Slipping Through My Fingers

Chapter Forty Two

Chapter Forty Two

Rosalie's POV -

Four weeks had passed since I woke up in that hospital bed. Those weeks had gone by in a blur and I knew why - because I was dreading this very moment.

However, it wasn't a dwelling sort of dread that my body possessed as I stared at myself in the mirror. It was the kind of dreading one would possess when they loved writing a novel and reached their epilogue... a bittersweet moment.

After being discharged from the hospital a few days after I woke up, I was finally able to go home and rest. Well, so I'd thought. I had a bunch of detectives and policemen and lawyers contacting me left, right and centre. My parents had been arrested and they were now building up a cold hard case against them so that they would be prosecuted for a very long time.

I was asked to testify and I agreed; knowing that fear would not consume me. I would not take one look at them and breakdown in tears. I was stronger than that.

But then, I had received the news. At the very first court hearing, the unthinkable happened. My father pleaded guilty. He actually admitted to everything he was being charged for (which, by the way, was a very long list of past crimes), and now the judge along with the lawyers were coming together and negotiating a sentencing for him. It ranged from about thirty to forty years of imprisonment.

Porter, on the other hand, denied everything. Like, he even said that he hadn't known who I was and that he wasn't there when my father was attacking me. Stupid move by him since, you know, he was actually caught in the act. The prosecution actually found this really funny and asked for a trial straight away, claiming they had enough evidence to tackle this case.

I think Porter's lawyer knew that he was going down so he just agreed to the trial and what do you know, Porter lost. He was sentenced for twenty five years of imprisonment.

My mother, however, was a different story all together. After being locked for one week in a cell, I heard the news of her death. My mother committed suicide. I was shocked when I had first heard the news, not really being able to comprehend the fact that she could just rip away her life like that, like it wasn't some precious gift that she had been given. I didn't attend the funeral but I did visit her grave.

So, after three busy weeks, I had closure with that part of my life. And then I had the other problem.

School.

Just so much freaking school work.

When I had been discharged from the hospital, I was only two days away from the beginning of my SAT's and I told my teacher's I was up for it and I studied day and night, hoping that my hard work would eventually pay off.

It was heading towards the end of May now, and everyone knew what that meant.

I was graduating. My graduation ceremony was taking place on a Sunday at my school and tonight was Friday.

Tonight was my very first and very last Prom.

I had been so caught up with spending time with my brother's and my school work, I completely forgot about my senior prom. I hadn't even ended up looking for a dress, or shoes, or a hairstyle for that matter.

But you know what? Thank God for the twins!

They, without telling me, had already picked out my hair style, shoes, jewellery and more importantly, my dress. A couple of days ago, they arrived at my house with the outfit in their hands and asked me to try it on to see if we needed to make any alterations.

Thank God the gorgeous dress had fit me perfectly, or I'm not sure what I would have done.

"Rose, keep still!" Cam shouted at me, finishing off the tips of my hair.

"I am still, you're the one who keeps moving me from side to side," I teased.

She was a very pregnant Cam at the moment; due only in one month. And pregnancy suited her so much, she was glowing. As for Ashton and his wife, they had their baby a few days after I was discharged and had delayed their wedding because the baby was delivered earlier than planned.

"Just because you're a rich bitch now, doesn't mean you can talk back to me," She scolded playfully.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and snickered.

Did I mention that I was now $257,000 richer?

After figuring out that I was entitled for the money and I didn't have any guardians to watch the money until I turned eighteen (only four months away), I was told the money was going to be put into a bank account and I couldn't access it until I turned that magic number.

"Rich bitch?" Chloe asked from beside me, working on her mascara. "Really, Cam? You'd use that word to describe her?"

"Hey, it rhymed, that's all that matters." Cam laughed.

"And, I'm only keeping half the money for my brother's college tuition. You know the other half is being donated."

"To some homeless charity?"

"Not just some homeless charity. This actually changes lives. Not everyone will be as lucky as me and get to meet wonderful people."

