Insider (29 page)

“And you’re a liar and should have your mouth washed out with soap,” she tugged on the sleeves of her cardigan.

“Nice pearls,” I pointed to her neck.

“Didn’t I tell ya’ll to bite
yer
tongues,” Gram’s southern drawl became more pronounced when she was irritated.

Caeden and I worked hard to suppress our snickers.

Gram grabbed her purse off the side table and said, “Don’t we need to get going? I thought golden boy here had to be at the school early.”

“I do,” he said, crinkling the papers in his hand.

“Let’s get gone then,” Gram motioned us out the door.

I grabbed my cap off the side table. The silver tassel swayed, flashing the number 2012.

“Let’s rock this,” I said, sliding into the Jeeps passenger seat.

Caeden laughed and shook his head.

Gram opened the backseat door and said, “I don’t know if I can climb in this thing. I need a step ladder.”

“You’ve gotten in here before,” Caeden pointed out.

Gram huffed and climbed in with more agility than most twenty year olds had. Crazy lady.

People were just starting to trickle into the school when we got there. Caeden rushed off to find Mr. Hines to get his last minute changes approved.

“I’ll see you in a little bit,” he kissed my cheek before darting off.

That left me with Gram, who kept messing with her skirt.

“I feel like someone’s going to see my hot pocket if the wind blows this thing up a bit.”

I snorted. “Gram!”

“What?”

“You know what,” I gave her a look.

She smiled and started to laugh. “Well, it’s true. Do ya think I can tape this thing to my legs?”

“Um… no,” I said.

“Why didn’t I just wear jeans?” she said to no one in particular.

“Because that’s not allowed,” I supplied.

“I might need to talk to dear old Mr. Hines about that. Surly there should be an exception for a women my age.”

“You’re not that old.”

“I’m
sixty-two
years old Sophie. That’s old.”

“No it’s not,” I rolled my eyes.

The school began to fill up with more students.

“I guess I better go get a seat, Sophie dear,” she kissed me on my cheek and patted my hand. “I’ll be the obnoxious grandma cheering for you.”

I laughed. Gram was a hoot.

At eight-thirty Mr. Hines appeared, with a very nervous Caeden at his shoulder, and ushered us into the auditorium. We were seated alphabetically so that when we walked out here and to the football field we wouldn’t be mixed up.

“Well seniors, that moment has finally come,” he sat down on the stage. “Wow. Can you believe it? Graduation. You’ll be off to college in the fall. You have your whole lives ahead of you but this moment,” he paused, “is the last moment you’ll still be a kid. Once you’re handed that diploma you’ll out in the real world. No cushion.
Just free fall.
I’m afraid for some of you, I’m not going to lie,” he smiled at a group of trouble makers, “but others, I know you’re going to go out there and do great things. I’m proud of all of you.
Each and every one.
Some of you I know better than others. In some cases, that’s a good thing, in others, not so much. But just know, that I know, you warriors will make me the proudest principal to ever grace this school.” He turned to some students on his left. “The yearbook department has put together something special. I hope you enjoy it.”

The lights dimmed and a projector descended.
Images of my classmates as babies, kids
, and now flashed onto the screen. Occasionally someone would exclaim but mostl
y there were a
lot of, ‘
awwws
’ and tears. A group shot of Caeden, Logan, and Bentley flashed onto the screen. They were laughing, covered in water, and Bentley was holding the smallest fish known to man. They were all missing teeth and looked about eight years old. I joined in the
awws
, on that one.

The video ended and the lights came back on.

Mr. Hines looked at his watch. “It’s almost time but first we’re going to walk the halls. This will be the last time you’ll ever walk these halls as students. First row,” he pointed. We all stood and waited for the row in front of us to leave the room.

Mr. Hines le
d us through the halls, decorated in red and black streamers, posters, confetti, and pictures of our time at the school.
Music, something I didn’t recognize, pumped through the speakers.

From up ahead Mr. Hines called, “You have your teachers and the underclassman to thank for this,” he indicated the halls.

We roamed through the whole school before stopping in front of the doors that would lead us out the back of the school, to the football field, where graduation was held.

“Ready?” Mr. Hines asked.

We nodded as a group, everyone too nervous to speak. I shook my hands in an effort to relieve some of the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Who would’ve ever thought that graduation would be so nerve racking.

“Let’s go people,” Mr. Hines smiled and led us out the doors.

