“A girl?!” Jared exclaimed—and he was far from the only boy to make such a remark. “Zach, what are you doing, man? She’ll get the place shut down for sure!”

           “Jared…” Sadie audibly growled over the applause, that she contributed to.

           “Way to go, Lex!” many of the fourth-graders shouted.

           She seemed to be fairly popular with her contemporaries.

           “What’s up, everyone?” Lex said, her voice both chill and confident. “Z here’s given me the full rundown. He even wrote the first guidebook for running The Dump. It’s gonna be a real cool place to be, and I’ll work hard to keep its legacy going.”

           “Y-yeah, I mean, maybe, but…” Arthur stopped when he caught his sister’s stare.

           Park, perhaps owing to his having three older sisters, actually shrugged and said, “You know, I’m cool with this. Zach’s in the record books too, now.”

           As Lex grinned, posed for a few pictures, pointed finger-guns at her admirers and buddies, and the crowd reacted in a whole variety of ways, Jace was simply trying to place a name and a face. There was something familiar about Lex.

           “Lex here was just, you know, by far the coolest kid I saw among the fourthies,” Zach explained. “She always stood out. And I thought, Zach, it wouldn’t be fair to not offer her the position, just because of… reasons. So, from Conrad, to, um, me, to Lex, the best hideout this side of Desert Tree will live on. And I might check in once or twice.”

           Jace suddenly made the connection once he noticed Lucy in the audience. His young mom was looking up at Lex, her own headphones off her ears and her eyes wide. She clearly admired the girl, even if… she was too shy at the moment to talk to her.

           “Lex Skyler… One of Laurie’s parents…” Jace murmured to himself. One of The Dump owners has my first friend. And my dad was the one before Charlie and Zach…

           Rather dumbfounded at the revelation but feeling like he had grown up around some kind of royalty, Jace added a listless golf clap to the applause.

           The claps quieted when Mr. Drake suddenly came around, doing his regular job of keeping the peace while students boarded buses. He seemed rather perturbed upon seeing the big crowd, and after having his fill of rowdy kids for the day, he went around them instead of interfering—giving Zach and Lex a nervous glance as he did so.

           Zach hopped down from the stoop to give Lex a couple more minutes in the spotlight, rejoining his friends and noticing a couple of concerned faces among them.

           “Oh, Zach! Before we forget,” Colin chimed in. “July 3^rd. Ms. Porter’s class is having a graduation party at opening time, King Arcade. You’re invited, too.”

           “Nice. That sounds kinda neat. I’ll try to be there.”

           “Hold up, Zach,” Jared said. “You seriously chose that girl to be the new boss?”

           “Yeah, I did. And I explained my reasoning. You were paying attention, right?”

           December, passing by, gave Zach a grin. “Not that I ever really went to the place, but nice move, Zach. Makes up for your chauvinism earlier this year.”

           “I was not…” He sighed and smiled. “Thanks, December. See ya around.”

           “You’re a special guy, Z,” Wessy said and turned towards the school.

           “Yeah, I know. Come on, guys. Bring it in for one last look at the old place.”

           With Millie and Ash sticking out on the sidelines, the rest of the group got in close, their eyes on the school entrance and the inscribed stone archway above it that read, “To Love To Learn”, and “Established 1976.” It was hitting Jace that this time, after seven years­—and a few bonus weeks—of going to the school and having another go at fifth-grade, that this was really it. He wouldn’t get a full summer with the others, either, so he wanted to make sure that the time he had left with them really counted.

           “Couldn’t ask for a better crew to get through it,” Zach told them.

           “You really think that Lex girl will take good care of the club?” Sadie asked.

           Zach faked a gasp. “Sadie, are you doubting my choice?”

           “Just because I admire what you did, doesn’t necessarily mean she was the best pick. But… I guess you usually have pretty good judgment about people.”

           “Um, yeah. I hung out with you bunch of dorks all these years, didn’t I?”

