The feeling of excitement and apprehension seemed to dilute the blood rushing in my veins. It was finally graduation day and I couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment fill my mind. I was all smiles while standing next to Arnold Barton, the Salutatorian—apparently he was literally .01% from earning the title of Valedictorian—we stood next to each other because we were both given the ‘honor’ to give a speech during the ceremony. I was completely nervous about the speech I wrote. Nevertheless, even though Arnold wasn’t someone I knew well or even took the time to get to know I couldn’t help but smile up at him because this will probably be the last time I will ever see him until our 10 year reunion. Since Callie’s last name started with an A I could easily spot her down the short line of antsy seniors. She wore a broad smile that showed off her pearly whites while her silky blonde hair was swept into a loose side braid. She gave me a thumbs up before turning her attention back to our Principal who happened to stress the fact that our graduating class worked our butts off to make it here, and that we’ll all be taking a huge step into our futures in just a few months. I was somewhat tuning him out because he wasn’t really saying anything that was worth paying attention to—it was the same as the years before us. He was talking about the future in which we were now responsible for; the new architects for tomorrow is what he really said. I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes at his comment since I was in the front where everyone could clearly see me.

I looked out into the vast crowd, noting where my family was seated; my mother and father, Ronnie, Yiá Yiá, Jason and Cassandra. I smiled at them while my mother waved back at me. It had been a long few weeks for us all—with the whole wedding coming up, Callie taking her mother to court for Emancipation Rights, and even the miniscule problem of Tony getting back on my parent’s good graces. If I’m not mistaken, I believe that the wedding details were finally finished. Cassandra had been scrutinizing every detail until she deemed it perfect.

Callie’s court issues had been a little stressful as well. Her mother wasn’t really compliant with going to court that she was subpoenaed then issued a bench warrant for skipping out on it. My mother, the back bone for the entire case, kept pushing for Callie to have her independence. It wasn’t long until the court granted Callie Emancipation. Callie understood she would turn 18 in a few months, but when her mother threatened to force her to stay—since she is still considered a minor in the eyes of the law—Callie proposed to my mother that she wanted to be emancipated from her mother entirely. I knew just how much it hurt Callie to come to that decision since a small part of her still loved her mother. Ronnie helped Callie through it all just as well. Ronnie, my strong and independent sister who has gracefully recovered from her eating disorder, would bring Callie into her therapy sessions with Moira. Even though I was willing to listen to Callie—as well as Mike—I understood why venting to a complete stranger seemed more inviting.

Mines and Tony’s relationship grew steady once everyone knew the truth. My parents were a little disappointed, since for the most part we had omitted a few key details from them when we had broken up in the first place. My mother, although a tough person to come around, had forgiven Tony easier than my father. My dad didn’t like the whole scenario—Tony sleeping around with another girl, finding out she’s pregnant, hiding the secret from my parents, and then finding out the kid was never his. He felt like the entire debacle came out of a daytime soap opera with terrible screen writing. Even till this day my father is a little cold towards Tony, but it’s to be expected since he never really liked Tony from the beginning.

“…and now I welcome to the stage, the graduating class of 2011’s Valedictorian: Verity Abraham.” Principal Davis announced into the microphone.

My mind snapped back into reality as I stood to my feet. My legs felt shaky and my throat seemed a bit dry. However, I could hear a loud hooting coming from the back rows. I smiled to myself. Even though I didn’t look back to see who it was, I knew that it was Tony cheering like a complete lunatic. Principal Davis shook my hand before ushering me to the podium, the microphone adjusted nicely to my height. I was practically gripping the sides as I focused on the speech I had practiced religiously these past few days. It took me a whole week to write, with countless revisions, but I finally wrote what I wanted to say, what I wanted to tell my peers and my friends and family.