They both looked at each other and smiled knowingly before Cam turned back to me, fixing the last part of my hair before dropping the curling iron and announcing a loud 'voila!'.

I turned in my seat to admire my hair and smiled at the simplicity and look of it. It would suit my dress perfectly.

My phone began ringing and I answered it quickly, seeing Nate's name sprawled across the screen.

"Hey, Nate." I answered with a smile.

"Rose, I just finished from the gym. I'm going for a shower now and getting dressed. Will you be ready by then?" He asked.

"Yep. I finished my hair and makeup, I just need to put the dress on." I replied.

"I'd prefer you without the dress, but anyway, don't be late."

I brushed off one of his many innuendos with a laugh and said goodbye quickly.

I knew Nate hated school events and whatnot, but for some unknown reason, I just assumed that his senior prom would be an event he would want to attend. I don't know why it came to be such a surprise, but Nate didn't want to go to the prom. I couldn't believe my ears when I asked him about it and he snickered, telling me he'd die before attending some 'tacky' school event.

It took me four days to try and convince him. And then with some advice from Chris and Brandon, I managed to seduce my way into his mind and finally heard an agreement.

As I set my phone down, I went into my room and picked up my gown from my bed. I stripped my clothes off and put on one of those really good bras and seamless panties. I carefully unzipped my dress and slipped it on, putting on my jewellery and heels (I've mastered the walk in them). I grabbed my clutch purse and went and stood in front of my full length mirror.

I didn't like to compliment myself, although I didn't have a low esteem either. But, I did have to admit I looked kind of good today.

My dress from the top to the waist was pale pink and capped sleeved, the pale pink hidden by silver beadings and diamantes, there was a strip of silver diamantes at the waist and the rest of the dress fell down in pale pink with a semi ball-gown style. My hair was blow dried with volume, with curls at the tips and I left it down to wave down my back.

My makeup was really simple, though. I had a line of eyeliner, mascara, blush and lip gloss. And, I had a mix between pale pink and silver eyeshadow batted onto my eyelids lightly.

I walked outside in all my dressed glory and saw the twins zipping up each other. They finished and turned around, smiling when they saw me.

"We did well," They grinned at each other.

"You guys are so cheesy." I grinned, interrupting the awkward silence that lapsed upon us.

"You sound like-"

"Rose, I'm here! Hurry up." Nate yelled.

I tried so hard to convince him to arrive at the Prom in a limo as well, but he drew the line at attending the Prom. He said it was too high-school-cliché-movie-like sort of thing. And plus, he was way too attached to his car. I think he'd let me die before he let the car be scratched.

Cam and Chloe, on the other hand, were travelling with their beaus in a limo to the Prom. Chris had nothing against it but it took a lot of convincing (and explicit details on Chloe's part) to get Adam, who happens to be twenty two, to attend a high school senior Prom in a limousine.

"I'm coming! Is the limo here?!" I shouted back.

"Yeah!" I heard Chris yell. "Bring out the girls!"

I turned to the girls who were watching me with identical amused glances.

"What?" I asked consciously.

"You fit in perfectly here." Cam laughed and before I could say anything, they motioned me towards the doors and we walked out, meeting the boys in the front.

Cam and Chloe walked over to their guys but I had to make the greater distance since Nate was parked behind the limo.

I walked over to him, hoping to God that my clumsiness would shy away just for this one moment, as I walked towards Nate.

There weren't many changes about Nate since our fight about him never listening to me. He did take my opinions and suggestions into consideration, making me feel like I counted and had an equal share of our relationship. He wasn't any more romantic though, and I actually liked it like that.

When I met Nate at his car, I was surprised to see that he actually made the effort to get out of his car. And my God did he look gorgeous.

He was dressed in a tux, looking like a young James Bond and the beautifulness of Leonardo DiCaprio. The Black tux jacket clung to his arms, outlining his clear muscles. He wore a dressy white shirt underneath the jacket that clung to him. Even though he wore the general features of a tux, he had his tie hung around his neck, not even an attempt at tying it.

