Class of 2008

Class of 2008
Chapter	88 of 129 (list of chapters)
Published	May 11, 2015 (2015-05-11)
Page count	12
Major characters	Tess, Paulo, Rachel, Mike
Minor characters	Daisy, Jessica, David, Sue, Abbey, Roseville High School principal
Locations	Roseville High School
Collected in	Volume Five
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← Casual Outing	Guest of Honor →
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School’s out, and Tess is graduating. Rachel has some parting words for her (they start with “HEY BITCH”), Paulo has an old prom conversation to lay to rest, and the Class of 2008 walks the stage at last.

Synopsis

Mike floats into the last week of school with a bouquet of red roses, much to Paulo’s annoyance. Sandy sent them, and after the talk the two of them had, Mike thinks they’ll be okay.

Tess gets a much rougher greeting from Rachel. She walks past looking troubled, and Rachel hollers “HEY BITCH” down the hall, adding that she’s glad she won’t be seeing her sorry face again. Tess manages a strained little smile and moves on. Then Rachel crosses over, puts a hand on her shoulder, and admits she was only kidding. Her sincere “Good luck, Tess.” leaves the senior close to tears.

On graduation day, Paulo catches Tess in her cap and gown just short of the door marked “CLASS OF 2008 ONLY”. He bashfully admits he’ll miss her, then brings up what she told him at their prom, back when the two of them were an item. He hated hearing it at the time and didn’t want her to go, but now he wants her to “kick ass out there” and finally concedes she was right. Tess kisses his forehead and tells him she’ll miss him too.

Tess sits rubbing her neck and expecting the worst, but when her name is called the audience answers with applause and cheers. By the time the Roseville High School principal hands over her diploma, Tess is holding it high above her head in pure joy.

Outside, the whole gang gathers to congratulate the graduate, and a relieved Tess marvels that nobody booed her after all. Mike starts explaining that people got to know her, only for Jessica to deadpan “Boo.” from the sidelines. She’s kidding, and she even coughs up a reluctant good-luck of her own. Then Daisy spots Tess’s own friends waiting in the crowd, spins her around and pushes her toward them. Tess looks back with one last bittersweet smile and walks off into the distance.

Character dynamics

Tess heads off to the rest of her life.

• Rachel and Tess: Rachel has held a grudge since freshman year, when Tess and Roger’s attack broke her brother Aaron’s arm, and Rachel slapped her in the hallway over it. She finally puts it down here. She gets one last taunt out of her system, then crosses the hall to wish Tess well and mean it.
• Paulo and Tess: Their romance ended before it really started, but they get a proper goodbye here. Tess turned Paulo down at their prom, insisting he’d change over the years and that someone else would love him, and he refused to accept it at the time. Paulo seeks her out to concede the point and to send her off wanting the best for her. He still watches her walk away with a small, conflicted frown, so the goodbye clearly cost him something.
• Jessica and Tess: Of the girls Tess wronged, Jessica is the one who isn’t quite ready to forgive. Tess spent her junior year spreading nasty rumors about her. A flat “Boo.” and a grudging good-luck are all Jessica offers, and per Veronica’s commentary, that’s the most Tess will ever get out of her.

Trivia & observations

• Per Oliver’s commentary, this chapter originally ran before the intermission Casual Outing, which was later shuffled back a slot to sit alongside Boy Toy. That’s also why reader comments still appear under this chapter’s pages after being phased out elsewhere on the site.
• The tuxedo-cat vice principal at the podium is a memorial cameo, and this is his only scene in the comic. A reader asked Veronica to include their recently passed pet while she happened to be drawing the ceremony, so, in her commentary’s words, “GUESS HE’LL BE THE ETERNAL VICE PRINCIPAL”. On Tumblr she added that she keeps cameos like this rare to steer clear of “weird ‘OC’ territory”.
• The title pins the comic’s in-world year to 2008. Veronica’s commentary notes that BCB started in 2006 and kept pace with real time until around 2007, “when EVERYTHING SLOWED DOWN”.
• The final page is Tess’s last present-day appearance in the series. She’s on panel once more in the flashback that opens Guest of Honor.
• Lucy is absent and unmentioned. She left Roseville in Breaking Up, so she and Tess never get a goodbye.

Related chapters

• Love My Way: The prom Paulo brings up outside the graduates’ door. Tess turned down his confession there, telling him he’d change over the years and that someone else would love him, and the two parted as friends after one tearful dance. Paulo finally agrees with her during their farewell here.
• Follow Me: The freshman-year chapter where Rachel’s grudge against Tess started. Tess and Roger’s attack left Rachel’s brother Aaron with a broken arm, and Rachel slapped her across the face for it, using the same insult she hollers down the hallway here.
• Total Recall: Tess visits Paulo’s hospital bed in its final pages and tells him her old classmates have come around at last, with graduation only a month away. Paulo already tells her there that he’s happy for her.
• Guest of Honor: The very next chapter opens with Paulo lying in bed and replaying the exact words Tess said to him at their prom. Daisy’s knock at the door pulls him back into the world.