We turned left and then right to descend the steps to the field. I was amazed by the size of the crowd gathered. The bleachers were packed and people stood all over the surrounding hills. Cameras flashed. I took a deep breath and concentrated on not tripping. As a shifter, the chances of me falling were slim, but I still had a fear of knocking everyone over and the whole
class going down like
a line of dominos.

We reached the last step and walked straight onto the field and our assigned seats.

I didn’t know any of the people around me but Bentley was in the row behind me so I didn’t feel completely alone.

Before the speeches started the warrior, our school mascot, rode out onto the field on a horse. He held the spear high before throwing it into the ground where it stuck. With a turn the horse took off back the way it had come, disappearing into the trees. It was the same way the school started home football games but this time it brought tears to my eyes.

I turned my attention from the field to the stage, where Caeden sat while Mr. Hines addressed the crowd
. Caeden’s leg kept bouncing up and down and he clenched his speech in his hands.

You’re going to rock this.
I said to him.

I could see a little bit of the stress leak out of him.
Thanks babe.
He grinned.

“-
and
now for our valedictorian,” Mr. Hines clapped his hands and then waved Caeden up to the podium.

Caeden gulped, took a deep breath, and stood. He strode towards the podium and grinned, flashing his famous dimples.

“Hello class of two-thousand and twelve,” he nodded towards us, “families,” he nodded at the crowd. Clearing his throat he continued,
“
It seems like just yesterday we were all kids. Little terrors running around, driving our parents and teachers crazy
, eating glue, you get the idea,” he winked.
“
But look where we are today.
Graduation. I’ve known most of you since kindergarten. We’ve grown up together, matured… Well, some of us have matured,” he chuckled. “But we’ve all been on this life’s journey together. Reachin
g
for this one goal. This piece of paper, called a diploma, that suddenly says that we are smart enough to go out into the real world. That’s scary. The real world isn’t a nice place. In fact, it’s a lot like high school. People still lie, cheat, and steal. There’s still that awful social pyramid.
I think it’s time we kick it down, and say ‘no more!’
I
think it’s time we realize that
we’re all just the same. Here we are, embarking on this same journey together.
The beginning of the rest of our lives.
We have some big decisions coming our way,
like, w
here do we go from here? I don’t know,” Caeden shrugged. “I’m just as clueless as most of you. I don’t know what I want to do with my life. I mean, whatever we decide on now, decides the rest of our life. It’s a big decision, where we go from here. There are so many choices presented to us. Which college? Which classes? Bachelor’s or Master’s degree?” Caeden chuckled. “Most days I can’t decide what I want to eat for lunch let alone what I want to do for the rest of my life. Choices,
we have
so many choices. But enough on that,” he shuffled his papers. “
It’s time to say goodbye. Goodbye to high school, goodbye to the teachers, goodbye to you,” he pointed to the Shelby girl, she shrieked in response “goodbye to you guys,” he eyed my soccer teammates, “goodbye to all of you,” Caeden waved his arms to encompass the whole crowd, “and hello to our futures!”

Everyone cheered and clapped. I stood and waved. “I love you!” I cupped my hands over my mouth. Caeden waved and winked at me.

“Thank you all for your time and I wish you the best of luck with realizing your dreams!”

Since Caeden was valedictorian he was given his diploma first and then the rest of the class was called up in alph
abetical order.

“Amanda Grace Banner.” The girl in front of me strode forward, he
r
blond hair swishing. She shook hands with the principal and the school board officials before being handed her diploma.

“Sophie Noelle Beaumont.” I took a breath a stepped forward.

“
Whoo
! Go she-wolf!” My team yelled before howling into the clear blue sky.

“Go Sophie!” Bentley hollered from his seat.

“Sophie! Sophie!” yelled a crowd in the bleachers. I easily picked out Gram in her pink cardigan. I also spotted Christian, Bryce, Charlotte, and Amy. Bryce was hooting and fist bumping the air. Ah, Bryce. Then my eyes landed on my parents. My parents! They were here! It took all my will power not to run off the stage and straight into their arms.

With a smile on my face I shook Mr. Hines hand, went down the three steps of the stage, and shook hands with the school board member.

“Congratulations,” the lady smiled, handing me my diploma. She moved my tassel to the other side. “I wish you the best of luck.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking the black diploma case.

I stood in front of my seat and waited for the rest of my row to return before sitting down, as per instruction.

The names were called surprisingly fast. I cheered when Bentley’s name was called, Logan’s, and all my teammates.

Mr. Hines called the last name and then said, “I present to you, the graduating class of two-thousand and twelve!”