Behind These Bruises...

Behind These Bruises...[Part 20] EPILOGUE

"...a lot has happened this year. The first of which was our brother school joining our student body. In a way, this was a really great thing. What better way to end our senior year than..." Leah was saying. She was chosen as the senior speaker for graduation.

It was finally graduation day. I was sitting with the rest of my class in my maroon graduation robe. The girls were all wearing maroon robes and the boys wore black robes. There were 350 graduating students total, boys and girls.

The voted faculty member spoke next. We had all voted Mr. Wright, our English teacher, to speak. His speech was both entertaining and memorable. After he spoke, it was time to hand out the diplomas. One by one, my classmates' names were called out. You could hear how popular a person was by how much applause and cheering they got after their name was called out.

"Alisha Chang," our school principal called. I cheered along with several others of my classmates and Alisha's family. There was a loud amount of cheering when Kyle's and Leah's names were called out, which came as no surprise. Almost everyone cheered when Jason's name was called. Derek got a lot of cheers, too. When my name was called, I couldn't focus on anything but not tripping over my robe or my feet on stage. I took my diploma and shook my principal's hand, and then the superintendent's hand, and then walked off stage, pausing for a picture that the professional photographer took, and then walked back to my seat. There were only a few other students after me, since my last name was Venti and I was towards the end of the class list. After the last person's name was called Zikowski, we were told to stand and move our tassels.

"Congratulations, Class of 2011!" our principal announced. We all threw our caps in the air and cheered. There were flashing of cameras everywhere in the audience.

After the graduation, people milled around, taking pictures and saying good-byes.

"Oh my god!! I can't believe we're officially college students now!" Alisha exclaimed.

"We'll be chillin' at Johns Hopkins," Jason said, putting his arm around Alisha's shoulders.

"Ahem," we heard Alisha's dad say. Jason pulled his arm back and stood up straight.

"There's no way you're going to be chillin' at Johns Hopkins. It's the best medical school in the country," Derek said, walking up to us. He kissed my cheek and smiled at me.

"Neither will you at Cornell," Jason said.

"I didn't say I would," Derek replied.

"Calm DOWN, boys," Alisha said, rollling her eyes.

"Get together! Let's take a picture of all of you!" Alisha's mother said. We stood together and smiled for the camera. I saw my dad and Sienna walk up to us and I moved away from the group to meet them.

"Congratulations, Mila!" Sienna exclaimed, pulling me into a hug. I smiled and hugged her back.

"Thanks," I answered. I looked at my dad, who was standing awkwardly.

"Congratulations," he told me. He awkwardly gave me a hug. Sienna wanted to take a picture of my dad and I and then Alisha insisted on taking a picture of all three of us. I took several pictures with Alisha and then some with Derek, too. I even took a picture with Leah and Kyle.

"Have fun at NYU! New York City is amazing!" Leah told me, her blue eyes glittering.

"Thanks. And you have fun in California," I said.

"It's so weird. This might be the last time we're all together until high school reunion," Kyle said.

"I know! It's so sad!" Leah exclaimed, her eyes watering slightly.

"It is weird. We've been with the same people for 12 years for some of us and now we're going in completely different directions," Alisha said sadly.

"But we're all coming back for summer vacation. We'll see each other then. Stop being such Debbie Downers. It's graduation baby!" Jason said, beaming at all of us. I smiled and we took another group picture.

Derek and I would be 4 hours away from each other. We already decided that during long weekends, we would take turns visiting each other. Alisha would be 4 hours away from me, too and I planned on visiting her a lot, as well. It was sad to think about. We were all going off to different places, going on new adventures, making new friendships. But that didn't mean that we would forget about each other. Old friendships would last, new ones would form. But what had happened to each of us in the past would remain, as memories and as the people that we are today. This wasn't the end. It was just the start of a new chapter of all our lives.

"So who wants to go for ice cream before the Senior Bash?" Kyle suggested. We all cheered and bid our parents good-bye for a bit.

Derek took my hand and pulled me to the side. I smiled at him and he pulled me close to him and kissed my lips gently.

"Congratulations," he whispered, pulling away slightly. I grinned.

"You, too," I said.

Then we took each other's hands and walked off to join our friends.