And what made the whole outfit were the shoes. Or well, lack of shoes. Nate was wearing a pair of flip-flops.

I was about to make a sarcastic comment about his tie and flip flops when I looked up and saw him watching me. When our eyes met, a pained expression overcame his features.

"F*ck! And you're really going to make me wait till we're married?" He commented loudly.

I replied with a puzzled expression, not really understanding what he was talking about.

"You can't keep dressing like that and expect me to have some self-control, babe. You gotta help me out a little." He continued on when he realised I was confused.

"Oh..." I murmured, realisation dawning on me.

I felt my cheeks redden and I walked over to him, greeting him with a quick kiss that he tried to deepen.

"We have people watching." I muttered when he tried to pull me back to him.

"They'll enjoy the show." He smirked.

I laughed, rolling my eyes and walked into the car.

"But seriously," He said, starting the car up. "You have to commend me for my self-control for the entire time we've been dating. And I commend you for your self-control, too. I don't know how you have managed to contain yourself with me around all the time."

I slapped him playfully across the chest and put my seatbelt on.

"Just drive."

***

"I knew you always hated me." I pouted, sulking in my chair.

"Stop being such a baby. I told you I wouldn't dance." Nate replied, looking semi guilty.

The drive from our place to the Prom reception should have been a good hour. Well, should have been. With Nate's reckless driving, he had us there in half an hour. We entered, taking one of those cliché photos where Nate refused to smile and headed inside.

The interior was amazing. The walls were all painted a very light grey, so they laser lights that bounded the room could be seen clearly. The colour theme was silver, purple and black. The stage was at the end of the hall where the band played and was decorated sophisticatedly.

There was a big dance floor right off the stage and surrounded this was a table of six set up. Nate grabbed one of the back tables for all of us to sit at, Adam and Chris agreeing that they didn't want to really be seen and have their reputations ruined.

But at least the other boys were actually dancing with their other halves.

I decided to get up anyway, realising I didn't need Nate to have the best Prom ever. I stood up from my table with a huff and stalked over to the dance floor. I made my way to where the gang were dancing (thank God they weren't in partners) and danced.

I felt stupid that it took me an hour to realise that I could be dancing without Nate.

I danced with the gang for a few songs, Adam grabbing me a few times and twirling me around. When the song changed from fast paced to slow, I felt my mood dampen at knowing that I probably couldn't get away with slow dancing by myself.

I turned around to make my way back to the table when I saw Nate standing on the edge of the floor; his hands slumped in his pockets.

I shot him a questioning look and he smirked at me in reply.

"You're lucky that I love you." He told me, and surprised me when he actually stepped onto the floor and grabbed my waist, pulling me to him.

"You're dancing?"

"If you tell my dad or brothers, I'll have to kill you. But yeah, I realised that for one night I can put away my pride for your happiness." He mumbled.

With my heels on, the end of my head reached his chin, but with as much effort as possible, I pulled myself up and kissed him. He didn't waste time in deepening it, and for a little while, I let him. Until I had to reluctantly pulled away because I did have morals about PDA.

"That was awfully cheesy." I grinned when I pulled away.

"Worth it for that kiss." He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"So you'll dance with me tonight?" I asked, smiling dreamily at what seemed like a perfect night.

"I'll dance with you." He muttered grumpily. "But I better be getting some tonight."

"In your dreams." I grinned smugly.

Even though Nate always made sexual innuendos, in the action, he was very patient with me. He would tease me from time to time, telling me I had the mindset of someone living in the '20s, but I knew it was just teasing. He would never really go that far. But, in saying that, I did think about how much easier it would be if I didn't have those morals. I loved him so, so much and I would give my all to him. Just, with a ring on my finger.

"I already dream about it anyway," He smirked.

I felt my face go hot and my eyes widened.

"Nate!"

