Joey Avery appears to have everything. Happiness. Loving parents. A life all mapped out. But it's all a lie. An entire life based on a lie. First of all, she's a her, not a him, though it gets people confused all the time, since her name is typicall...
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"Joey Avery," the school principal calls my girlfriend's name.
She gets up, walking up to the stage, while the crowd applauds her, her parents, and siblings with proud looks on their faces. The headmaster shakes her hand, handing her a diploma, congratulating her. She comes back and sits down on her chair. I kiss her on the cheek.
"Kyle Burrows."
The ceremony goes on forever.
"Cole Hudson."
I hate sitting around, especially for a piece of paper.
"Kayla Lewis."
It's my turn soon. Damn, we're just at L. It's going to be a long day, there's a cocktail afterwards.
"Alexander Maxwell."
That name. I want to tell them to call me Xander. The only one I like my name coming out of her name is Joey. The way she says it just makes up for the reputation of that name, for the person I share it with.
I get up and do exactly what my friends did before me. Walk to the stage. Climb the stairs. Shake the headmaster's hand. Grab my diploma, which isn't the real one. Take a picture. Go back to my chair and pray it's going to end soon.
Last one. "Oliver Zoras."
Once he's sitting down, a few teachers speak, saying how grateful and lucky they were to have us as students and a whole lot of bullshit just to keep us a little longer on uncomfortable chairs.
Everyone ready to put an end to another chapter of our life, we get up, mortars in hand, waiting for the countdown to be over to throw them in the air as high as possible. I don't bother watching where it falls, I take a hold on Joey, my hand in her back, pulling her closer for my lips to meet hers.
"Congrats, princess," I tell her, kissing the top of her head.
Once we parted, she jumps in Kayla's arms before heading towards her parents, while I go to see my mom and Charlotte.
Everyone is so happy, no one who dare to say it was a nightmare a few weeks back.
Everything is perfect, nothing can go wrong from now on.
***
"To a new beginning," Joey proposes a toast.
Her milkshake in the air, it clings against our drinks. We look into each other's eyes, knowing things are going to be good in the future. As long as we have each other, we can fight any storm, get through any challenge life puts in our way.
"Let's promise one thing," she adds. "Promise me we'll come back here every year."
We all promise her.
I rub her tight with my thumb, clearly seeing how emotional she is.
"I love you all so much. And I know that, as long as you're in my life, I have no reason to be scared, because I'll never be alone again," she smiles, tears in her eyes.
"I'm going to miss you all so much," Kyle confesses, reaching for Joey's hand over the table. "But we'll always be just one call away from one another."
"It's getting late," Kayla announces. "Cole and I have to get going, we're having dinner with his parents, so we need to get ready."
We say our goodbyes.
And then, they were three.
"Yeah, me too," Kyle admits. "I am meeting with Anthony in thirty minutes."
We say our goodbyes.
And then, they were two.
"Just me and you," she tells me, in a tone full of sadness and happiness at the same time.
"That's truly all I need," I promise her.
***
"Eventually, everything connects. The sky and the earth. The hate and the love. Your lips on mines. The water and the air. The pain and the happiness. Your body on top of mine. You put two and two together. And that's it, there's just me and you. I love you, Joey Avery, soon-to-be Maxwell."
I'm crying.
But she's too.
At the end of the aisle, in front of everyone that matters, we're promising to love one another forever, to cherish our hearts, to love each other until death does us apart.
"Alexander Maxwell, you are my lifeline. You were there every step of the way, to protect me, to take care of me, to console me. You showed me how much life has to offer, that it is possible to be happy again after a lifetime of pain, and fear. You saved my life in more ways you could ever imagine, and I am so grateful for every day, every hour, every minute we have spend together. Thank you for being the amazing man you are. And an incredible poet," we both laugh through the tears.
Her hands in mines as the officiant does his job.
"Do you Alexander Maxwell take Joey Avery to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto her for as long as you both shall live?"
Tears stroll down my cheeks without any shame. "I do."
"Do you Joey Avery take Alexander Maxwell to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?" the officiant repeats.
"I do," she says, letting go of one of my hands to wipe tears away.
"By the authority vested in me by American Marriage Ministries and the State of Massachusetts, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Our lips meet and I can't believe this is our first kiss as a married couple. She's my wife. Forever mine. I'm her husband. Forever hers.
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I couldn't resist. I had to do a wedding ceremony. They needed to end up married.
It wasn't that long, but I hope you enjoyed this bonus chapter.
