Chapter 64: Graduation Speech


    EMMA’s POV :


    All the senior kids were hung-over.


    How could they not? They were all drinking until daylight at Madison’s party.


    Everyone except Tiff, Carrie, and I.


    We stayed up all night, though, going through this pros and cons list.


    The result of the list was still inconclusive, but it had to wait.


    It was eight in the morning and my friends and I had somewhere else to be.


    By the time I got to school in my cap and gown, I was already on my third cup of coffee.


    Dad whipped out his old camcorder and he was following me around everywhere with a proud smile on


    his face.


    Mom couldn''t stop crying, she actually brought a roll of toilet paper in her handbag.


    I was super jittery and I was sweating buckets as I sat on my chair amongst my fellow ssmates.


    The ceremony was being held outdoors, in the school courtyard.


    The sun was shining so bright and I was feeling lightheaded.


    I barely had breakfast, except for half a toast and three cups of ck coffee.


    And the worst part about this was that I had to get up on stage and deliver a salutatorian speech.


    I was pretty sure I looked like a train wreck and make up could only go so far.


    With my nervous and shaky legs, I heard my name being called out and I had to walk up that stage and


    stood on the podium.


    On my way up there, all I was hoping for was that I didn’t fall on my butt and embarrass myself in front


    of hundreds of people.


    And phew, at least we got that part down.


    Standing on the podium, I looked out to the sea of people.


    I was mping up immediately.


    But when I looked at my fellow ssmates, I saw Tiff, Carrie, Mark, and Tyler cheering at the top of


    their lungs for me.


    That made me smile and I calmed down a bit.


    I took a deep breath and opened the folded up paper in my hand, preparing to speak.


    "Wee friends, family, and teachers.Without all of you, I wouldn''t be where I am today.It is an honor


    to be standing before you on such a memorable asion.I would like to start out by thanking my


    wonderful parents, mom for your loud constant push and dad for your silent strong support.Despite all


    my ups and downs, you two are always proud of me and I am so proud to be your daughter and I want


    to continue making you proud to be my parents,"


    I looked to the crowd and I found my parents sitting on the front seat.


    Mom was halfway through her toilet paper roll already and dad could barely hold the camcorder up.Still,


    he was smiling at me and giving me a thumb up.


    "Now, I would like to address my fellow ssmates.Let''s admit it guys, it''s been one hell of a ride.We


    came through these doors four years ago, confused and excited.And here we are today, standing in our


    graduation caps and gowns, still as confused and excited,"


    I turned to my ssmates and they let out augh.


    "After today, all of us are going to different ces to start a new journey.I don''t know about you, but I’m


    absolutely unprepared.My friends and I stayed up all nightst night and we came up with this pros and


    cons list.Basically, I was trying to make an adult decision about where I see my life is going.


    adulthood,"


    My ssmates pped and cheered in agreement.I waited for a while until the noise died down before


    continuing.


    "But the thing about being prepared is...there’s no such thing.You can never be prepared for life.Life


    just happens sometimes.The best thing you can do is to admit that you don''t have it all together and


    you may never will, and that''s okay.Life isn''t about always being in control, making things perfect,


    winning all the time, and getting away scathe free.Sometimes it’s about taking risks, breaking the rules,


    falling in love, getting hurt, or being called a fool..."


    My eyes darted around the crowd and itnded on a familiar pair sitting in the back row.


    I sawn and Hailey.


    Hailey was smiling from ear to ear as our eyes met, meanwhilen just stared at me like he was


    speechless.


    ".Because as a wise person once taught me, all those things may end up being the best parts of your


    life,"


    I said with a small smile directed an.


    "So, ss, going forward, I hope that we would be brave enough to be fools.


    I hope we''ll be brave enough to make mistakes, to break the rules, and to take risks, and have no


    regrets.


    Fall in love.Laugh with your friends.


    Have dinner with your family.


    And most of all, as Winston Churchill once said, the greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are


    right sometimes.


    Thank you ss of 2018, have a wonderful journey ahead,"  I waved my hand goodbye and everyone


    followed with ps and cheers.


    Mom and dad were literally jumping in their seats.


    All my ssmates were giving me high fives and hugs as I made my way back to my seat.


    I made it! I did it! I didn’t hurl.


    Mark came up after me because he was the valedictorian and it was his time to give his speech.


    Carrie looked so darn proud of her boyfriend as Mark walked to the podium with swag and confidence.


    We all cheered and pped for him, and a bunch of guys sitting at the back wasughing maniacally,


    like they knew something fun was about to go down.


    "What up ss of 2018! We made it all!"he shouted into the microphone as soon as he got up there


    and everyone responded with cheers.


    "Shout out to Emma, what a great speech.Shout out to all the teachers and faculties, y’all put up with a


    lot.Shout out to my parents, my family, they''re all here.Shout out to my lovely girlfriend, Carrie, I love


    you,"


    "I love you too!"Carrie shouted back.


    "To all my boys and everyone in the ss of 2016, we did it.Yes, you should all be proud of what you''ve


    aplished.We''vee so far.If you don''t believe me, just think back to freshman year.We were all


    ugly and awkward people.We were going through puberty and we thought Kanye West was


    cool.Imagine that, how much things have changed.Now I know I’m supposed to be up here giving


    everyone a motivational speech about going forward into the future, but hey, my girl Emma’s already


    done that.Let''s not be redundant,"he said and everyone burst outughing.