He chuckled and pressed his lips to my forehead, his laughs rumbling through his chest and ricocheting off onto me.

"I state the truth, babe. Now shut up and dance." He muttered.

And I did just that.

***

This was probably the worst day of my life. But in a good way.

Today was my graduation. When I read about them in books, I cried. When I watched a movie with a graduation scene in it, I cried. When I saw photos of it, I cried. When I attended my boy's preschool graduation, I cried.

And as I entered the school's hall to get my name marked off and choose a gown, I cried.

Nate and I had arrived together, but there were barely any parking spots available so I jumped out of the car while he searched for a space. I didn't want Nate to see me in this sort of state because he'd probably assume it was something about my parents or my kidnapping a month ago.

But, I knew that Nate seeing me cry today would be inevitable. As much as it annoyed me, I knew that everyone would probably hear my wails.

I walked into the hall in a glum mood, trying to fight back endless tears and hiccupped sobs. I saw a line forming for people to mark their name off and stood in line.

"Are you okay, Rose?" Madeline, a girl from my grade asked.

I tried to say something along the lines of 'I'm fine' but I guess words couldn't form.

"Is it Nate?" She asked. "Did you guys break up?"

I shook my head.

"Are Cam and Chloe okay? Did something happen with Chris?" She continued.

I was about to attempt an answer when a voice came to my rescue.

"Who said my name?" Chris asked, coming behind me and pulling his arm over my shoulders lazily.

"What's wrong with Rose?" Madeline asked.

"She's just a big baby." Chris smirked, laughing at my state. "Ignore her."

I think she calmed down when she saw that Chris could laugh about it at me. She turned around when 'next' was called and marked her name off.

I took long, soothing breaths, trying to calm down and I was finally able to form words.

"Where are the girls?" I asked.

"Chloe is being dropped off by Adam and Cam is just a really slow walker." He answered, pointing to his very pregnant girlfriend who was waddling like a penguin, glaring at Chris.

I frowned and slapped Chris playfully.

"What are you doing?! Go help her!" I scolded.

Nate walked in through the hall doors and stopped when he noticed Cam struggling to walk.

"Look, Nate will help her." He said, pointing to his best friend who just stood idly by Cam and laughed at her struggles.

"You're talking about the same Nate, right? Go help her! Now!" I pushed him forward and he finally listened to me, walking over to Cam who started slapping him with her handbag.

Nate walked over to me and I turned around quickly, hoping that the marker person would find Madeline's name quicker.

"It starts with X! Madeline Xi! It shouldn't be so hard to find, I'm sure there aren't many people with the surname starting with X!" She complained.

Nate's footsteps were emerging closer so I decided to use my hands to shield my face.

"Rose, I know you're crazy and all, but why the need to block your face?" He asked, putting his arm around me.

I ignored him and felt my tears building up.

This school is where I met Cam, Chloe and Chris. And Nate.

This school changed my life.

"Rose? Babe, you okay?"

My hands were still covering my face and I cursed myself for thinking of heart-warming statements about this school while Nate was standing next to me.

"Are you okay? Is it about what happened? Are you upset about that bitch?"

How did I know he would jump to those conclusions?

Finally, the marker found the last name 'Xi' and called next, allowing me to take a step, even though I didn't know where I was going since I was going.

"Name?"

"Rosalie Turner." Nate answered for me.

"Turner, okay. Found it. Okay, Rosalie, you can go to where all the gowns are and choose your size, and then line up so you can do your video."

I nodded, face covered and all.

"Sanders." Nate said gruffly, pulling me back to his body when I tried to blindly walk to the gowns.

His name was found and he tore my hands away from my face, concern overwhelming his features when he saw just how much I'd been crying.

Oh God, and I thought I had changed!

"Rose! Why have you been crying?" Nate asked frantically. "I swear to God I will do something and land myself in prison just so I can beat the f*ck out of them! Rose, answer me." He exclaimed, shaking my body.

I began to laugh, despite just how sad I felt.

