Rachel rose up onto her tip toes and reached her hands out to adjust Finn's tie. He had been messing with it lazily for the past 5 minutes. It was a nervous habit he had developed from performing in Glee and it drove her a little nuts. He smiled down at her with his lazy half smile that sent butterflies loose in her belly.

"Thanks baby" he said in his silky voice.

She just smiled at him as she lowered herself back down onto her flat feet. And ran her hands down her sides to flatten the red gown she wore. It was hot in the hallway outside the auditorium at William McKinley that day as the senior class milled around waiting for the graduation ceremony to begin. Rachel could not believe that this day was finally here, that she was graduating from high school. 4 years ago when she walked into the doors of William McKinley High School for the first time she would never have imagined high school would work out the way that it did. It had been less than a week before she was slushied for the first time and her freshman year had been hell, she was the weird musical girl who dressed funny and was over ambitious. Then sophomore year she found Glee and her high school journey began to change. Sure she still got slushied at first and people thought she was still a freak but she was no longer a freak alone. As Glee Club grew, Rachel's social standing grew and while the year was a rollercoaster of ups and downs for her it was a changing point. When the year ended Glee Club had been defeated but it had made them come back stronger than ever and ready to kick some vocal adrenaline butt. But the best that happened to her life that year had been 1 Finn Hudson. The tall, gorgeous captain of the football team and amazingly talented lead male of Glee had once seemed so unattainable. But she had misjudged herself and from the moment he told her he loved her at Regional's she was totally and completely in love with him. She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even realized that Kurt had been speaking to her.

"Rachel….hello?" he said growing impatient with her.

She looked up at him coming back to reality and smiled. She had grown really close to Kurt over the past couple years, especially after his dad had married Finn's mom. Things had been rough in the Hummel/Hudson home for a while but Finn quickly realized that his mother's happiness was more important to him, well that and the suggestion that maybe Kurt and he should not share a room. Now Finn and Kurt as a strong brotherly relationship which was something Rachel felt they both needed. They were so different and yet so similar, which was the case with most teenagers.

"Yeah sorry Kurt, what's up?" she smiled in his direction.

"Glee Club senior party tonight, sound good?" he asked.

"Yeah great idea? At your place?" she questioned wondering what he was wearing under his white gown. She could only imagine what a fashion crisis it was for him to be covering whatever fashion forward outfit he was wearing with the generic one size fits all McKinley gowns. His cap was placed perfectly on his head, tilted at a slight angle and it made her reach up and touch her own subconsciously.

"Yeah my dad and Carole are leaving after the ceremony for a wedding they have to attend tomorrow. I promised no parties but this will be more of a shindig, if you will" he smiled at her.

She shook her head and started to respond when Ms. Sylvester started to yell into her megaphone to get lined up. Rachel turned around to give Finn a big hug before she had to hurry up to the front of the line with the other B's. Finn broke away from his conversation with Puck about college ball and leaned down to give his tiny girlfriend a big bear hug. As his large arms embraced her in a tight hug he gave her a soft kiss on her lips. She broke away from his embrace with a large smile and fixed her white honors sash before walking off to the front of the line. Finn watched her walk away, wondering what she wore under her red gown as a crooked smile crossed his lips.

The senior class walked two by two into the auditorium to the tune of Pomp and Circumstance. They were a sea of red and white gown, the boys in white and girls in red as they made their way to their seats across from the stage. Rachel glanced around the auditorium and spotted her Dad's on the right side a few rows back. Up in the front row of the balcony she saw Carole and Burt smiling largely and clapping. On the stage was a row of chairs for the teacher's who were going to speak at the ceremony and help give away the diploma's as the class took their seats Mr. Shue, Principal Figgins, Coach Sylvester and Ms. Pillsbury took their seats on the stage. Rachel was only half listening as Principal Figgins began to talk about the Class of 2012, the achievement and the future they held before them. It was the usual high school graduation type of stuff and as Rachel glanced around at her classmates she noticed that most of them were not paying attention fully to what Figgins was saying. Then he broke to introduce the Valedictorian, Glee's own Artie Abrams. Artie wheeled his chair to center stage and stopped in front of the mic. Now Rachel was paying attention. She had known Artie had been nervous about his speech and they had spent one of their last Glee practices helping him work out what he was going to say. 3 years ago Rachel herself was on track to become the class Valedictorian but she would admit that her grades had slipped a little when she started dating Finn, nothing horrible since she was still graduating with honors and was ranked in the top 10 in the class standings.

"Good Afternoon, friends and family, teachers and administrators. We stand, gathered together to celebrate the accomplishments of the McKinley High School Class of 2012.

To my fellow classmates, we've made it. We've finally made it. After 4 long years, we are graduating. Congratulations. Congratulations not only to us graduates, for achieving excellence in academics, athletics and the arts, but also congratulations to our teachers, parents, friends, families and administrators. Our success is your success, for you have given us the freedom to dare, the courage to excel and the belief that we can achieve our best. You have been there for us with support and care; you had faith when we doubted ourselves. For all these things, we, the Class of 2012, thank you.

Together for the last time, we stand poised at the very edge of graduation, looking towards a bright future. Soon each of us will go forth, in his or her unique direction, seeking to make a mark upon the world.

We stand, as if before a row of thousands of doors, each door different from another, each potent with opportunities for every one of us. We must try at these doors, opening them to look at what lies within. Passing through some doors, we will have to set aside fear and prejudice before we may advance. To unlock others, we will have to uphold our sense of justice and dignity. If a door suddenly shuts before us, we cannot be discouraged, but instead must look for the sudden opening of another. Our adulthood, so long anticipated, has now arrived. We have grown up. We must seize our future and taking it into our own hands, do with it what we will, striving towards excellence. We join forth now, in hope and inspiration, all of us sharing our common legacy."

As Artie's speech ended the auditorium erupted in cheers and clapping. Rachel smiled largely, she could feel tears form at the corner of her eyes. This was it, the end of an era! She had survived high school and come out on the other side better, stronger and even more ambitious than she had come into it.