|Dylan's POV|
We scurry to the area where all the graduates would be getting ready when we reach the auditorium.
"Hey girls." Brady, the head basketball player, greets us.
"Hey B." I smile back and wave at him. We were pretty good friends.
When my eyes met with Cameron's, I never felt so special and beautiful. I immediately race into his open arms and wrap my arms around his neck.
"You look amazingly beautiful angel." He says releasing me from his grip.
"Thank you handsome." I reply with a blush. He also blushes and we both look at the floor.
"You guys are still nervous with each other?" Kristy asks jokingly. We all erupt in laughter and I remember that I'm suppost to meet my family before the graduation. We still have 25 minutes to spare until the graduation officially starts, but a lot of people are already arriving.
"Guys I am going to go find my family before the ceremony starts." I tell them.
"I'll go with. I want to see my second family." Ian suggests.
"Well then let's go." I agree, grabbing his forearm, dragging him to find my family.
Finally I spot the faces of my 10 year old cousins and I rush to go surprise them.
I clear my throat to get their attention. Every eye of my family turns to face me. I hear gasps and squeals and many compliments.
"Dylan, you look stunning." Uncle Greg says.
"Oh honey you look wonderful." Mom adds.
"You look so pretty Dylan." Destiny and the twins say.
"You look really nice big sis." Bryon compliments.
"Gorgeous my love." Aunt May compliments.
"You look beautiful." Shane says from behind me.
"Thank you guys so much." I say with a blush.
"Mom, Bryon, and Destiny you guys know Ian already but Uncle Greg, Aunt May, Shane and the twins, I would like you to meet my best friend Ian." I introduce.
"Good to meet you son." Uncle Greg says.
"Nice to meet you sweetie." Aunt May says.
"Hi there Ian." The twins wave.
"Hey Ian." Shane greets.
"Well I'm going to get going. Next time you see me I'll be on stage." I say.
"Good luck my love. I love you." Mom says, shedding a tear.
"I love you too Mom." I reply, wiping away her tear. Ian and I make our way back to the backstage area and go back to see everyone slipping on their gowns.
Ian and I rush and get ours on as well. We slip I to line with our caps on. I am in the middle because my last name starts with a 'J'. As I am thinking about how I am finally graduating, Dad pops into my mind. I miss him so much. He'd be so proud of me. I smile as the music starts to play and the crowd outside of the doors start to quiet down.
We stand quietly for about 10 minutes then the line begins to move toward the stage. I take a deep breath and stand on my toes. I remember that Casey's last name starts with a 'B' so I start to look for her but it seems that she already started walking.
Soon enough my area starts to walk and I am forced to walk along with them. This shouldn't be hard I mean we practiced many times before but this time it was for real. My face finally reaches the doorway and I see the auditorium filled with people. I walk along and wave to where my family sits.
I make it to the stage and sit as the rest of the graduates pour from backstage. Along with the other graduates I see Cameron, Hunter, and Kristy making their way towards the stage. The principal, that I've seen many times before, starts talk right when Scarlett Zimmer sits.
The graduation moves quickly and soon enough it cones to when I have to make my speech.
"Now our most beloved student, Dylan Penelope Justice, will come on stage and make her speech." Mr. Catina announces. The crowd & my fellow graduates cheer and applaud for me to make my way to the podium.
I rise and walk to the podium. I shake the principal's hand and turn to face the crowd and microphone. I clear my throat and begin.
"Good afternoon my fellow graduates, teachers, staff, family and friends. Let me begin by congratulating the class of 2015 and all the teachers who successfully taught us all of our knowledge. When Mr. Catina, my principal, first told me about making this speech, I was about ready to decline the offer, but then I realized I didn't want yo pass up a chance to speak my mind at my graduation. Now, when I was in eighth grade and thought about high school, I thought that high school would be cliché and like the movie Mean Girls."
