Growing Up

prologue

Emily sat impatiently in the crowded room. It still didn't feel real. Did she really make it?

Stomach full of butterflies, Emily glanced at the screen that showed the senior pictures of her graduation and there she was.

She remembered the day she took those. She was running late and her hair was a bit frizzy. Her smile was forced, but she still looked dazzling.

She took those before senior year started, before the senioritis and stress kicked in.

But look where she is now! Backstage to her last high school performance of the year: graduation. She pasted on a smile and stood with the rest of the class of 2018.

She glanced around at her friends as they lined up and got ready to walk out into the stadium where family and friends were waiting. Where had the time gone? Freshmen year felt like yesterday.

Her hands trembled as they began walking. As she walked through the stadium doors, she glanced up and saw faces staring down. Her heart sped up and her palms began to sweat.

When her back was finally to the crown and she got to take her seat, she realized that this was it. It's finally over. The worst four years of her life finally ended. She was gonna get her diploma and run as fast as she can.

The ceremony seemed to drag on forever, but she didn't remember much of it.

One second, she was sitting there in the front row with the rest of the top 10 perfect, the next second she was walking across the stage to accept her diploma and smiling up at her mother in the stands. Another blur after that lead her out the doors and into her family and friend's waiting embrace.

And thus concluded her childhood and began her life as an adult. The second she got in her blue mini cooper after the ceremony, she knew there was no going back.

It was the first day of the rest of her life, time to grow up.