           “Still…” Wessy looked at a spot in the group that seemed empty. “I kind of wish Charlie was right here with us. Instead, of you know, busy hating everything.”

           “Well, Wes.” Zach patted his back. “There’s always a few bumps in the road.”

           “… And as we head into an unknown, uncertain future, I’m certain that these young people will grow and adapt to any challenge,” Mr. Shumaker said, wrapping up a familiar speech that must have been easy to retool for a quake timeline. “They’re ready to face adversity, just like they do already each day, both at school and at home.”

           The mood of the graduates and their parents further back in the cafeteria was much more upbeat than the previous attempt that none of them remembered. And this time, a table full of diplomas waited for the kids to take on the stage. Also up there with the principal were the fifth-grade teachers, Ms. Porter the youngest among them.

           “Enjoy your summer, and go proudly and bravely into middle school. It may be scary at first, but you’ll soon find that you’re growing as individuals, each of you with unique tastes and interests. Wherever life takes you, you’ll hopefully always remember the times you had here and the friends you made on the way. You did it, fifth-graders! Go Desert Tree Elementary!” Mr. Shumaker made a cringeworthy power fist and thrust it into the air. “Well, then… We’ll begin calling names.”

           The vice-principal stepped up to the microphone, pushed at her large and thick red-rimmed glasses, and said in her elderly voice, “Last names will be called in alphabetic order. Please proceed to the stage to receive your diploma. Be quick but orderly.”

           There was one benefit to the alt-timeline graduation: no one went to the stage, so seating assignments didn’t matter, and Jace got to sit with the others and hear their commentary. This time, he was sitting between two boys from different classes, with Carson and Wright a few seats away to his left. At least Wessy was only a couple seats away, and had leaned over to have a few whisper-chats with Jace during the speech.

           When Wright was called up, he fulfilled an old dare to perform a backflip on the stage—which he nailed, to great applause and head shakes from the teachers. Carson went up next, smoothly doing a walking dance of his own creation before yanking his rolled-up diploma and shaking an entertained Ms. Porter’s hand.

           “As a reminder, please, keep the tricks and flair to a minimum when you come up,” Mr. Shumaker said into the microphone. “We have many graduates to get through.”

           Wessy kept it basic when he went up, taking his roll and giving the audience a big smile and a wave. It struck Jace that Wessy only got an average amount of applause, mostly from his own class. For all of his uncle’s boasting, at the end of the year he was really simply another one of the many kids who didn’t leave a big lasting impression.

           In fact, when Jace went up after the kid between him and Wessy did, he seemed to get more energetic applause—though mostly from the enthusiastic kids that he had helped. At least his uncle didn’t seem to notice or care; his close friends were always the most important thing to him, not his wider popularity. As Jace took his diploma, he recalled the first time he had been up on the stage. This was all pretty much the same.

           When December went up, she was stopped by the principal, who put her in the spotlight by saying, “Ms. Helvetica here is one of two students from our school that will be going to Everette Academy. We’re very proud. Let’s give her some appreciation.”

           She didn’t appear to really enjoy the attention she received from a second round of claps, and stood there feeling awkward, grinning shyly and twirling her hair.

           But when Zach went up, he relished in the reaction. He got a full minute of loud applause from students across all the classes. He pointed to random kids he knew and struck various poses. It lasted so long that Mr. Shumaker checked his watch impatiently.

           Once all the kids had received their school participation papers, they rejoined their families in the back half of the cafeteria for some celebratory cupcakes delivered by a local supermarket chain. For the first time that night, Jace noticed that about a dozen kids—even a few from different classes—were wearing the “DANCIN’ J. CONNOR” buttons that Park had made earlier in the year. It was peculiar that a very brief moment in schoolyard history could last so long, but then again, Park did make quality merch.

