Graduation (Part III)

After the ceremony, I calmly walked outside, trying to pretend that I didn't notice anything. It was hard to keep the excitement of having just graduated when your ex-boyfriend, who hasn't said one word to you since the two of you had broken up, shows up at your graduation and declares his love for you. I sighed and put on my best "happy" face and searched for the table that held my real, official diploma.

"Courtney, over here!" I looked up and saw Brittany waving at me to come over. She had found a table that was labeled A to F. I gave her a celebratory hug before standing in the chaotic mess of a line of newly-grads. I finally made my way up to the front of the line after about 20 minutes of pushing, shoving, and elbowing.

Once I received my envelope that contained my diploma, I made my way to the open grassy area where the rest of the graduating class of 2010 stood, looking for their families. I had somehow found Henry in the crowd and waved at him.

"Courtney!" he yelled as he ran up to hug me. "We're high school graduates!"

"I know!" I exclaimed, excitedly. "College, here we come!" I laughed. Henry had that look in his eye, like he was going to kiss me. I felt someone grab my arm and I quickly turned around to see who it was.

Taylor.

I looked at Henry and saw the color drain from his face. He must have seen the sign Taylor was holding during the ceremony. It was pretty hard to miss. I shot Henry an apologetic look.

"Courtney, can I talk to you?" Taylor asked me. He looked at Henry. "Alone?"

"Whatever you want to say to me, you can say in front of Henry," I told him. Henry put an arm around me, protectively. I smiled at him gratefully for the gesture. I looked at Taylor with a look that could kill. "Why are you here?"

"What are you talking about? he asked, acting surprised. "I go to school here." He smiled at me, trying to get me to stop glaring at him. I wasn't having any of it.

"Cut the crap, Taylor," I snapped at him. "I'm going to ask you again, why are you here?"

"I want you back, Court," he admitted. I felt Henry stiffen. "I made a mistake."

How dare he? How dare he try to come back out of nowhere and tell me that he wants me back? He hasn't spoken to me since our break up and I tried so hard not to think about him. A wave of hurt and anger washed over me.

Of course, to make the situation even better, I saw Logan walk up to us.

"Hey, Court, congratulations!" he said, practically pushing Henry aside to give me an awkward hug. When he pulled away from out hug, he saw Taylor. "You. What's he's doing here, Courtney?"

"I want her back," Taylor said, answering for me. "I'm here to get back together with her."

"Tough luck, man," Logan said. "She's my girl."

"You're delusional!" Taylor exclaimed at the same time Henry said "Wait, what?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, I'm not your girl," I told Logan. I turned to Henry, trying to explain the situation. "Logan and I had a friends with benefits thing going on, but it's over. There's no strings attached, no feelings, nothing." I pointed that last part to Logan.

"So, you're just going to get back together with this guy?" Logan asked, jerking his thumb at Taylor. "He's an idiot for not choosing you over that other chick!"

"You're an idiot for cheating on her with her best friend!" Taylor shot back.

"Who are you calling an idiot?" Logan spat in his face, growing angry.

"You!" Taylor spat back.

I don't know who threw the first punch, but before I could even blink, I saw Taylor and Logan wrestling on the ground, each trying to get their punches in. I saw a flock of teachers run over here and broke up the fight, taking them both away from the scene.

I turned back to where Henry was standing and saw that there was no one standing beside me.

Graduation (Part II)

I was trying not to grin from Henry's compliment the whole ride to the University, which was really difficult. I kept myself busy by talking about the wedding with Justin and Sarah. Both sounded really excited about the wedding and heading off to college t0gether. It's really cute how happy and in love they are. We ended up on the subject of what to do after the graduation ceremony.

"My dad's having a having a graduation party," I said. "You're all welcome to come, but my family will be there, so there much be some family drama. So, I don't know if you guys, and your families, are up for it."

"That sounds like fun," Sarah said, smiling. "Not the family drama, but the graduation party part. I think my parents would love to come. They love your dad! Justin, baby, do you want to go?"

"Sure, honey, whatever you want," Justin said, not taking his eyes off the road. I really think that if Sarah said that the moon was made of chocolate, Justin would have agreed with her. It's his way of letting Sarah gets what she wants so there are no arguments. I wonder if that's how they lasted so long.

"Anyone else?" I asked, trying not to smile at my thought.

"I'm there," Haylie and Adam said at the same time. I laughed. I took a deep breath.

"Henry, do you want to come?" I asked, shyly.

"I can't, my family flew in from New York last night and we're already planning on having dinner together," he said, with a twinge of sadness. "I promise I'll make it up to you." I nodded.

"Someone's got a date!" Haylie teased, playfully. I was too far away to elbow her in the ribs, so Sarah gladly did it for me.

I thought I saw jealousy flash across Adam's face for a second when he heard Haylie say that, but I shook my head in disbelief. I was going crazy. Adam was happy with Zoey. It was just my imagination, I decided.

"Oh, please, it'll be the end of the world before Courtney and Henry start dating," Sarah said, jokingly.

Why would Sarah say that? Is it really THAT far-fetched for me and Henry to date? I wanted to ask her, but I closed my mouth as soon as I opened it.

"We're here!" Justin announced, when we pulled into the parking lot.

I was right. After we had parked the car, we headed into the theater (I call it a theater, Justin says it's an auditorium) and we were forced to line up in alphabetical order for one last practice. The practice went smoothly. Brittany and I chatted throughout the whole practice.

We stood outside behind the theater for half an hour while everyone's families and friends piled into the theater. It felt like an eternity before we got the signal to go inside. I tried my best to not to trip as we walked inside, sitting down in our designated seats.

