Senior year is supposed to be the best year of everyone’s high school career because everyone is supposed to live it up while still knowing exactly what they want to be. It’s the year of lasts: last first day, last lunch, last parking spot, and last yearbook. Senior yearbooks are the ones that matter. The photos have to be perfect, but most importantly the quote has to be magnificent. This little bio is also the very last impression made. If one’s quote is stupid, they’ll regret it for life. Not a lot of senior’s recognize the pure significance of it all. One senior who truly understands is Noah. It is Noah’s top priority to have the best one in the book. His dignity would shatter like a dropped mirror if someone laughed a little harder at someone else’s. 

“Dude, what’s your senior quote?” Chandler asked Noah.

“I have no idea, but it has to be good.”

“Bounce some ideas off of me.”

Noah wondered how he would choose the first quote to tell Chandler. He wanted to sound dignified but humble, hilarious but wise, confident but bored. Words could not live up to his expectations. 

Mustering up the confidence, Noah said, “You’ll be laughing when I’m famous someday.”

“It’s ok.”

Questioning the comedic effect of his own words, Noah and Chandler went off on their own ways. Noah’s next class was AP Econ, but if a single thought in his brain related to the class, pig’s would quite literally be in the air flying. His mind was clouded by a thousand quotes. Every so often he would ask Megan, “hey tell me if you think this is good.” Megan never thought it was good.

By the time lunch rolled around, the fact that Noah had till the end of the day to turn in his quote weighed down on him. All his friends had already turned theirs in. While other students where finishing yesterday’s calculus homework, Noah was making a list of the best quotes, but none of them were good enough. His list looked as follows:

1. Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations
2. It wasn’t until my senior year until I started to try
3. Was released from his four year sentence
4. You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think
5. Done

Numbers one and two were wise but lacked a humorous kickback, and number three was the exact opposite. The fourth quote was too lengthy, and number five was so short that it was barely a quote itself. 

The clock and Noah battled a long, tormenting war. Who would win? Sweat dripped down Noah’s face as he diligently revised and edited his quotes. One simple word was life or death, and the due date crept closer and closer on Noah. The pressure was on.

He spent all of seventh period working on his quote rather than any actual schoolwork. It was the final countdown, and he had minutes left. Noah slapped his neon pink sticky note where he had meticulously modified his quote for the last half hour. It was finished, all he needed was the satisfaction of someone approving of his quote. 

Sliding his quote to Eva, Noah nodded as if his quote was about to rock her world and change her life forever. She seemed confused but accepted his note. Noah shook with anticipation because he had put his blood, sweat and tears into this quote.

It was not until my final year of my sentence that I tried, but now, I’m done.

Eva scanned the note blankly which made Noah overflow with anger. He had no clue as to what she was thinking! He would do anything to peer into her mind at that moment. Noah, consumed with his annoyance, had failed to realize that Eva was finished reading. 

“This makes…no sense.”

Those four words crushed Noah’s soul. He was left with 4 minutes to make up a new masterpiece. How could he? He nurtured his quote and gave it the best of all of his options.

Noah was left with no choice but to fall back to the one familiar yearbook quote to submit. It almost brought a tear to his eye, but Noah turned it in. One of Noah’s friends, Dwight, prompted Noah with a question. 

“Hey Noah? What’s your senior quote?”

Noah sighed, but continued to answer, “…H.A.G.S.”