not edited
— politikerleden —
(pronoun) having disgust for politicians
origin ; danish
"He broke my damn rules!" I yelled in rage, my hand flailing around madly.
Pyper stared at me with wide eyes at my outburst only feet away from me while Hunter sighed calmly on the other end of the phone.
"Adrianna, darling, you have three rules, two of which aren't even technically rules. Don't you mean he broke your rule?" Hunter questioned simply.
"Hunter," I growled out, seething.
"Adrianna, it's also your graduation day, in which you have a bloody graduation ceremony in just about," he paused, "Oh would you look at that! An hour and a half!
"This graduation ceremony is also in which you are the bloody valedictorian! Maybe you should try this thing called taking it easy," he chastised me. A stressed sigh escaped my lips as my fingers went to massage my temples.
"Hunter, we'll talk later," I muttered, rolling my eyes even though he couldn't see.
"I'll see you at your graduation ceremony, Vasiliev," he stated nonchalantly and ended the call before I could say anything else.
"For fucks sake," I hissed under my breath, dialling Kendra's number.
"Adri, hi!"
"Hey love, I want Asher's company in my hands, by midnight," I demanded simply.
"He was asking for it," Kendra uttered quietly and I chuckled.
"Consider it done, darling, I might even slam his head against a brick wall while we're at it," she retorted and I wasn't sure if it was rhetoric or not, but I couldn't help the full blown laughter.
"Thank you, Kendra," I said, the smile evident in my voice, "I'll get back to you later."
"Oh, honey, you'll see me in an hour and a half or two at your graduation," she laughed lightly. Is everyone just happening to go?
"Later Adrianna," she said in a sing-song voice before cutting the call.
"Okay then," I mumbled, looking down at my call log.
"Lovely! You're all done, I hear? You're ready for me to fix you up, I hear? Ding, ding, ding! You got it," Pyper exclaimed with dry humour, making rather grand gestures with her flailing arms.
"Now Adrianna, leave your bloody phone on the bed and get your arse in this vanity chair. We have half an hour before we need to get to school and your makeup isn't even finished," she grounded out blankly whilst my eyes widened.
§
"Our valedictorian, Adrianna Vasiliev!" Our principal called out my name and I stood up with a nervous smile. As I passed Phoenix, his hand grasped my thigh, giving a light squeeze as if to reassure me and my eyes met his.
Adrianna, you're going to do amazing, is what he mouthed to me before I continued making my way to the front. Let's hope I don't stumble, slip, fall and die, a voice piped in my head. Let's also hope I don't stumble on my words and mess this freaking speech up, another voice shot back anxiously.
Wearing a bright smile on my face, I picked up my papers and tore them in half while the crowd gasped.
"I spent weeks on that," I stated dramatically, "Luckily, I have another copy," I laughed lightly to ease my own tension. The crowd sitting both before me and behind me seemed to enjoy all too much as they all burst out into laughter.
"To the class of 2018, we've made it this far," I started once they all quieted down.
"'We are all fools of the world, victims of fate.'"
"I would like to first thank my late parents, without them I am nothing. Because of them, I've accomplished as much as I have today. Because of them, I've gotten accepted into the college of my dreams with the same aspirations I've had a five year old wanting to become a professor of English. Over the years, they've continually supported me and pushed me to pursue my passion, what makes me happy, and what I want for me, not what others want for me. I love you mom and dad," my eyes momentarily looked up at the sky.
"Though it was my first, and final, year," I laugh, "here at Paradise Creek, I've made some of the best friends ever. And that would be Phoenix, Pyper, Blake, Marlowe, Judah, and Talon. I just want to thank you all for making me feel loved, welcome, and giving me a place in society. Thank you for believing in me and giving me a piece of your wisdom. It's something I'll carry with me forever. And no matter where I go, where I am in the world, all the memories we make and continue to will forever be engraved in my heart.
"I'd also love to thank for teachers and mentors over the years from California and here. Without you all, I wouldn't be as far as I am today. Truthfully speaking, of all the many teachers I've had, all of you had been highly influential, however, there were two that always stood out to me and have grown to be as good as family to me. I'd also like to thank my art teacher from freshman year, it's because of her that I truly realised my passion for the fine arts and is the reason I'm always carrying art supplies in my pencil case. She gave me a start to an artistic passion and she ignited the fire inside of me, and ever since, art has given me solace and made me feel serene.
"We've all faced times of wondering if we'll make it, we've all had countless times of falling apart, breaking down..."
-
"To all my fellow graduates, I wish you all the very best now and for your future endeavours. I am more than ecstatic to be standing alongside you all as we close this chapter and move on to the next. Always remember to never compare your chapter five to someone else's chapter fifteen.
"As we all honour this day, I'd like to say to you all, 'If someone does not want you, it is not the end of the world, but if you do not want you, the world is nothing but endings." Love yourself, always, and take care of yourself, your mental health and all else comes before anything.
"Always put your happiness first, be a free spirit, make mistakes, it's okay. It's okay if you just want to pack a bag up with every essential, buy a train ticket and run away with the one you love or yourself. I promise you, you'd be much happier broke and doing something you love passionately than endlessly studying to work for the rest of your life leading a mediocre life."
"We live in an age of constant, and that constant is change, don't ever forget that. Thank you!" I smiled while applauds were heard all around and I made my way back to my seat.
-
"And I now pronounce the Class of 2018," our principal exclaimed. Immediately, we all stood up, throwing our caps in the air and screaming out in excitement. Phoenix found me amidst the madness of class on the stage and wrapped me in his arms, twirling me around.
"We did it," he whispered, kissing me softly.
§
"I really love your dress!" A girl exclaimed next to me and I smiled, murmuring a thank you. The dress - the same I'd wore only hours ago on stage in front of everyone - was much like the one Jennifer Lawrence wore - hues of nude and silver mixed together with a tulle like bottom and two spaghetti straps crossing in the back.
Swirling the pineapple coconut champagne in my glass, my eyes flickered around the mass of people currently in the Worthington's mansion. We threw a grad party of course and to say it was grand, would be an understatement. It seems our entire class had shown up with, in fact, class. Everyone presented themselves sophisticatedly and high end, I was feeling slightly bittersweet - excited to move on and go to university, but saddened by the fact that all these people I was dancing with, drinking with right now, I'd never experience it again. We'd all be going our own ways, directions, some much less without a goodbye and that was just that.
Minutes bled into hours and we were all really losing whatever class we had, we were all barely keeping ourselves together now - dancing wildly and drinking like the world would end in a few hours.
A strong arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me away from the dance floor. Phoenix. He led me to the kitchen where none other than our gang was, alone.
"I wanted to do something, with the seven of us together, come on," Blake said and began walking outside through the kitchen's French doors.
We all followed him and outside on the deck, only lit by Chinese lanterns and the moonlight, there were a bunch of balloons. Blake came to each of us, giving us each a strip of paper and a Sharpie.
"We're going to tie messages to balloons and let them go," he said excitedly, like a little boy who'd just gotten the gift he'd wanted forever. My eyes lit up, I knew that much, and the smile on Phoenix's face when his eyes met mine only validated my thoughts.
We all got to it, scribbling away and then taking balloons for our own and tying on the strip of paper to the strings.
And together, standing alongside each other, we counted to three, holding the balloons up in the air and letting go.
———
short chapter ; it's purpose is a filler. part three starts next ;)