Real Life
"I swear, if you make me late, I'm gonna throat punch you."
I rolled my eyes at the voice outside my door, "Vee, they can't start without you. You're the damn valedictorian."
"Hurry up Elizabeth!" She yells and I hear her run down the stairs.
I jump around trying to put my wedges on. I'm praying I don't trip while accepting my diploma.
Today's the day. I'm officially going to be done with high school. It really is so bittersweet. I'm so excited to start my life after high school, but I'm not ready to never come back. I can't imagine never walking through those halls again. But after today, that will be my reality.
When people say it goes faster than you think, they aren't shitting you. These past 4 years flew by. I wish I would've paid more attention to everyone and taken more in.
"Elizabeth!" Vee yells from downstairs.
"IM COMING," I respond, hurrying down the stairs which is pretty hard in my wedges.
"Oh my," My mom gasps once she sees me in my cap and gown, "How are you already graduating?"
"Okay mom, we gotta make these pictures quick," I say and stand next to Vee posing. "We can take 3, tops."
She snaps a few pictures of us and announces, "Okay that'll do for now. Bye girls!"
We smile at each other and rush out the door to get to the high school.
Once we're there, we see our other four best friends waiting for us in the parking lot.
"It's about damn time," Gray whines, "You're a minute late. Principal Marx isn't gonna be too happy with us."
"Oh, please," I say, rolling my eyes, "I don't remember the last time that guy smiled."
We start to head for the doors and Liam falls in step next to me, grabbing my hand. I bring it around my shoulder and wrap my arm around his waist.
"This is our last time walking in here as a high schooler," He states.
"As much as I complained about it, I'm actually gonna miss it."
"I'm not gonna miss the school part, mainly the people," he smiles down at me and kisses my forehead. I close my eyes and take it in, not knowing if we'll be together or not tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning I leave for LA. For good. I'm all packed up and my parents and I are driving a moving van with all my stuff to my new apartment there. Liam and I both agreed to just pretend like this day wasn't coming and enjoy what we had left. It's up to me to decide where I want our relationship to go. I still have no idea. I'm hoping I figure it out by tomorrow morning.
"Finally!" Our principal yells as we walk through the doors. "Okay, you six need to go get in alphabetical order right now! We're behind schedule!"
We all snicker at our frazzled principal but follow his request and stand in line. Luckily, Liam and I get to stand right next to each other. He stands hugging me from behind while we wait.
After a few minutes, we all file into the gym which is jam packed with everyone's family and friends. Luckily, Liam and I get to sit right next to each other.
I doze off until I see Vee taking the podium.
"Hi everyone," She smiles out at us, "I hope you all know by this point, but I'm Vanessa Hubert. I know I'm valedictorian and I'm supposed to give this huge motivational, life-altering speech, but like all of you, I don't know shit about life."
Everyone laughs while a few adults gasp.
"So, I'm just going to look back on some of our greatest memories. Freshmen year. We were all under 6 feet tall and had no idea what was in store for us. Remember when one class set off the fire alarm while burning Cheetos for an experiment? Gosh, we were idiots. Sophomore year. We were movin' up, but still pretty clueless. I remember the first day back and walking in and seeing that all the guys grew like 6 inches over the summer. That was a good day. On to junior year, finally upperclassmen. At this point, we thought we had it all figured out. For me, this year was pretty crazy. But that brought good things too, like one of my best friends, Liam, who moved here that year."
At this, Liam stood up and bowed, earning claps, hollers, and barks from Cam and Gray.
"This year was very stressful for all of us; ACTs, SATs, and looking at colleges. Then, senior year. The final stretch. I remember at the beginning of the year wishing it would go by fast. Now, I would do anything to start it all over. Remember the Homecoming game and how it poured all night? But we all still stood out there sopping wet, but blissfully happy. Remember our senior prank? I forgot to ask Principal Marx, how was cleaning up all that slime?"
He shook his head and laughed.
"And finally, remember this moment. Because this is the last time we will all be together. We've spent the last four years together. Some of us have been in school together since kindergarten. But after this, we'll only see each other in passing when we're all home for breaks."
I wipe a tear that fall down my face and lean my head on Liam's shoulder.
"So look around and take it all in. This is the last time, don't forget it."