           Adult Wes was hanging back and being a wallflower in his Clark Kent shades, letting Jace enjoy a much better version of an evening that he was rushed out of the first time. It was nice seeing all of the students dressed up and enjoying miniature cakes and chatting happily together, even if a few did still look a bit emotional about moving on. Nearby and no longer their teacher, Ms. Porter received some words of gratitude from her students that might have been too awkward to say to her during the school year.

           “Jared,” his mother said as he approached him mid-cupcake-bite. “Ms. Porter tells us that you got a B+ on your final book report project. Good job.”

           Jared swallowed the chunk and replied, “Mm-hm, well… It was kind of fun.”

           “You can be a diligent worker when you put your mind to it,” his dad added, already looking less anxious around his wife after some therapy together. “Everyone, thanks for being good friends with Jared. He likes you guys more than he’d admit.”

           “Come on…” Jared murmured as his buddies chuckled. “You’re embarrassing me.”

           While most of the others also got approached and congratulated by their parents, Jace watched as Wessy had to go to both of his to hear what they wanted to say to him. It must have been a rare occurrence for both his dad and mom to be in the same room together, and here, they stayed by the walls and were separated by the gulf of the packed lunch room. His dad, Lucy, and “Becky” on one side; his mom all the way to the other.

           Whereas he got a hug from his mom that made him smile, when he went to his dad… all he got was a brief chat. Once Wessy turned around to rejoin his friends, they saw the pensive, almost sullen look on his face. Whatever his dad had said to make him feel that way, it was something Lucy picked up on. She took a step forward as if to chase after Wessy as he left, but quickly hesitated and just stood there instead, looking worried.

           “Hey, what’s up?” Zach asked him when he was back with his buds. “You okay?”

           “Just fine,” Wessy muttered. “Anyone ready to get going?”

           “What? No, man,” Arthur replied. “Let’s enjoy this for a bit, you know?”

           “Wes, what’s wrong?” Colin asked him. “You look kind of… upset.”

           “My dad doesn’t even…” Wessy sighed. “Forget it. I don’t want to talk about it.”

           “Take it easy, have some punch,” Ash suggested. “They got the good stuff. Oh, Sadie—I wanted to ask.” She grinned. “Did they try to make you wear the dress again?”

           Sadie groaned, “Of course. Like heck I was gonna go up on stage wearing that.”

           Around them, Park chatted with his parents and older sisters, Min, Haru, and the younger one Gavin’s age, Nari. Brian got a friendly noogie from his big brother, Delilah threatened her punk siblings with her fist and saved her cupcake from theft, and Felicity tried her best not to upset her sister or the well-to-do parents she could barely relate to. Millie handed her tough-looking dad a cupcake that he happily gulped down in a few bites, while Willa, her cat ears still MIA, was introducing her folks and younger brother to all of her acquaintances she had made at school. Spice showed off her designer dress to other graduates across the classes, December’s parents doted on her, and Carson and Gerald got their moms and dads to introduce themselves to each other.  

           Jace took in the sight of all of these little moments among and between friends and family as the group talked happily. But Wessy was barely present, if at all, and he wasn’t interacting with anyone. He seemed to be totally zoning out, his eyes locked onto something no one else could see. Jace thought about trying to help his uncle, but he ran out of time before he could even think up the right words to tell him. His dad had already left with Lucy, and it looked like he felt little need to stick around, either.

           Wessy was the first to leave among them, heading out with his mom and saying, “I’m gonna go, guys. It was… quite a school year, huh? I’ll see you at Jared’s in a bit.”

           His friends waved him off, and none of them looked overly concerned about what he was trying to emotionally process. Wes approached Jace soon afterward.

           “You ready to head out?” Wes asked him, and took a whiff of the place. “It’s still amazing to me how the lunchroom smells exactly like how I remember it.”

           Jace got in one last look-around at the crowds in a familiar space and replied, “We’re never going to see the inside of the school again, are we?”

           “Suppose not. Unless you want to try another go-around… Ya know, you looked much happier up there than the last time I saw you graduate. Anyway… Let’s go.”