Surprise, Promises and Fate

Introduction

        Being 18 opens up so many doors for me. I'll be treated differently, not questioned about the fact my "BF" or soon to be boyfriend is 2yrs older than me, and best of all getting to make my own decisions.

        I've been waiting for this day my whole life. Yes, graduation! Once Hailey, my good friend, picked me up, we were off to pick up Mya and Josie. They weren't my best of friends, but they sure were my ride to meet up with our friends to make life long promises. Wow, that sounds stupid.

  After we picked up the girls we were off to the serene "secret place" as we referred. It was actually some little forest place on the edge of Edina. The gang would all be together once more as high schoolers.
        
        "Hey guys." I said getting out of Hailey's little Eco-friendly Honda.
        "Ivy!" They call back.
        Blake, my 7th through 9th grade crush was the first to greet me.
        "Shea why don't you tell 'em Harvard's not going to change you." Blake said giving me a friendly hug.
        "I can't promise that." I say, winking.

        Blake and I went to the big willow tree by the creek, where the rest of our friends stood. Hailey was still grabbing something out of her car, otherwise we were just waiting on Izzy and Matt. I knew that we were actually waiting on Izzy. She's always wanting to look super good even though she's the best looking out of all of us. 

         Matt and Iz pulled up about 10 minutes later. We all gather in a circle to burry our promises. A wave of emotions starts to come over me. Happiness. Sadness. Anger. Excitement. At any moment I could become a nervous wreck.

        Ashley went first. She was in my friend group, but we weren't that close. She promised to give us all a throwback-Thursday shout out the first week back to school every year. She then put her notebook paper, where she had written her promise, in The Box. Sean was next. As Sean started to talk, I thought of the good old days I had with Ashley and Sean. We always joked around, but we weren't serious friends.

        The funniest moment I had with them was in 5th grade. Ashley had to straddle her legs for Sean to sit in between. Focus, who's turn was it. Ahh . . . still Sean's.

        I was up next. Sean, Zora, Jordan, Tina, and Kyle had all made their promises and put them in The Box. Sean said something about keeping his memory book safe. Zora wished us all the best and gave us invites to her and Jordan's wedding. They'd always had a thing for each other, and we bantered about them getting married. Tina promised that even with distance she'd always be there for us. And Kyle promised not to girl pregnant, which made us all laugh. His actual promise was to not loose his friendship with any of us. Finally it was me. I wasn't quite sure what I was gonna, but it wouldn't be my first time wingin' it.

        "Well guys. . .I love you so much." As I looked around the circle seeing all of us all grown up in our graduation attire brought another wave. "My promise to all of you is to. . ." Oh shit here it comes, the tsunami of tears.

        "It's okay, Shea." Blake said while rubbing my back, his fingers gliding in circles, trying to comfort me.

        "I'm okay . . . I'm fine," I say, taking in a big breath. "I promise all of you that this isn't the end of our friendship, but the start to a new chapter for our story. I promise to keep in touch and be there for you. I promise that Ivy league won't change me and that I'll be the same funny, lovable Shea you've known since whenever you met me." I finish by placing the note in The Box. Some of the girls are in tears themselves.

        "And . . . what? We don't get to come to your awesome wedding?" Lance says, lighting up the mood, making everyone laugh. The rest of my friends promised pretty basic things.

        By the time we were done, we had 30 minutes to get to the ceremony place, have our robes on, and be ready to say goodbye to our childhood. I rode with Blake, Savannah and Chris to the school.

        By 11:30 they had called the first name. It was actually happening, graduation day was here. The time flew by. The next thing I know, my favorite teacher, Mrs. Anderson, is calling my name. I walk across that stage with tears in my eyes. She hands me my certificate and gives me a hug. At 12:30, all the names have been called and the principal takes the stage.

        "I present to you the class of 2020!" At that moment, our caps of the past are in the air and I'm not ready for the future.