    "So, instead, I''m gonna leave you guys with this.If you think high school was rough, life is only going to


    get tougher after high school.The world is going to discourage us and tell us things that make us doubt


    ourselves.Don’t give in to that bull.You just keep doing what you love and..."


    Mark gestured to the row at the back and these guys stood up with painted cardboard boxes.


    They held up a sign together and it said: FUCKTHEREST! : "Do what you love, and that,"he said again


    and everyone erupted in cheers andughter.


    Principal Finn stood up in shock but it was toote to do anything now.


    "Congrattions ss of 2016!"


    Mark shouted again and did the literal mic drop.  We all stood on our feet and cheered like never


    before.


    It was exactly what we all needed to hear and exactly what Mark always wanted to do for himself but


    he never got a chance to do it until today.


    He was our ss president and he was always ‘perfect’, but this year he had grown a lot.


    We all did.


    Screw perfection, we''d rather be the most real versions of ourselves.


    This year, Tiff had finally found a guy that she was willing tomit to.


    Carrie pushed herself and her rtionship to the limit and found that she could be more than she


    thought she could.


    And as for Tyler...He was so well beyond his years, I had no doubts he would do great things in life.


    After the ceremony was over, I ran to my mom and dad and we took pictures before mom’s mascara


    ran out again.


    I took more pictures with my friends and their families too.


    I was hugging everyone, thanking all my teachers and saying goodbye to them.


    When I got towards the back row, I noticedn and Hailey standing a wee bit away from everyone else.


    They were looking at me like they wanted to see me, so while my parents were busy talking to Tiff and


    Carrie''s parents, I sneaked away and went up to them.


    "Emma! Congrattions!"Hailey pulled me into a hug as I got near her.


    She also shoved a bouquet of sunflowers and said, "We got you this,"


    "Thanks, Hailey.They''re beautiful,"I smiled at the flowers.


    "Congrattions,n said.


    "Thank you,"I looked up at him.


    "I love your speech, it was so great, especially the part—"


    Hailey started rambling, butn quickly cut her off.


    "Hailey, can we get a minute, alone?"he said to her.


    "Oh, right, sure.I''ll be in the car,"


    she smiled sheepishly and waved goodbye to me.


    "So..."he said after Hailey was out of sight.


    "So..."I said.


    We were standing there awkwardly.


    Even though we were far away from everyone, it was still in the school area and a lot of students and


    teachers were around.


    "I really enjoyed your speech.It was amazing,"he said.


    "Oh, I was so nervous, I thought I was gonna hurl,"


    "You were great.Absolutely brilliant,"he smiled that mega-watt smile, the smile that always made my


    knees tremble.


    "Listen,n, about the proposal..."I started.


    "It''s only been one day.You can take your time,"


    "But I’ve made my decision,"


    "You did?"


    "Yeah,"I nodded.


    "Okay..."he said cautiously.


    I took a deep breath and pulled out a piece of paper from my pocket.


    "Are you gonna read me another letter?"he asked.


    "No, this is actually the pros and cons list that my friends and I madest night,"


    "Oh, shit,"he muttered.


    I unfolded the paper and showed him the list.


    The title read: The Pros and Cons of Marryingn Hayes.


    My friends and I went all out.


    We even color-coded everything.


    The pros were written in blue ink and the cons were in red.


    "It looks like a lot of cons,"he said as he noted the obscene amount of red ink.


    His shoulders slumped down in response, looking somewhat defeated.


    "Yeah, but the thing is...I don’t care about the stupid list,"I held the paper in front of him and I tore it


    right through the middle.He watched me with a confused look on his face as I continued shredding the


    paper apart.


    "At the end of the day, I know what I want and I choose you,"I said firmly.


    He didn''t say anything and he didn''t even blink.


    He was trying to register everything.


    The paper was torn into small little pieces and I threw that thing high in the air like confetti.


    Smiling right at him, I pulled my ne from underneath the robe and showed it to him.


    It was the heart locket that he gave me and I also had the ring in there.


    "I chose you and I will always be choosing you, no matter the pros and cons,"


    I was smiling from ear to ear, butn was just staring at me like he couldn''t believe what he was


    hearing.


    My hands went to touch the ring as I said, "I had to put that in there because the ring’s too big,"


    "Emma, are you saying...?"he said finally, his voice cracked a little as he spoke.


    "Yes.I''m saying yes.Just please, don’t ever break my heart again.


    You broke up with me twice, both times because you think you''re doing me a favor.Never ever do that


    again.From now on, no matter what happens, we do it together,"


    I could see it in his eyes, he was about to cry.


    I wanted so much to pull him into a hug, but I was afraid that people might be watching, so I just stood


    there.


    "Emma,"he paused for a beat before saying,


    "I really have to kiss you right now.Can we please go somewhere else?"


    I had to bit my lip to stop myself from smiling too much.


    Not only that we have the same soul, but I think we also have the same mind.


    "With you? Anywhere,"All text ? N?velD(r)a''ma.Org.