First [COMPLETED TEEN FICTION]

20. First Future

Dedicated to EmilyTheReader. Cameron and Farrah are from her novel Tame. I named them after the characters in Tame because they're just so cute! Tame is a good read and also in the wattys! Vote Vote Vote! 

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It seemed like just yesterday when I was in the counselors office talking about what I wanted to do. Senior year passed by right before my eyes. Today was my high school graduation.

“Hey girl! You ready for the night of our lives?!” Lexi squealed beside me.

“Oh yeah. I’ve been waiting for this day since September.”

“I’ve been waiting since September of freshman year.” Claire came in and hugged us. “I’ll miss you guys.” She was going to college in Pennsylvania: UPenn. She said she wanted to follow her mother’s footsteps and get a degree in business before taking over her mother’s company.

“Why’d you have to go all the way over there!” Lexi whined. “We’ll miss you too, Claire.”

“You’re leaving me with this crazy chick!” I fake whined. “How will I survive!”

She slapped me on the arm. “Shush.” Lexi was going into cosmetology and was going to move in with Eddie after graduation. Eddie was going to UCLA and his parents bought him a flat near the college. “You know you love me, Dani. We’ll be together forever.” She widened her eyes in a creepy fashion.

“Okay okay that’s creeping me out,” I said.

“Me, too,” Claire agreed.

“Okay everyone get ready! On stage in 5!” A small woman came to warn us of the time.

“OH MY GOSH ITS HAPPENING GUYS.”

“I KNOW RIGHT!!” We all squealed and started panicking at the last second. Two arms wrapped around my waist and I instantly knew who it was.

“Hey,” Daniel said, “What’s up?”

“Oh nothing much. About to graduate, you?”

“Same.” We laughed and he kissed my hair. “Can’t believe this is happening.” Daniel was accepted to UCLA as well and was on a basketball scholarship. He was going to get a degree in astronomy, like he said before. Then he would start working at an observatory or a planetarium and do research on the stars.

“Hey Danny.” Lexi and Claire greeted him. They had smirks on their faces and I didn’t know why. I just brushed it off. They were weird as usual.

“Hey Lexi, Claire.” We started making small talk when the woman came back again.

“Okay, everyone! Places!”

“Hey good luck out there, Danny.” Lexi winked at Daniel and Claire did the same. Daniel was the valedictorian and he was supposed to deliver a speech. He practiced it over and over in front of me so he shouldn’t be that nervous. Plus, I thought he liked the attention. He’ll do fine. However, he seemed very nervous and was practically shaking. I held his hand reassuringly and he smiled at me before we all headed on stage.

**

“Now for the valedictory speech delivered by this years valedictorian, Daniel Sanders!” Applause filled the venue as Daniel stepped onto the stage.

“We’ve suffered through these four years in he- I mean high school and now we’re here.” This got him some laughs from the audience. “I’d hate to quote this song but it’s true. We ‘started from the bottom, now we’re here’. It’s been four long years, thirteen actually if you count our preschool years. We spent our lives learning every day for eight hours. Eight long hours!” More laughter from the audience. “Some of us may not even use that knowledge with what we pursue as a career. Even so, I’m glad I spent thirteen years in school. If I hadn’t spent those years in school, I wouldn’t be standing up here. With that said, I’d like to thank my friends for sticking around for so long. Thank you for accompanying me to and from school and being there for me. I’d also like to thank my mom and dad. Even though you weren’t here most of the time, you still supported my dreams. Thanks dad.” I looked into the audience and saw Mr. Sanders rubbing his eyes. “And mom, you weren’t here most of the time either but now that you’re back, you’re as supportive as ever. I couldn’t have asked for a better mom. Thanks, mom.”