“I’d like to get out of there before they figure out that I’m the one who hacked into both hotels’ systems and let you set up the little showers at prom last year and this one.”
“Relax Tate, no one’s going to know it was us and if you don’t want your real name coming out then shut it and let us get to school and done with this day.”
“Is the whole clan going to be there?” Tate asked changing the subject.
“They are, none of them would begin to think of missing Mel’s graduation especially not since she’s valedictorian,” Jordan said pressing a kiss to her fingers.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Tate sighed dramatically. “Keep rubbing it in of how brilliant she is.”
“Enough boys let’s just get through this day,” she said with a huge smile as they pulled into the lot. She couldn’t wait until they could move on from the school and be done with it. She saw her in-laws sitting in the stands already as well as Arthur and she felt relieved.
“Hey beautiful, I have something for you,” Jordan said when they reached the edge of the stands. He pulled out a long jewelry box from his jacket pocket and gave her a bright smile. “Happy graduation Mel.”
She took it knowing better than to argue especially in front of his parents. She opened it and saw a bracelet that matched her ring and necklace perfectly and she grinned up at him. “It’s gorgeous Jordan and I think it’s the perfect touch to my outfit. Can you help?”
“Always,” he said taking it out of the box and gently buckling it before kissing her wrist. “Okay, go graduate so I can tell the world my wife’s in college and not high school.”
“Aw is it a little odd to admit that I’m in high school? Don’t worry I won’t be for long.”
She waved at her in-laws and hurried over to get her cap and gown. The beginning of the ceremony was long and boring but when they called her name for her speech, she saw the surprise that went throughout the crowd.
“Knock em dead, Mel,” Tate said standing up to let her pass by to the end of the row.
“I plan on it,” she told him. She caught Jordan’s gaze, and she sent him a special smile as she headed up to the podium.
“Good afternoon everyone, I don’t plan on being up here long, so I’ll get straight to it. Today we get to leave the halls we’ve walked for the past four years and head out on a journey that’s all our own. Today we can start to discover who we want to be, some of us may head off to uncover the beauty of the world, and others will spend the summer being kids before finding out what we want from college. Whether we stay here or move far away there will always be a part of this place in us, but we get to decide if the memories are good or bad. For me I choose to remember the good, my best friend Tate being by my side day after day, keeping my secrets though no fifteen year old should have to. No matter how much he tried to convince me otherwise I couldn’t bring myself to admit the truth…my mother ran off the night before my fifteenth birthday leaving me here.”
Melinda paused hearing the gasps that went through part of the crowd, but she didn’t care, it didn’t bother her anymore any longer. “I don’t care about that memory it’s the hundreds of others that I choose to concentrate on, memories that Tate made sure were good. I also can’t forget the day I looked out the window and saw my future in front of me though I didn’t know it at the time. My husband…yes, I said husband, but at the time he was simply my fiancé had done the impossible, he found my mother and made me trust in someone else completely once more. That’s what I will take from this place, the happiness. Forget the past and the pain and focus on what you want the future to be, where you want to go. Ten years from now it won’t matter if you were popular or the nerd, or if you were a genius or a slacker. When we leave this place you can recreate yourself and find who you genuinely want to be and become it. Idiscovered that the day I met Jordan and I’m hoping our future is as bright as his smile right now. To my two favorite men, I love you and to the best in-laws a girl could ever have and the best pool teacher in the world, thank you for standing by me through the good and the bad and I look forward to finding out what lies ahead for us. Congratulations to all of the graduates today.”
She stepped away from the podium and headed back towards her seat. Tate gave her a huge hug and kissed her cheek as they sat down.
“I cannot believe you just did that,” Tate whispered to her as the ceremony started back up.
“You told me to knock em dead, figured that’d be better than me getting up there and saying, ‘oh by the way I can’t stand any of you.’”
“Yeah that might not go over so well.”
They watched as the administration began the presentation of certificates and scholarships, starting with the fewest and on to the most. She was the last name called having been offered scholarships to every school she’d applied to and one final one that held a surprise for them all.
“Before you leave Melinda, we have one last scholarship to announce. Please join me in welcoming Grayson Rice from the National Board of Engineers.”
“Thank you Mr. Nelson,” he said. “Each year we select one person to receive a full scholarship. This award is for an outstanding student who is entering into the engineering field in some capacity. This year that recipient is Miss or I suppose I should say Mrs. Melinda Turner.”
“Thank you, Mr. Rice. It’s a wonderful honor but I am declining the scholarship for someone much more deserving than myself. I informed the board earlier this week upon notification of the award, and when I heard of the recipient thatwould be receiving it in my place, I twisted some arms in order to announce it myself. So it ismyhonor to announce that the new recipient will be someone I wouldn’t be here without, my best friend in the entire world and I’ll be nice and not reveal his real name, Mr. J. Tatum. Come on up Tate.”
Her family cheered just as loudly as his father did as he begrudgingly trudged up towards the podium. He hugged her tightly and she grinned.
“I told you I’d get you to college with me,” she teased kissing his cheek.
“Thanks a lot Mel.”
“Would you like to say a few words Tate?” Mr. Rice inquired.
“Ah, I’m not the one for speeches, that’s Mel’s forte but I can tell you this, I wouldn’t be half the student, pool player, or guy I am without Mel. Now it looks like she’s gotten the best of me again though I can’t really complain. So thanks Mel and can we please get out of here?”
Mel laughed hugging him as they headed back to their seats.
“I am so going to hurt you,” he teased kissing her cheek as they sat down.
