~Bentley's POV~
As I make my way up the steps and to the podium, I keep telling myself not to mess up. Of course, I'll probably mess up anyway.
Just a few more steps and I'm at the podium. Here we go. Deep breath.
"Welcome everyone, to the Graduation of Westwood High School's Class of 2014! I am pleased to tell you that I was chosen as my classes Valedictorian, because of my grades. It is a real honor to be delivering this speech, and I will never forget it.
Now, before I begin, I was told by a wise woman, called Mom, that "A good speaker always makes eye contact with the people in the crowd." Luckily for you I have these notecards." I begin, waving my index cards in the air. I hear quite a few chuckles, so I figure I'm off to a good start.
"Now, I would like to start off by saying this. I think it's funny how day by day, you don't notice all the small changes, but once you take a step back, everything is different.
This is exactly what happened to me while writing this speech. I had to step back to remember all the times from when we were younger, good and bad. An example of this would be when Ellie and Luke were married under the monkey bars back in elementary, and Jake was the preacher. Now look at them, still going strong and madly in love. 'Lellie...' I ship it." I say, sending a playful wink their way.
"Or the time we had a funeral for my best friend, Zayn, at recess, because he got a C on his report card and he just knew his parents were going to kill him. We all brought flowers, which were actually the weeds with little white and yellow flowers on them, but we didn't care. Well, Zayn laid down on the ground, of course he put his hands under his head so his 'perfectly styled' hair wouldn't get messed up, and we covered his chest, arms, and legs with grass and the 'flowers.' I spoke, along with a few other people. We prayed and sang sad songs. It was so sad, that all the girls were crying, and even big ole Matt." I say, with a light smile.
"Well clearly Zayn didn't die, but he did get his grades up, considering he did have the second highest grade point average in our class, right after me.
Although, we do have a ton of good, heart warming, funny, unforgettable memories, there are a few heartbreaking ones too.
When we were all in 5th grade, we lost a classmate... Beau wasn't just a classmate for me. He was mine and Zayn's best friend." I say, holding back tears.
"He was kidnapped and killed by a man, who still hasn't been caught. I cried every night for 3 weeks. I'm still not over him. He would be graduating with us this year, if it wasn't for that man." I say, letting a few tears fall down my face, and onto my notecards.
"I remember one time, at recess, a few weeks before he died, he had found a frog on the playground. It was one of those bright green, shiny ones with the big eyes. Beau thought it would be sad if he left it all alone, so he put it in his pocket and took it in the classroom with him after recess. The frog kept making noises during class, so, of course, the teacher heard it and determined it was coming from Beau. How she figured this out, I'll never know, but I'd but money it was because Beau had it out on his desk playing with it. Well, before Mrs. Whites could get to him, the frog peed on the desk. Beau screamed, fell out of his chair, and threw it on the ground. The frog hopped away, and hasn't been found yet. Although, I hear there aren't as many flies in her classroom." I said, with a sad smile.
"This class has always stuck together." I say, after a short pause.
"The main example of this is in the middle of Junior year, when Ashton found a stray kitten on his way to school, and snuck it in his backpack. I remember he let it out of his backpack and onto his desk when the teacher wasn't looking. He even put it on the ground a few times, and it walked to different students. Ash fed it his milk at lunch and then back into his backpack it went. He let it out in every class, and every time it would meow or purr, everyone would take turns coughing, sneezing, or doing loud things, such as dropping a book on the floor to cover up the noise. We named it Ash, since Ashton was the one who found it. The teachers never knew, until now that is. The point is we have always stuck together, like how we all took turns taking care of the kitten and nobody told the teacher." I finish the story.
"As you can see we have some GREAT unforgettable moments. I have loved spending all my years in school with these classmates. They're probably some of the best people I know."
"I still have the cat! Good ole Ash ain't a kitten no more though!" I hear Ashton yelling from the graduates section in the audience.
I laugh along with a few other people.
"To finish off, I will also quote Hannah Montana. Zayn and I wrote our speeches together and decided why not. Here it is: 'I know changing can be scary, but it's a part of growing up. It's how we find out who we are, and who we're gonna be.' If you ask me, no matter how much any of us change, these people, in this class, will always be the great people I love. Thank you." I finish my speech and go back down the stage and sit down.
I did it!
"Great speech, Bent!" Zayn tells me with a hug.
"Thanks! You too!" I say, hugging him back.
We all receive our diplomas and take pictures. We throw our hats up, and head to the graduation party at Zayn's house.
*****
(A/N)
Hey guys! This is chapter 2!:)
Hope you like it;) Enjoy, and please leave feedback!!!☺️❤️
Love you guys!!!
-J.L.A.❤️