Taking in a deep breath, I spoke with steady words. “1,359 days of wondering, wondering if we would make it to this day. Today marks the culmination of our 1,359 day journey – we are the graduating class of 2011. Graduation is one of those awkward times in our lives when we are torn between the joy of our memories and the excitement of our future. Should we look back on what were the greatest four years of our lives – times filled with joy from the boisterous sounds of that first spring day out on the green quad, the aroma of pepperoni pizza day in the cafeteria, the resounding ring of the campus bells that released us back into the real world, or the calmness of being in your favorite class. Or instead should we focus on the next stage in this journey called life? We’ve been impatiently waiting for this day for four years – and now, we just want to hit pause. We want to slow it down, and enjoy the last fleeting moments. Our lives will be forever altered after we toss our caps into the air.

We entered the loving confines of our beloved Clairemont High School four years ago as an unwritten book eager to fill the pages. It seems like just yesterday we were lugging our bulky backpacks around the unfamiliar campus, trying to find our way to our lockers. It seems like just yesterday we had our first homecoming, watching as the entire campus sparked with spirit. We walked onto campus for the first time as students in the fall of 2007 with a gloomy world around us stricken by a global recession.
As the months passed we grew, and we learned to not allow external circumstances to define us. That’s right our book would be written on our own terms. The friends we sit with today became additions to our family and are undoubtedly some of the main characters in our book of life. We grew up together in San Diego, watching as we all discover pieces of whom we are and who we’ll become. Our campus provided us not only with a place to learn, but a true home. We were fortunate to experience what the phrase emblazoned on the school’s plaque truly means – we learned what a home for the mind, heart, and spirit meant in its full reality.

The diploma that we receive represents success and achievement. But we must remember more the journey that accompanied this achievement – both the heartache and happiness. The diploma itself is gently tucked away in the appendix of our book, while the journey to attain it fills pages.

We are now set to begin the next chapter in our book. Our book will veer off from the outline we created, for therein lies the beauty of our journey. Clairemont High School has instilled in us a tremendous fire, a passion for life, and a desire to make the world in which we live better.

We owe it to each other, our family, our teachers, our school, our country, and our God to pursue our wildest dreams.

As graduates of Clairemont High School, we can do anything, we can achieve anything. In the words of the great Yoda: ‘Do. Or do not. There is not try.’”

I briefly snuck a glance to my fellow peers, searching for Tony’s face. My eyes landed on his broad smile, giving my speech a long enough pause before I continued. “So, class of 2011, let us commit ourselves to the belief that we can accomplish anything. With this belief, our book is destined to be a bestseller.

We came onto campus 4 years ago with different backgrounds. We leave this campus 1,359 days later as a collective unit – we are the class of 2011. Let us put aside the joy of our memories and the excitement of our future for the time being. For as Mother Teresa said: ‘be happy in the moment, that’s enough.’ At this moment, we are in absolute bliss. We are all Clairemont High School Cougars – and it does not get any better than that. Thank you.”

When I looked back at my peers, I could see a few faces in tears. The only face I was searching for though, was Tony’s. When I met his eyes, I could see pure emotion lurking behind his whiskey colored eyes. I smiled at him just as he mouthed “I love you.” I was happy in this moment, happy for what will come of our lives.

---

Summer slipped away from us just as quickly as sand could slip through your fingers. It was a whirlwind of memories to add into my mind. From spending long days at the beach to heading up to the abandon cabin during the night, I’ve never experienced so much laughter. It was the usual cast of suspect that accompanied me and Tony on our adventures: Mike and Callie. It wasn’t long until Callie had to fly to Nevada. I would’ve gone with her, helped her settle in a bit, but I needed to head to New York. So, my mother left with Callie—she’d be meeting me and Tony in New York once she helped out with Callie. At the airport though, I teared up while temporarily saying goodbye to my best friend. UNLV was just a few states over from California, but I would no longer reside in San Diego. Instead, I will be much further, living in the bustling metropolis of New York.

“Promise me you’ll call and text or hell, write letters.” Callie begged. She was in tears, her flawless skin covered in a sheath of tears.

I sniffled. “Of course I will.” I wiped my tears away with the sleeve of my shirt. “And we’ll skype too.” I reminded her.

