leave her some room to sit next to me.

She fills in the gap between the bed and me before picking up her plate and eating, a smile gracing her face. I remember suddenly what my dad said, the service or college… Fuck how am I going to tell Fang? I turn to her, now would be the best time, I think. “Hey, uh, Fang?”

She looks at me with a mouthful of food, her attention on me, “So my dad told me before I moved here… I need to either go to college or join the army.” She nods, continuing to look at me attentively.

I sigh a little, “I’ll be going to college for a long time, I think… five years or so.” She nods. I don’t think she’s taken it in yet. I’ll give her some time. “I think I’m going to be a biologist.”

I smile a little, and she returns the expression, “That’s cool, so you’ll, like,” she takes another bite of food, “Dissect shit and stuff?”

I nod a little, “Yeah, I was curious how the human body and dino body works. Considering you eat much more than us and you are much stronger than us, I just thought it would be cool to learn about and get a job out of.”

She nods, “So… five years?”

I nod a little, “To get a master’s, I’ll still come back during my winter and summer breaks if I can.”

Fang seems like she’s fully taking it in, “Wow… okay… damn, I don’t know what I’m gonna do without you.”

I shrug a little, “Do what you love? Or find out what you love.”

She nods again, finishing her meal, “I guess so, damn… five years.”

After I finish my eggs and grits, we get up and stroll around town looking for things to do to pass the day until Naser gives us the call. We eventually go to the one music museum we went to a bit ago… as we go through the exhibits, she looks a little less… enthusiastic. “You alright, Fang?”

“Yeah, I’m good… you want to hit up somewhere else?”

I shrug, “Only if you want to.”

She takes my hand, and we head out of the museum, talk about where to go, and suggest a pet shop. I rebuttal with, “maybe the zoo.” Her eyes light up, and we start making our way to the zoo; 20 bucks to enter.

I pay, and we enter. Eventually, we make our way to the monkey and apes section, and Fang shoots an evil smile at me. “Hey Anon…” I already know what she’s gonna say and shake my head. “It’s your cousins.” She laughs hard just as she gets out the last word, and I also try to hold back my laughter.

We head over to the aquatic section of the zoo and spot a dolphin… I return the evil grin, and Fang punches my arm before I can say anything. We quickly make our way through the rest of the zoo, Fang skipping the bug section. Unfortunately, that was the last exhibit. Fang and I grab some Dippin dots and check my phone. 4 PM… Naser should be calling us any moment.

Just as Fang and I finished the Dippin dots, we headed to the zoo entrance. I get a call from Naser. Perfect timing. “You and Fang ready?”

“Yeah, man, whenever you are.”

“Alright, you guys at skin row?”

“Nah, we went to the zoo.”

“Alright, I’ll be there in a bit.”

Naser hangs up, and Fang and I sit on one of the benches lining the sidewalk, glad we live within walking distance of this place. I look behind me and see a poster for help wanted. Better pay than Moe’s… hmmm. My thoughts were interrupted by Naser honking at us. We pop out of the bench and hop in the backseat of the nascar. He pulls out of the parking lot and starts heading toward our destination. Still can’t believe how fast this year went, even if I was only here for half of it. Can’t believe how much has happened, either. Surprised my head hasn’t fallen off from stress.

As we slow to a stop, I can see the coastline of Volcadara. Fang, Naser, and I step out, and I can hear the waves crash against the rocks. As the sun hangs low in the sky, I can see Stella and Rosa in the distance. Fang Naser and I walk toward where they’re sitting on the sand and take a seat ourselves. We sit in silence for a moment enjoying the view of the sunset.

Eventually, someone speaks up and starts talking. Laughs get thrown around as well as some tears. The sun sinks below the horizon, and the temperature drops. Naser and I work on the fire, and he surprisingly makes no racist comments. He clearly struggles much more than I do, though. Eventually, we get the small campfire to light, and we all huddle around it. Stella tells me to set up the tents, and Fang helps me out, it takes us a bit, but everyone’s tents are set up, ready to be slept in.

Naser pops his trunk and pulls out a small cooler, rolling it over to the campfire. He takes out a pack of hotdogs and soda. He enlists me to help find sticks to put them on, and a few minutes later, we can see 5 bars long enough to roast the hotdogs. I take mine and hand the one I grabbed to Fang. Stella has been rambling with us about anime and tarot card meanings, and Rosa has just tuned her out. Rosa looks used to this. The conversation of what we’re going to do with our lives comes up after some time.

“So what are you going to do, An-on?”

I rub my neck a little, “I’m going to college… I’m gonna major in biology, I think.”

