My Life Exposed

Graduation Night.

The last couple of months fly by and we now have two weeks left of school. I sit down at the dinner table with my father, Tracy, and Jade and I announce to them that I will be graduating with a 4.0 GPA. "Sweetie, I have never been more proud of you. That's amazing," my father says. "Great job, Mila! Are you excited about your trip," Tracy asks. Jade asks, "What trip?" "Oh, that's right. Mila her and her friends are going on a 90 day cruise before school starts in the fall," my father says. "Well why wasn't I invited," asks Jade. "You're not really a friend and you haven't exactly tried to be a sister to me since I've been here," I reply. Tracy looks at Jade and says, "You must have plans with your friends this summer, I'm sure." "No," says Jade, "they're going out of town with their families." "Well why don't you use this summer to catch up on school work, that way if you do outstanding at community college you can maybe transfer to an Ivy school," Tracy suggest. "Yeah, maybe, we'll see," Jade shrugs. Tracy tells her, "It doesn't hurt to try, Jade. Just work hard and you can accomplish anything." I decide to give some encouragement and say, "I really think that you can do it, Jade. Just bury yourself in your studies and try." "Why thanks for that Mila, but I don't need your pity," she replies. I laugh and say, "Okay. May I be excused?" My father says yes, so I go up to my room to finish getting ready and wait for Jace to pick me up. When we get to school, I turn to Jace and say, "We only have two weeks left! Aren't you stoked?" "I really am! A two month break from school is going to be nice and I'm excited for our cruise." "I am beyond ready," I say. We head to class to listen to the boring lectures that we've already went over. I think our teacher is just over this year so she's just going over things we've already learned. When the day is over, I get home and begin packing for the cruise. I mean it's a 90 day cruise; I'll need a lot of clothes. I also need to pick out an outfit for graduation since its only two weeks away. I go find Tracy and see if she would like to help me shop for a cute dress to wear under my cap and gown. She agrees to come with me and helps me find the cutest little blue sun dress. It's more than perfect. We go straight home after because I was really tired and I just wanted to go to bed for the night. The next two weeks fly by. Today is graduation day and I'm so excited to be graduating from high school. I put on my dress, do my hair and makeup, and then head downstairs. My father and Tracy were already down drinking coffee. "Are you nervous today," my father asks. "No, I'm just excited," I reply. "Good! We'll be there around 5:00 so we can get good seats," he says. "What will you be doing today," Tracy asks. "We're mainly going to be rehearsing to get ready for tonight," I tell her. "Well good luck! We can't wait to see you girls walk across that stage," Tracy says. I give them each a hug and I walk out the door. Jace is waiting for me outside and I run into his arms and scream, "Graduation Day!" He twirls me around and kisses me and says, "You look beautiful." "Thank you, handsome," I reply. We walk into the school and see a sign that says, "Seniors: please go to the gymnasium for fitting and rehearsal." We head to the gym to get our cap and gowns and catch up with all of our friends. The rehearsal seems to take forever. When 5:00 comes around, it's time for us to line up. I give a quick kiss to Jace and tell him, "See you on the other side." We all line up with boys on one side and girls on the other. All of our families and friends are sitting down in the crowd, so we begin to walk in and take our seats. The headmistress comes to the podium and gives a very long 30 minute speech. After that, they start calling our names for us to walk up and receive our diplomas. When they call my name, I can hear my dad screaming from the audience and I can't help but laugh. I grab my diploma and head back to my seat. When everyone's name has been called, we all stand up and throw our caps in the air. We meet up with our families afterwards and take pictures. My father asks, "Are you girls going to any parties tonight?" "Yes, I am. Just so we can all get together one last time," I tell him. "Just be careful and if you decide to drink, call Micheal to pick you up," he says. "Yes sir," I tell him as I give him a big hug. I hop in the car with Jace and our friends and we all head to the party. "I can't believe we did it! We finished high school," I tell everyone. We all congratulate each other and hug. We get to the party and pretty much everyone is there. We decide to grab a drink and cheers to graduation, to an amazing summer ahead, and to Yale. We spend the rest of the night drinking, dancing, and having the time of our lives. It starts getting late, so we all decide to leave and stay at Jace's house for the night. I call Micheal to pick us up and he arrives shortly after. We all get in the car with our drinks still in our hand and head out. All of a sudden, there's a loud crash and we all fly forward. I feel as if I'm in shock. I look around at everyone and begin to feel panic creeping in. I crawl over to Jace and see that he's unconscious. Sarah and Matthew are awake; he's holding onto her as she's crying. Noah and Candace are trying to make their way out of the car. I see Brandi trying to wake John, but it looks as if he's barely breathing. I can hear an ambulance coming in the distance, but I just can't keep my eyes open anymore. It's so hard. I grab Jace's hand as I close my eyes and fall asleep.