I look around at all my peers with tears in my eyes and see I'm not the only one crying.
"Thank you for the last four years. They truly have been amazing. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else but here. So, goodbye to all of you and good luck. I can't wait to see what great things you all do in life. Thank you."
The gym erupts with applause. I stand up and yell for my best friend.
After everyone quieted down, they began giving out diplomas. It felt like ages until they finally made it until the end of the alphabet and said the magic words:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the graduating class of 2017."
"Thank God," I say, grabbing the vodka out of Grays hand and taking a big chug.
"Woah," Liam says. "Slow down or you'll be drunk for the rest of your party."
"I can't do it," I whine. "We're only 3 hours in and I can't take all these people wanting to talk to me. I just wanna spend it with you guys."
Since I'm leaving tomorrow, I had my graduation party immediately after graduation. For the first 2 hours, I talked to relatives I didn't even know I had. Then, we all snuck out to the lake behind my house to sit on the deck and drink. Gray had the vodka hidden in his truck.
"You still have awhile to go Elizabeth," Mila starts, "Didn't your parents say people would be here until like 10 tonight?"
"Ugh," I groan and lay back on the deck.
"Hey," Liam pokes my side. "You got us here."
"You're right Liam," I sit up and give him a quick kiss. "Let's make the most out of this. Who's up for some swimming?"
"Right now?" Liam asks.
"Yeah, but not in the pond, it's too dirty. Come on!" I start to run back to my house to where the pool is. I set my phone on a table and kick off my shoes before diving into the pool filled with so many of my toddler cousins.
"WOOO!" I hear Gray yell before he cannonballs into the pool. Liam follows with a belly flop and Cam flops in. Vee and Mila are close behind and jump in holding hands.
We mess around in the pool for awhile. But then, my mom finds us and scolds me for running away and abandoning my guests.
Later that night once all my family members have left, I have a bonfire with a bunch of friends. This six of us are there (obviously) as well as a few other friends. Mila made us all mixed drinks and I was on my way to being drunk.
Liam stands up and says, "I'm gonna make a toast. Here's to the rest of our lives, either together or apart," he glances at me during this part. "And here's to the end of the best years of our lives. To the end of an era."
"Fuck yeah, here's to us," Gray shouts and chugs his drink. We all laugh and Liam walks over to me, motioning for me to stand up. Once I do, he sits in my char and pulls me down on his lap with his arms around my waist.
"I love you all so much," I sigh looking at everyone around me. Cam and Mila sat sharing a seat. Gray and Vee sat next to each other with their hands intertwined.
"I still can't believe you're moving tomorrow," Mila pouts.
"It doesn't feel real to me either."
"Okay, new plan. For the rest of the night, we don't talk about Elizabeth's moving. We just enjoy our time together," Vee announces.
Everyone agrees and we all continue to get drunk off of whatever Mila made us.
"I know we agreed to not talk about it, but when are you going to tell me what you decided," Liam whispers into my ear. I close my eyes and lean into him for a moment before I stand up and offer my hand. I help him up and then guide him back towards the pond where we sit on the deck again.
"This morning, I still had no idea what we should do," I start. "Fuck, I still don't really know."
I take and deep breath and start again, "This summer, I'm gonna be jam packed with shoots and auditions. When I get there, I have at least one every day for the next three weeks. I feel like I'm gonna be too busy to be fully invested in our relationship."
"Ill love you more than you'll ever know Liam," I admit, tearing up again. "And I know it's always gonna be us in the end, but right now, I don't think it is."
"I love you too," He pulls me into his chest, rocking me back and forth. "I can still visit you in LA right? Just as friends?"
"Of course, I would love that," I wipe my eyes and kiss his cheek. "You're welcome any time."
"So even when you're like modeling for Vogue, I can come crash in your million dollar house?" He jokes.
"Oh shut up."
He smirks to himself and asks, "Hey one more question. When I'm lonely and horny in my dorm room, will you send me some nudes?"
"Fuckboy Liam is back everyone!" I laugh.
"I'm only a fuckboy for you Eliz."
"I don't know if thats a good thing or a bad thing," I ponder.
"A good thing," he runs his fingers through my hair. "It's always going to be you Eliz. Always."
V sorry for the long wait but there's only one more chapter left so I wanted to make this good!! can't believe it's almost over omg:(