Our Everlasting Melody

Our Everlasting Melody (35)

"Graduating class of 2013, baby!" Cassie screeched into the sky.

"Cassie!" I hissed, trying my hardest to ignore the looks we got. "Can you please keep it down?People are staring at you like you're crazy!"

"Who cares?" she laughed, tipping her head back. "We're graduating today! What are they going to do, expel me?"

"No, but they might throw something at you!" I ducked my head and tried to ignore the stares we were getting from our classmates and their families. Not everyone was used to how loud Cassie really was, so it may have beena little jarring for them.

At least the ceremony hadn't started yet. If she started screaming then, then I'd have to hit her.

Graduation had been the one day that I was looking forward to and dreading at the same time. I couldn't wait to get out of high school, but the thought of not being in high school was strange. So many things had happened throughout the years, and the thought of never going back made me kind of sad.

Leslie was the valedictorian, though none of us were surprised by that. When her name was called for her to say her speech, Derrick cheered and wolf-whistled from the crowd. This made everyone laugh while Leslie blushed.

Cassie was to my left, with an empty seat in between us for Mona. I found it rather haunting that she was right next to me in alphabetical order and I never even realized it. There wasn't anyone else in our grade that had a last name in between ours. It was Barnes, and then Burkley.

They weren't going to call her name, though she was mentioned at the beginning, along with another senior that had died in a car accident earlier on in the year. We all had a moment of silence, but then continued on with the ceremony.

But I just couldn't stop staring at the empty seat beside me, and even Cassie seemed a little off about it. It was almost as if Mona was actually sitting beside us right then, and who knows? Maybe she was.

Her funeral had been family only, except for Blake. They knew how important he was to her, so they let him attend. And after it was all over, he called me and I went over to his apartment. I just held him for a few hours after that.

He took her death a lot worse than he showed to me. He didn't want me to know how upset he was about it, but I knew. Blake was always a lot more sensitive than he liked to show.

Jaz was at graduation also, though she was still battered and bruised from her accident. She said that her injuries didn't even hurt any longer, but I wasn't so sure about that. She had been beaten up pretty badly; she nearly died. I wouln't have been so happy go lucky about it, but I was different than Jaz when it came to that, I guess. We all were still very careful whenever we were around her though, just in case she really was just putting on a brave face.

Since Jaz was graduating, Sean was obviously in the audience. Honestly, I was surprised by how much he cared for her. It wasn't like I had expected him to be a bad boyfriend or anything, but he was much different toward Jaz than he was toward Cassie. It made me wonder which way he would have treated me if we had somehow ended up together.

It was hot outside, and being on the football field did not help with the heat in the slightest. I wouldn't have been surprised if people started dropping because of the heat. But luckily, no one did, and the whole ceremony was as beautiful as I had always dreamed it would be.

Mr. Wilkinson stood at the podium and smiled at us. We did it. We finally did it. We graduated.

"And now, I would like to introduce you to the graduating class of 2013!"

We jumped up and cheered, throwing our caps into the air in celebration. And after that, everyone scrambled around in search of their friends, family, or the caps they had just thrown.