"I'm sad that we're graduating, that's all. Nothing about them." I muttered.

"Thank the Lord. You're just being a baby." He sighed in relief.

He and Chris really were best friends.

We walked over to the gowns and I chose my size and yet again had to convince Nate to put his one on. When I finally persuaded him, we stood in line to do the video.

There was a marron backdrop with a stool in front, and a camera. Each student who had chosen their cap and gown had to sit down and record themselves for a minute or two talking about the school. The video would then be paused, the student would stand and leave and another student would start recording.

The line wasn't really that long since students just wanted to get right into the ceremony and made their message quick.

When it was my turn, I was freaking out. I hadn't even prepared what I was going to say!

"C'mon Rose, the quicker we get through this, the quicker the ceremony will get started." Tom, the head of the video committee told me, ushering me over to the stool.

Except, he didn't realise telling me '...quicker the ceremony will get started' wasn't the right way to motivate me. I didn't want the ceremony to start!

I didn't want to graduate at all!

I reluctantly went and sat on the stool, hoping that whatever came out of my mouth would sound semi-decent.

Tom counted down from three to one and I saw the red light on the video flash.

"Um, hi, I'm Rosalie Turner. I don't know if you guys will remember me because I only came to this school for senior year."

Yeah, very graceful.

"I actually don't want to graduate. I love this school. This is the place where I met my two best friends. They have been the most enjoyable girlfriends anyone can ask for and I am grateful for meeting them. This school accepting my scholarship allowed me to meet them and I will forever be thankful. I also met another good friend of mine here, too. Chris. You probably all know him as one of the hottest guys in this school and a soon to be father."

My voice started to shake uncontrollably and tears were welling in my eyes.

This is why I hated graduations.

"His presence just lit up my face every single time and I really needed someone like that through my rough time. And um..." I bit my lip, knowing what was coming next and what I wanted to say.

"I met another person through this school. Nate." I stopped for a second and rubbed away the tears from my eyes. "The first time I saw him, I had never met anyone so rude, so impolite and hateful. On my first day, from anger, Nate punched the window in his car. Ironically, he is my boyfriend now. He has probably made me the happiest person ever and I know he'll scold me for being so cheesy through this video but he's just..." Breathe, Rose, breathe...

"I'm just very thankful for this school accepting my scholarship to better my life and my three boys. Thank you." I stood up hastily and wiped away my tears.

Nate, who was next for the video, was watching me amusedly. And I think there was some love in his eyes too.

"I'll scold you after for making me sound like such a girl." He smirked and took a seat on the stool.

Instead of walking away to the waiting area, I stayed put to watch what Nate was going to say. Probably a few vulgar words and then leave...

Tom counted down from three and the video started.

"Is it playing?" Nate asked. "Oh yeah it is." He answered himself, a smirk plastered onto his gorgeous face.

"My name is Nate Sanders and I'm finally f*cking graduating. That's all folks. See you at the reunion." He did a mock salute and hopped off the chair, walking towards me.

"Nate, that was not even thirty seconds! Come back and do it again." Tom called him.

"F*ck you, Tom." Nate said, smirking at an offended looking Tom.

"I will not let the ceremony start until you do it properly! And no swearing either!" Tom yelled.

Nate stopped and glared.

"You can't do that."

"You want to test me? Get back on that stool, Sanders. And I don't want to hear any vulgar language."

Nate swore loudly then muttered some profanities about Tom before making his way back to the stool.

The video started and Nate put on the biggest, cheesiest smile.

"Hi! I'm Nate Sanders! And Tom is a f*cking basta-"

The recording stopped.

"Sanders, just come on! Do it properly and then you can go."

The recording started again.

"Hey, I'm Nate Sanders. Today's graduation and I'm pretty pleased to be leaving, not that I attended most days anyway. I don't know what to do with my career so I can't say I'm really grateful for this school. But I can say that this school did allow me to meet the best person I've ever met in my life. She's... well, you probably all know who I'm talking about. I love her and I'll see you guys at the reunion with a ring on her finger. Is that what you f*cking wanted, Tom?"