"But, when I first stepped foot on campus, it was nothing like the movie. Where were the Plastics? High school may seem like it's all about being popular, partying, and guys but it's really not. It's about having fun BUT also trying your hardest to become a successful person who will make a difference in the world. Now in school I'm more known for being Calypso High's "bag girl." Am I right?" I ask my class. They all cheer and some people shout to me.
"Okay? Well keeping my reputation wasn't all that I called important. Of course I am well known by my principal. Right Mr. Catina?" I ask him now. He laughs and nods.
"Yes, I was known for being bad but my grades were.....good." I say.
"They were exceptional Dyl!" Yasmin yells. I laugh and continue my speech.
"Okay they were pretty good but I think they were alright. I helped out a lot as a tutor and stayed after with multiple students to help them in the subject that they were struggling with." I tell the crowd.
The audience erupts in applause and cheers. I blush.
"Oh it was nothing. But doing that for my fellow graduates helped them exceed in passing that particular class. I felt like I was on top of the world. Though I had some amazing moments and let's not forget the bad moments as well, high school is the time when you make the most memories and it is also when you show people who you really are.
High schoolers these days are caught up in all the technology. Not saying I wasn't but we were to memorized by our phones and friends that some of us forgot all about our studies. And that's not going to help us in college at all. So we showed each other that phones and socializing were not the only things that mattered. And when we helped each other realize that, everyone's grades increased and that is what high school is all about, having time for both studying & schoolwork + having a social life & having fun as in sports, parties, dating and after school activities.
I am now going to conclude this speech by telling you all a inspiring quote.
"FAITH. It doesn't make things easy. It makes them possible."
Thank you all so much for listening to me. Enjoy the rest of the graduation and once again congrats to my fellow graduates and friends." I finish.
The crowd erupts into tremendous amount of cheering, appreciation, and applause. I step down from the podium and make my way back to my seat, receiving high fives and compliments all the way back. I sit and wait until we arise again to go up to shake the administration's hands. Each person's name was called individually.
I finally make it up and hear my name loud and clear as well as my family and other's cheer for me.
"Dylan Serena Justice."
I shake the principal's hand first.
"You are a bright kid Dylan." He whispers.
"Thank you for everything." I say smiling for the camera. I shake the rest of the administration's hands and walk back to my seat. We finally make it to the end and switch the sides of our tassles.
"Congratulations to the class of 2015!" The principal yells causing both us, the graduates, and the crowd to cheer loudly. I jump up and follow the line of now newly graduating kids back to the backstage area. I jump into Ian's and Casey's arms and hug them very tightly.
"I feel like that didn't just happen." I tell them in happiness.
"Well it did." They say in sync.
I release them and turn to see Kristy.
"Nigga we made it!" I squeal as I run and hug her.
"Did we?" She asks sarcastically.
The guys man hug longer than usual and then come to congratulate us.
"So angel now that we are graduated will I ever see you again?" He asks jokingly.
"Well I'm pretty sure we will because 1: we are next door neighbors and 2: we're going tot he same college next year." I answer. He kisses me and picks me up off the floor.
"Come on guys we have to go see our families." Hunter announces with his arm fixed on Kristy's waist.
We get out of out gowns and walk out of the building to go meet up with our families.
"After talking, catching up, and pictures with your families if you still need a ride home I'm always here guys." Ian offers.
"Can't wait to see you guys at the grad celebration." Kristy says heading for her mom. I turn and text my brother to ask where my family is. He replies that they are at the entrance where they came in so I start to walk. I finally see them and I run to them. In their hands, I see presents, flowers, balloons and Destiny's holding a package of sour gummy worms with a sticky note on it that says: We're So Proud!
I collapse into my mother and squeeze her tight as I think to myself about two things.
1) I graduated.
2) My summer is about to begin.
Guys,
I am so proud of this story and also I'm proud of how long this is.....I mean it's pretty damn long. Anyway I literally love Dylan so much. I am going to miss my favorite characters of all time. I hope you guys liked the book. I suggest you read my other book, Break Away. I think it's a pretty good book so if you want to go check that out you can. Well this is a temporary goodbye to Wild Child. More soon!
Vote. Read. Comment.
-Annie