It felt like a dream- an out-of-body experience. I couldn't believe that I was actually graduating! I was mesmerized by the crowd of people who were here to support the class of 2010- so mesmerized that I completely missed the speeches. Well, it was intentional. I knew that my dad was getting all of this on tape, so I don't have to listen to the boring speeches about how we survived 4 years of high school and how we are the future. Oh, and our valedictorian, Jonathan Wo? He took out the complete band section when he went up to make his speech. Talk about humor.

Pretty soon, the first row got the signal to stand up and walk towards the stage and the principal was calling out names for their diploma (diploma sleeve).

"Avril Abel," the principal said.

A girl walked up and posed as she shook the superintendent's hand while receiving her diploma. We were warned that there was a photographer there and that we should look at the camera. Pretty soon, it was my row's turn to stand up.

"Congrats, sis," Brittany whispered to me as we walked towards the stage to line up.

"Right back at you, Britt," I said, hugging her. It wasn't long before we heard Brittany's name being called. "Knock them dead, sis."

She gracefully walked onto the stage and smiled brilliantly for the camera. She looked so excited to get her diploma. I watched her walk off the stage before my name was called. I took a deep breath before walking on stage, careful not to trip.

"Congratulations, Courtney," the principal said to me. I smiled at her. After getting my diploma, I saw that Brittany had stopped in her tracks and was staring at something. I walked up to her and grabbed her hand.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. "We're supposed to go back to our seats."

Then, I saw what she was looking at. Taylor was in the front row with a huge sign that said "Courtney, I love you. Please forgive me!".

Graduation (Part I)

Graduation day came up faster than I expected. I mean, even with all the graduation practices, I didn't feel ready for the actual ceremony. I had a bad feeling that I was going to trip on my dress or fall on my face. I just have that ominous feeling that something bad is going to happen. I couldn't help but feel extremely nervous about tonight. I felt completely nauseous about the whole ordeal.

It had been a couple of days since Henry and I shared that kiss, well.. kisses. I don't really know what's happening between us, we haven't talked about what happened. We've kind of avoided the subject every time we saw each other. That night, after we kissed on the beach, he brought me home and walked me up to the front door. He gave me a hug and practically ran away. He peeled out of my driveway like there was no tomorrow.

...That wasn't really reassuring that he returned my feelings. We haven't even talked to each other outside of school and usually we chat over the phone, but he hasn't called me since we kissed. Maybe he thought it was a mistake?

Logan, on the other hand, kept calling me non-stop. He wanted me to come over. I came over yesterday, but nothing happened. I'm actually really glad that nothing happened with everything that's up in the air with Henry. But, that didn't mean that Logan didn't try anything while we were watching a movie.

I really needed to have a talk with Henry. I don't know how much longer I can resist Logan's advances.

Brittany came into my room, wearing a black sequined mini-dress. She had her hair in beautiful curls. I was instantly jealous of her gorgeous blonde hair. Sometimes, I wondered what it would be like to be a blonde instead of a brunette.

"Nervous?" she asked me. I nodded.

"Really nervous," I told her. I pointed to my 3-inch heels next to my bed. "I'm going to trip and fall, I know it."

"I'm sure Dad will catch it on tape," she said, laughing. I laughed along with her until we realized what was going to happen. Our family's coming to graduation.

Anyone who is near California is coming to our graduation, the list includes: Aunt Lany, Cousin Anne, Aunt Lydia, Uncle Mark, Cousin Nina, Mom (who's bring Joe, UGH!), and Dad. They had to get a pass from the care facility so Uncle Mark could come to our graduation (he was transferred from the hospital 2 months ago, into the care facility). I forgot about Uncle Wilson (on my mom's side) and Aunt Pam with their kids, Karen and Sharon, who are flying in from Las Vegas.

"Oh, it's going to be hell," I said to Brittany. She nodded in agreement. In our family, there is no such thing as a happy family gathering. One person has to bring up something unpleasant and ruin the entire event. I sighed. I'm definitely not looking forward to this.

Brittany helped me curl my hair before I slipped into my red one shoulder dress. It might be too dressy for graduation, but I didn't care. I won't admit this out loud, but I want to look nice for Henry.

"Now, you look gorgeous for Henry," Brittany said, after curling the last section of my hair. It's like she can read my mind. It freaks me out. I shook my head and laughed. She left so she could call her boyfriend and see if he was ready yet.

We had to meet at the theater at Beachside University (it was a tradition of ours to hold it at the University) an hour and a half before our graduation is set to start. We had to make sure everything was in order, line up, get ready, possibly rehearse one last time.

I heard a car honk downstairs. I peeked out the window and saw that it was Justin honking. It looked like everyone was in the car. I quickly put on my heels and went downstairs to jump in the car, we were already running a little late.

When I got into the car, I was greeted with 5 hellos. I was squeezed in the back right next to Henry, along with Sarah and Haylie, in a 3 seat backseat. It was extremely awkward being squeezed so close next to Henry, I was practically on his lap.

"Um, hi," I said to him, a little awkwardly. He gave me a slight smile. Sarah and Haylie exchanged a look and laughed.

"You look gorgeous, Courtney," Sarah said. She poked Henry in the ribs. "Doesn't she look gorgeous, Henry?"

I blushed at how Sarah put Henry on the spot like that. He took a long look at me before looking into my eyes.

"Yeah, she does," he said, smiling at me.

I gave him a small smile, but on the inside, I was doing cartwheels and jumping with excitement while giggling like a schoolgirl.

He thinks I look gorgeous!