There were loud groans from everywhere; people scared that because Nate swore in his last sentence that Tom would make him do it all over again. Tom just smirked knowingly and pressed pause, letting Nate go.

I, on the other hand, was so shocked that Nate would actually talk like that about me. My heart melted and I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach.

I smiled when Nate stood in front of me and he replied to my expression with dull annoyance.

"Don't even start." He muttered.

I laughed and hugged him quickly.

"I love you too, Nate."

He grunted and wrapped his arms around my waist, taking us towards the waiting room.

***

I was sobbing, like full on crying. I covered my hand over my mouth; hoping people wouldn't hear my cries as the Headmaster kept calling on names to receive their diplomas.

We had listened to the valedictorian say a speech, the school captain's speech and we watched our video of us in our gowns before we hit the waiting room. Everyone laughed during Nate's three takes that they actually ended up putting in.

"Miss Samantha Tisdale!" The headmaster called out.

"Mr Fred Tottman!"

Anxiety built up in me as the surname was becoming closer and closer to mine.

"Mr Lenard Truman!"

The guy in front of me shot me an amused glance at my crying and headed out onto stage, saluting me.

I felt like time had gone slow, as melodramatic as it sounded. My heart was pounding and palms were sweaty, just yearning for me to rewind the year and experience my senior year properly. Not with so much freaking drama.

I felt like there was a stampede going on in my stomach, like the zoo decided to just pound in me.

I don't even know why I was so scared. I understood that I didn't want to graduate but come on! To this extent!?

"Miss Rosalie Turner!" I heard the headmaster call and for just a second, I was frozen.

This was so stupid. I was being so dramatic! I wasn't in a movie; this wasn't how a normal person would react to graduating. Was I scared because I had stage fright? Maybe that was it; I just didn't want to get on stage in front of hundreds of people.

Someone behind me gave me a soft nudge and that was enough to block me out of my slow motion state. I began walking, wiping away my tears and tried to be of acceptance of what was happening. I smiled - a genuine happy smile - because even though I was going to miss school, I was graduating.

This shouldn't be a moment I dwell on; it should be cherished.

God, I was such a cheese-ball.

I reached the stairs and climbed them, reaching the last one and somehow, God only knows, I fumbled over the last step and tripped over.

I felt my face flame in embarrassment and I heard everyone laughing. I could make out the sound of my gang's laugh. I could hear Liam, Mike, Brandon and Ashton laughing, their 'unique' laughs standing out.

I pushed myself up and everyone started cheering for me, probably because they felt sorry for me. I didn't make any eye contact with anyone and I shook the Headmaster's hand.

And then, he handed me my diploma.

And just like that, I was in that crying state again. But it wasn't official.

"Congratulations, Rose. I'm glad we accepted your scholarship. You've been an exceptional student." He smiled at me warmly and I used all my will not to start blabbering.

"T-thank you." I smiled, walking over to the edge of the stage.

And just like we practiced in rehearsals, I made eye contact with my big group.

My boys: Jace, Mike and Liam. My Sanders family: Melanie, Hayden, Brandon and Ashton who was with Emily and his newborn son. I smiled at them and then turned to the twins, Chris and Nate. I kept clear eye contact with him, blocking out everyone but my family and friends.

And as I stared at Nate and he grinned at me, an expression of fondness, proudness and just genuine love crossed his features. I grinned and picked up my strings that were sitting on the right of my cap and moved it over to the left, signifying that I was an official high school graduate.

***

"There is undoubtedly the brightest path for all of the Berkeley Carroll students sitting in front of me. I have faith and belief that you will be successful and create footsteps in your own journey. So, without further ado, I will now present to you the class of 2013!"

Time stopped for one moment before it went full speed ahead and everyone was standing up and throwing their caps into the air, hugging their friends as their family rushed towards them. I stood still while everyone threw their caps, wanting to absorb the moment.

