TOGETHER [P. LAHOTE]

[10]

"What the hell am I supposed to wear?" Skylar exclaimed. Her room - which, she swears, was clean five minutes ago - now resembled what seemed to be the result of tornado of clothes. 

Bella sat on her twin's bed, resting her weight on her palms spread behind her. "I think the graduation gown is required, Sky."

"But what about under the gown, Bella?" 

"Preferably clothes," she deadpanned. 

Groaning, Skylar threw down the dress that she was currently holding. "You're no help. Aren't I suppose to have some girl friend come in last minute with a beautiful dress that fits my personality to a tee, or does that only happen in movies?"

"Movies."

She rolled her eyes at her sister. "Why the foul mood?"

Bella simply frowned and stood up from the bed. "I still have to figure out what I'm going to where, so I'll see you in a bit." Walking over to the door, Bella seemed to hesitate. "Are you riding with me to graduation?"

"I thought that was the plan all along?"

Grimacing, Bella continued. "Well, Edward wanted to know if he could ride with us and Charlie, so I kind of told him... yes?"

"Offf course you did," Skylar said. "But that's fine... and since I was so mature about this situation, I call shotgun."

Bella cracked a smile, nodding. "Fine. See you later."

♦♦♦

"We're graduating. Oh, my God Bella, we're actually done. No more English papers! No more fucking Shakespeare." Skylar stood in line along with the entire senior class, waiting for the que to come in and sit in their seats. 

"I don't know why you're so happy about that as you never actually finished an English paper. Or read any Shakespeare. You always copied my answers," Bella retorted. 

"Oh, perk up! We're now officially adults. It's time to start paying bills, looking for high end jobs while going to college!"

Bella's face twisted in confusion. "What bills? You still live with Charlie, and you didn't even apply for any colleges. Besides, didn't you apply for a cashier at a gas station?"

Skylar slowly turned to stare at her twin, long and hard. "Yes, but trust me, that was a fight for that position."

"Which you lost."

She was about to come back with a reply (which might have been a punch in the arm... A hard punch) but the assistant principal motioned for the seniors to come in. While they were walking in, Skylar saw Bella trip on her gown behind her, making her bit her lip to stifle the laugh. 

After they were seated, Skylar sat and watched as the principal droned on, followed by the assistant principal. She finally perked up in her seat as she noticed Jessica making her way towards the microphone. 

"When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were things like astronaut, president, or, in my case, a princess. When we were ten, they asked again. We answered rock star, cowboy, or, in my case, a gold medalist. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how about this? Who the hell knows?"

Skylar ducked her head in laughter and started cheering, following the rest of the crowd. How fucking true. 

"This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions. This is the time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere. Fall in love... a lot. Major in philosophy, because there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind, and change it again, because nothing's permanent. So make as many mistakes as you can. That way, someday, when they ask what we want to be, we won't have to guess. We'll know."