Words Unspoken ✔️

Chapter 24: Tattooed Angel

You're a song written by the hands of God

Don't get me wrong 'cause this might sound to you a bit odd

But you own the place where all my thoughts go hiding

Right under your clothes, is where I find them

Shakira-Underneath Your Clothes

Tuesday Morning

Cassie took a deep breath as she stepped inside the halls of Forest Hills High School for the last time, feeling accomplished. Today she was to meet in the cafeteria to pick up her diploma, allowing her to move on to her next chapter in life, college.

This coming August, Cassie will be persuing her bachelor's degree in Psychology at Hunter College; the same college her mother received her bachelor's degree and license as a registered nurse while Cheyenne was still continuing her junior year there for her Accounting degree. And better, she would be reuniting with her best friend Brianna there, as she too would be attending Hunter College.

She strongly chose Psychology as a major because of what she endured in high school minus her Senior year, along with being fascinated in that area of study. She was certain that plenty of girls and boys would be in her position of being bullied and being too afraid to tell anyone. Cassie wanted nothing more than to help them find their voices and to build up their confidence.

She walked inside the cafeteria to see her fellow seniors on lines to sign off their names to receive their diplomas and permanent records. Cassie felt butterflies in her stomach to see all of her classmates talking and laughing loudly, excited for their bright future ahead of them.

After waiting on line for a few minutes, it was Cassie's turn to receive her diploma and permanent record. She smiled to see her eleventh grade trigonometry teacher with the list of last names starting from L through P. After signing her name, her teacher handed Cassie her diploma and permanent record.

"I'm so proud of you, Cassie," her teacher said. "You've came a long way."

"Thanks, but the journey isn't over yet," Cassie replied. "This is only the beginning."

"Yes it is," her teacher agreed. "Go get 'em, tiger."

Cassie smiled tearfully and hugged her teacher. As she made her way towards the exit, she bumped into none other than her good friend Simone. They both squealed excitedly before hugging each other tightly.

"I see you got your diploma!" Cassie exclaimed.

Simone exhaled through her lips. "I sure did," she replied. "It's such a good feeling, now I'm gonna get my bachelor's degree in Nursing.

"Oh, that's great! You should go for it, take it from me."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna do psychology," Cassie replied. "I'm gonna help people with the same issues I had."

Simone's face fell. "Oh, yeah, that," she said lowly, as she hung her head down.

Cassie smiled gently as she placed a hand on Simone's shoulder, making Simone hold her head up.

"Hey, I've forgiven you a long time ago," she said. "And you were just as much of a victim as I was. Ashley pressured you to do things you didn't want to do. That was bullying right there. And it was easy for me to be friends with you now that I knew the whole story behind it. The more you feel sorry, the more I'm gonna forgive you. I'm doing this for people like you and me."

Simone smiled as she burst into tears. She gathered Cassie into a tight hug, while Cassie hugged her back.

"You know, when I was in the hospital after Ashley and her crew jumped me, I was in a lot of pain, but I was so relieved 'cause she was finally off my back," she said as she let go of Cassie. "And you wanna know why I want to be a nurse?"