I had calmed down enough to stop the sobbing, hiccups and wailing but I still had an endless supply of tears trickling down my cheeks. With a proud grin, I stood up and threw my cap in their air.

Since we were in alphabetical order, I was seated away from Nate and the others. I found them pretty quickly though, since everyone had formed a big circle together. The twins were hugging each other with their parents while Chris was speaking with his dad.

I turned to the Sanders and saw Nate and his brothers do one of those man hug things and Melanie engulfed him in a motherly hug.

My brothers stood beside them, congratulating Nate but their eyes were occupied, scanning the audience. I ran over to the group and hugged my brothers tightly, and they kept yelling 'Be careful! Your shark bite will hurt!'

I kissed the Mike and Liam's cheeks but Jace wouldn't let me. I stood up and hugged the brothers and parents of Nate, all of them whispering congratulations in my ear.

I reached Nate and he just stood opposite me, grinning. And then, he pulled me to him so quickly, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing me so passionately and lovingly, I don't know I stayed standing.

We pulled away at the same time, resting our foreheads on each other.

"Congratulations, Rose. NYU are lucky to have you." He smiled.

Right, yesterday I found out I had been accepted at New York University. I was pursuing a career in Arts. I wasn't living on campus though, since I only lived a half hour drive away from the University.

"Thank you. And you're not serious about taking the gap year, right?" I asked.

I kept pressing him for choosing something to study further in college but I knew that if he had not motivation to study in school, he wouldn't study in college either.

But I did overhear a conversation between Brandon, Ashton and Nate about opening up a gym together, being co-owners and managers.

"I need the gap year. I've done so much work in school!" He joked.

I rolled my eyes and laughed, deciding to ask him about his career later on.

"I love you, Rose." He grinned as I laughed, kissing my temple.

"I love you too, Nate."

I could hear Adam, Chris and the twin's voices closer to where we were standing and I knew that photo time was soon once we all grouped together.

When they arrived, we all hugged and congratulated each other before moving off to the side and taking photos. After taking so many combinations, we decided to take one huge group photo.

Hayden set up the camera on the timer and ran back towards us. Nate had me in an embrace, my back against his chest as he wrapped his arms around my waist and because we were the graduates, we were put in the front.

The camera sound started beeping really quickly, and we all formed our poses.

I grinned and looked up at Nate who had his trademark smirk.

Three, two, one...

"Say cheese, bitch!"

And then it flashed.

-----------------------------

Authors Note:

Greetings :D

You guys don't understand how depressed I am to be posting this up right now. Unlike a lot of authors, I actually really, really enjoyed writing this book and this is the last chapter before the epilogue D:

I know I'm writing a spinoff and all, but it's not my same characters. In saying that, I'm happy with what I've accomplished. This is sort of like a bittersweet moment.

Like Prom. Or graduation.

So guys, if you want to see what Rose's dress looks like (GORGEOUS SHERRI HILL!) you can go on this link to see it:

http://www.sherrihill.com/sherri_hill-21053.htm

And this is their graduation gown:

http://www.rosetherese.com/html/images/6.jpg

So... About the Epilogue. I'll have it split into three different events in Rose's life to come. Can anyone guess which events they'll be?

And spinoff is official! Info about that will be up in the epilogue! Watch out for it!

But tell me, what do you guys think the spinoff will be about?

Last chapter I received around 60 comments. Sixty. That's like 60. That number is closer to 100 more than it is to zero.

You don't understand how much I appreciate the comments I receive every chapter. I read all the comments and reply to every single one, too, just to show my appreciation :)

In saying that, this chapter is dedicated to mintuniverse for the amazing cover on the side here :) thank you so much <3

I love you guys all very, very much and I hope you have enjoyed reading this.

P.S - How about you all go follow jkstoryaddict? An awesome person :)

And just a warning from now, the Epilogue's A/N will be the longest one I ever write! Can't wait :D

Vote, comment and fan.

Farewell xx