Callie nodded while pulling me in for another hug. “Of course.” When she pulled back she looked at Mike. She smiled at him before wrapping him up in a hug. I wasn’t sure what they decided relationship wise, but I knew they truly liked each other.

Tony draped his arm around me, pulling me in close so he could kiss my forehead. I turned my face towards his embrace, hoping that I wouldn’t cry anymore than I already was, but unfortunately the tears kept seeping out. After another ten minutes of crying and saying goodbye, Callie walked with my mother through the security check point, vanishing into the crowd that carried on to the gates of their flights. I probably came off as a total child, but I was already missing my best friend and she hadn’t been gone for more than two minutes.

“Don’t worry Verity.” Tony chimed in, his lips brushing against my hair. “We’ll see her during the holidays then again for the summer.”

I nodded, my words stuck within my throat.

We walked back to the lunch court in silence. My flight with Tony would be leaving in a few hours so it didn’t make sense to head back to the car. My father walked beside me, grabbing my free hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“You okay kiddo?” He asked, making me smile a bit. Unfortunately, my dad couldn’t take off from work to fly over with Tony and I, but he promised to pop in before the holidays.

“I’m fine.” I mumbled out. “I’m just gonna miss Cal’s.” I explained.

“You two have been the best of friends since forever.” Ronnie chimed in, making me laugh a bit.

Tony’s family was there too, sitting at the cramped table in front of Dairy Queen. I smiled, remembering the handful of times Tony had taken me to a Dairy Queens to cheer me up.

“Your usual?” Tony asked as if innately knowing I needed to be cheered up.

“Yeah.” I answered.

As the time seemed to tick by with incredible haste, Tony and I gathered our bags and suitcases together for our flight. It made me a little sad to know that none of his family could fly up with us—the price of airfare would be too expensive, especially if they were gonna help him pay his way back. This time, as we started to say our goodbyes, I was no longer in a fit of tears. Instead, I felt waves of anticipation and excitement bubble inside of me. This was it, this was the day Tony and I would begin our lives together. I hugged my father tightly as well as Ronnie. It was a little hard to let go of either of them, but I did. After hugging Maria, Rosie, and Gabby—Tony’s stepfather couldn’t skip out on work—Tony grabbed my hand. We were both wearing the same smile, one that conveyed sadness and excitement all in one. We walked to Gate 47, our rolling bags trailing behind us, before either one of us spoke again.

“I’ve been looking forward to this day for weeks.” Tony confessed.

We had passed through the security check point already and were already boarding our plane.

“Really?” I asked, smiling brightly at him.

“Yeah.” He answered. “We’ll arrive in New York, settle in to that tiny apartment we’ll be renting, and then we’ll have the rest of our lives in front of us.”

I cocked my eyebrow at him. It was the first time he’d ever say anything remotely close to a very long term relationship. “The rest of our lives?” I challenged playfully.

Tony smiled, leaning down close to my face before pecking my lips quickly. “The rest of our lives.” He said again.

This time I giggled. He then swooped down, catching my lips with his. It was a long and slow kiss, one filled with every ounce of love we have for each other. The kiss felt like forever, and it had me thinking that it just might be the beginning to our forever.

Notes

THE END!! Well for now :D I'm still deciding whether or not I will write a sequel. As of right now, I am trying to create a plot line that will have some ups and downs to keep things interesting, but if I feel that a sequel won't work out then this will be it.

The Valedictorian Speech was something I have been stressing out for a while now. I was reading different speeches just so I could have a feel on what should be said in one, so I apologize if its ridiculously lengthy. Anyway, I didn't plan on the year being 2011, but it just felt right as opposed to making it a year like 2002 or whatever.

Thank you everyone for keeping up with this story. I hope it wasn't shitty and whatnot because I did enjoy writing this story. I am profoundly indebted to everyone who has taken the time to read this story and comment on it because it was you guys who encouraged me to see this through. So yeah, thank you everyone!! <333

Love you all and let me know your thoughts about the story. Did I leave anything out? Should I have written more details? Lmk :)