Today was the big day for my graduation. I wore a dark blue dress Zach picked out. It was much too sunny for him to come out, so he promised me he would give me a surprise after I got home. Knowing him, it must be a kind of party or something. I wasn’t such a party girl, but I really wanted to make him happy, and I was thankful to him.
At school, I pulled on my graduation outfit, and put on my hat. My family name started with a “D”, so I went to sit with the other “D”s. Most of them were shaking with excitement. Everyone seemed friendlier when they were happy. A girl I didn’t even know gave me a hug when I walked by.
The ceremony was taken place in the school hall. It wasn’t such a big place, and now it was packed with parents and relatives and students. I tried to not feel nervous, but butterflies filled up my stomach pretty fast. There was a small pause between each students’ name was called to hand the diploma. Pretty soon, I was on stage, facing the whole crowd. I couldn’t sweat, but I swore the place blurred a little with the light upon me.
“Miss Adele Diana Dracula.” I heard murmurs down the crowd, but the name was not something I could control. I was handed the diploma, and I went down as fast as I could.
The names were finished, and that was when Mr. Green, the headmaster was supposed to do a speech ending with the congratulations to the new graduates.
Mr. Green waved his hand: “Silence, everyone. I have a very special announcement to say. Miss Adele, please come up the stage.”
I blinked in surprise, and slowly stood up, walked numbly onto the stage. I faced the confused crowd with my own confusion: what was this all about? Then I heard Mr. Green’s voice booming in the hall: “Miss Adele, congratulations. You are the first student in our school to win the scholarship of the College of Pemberley!”
A cheer started from the crowd. In a small town like this, scholarships were a huge thing to achieve.
After I was back to my seat, Mr. Green cried with such energy that could boil the whole room: “And now, people, congratulations to our new graduates!”
Hats were pulled off, and released into the air. I also swung my hat into the air, not aware it was higher than any one else in the air. After all, this was my first graduation I could remember; I could afford to be a little enthusiastic. Probably after five times, things were going to be a little boring, but anyway.
Just at that moment, I saw Lucy pushing through the crowd. She came up to me before anyone else did, and hugged me. Autumn followed, and whispered in my ear: “I know we were not very close because of your identity, but I just want to congratulate you as a sincere friend. Because, maybe this will be the last time we stand so close to each other.”
I smiled and said I appreciated that. Alright, the latter part was not so pleasant, but this was a happy day and I let myself off my guard for a while.
Then I went to find the girls I ate lunch with. We didn’t talk because we were all of few words, but we do have a closer relationship than the others. I found Jane and Janice easily, surrounded by their family. The twin sisters were not very special before, but now they looked beautiful with their flowing orange hair and their faces glowing with happiness.
“Congratulations!”I hugged them and I knew they recognized me.
One of them hugged me back, and they said together: “You, too.” Janice, her voice was a little deeper than her sister’s, added: “Your voice is very nice. I can’t believe it’s the first time I have heard it.”
Then I went to Helen, and tried to find Peter and Amy. It was getting harder, because the crowd was closing in. Kerwin got to me first. He nodded to me, and pulled me out of the crowd, into the school garden. There, I found Tiffany hidden behind a bush. She giggled when she saw me, and signaled to me to stay and watch.
Peter and Amy must have thought they were alone together. Then I saw Peter knelt down, and handed a small box to Amy. She looked surprised but full of pleasure. She was silent for a while, and then nodded, whispering something to Peter.
I thought I heard she said: “Yes.”
I guessed pretty quickly what was going on, and stopped breathing. After they ran out, Tiffany stood up first, and said: “Wasn’t that romantic? I always wanted someone like that. Maybe I could get myself engaged if I try around here. The boys seemed pretty nice.”
We talked for a while, and I went to find Amy, and found her looking for me as well. She threw her arms around me: “Adele, can you believe it? Peter just proposed to me, and I said yes! I am engaged!” She shrieked that out loud, so almost everyone heard her. Suddenly, she was packed by people, smiling and congratulating her for her engagement.
I was pushed out of the way by the crowd, and I just stood and watched her from a safe distance. This is a day that belongs to happiness, I thought with a smile on my face. I couldn’t be more wrong.
I pulled out my cell phone, and tugged my graduation robe into my bag. I called Zach, wanting to share this news. He was fast, and never missed a call. To my surprise, no one answered the phone. He may be out preparing my surprise, I guessed. He wouldn’t want to ruin my pleasure by letting me hear him buying stuff for my party, so he left his cell phone at home. I refused to think of another explanation.
The gate was crushed open. The milkman of our town came running in, shouting: “Fire! Fire!”
Then I heard the fire alarm went off, in the direction of our apartment.
