Lyre's graduation day came before the end of the school year for Abby and her friends, but then they were only were in their Freshmen year. That was fairly typical and Lyre's Seniors were gathered around in hallway that lead into the gym where the graduation ceremonies would be held. The Senior class contained several humans and a few Animalians and they all gathered around each other as they waited for the graduation ceremony to start. What they talked about was of course fairly obvious, even if some of the exact conversation partners wasn't exactly expected.
"So, where are you headed after High School?" Princess asked to Simon with Tiffany by her side.
"I've gotten the recommendations from the Lyre Police Department and the Animalia Police Department to go straight into the Nevada Police Academy for the required training and the actual placement with the Lyre PD or the Animalia PD once I graduate from there," Simon said with some pride, "the big thing may be giving Malice some comfort that I won't be running off on her. And that I might not be able to go with her and the rest of Animalia Ambassadoria on their summer trip to Costa Rica and so on..."
"Isn't she supposedly interested in doing that?" Tiffany wondered with one raised eyebrow, "The police stuff, I mean."
"Yeah... but I'm sure she will understand," Simon managed a small shrug, "What about you and Princess?"
"We got in to UNLV," Tiffany smiled, "Thinking on something in business and economics. Become Animalia's first millionaire."
Simon chuckled, some things never changed and looked from Tiffany to Princess.
"I don't really know... but I liked the volleyball game we played on Mieni," Princess spoke, "I was thinking about seeing if their volleyball team would let me try out."
"They might," Simon commented, "Nevada has been one of the states that have pledged to fight tooth and nail... or tooth and claw as the case may be if the present administration tries to strip Animalians of the rights they were given before the election... and many of the businesses in Las Vegas have found Animalia as something of a "gold mine" as it were. I'd guess that the college would let you on the team. The only possible question is whether or not other colleges agree to play UNLV with you on their lineup. That is different... and there, I really wouldn't know for sure."
"I'm sure they will," Tiffany said to Princess and hugged her, and then looked back to Simon, "and hopefully by then... we'll have mates. But we have some nice choices... and I am doing better now..."
Simon was barely able to give a positive answer when their class adviser came down the hall and urged them to get into line. He nodded and made his way to where he was be in line. Since they were to line up alphabetically, that meant Simon Truman was closer to the back of the line. He got there just as the graduation march was heard being played by the school band. That got the hole line moving forward and Simon walked with it down the hall and into the gym. It opened to reveal a fairly large crowd as family and friends of those graduating had come to watch the ceremony. Simon even glanced around to see his mom and Luke seated together in the stands. Next to them were the Wesleys. He smiled as he saw Malice as she waved to him. He would have liked to wave back, but the class adviser had said during the practices for the ceremony that they weren't to engage in any of that.
Simon took his seat and sat through the various speeches from the faculty and those who graduated at the top and second in his class. A lot of them took a great deal of pride in Lyre High effectively welcoming Animalians and being a truly integrated school between Humans and Animalians. The fact that most of the Animalian students had been humans that became Animalians after the such conversions were made legal wasn't forgotten, but was used as a means to make the school look more welcoming and forward thinking. In the end, came the issuing of diplomas which were issued one at a time to all of Lyre's students. When they got to Simon's name, he stood up and walked up to the platform where the principal was reading off the names. He took his diploma and then moved to return to his seat. He couldn't help but smile as he saw Malice and his mother both clapping and even cheering for him as he returned to his seat. He couldn't help but smile at that, and that smile remained even as the ceremony concluded.
"I'm so proud of you!" Simon's mother, Sandra "Sandy" Truman, came up to him after the ceremony and soon had him in a firm hug.
"Thanks, mom," Simon answered.
"Your dad would be proud," Sandy smiled to him as Malice and Wesley's approached.
"And I'm proud of you too!" Malice came up to hug her mate, making Simon stagger a bit as he didn't fully expect her to nearly launch herself at him, but the hug was welcome.
"I'm glad for that," Simon smiled to Malice and the two shared a brief kiss, "And I'm glad to have the support of such great friends and family."
"And soon we'll have fun for the summer," Malice said with a smile.
"At times..." Simon smiled, "Though the Nevada Police Academy may mean that I can't do that for the entire summer... But we will be together for some time and we will have some future that should be bright."