As Told By Tuck & Axel

The End of An Era, but the Start of A New One

The End of An Era, but the Start of A New One

Written by both Axel Otto and Tucker Oaks

Axel:

Tuck is sitting directly across from me as I write this. I told him for the last chapter in Part One (AKA high school) we both need to contribute an ending, so he's typing away on his Mac in the cracked leather chair opposite of me. I think this is a good way to tie up the loose ends and give our audience a final farewell to the people we were in high school. Tuck thinks it's stupid, but we're doing it anyway. (I always get what I want.).

The summer of our senior year was spent going on innumerable adventures with our high school friends, and (unfortunately) my sister. We tried to make the most of our final summer, considering we would never really hang out all together again. We went waterskiing, boating, hiking, and my personal favorite, camping. I think it was my favorite because Tuck and I went by ourselves and just pitched a tent in the middle of the woods a few towns over. We stayed up all night talking, eating chocolate chip cookies, and wishing we could stay young forever. We slept in the same sleeping bag.

I have this picture frame on my nightstand in our two-bedroom apartment. It's a picture of Tuck and I in our high school graduation robes. He's in the middle of laughing hysterically as I press a kiss to his cheek. It took us years to get a regular, decent picture for our parents to keep. We would be jumping on each other's backs, putting each other in headlocks, pinching each other's asses, anything dumb, we did it. The only normal picture we have is of Tuck, Maggie, and me. Naturally, I stood between them.

I think that photo perfectly captures my senior year with Tuck. It was the year Tuck became my best friend. It was the happiest year of my life. It was the year I allowed myself to be myself, and he fostered that. No matter how many times we made jokes about each other, punched each other, yelled at each other, we always came back to each other. Tuck was my support system. Whenever I needed someone, he knew, and he was there. He still is, as we sit across from each other in the living room of our far too expensive apartment, two sets of legs intertwining on top of the coffee table.

OH AND ONE FINAL THING!

High school is exactly like college. HEADS UP TO ALL THE AXEL OTTO'S OF THE WORLD: DO YOU THINK YOU ARE HOT SHIT? NEWS FLASH. YOU ARE.

Tucker:

Axel keeps looking at me over the top of his laptop (which, by the way, has a sticker of a giant PENIS on it). I feel like he's expecting something great from me. Too bad I still think this book is utterly stupid, and therefore, I am putting zero of my brain capacity into producing it. But I would do anything for Axel, as much as I hate to admit, so here I am, yet again.

What is there to say about my high school experience? Jack shit, that's what. If I hadn't met Axel, my senior year would have been spent making out with dumb girls and hanging Dartmouth pennants all over my walls. I almost regret it, the whole being Axel's best friend thing, but all I have to do is look at the man who is the sole reason my life is worth living, and I know I wouldn't change it for the world. WOW that sounded super gay.

End of Part One