Marcel

Chapter 44

A/N: This isn't the last chapter. There's probably one more after this one. :)

Marcel's POV

“Good evening, I'm Marcel. No, that sounded bad. Hello everyone, I'm Marcel. No, that's even worse. Hi, I'm Marcel. Yeah, that was good,” I say to myself in the mirror. I take a deep breath and put on my tie, “You are smart. You'll be fine. You can do this,” I repeat, giving myself a pep talk.

Tonight's the night.

It's time.

I'm finally graduating.

I've been waiting for this day for so long and it's here. It doesn't seem real.

My mom walks in and fixes my hair, “Look at you. All grown up.”

“Mommm...”

Her eyes start to tear up, “My baby is graduating.”

“We're not even at the school yet and you're already emotional,” I say, hugging her.

“I love you,” she says into my shoulder, “I'm so proud of you.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

She wipes her eyes, “I'm going to go get the camera set up. Come down when you're ready.”

I look around my room slowly. I run my fingers along the familiar map taped on my wall. I look at me plain blue bed spread. I reach up to touch one of the stars plastered to my ceiling.

Everything's the same as it always has been in here.

Yet everything else is changing.

I shut off my light and look in the darkness one last time before shutting my door.

Cami is downstairs, looking gorgeous. Her hair is curled and she's wearing a light blue dress.

“Tonight's the night,” she says, smiling, “You nervous?”

“Me? Nervous? Talking in front of the whole school? Psht, no,” I say jokingly, “Of course I am,” a say frowning.

“You'll be fine,” she tells me, adjusting my tie, “You look nice.”

I kiss her lightly, “You look beautiful.”

She gives me hand a squeeze, “Are you ready?”

I sigh and try to ignore the butterflies in my stomach, “I guess so...”

*

“And now for your Valedictorian, Marcel Styles.”

I wipe my palms on my lap and slowly stand up. I'm so nervous.

You can do this Marcel.

I slowly walk up to the podium and adjust the microphone, “Hi, everyone. I'm Marcel,” I feel like I can't breathe, “A lot of you know me as Mars or that nerd from the back of the classroom,” a few people laugh, “Some of you probably don't even know me. But today's the day we've all waited for. It's graduation. We'll no longer be high schoolers after this. We may never see each other again.

“I've dreamed about this day for years. I couldn't wait to graduate,” my heart starts to race, “Some people just want to graduate so they can sit at home. Others want to party. A lot of us will go to college. And for the longest time, I just wanted to get out of here.

“I'm not going to pretend that high school was the best four years of my life, because it wasn't. I've been hiding so many things... And now, it's time you all know the real me. Me, Marcel. Not that nerd in the back of the class. For most of my life, I've been bullied. I spent most of my time alone, mostly listening to music and writing songs. I got tattoos to let out my pain...” I take off my robe and show them my arm. People begin to whisper, “People always said high school would get better. It didn't until a few months ago... Everyday, I'd get picked on. Teachers, students, no one did anything to help me. I'm not the only one either. It happens everywhere. And everyday, I debated whether or not I should kill myself. Just because other people treated me wrong. I tried one day, to commit,” a lot of people gasp, “and I decided I wasn't going to let them get the best of me. And it was the best decision of my life.