Here it was. The final day I would be a senior.

My whole grade set our alarms for 3:00AM collectively the day before. We sent text messages on our group chats, double checking and finalising items. No one was excluded, and no one else was invited. It would be just the 70 of us. The girls I had grown up through the years with. The girls who had seen me at almost all stages of my life. The awkward haircuts, the experimentation with fashion and makeup, the giddiness of being a high schooler. All of it, shared with the same people I would graduate with.

I arrived at Bondi Beach at around 4:00AM, carpooling with a bunch of my friends. I lugged my camera and my tripod out of the car, moving in the general direction of the beach. I could hear laughter and hushed conversations, so I followed the noise and ended up at the spot the girls that arrived earlier had reserved for us. They welcomed us briefly before returning to the preparations, sticking battery powered candles into the sand in two rows.

I walked between the rows of candles, the feet of the tripod dragging through the sand. The ocean played a lullaby to my senses, the gentle murmur of the water asking a question I answered with my actions. I set up the tripod right before the shoreline, making sure it didn't get in the wet sand. I attached my camera to the top, securing it tightly and shaking to test its steadiness. I held the 'ON' button and waited for it to boot up.

Behind me, my best friend Layla slung her arm over my shoulders, destabilising me momentarily before I caught my balance again. We shared no words, only the silent awe of nature and the unity it brought to our graduating class. Enough for us all to be gathered here on one of the busiest beaches in Australia, here before rush hour at bloody 4:38AM in the morning. But it was all worth it. I vaguely wondered how we would get back to school all the way in Sydney on time, but as I noticed the faintest tinge of pink lining the horizon, I brushed the thought away.

More and more girls began to show up. Most in duos and trios, with some arriving in groups of five to six, and occasionally someone would arrive by themselves. But they never stayed that way. I had grown up bragging about how accepting my grade was, when most of the time I heard stories of the exact opposite from so many other schools. Me and Layla were joined by Violet, Mya, and later Allison. With that, our friend group was complete. Of course, we had other friends, but these were the girls I reached out to first. They were my ride or die.

I rested my head on Mya's shoulder and sighed, watching the waves come silently crashing into the sand.

"It's just so majestic," Mya murmured. I smiled in agreement. "Never thought I'd make it here," she whispered. I nodded, thinking of everything we had faced through our high school years to get to this point.

Later, we all sat in a circle. I sat next to Stella, the girl who my boyfriend left me for, but for once, it didn't even matter. I was just so focused on remembering every detail of this moment.

"Who's ready to graduate?" Maisie Thalman yelled. We all screamed back "NO!!" then burst into laughter. Yep, this was perfect.