Graduating Princess

Chapter 17 - Graduation

This is it. Today is the day. Graduation.

I feel surprisingly ready, and confident. Maybe it’s the awesome outfit Garret suggested. Maybe it’s the fact that Ben is here, and Victor is currently face-timing to get in on the action. Maybe it’s just because I have more confidence as a whole.

@HRHPrincessAnna: This is it. I’m graduating! I made it!! #Classof2012 #SEN1OR2

“I can’t believe it,” dad shakes his head as we stand outside the car, getting ready to split up. He affectionately flicks the tassel hanging from my cap. “I don’t just have one kid graduating high school now—I have three.”

“Quite an accomplishment, dad,” Alec quips. “Come on, Anna we’re gonna be late!”

I have little time to react before the twins are speed-walking towards the auditorium entrance. With a roll of my eyes, I quickly say goodbye and try to catch up with them.

“Hey, I’m wearing heels, give me a break!” I shout to them. They slow down a bit so I can catch up, which I thank them for. These three inch heels aren’t that tall but they’re still killing the balls of my feet.

I hear Marc and Gabe chuckle as they easily keep up with my wobbly jogging. Marc comments, “You know, Princesses are supposed to be masters at walking in heels.”

“Shut up, Marc,” I grumble. 

“You ready for the media storm that’s waiting for us when we head downtown for dinner?” Adam asks suddenly with a raise of his eyebrows.

With a shrug, I honestly admit, “For once I can say… I honestly am.”

Smiling and joking, we enter the auditorium and split up to find our friends. Soon we’ll be back together because of our last names, but until then we’re given time to mingle with our friends and show off our hand-crafted caps and any honors sashes we’ve received.

I show off the same ones as Ashlyn and the girls. We’re all graduating with Honors & Distinction, which means we get the gold ropes instead of the white ones for regular Honors. We also have the blue National Honor Society ropes hanging around our necks. However, Sami and I are the only ones with the green stoles for graduating in the top twenty. I just made it, being fifteenth. But hey, fifteen out of two-hundred and seventy-something students? That’s good enough for me. I’m only mad that my months spent as a royal knocked me down from my twelfth place spot that I had in the fall semester. That, and I was literally ten points away from becoming an SAT scholar. That damn math portion was murderous.

“Can you believe Erica didn’t even make honors and she still got all those scholarships?” Sami whispers, glancing Erica’s way. 

It’s no secret that Erica’s family is prominent in this town, but we had no idea how prominent. She got nearly every single one of the town-wide scholarships on awards night. It had everyone in an uproar. From my point of view, being away from this town for days at a time, it was slightly humorous. I never realized how strange we appear to outsiders like Ben and Victor; Gabe and Marc.

“I don’t want to believe it,” I admit. “But hopefully karma takes care of that family.”

“Karma won’t help me pay my thirty-grand a year tuition,” Sami replies bitterly. “I wish I lived in an European country like yours. Don’t you guys have free college over there?”

I nod, “And if you go to a private university you don’t have to pay back loans until you have a job earning over a certain amount of money every year. It’s a good system—but you know American politicians will never admit that they’re doing things the wrong way.”