Rosa nods and starts rambling about how she’ll become a priest. I tune them out, enjoying the hot dogs until Fang gets mentioned. Stella says, “So, Fang. What are you going to do?”

Fang seems a little put off by the question, “I… don’t know yet. Still figuring that out.”

I nod, “You got all the time in the world.”

She smiles a little at me, but she looks nervous. After some time, the fire dies, and we head to our tents. Fang and I share one… here’s to the start of adulthood… can’t wait.

…

- 5 YEARS LATER -

…I can see the familiar highschool in the distance, and it looks like it hasn’t changed a bit. Five years fly by… I was able to visit Fang during my summer breaks, but I had to stay and study for midterms during winter breaks unfortunately. I get out of the cab and thank a gray haired Monarch, he’s still got the balls to break as many road laws as possible. Fang went back to music but she toned it down a little. She told me she was going to try being a teacher but she didn’t like it. She decided to go into a studio job, mixing music. Apparently she’s making bank under some new rock star and she’s loving it. Still can’t believe how fast five years have gone by… I checked my pockets one last time making sure I didn’t leave the most important thing in my possession with Monarch. As I approach the school I give Monarch a thumbs up and he shoots one back at me before speeding off. I can hear the chatter of old friends catching up and see people sitting on the stairs, nothing’s changed. I make my way up the steps closing the distance to the main doors.

I see Fang talking to a familiar triceratops, Trish, and Reed. Their position is familiar, Fang turns her head to look at me, but not with malice, with warmth this time. Instead of going back to her friends she makes her way towards me. We meet halfway hugging each other tightly, I kiss her and hear a crowd roar behind me. We look into each other's eyes for what feels like forever before she eventually loosens her embrace. “I’m home for real this time, Fang.” I wiped a tear from her eye.

She sniffles, “Good… don’t leave again.” She giggles a little and I rub my pocket making sure it’s still there. I take a deep breath… you can do this, Anon. You’ve been with her for 5 years… I feel a lump in my throat as I move to get down on one knee.

I slowly pull a box out of my pocket and open it towards Fang, revealing a golden ring. “I won’t be going anywhere, could you return that promise, Fang Aaran?”

She covers her mouth speechless, nodding violently, the crowd erupts again. I stand up and feel her wings wrap around my body as she kisses me. She cries as she looks into my eyes again. I wipe tears from her eyes again as we loosen the embrace.

Eventually we head up the stairs, Reed gives me a thumbs up and Trish shoots me a smile. Apparently Fang made a promise to Trish to be her first customer at Trish’s horn piercing shop, that’s when Fang reached out to Trish and they reconnected. They’ve been great friends since, glad they mended their relationship. Trish is dressed up in a snazzy suit and Reed still looks like, well, Reed. Still wearing tank tops and shorts, he looks like he hasn’t aged a day.

“It’s the carfe man, keeps you young.” I nod a little, seeing he talks a bit slower. Might be degrading his brain though… I guess you trade intelligence for looks doing that stuff.

We all head inside and make our way to the gym, the main meeting place. As soon as I walk in I notice Stella and Rosa immediately. Stella looks like a soccer mom now, she’s wearing her hair down now but is wearing pretty much the same clothes. Rosa looks entirely different. She’s wearing something a priest would wear, with a golden chain around her neck with a cross on it. She’s chatting to Stella about something and they seem focused on their conversation. I move closer to the two of them and see some cards… no way. Rosa is getting a tarot reading?

I sit down next to Rosa, “Dabbling in witchcraft, saint Rosa?”

She jolts back a little, “No! I am doing no such-! oh, hello An-on, it’s good to see you again!”

She shifts her attention away from the cards towards Fang and I, “Still together I see.”

Fang shows her ring to Rosa and she gasps, “Oh my! It’s beautiful Fang… where’d you get it?”

“I proposed to her a bit ago, right outside actually,” I point back towards the entrance.

She glances between us, “Congratulations!”

Fang speaks up, “Thank you Rosa…”

Fang and I take our seats and the makeshift bar, Reed and Trish following suit. Before long we’re all taking shots of whatever Reed ordered us… really hoping this shit isn’t spiked.

Time flies as we reminisce and catch up with each other, it reminds me of the beach all those years ago…

Eventually Fang and I sneak off to the rooftop, sitting watching the sunset. I feel her head on my shoulder, “I’ve missed you… so much.”

I put my hand on her shoulder, “I’ve missed you too, Fang. You wanna go to Moe’s sometime?”

She looks up at me, “I’d go anywhere with you, Anon. To the ends of the earth.”

I move to kiss her just as the sun sinks below the horizon…