Chapter 20: Last Day
1072 Words
Today is the day before our moving up ceremony from Freshman to Sophomore. I was getting my cap and gown ready when Blade and Milo finally came home.
“Hey Nemy,” Blade said.
“Hey Blade,” I said.
“Hello gorgeous,” Milo said, hugging me from behind and kissing my cheek.
“Hey handsome,” I said, giggling.
“Are you ready for tomorrow,” he asked, letting go of me and looking at what I was doing. “Looks like you are.”
“Almost. I still have some other finishing touches I need to do.”
“Ok,” he said. “Just don’t take too long or you’ll be tired tomorrow.”
“Alright,” I said.
I went back to tweaking my cap and gown and once I finished, I walked over to the bathroom and took a shower so I could get ready for bed. Once I finished and put on my PJ’s, I walked out the bathroom, laid down next to Milo on his bed, and fell asleep.
I woke up at 8 in the morning to get ready. The ceremony starts at 10, but because the students have to be early, I had to start getting ready early. After getting ready, it was 9:30. I walked out the bathroom to see Milo waiting for me by the door. Blade was already in the car.
“Ready to go,” he asked.
I looked around the room one more time. It’s empty now that we’re gonna be Sophomores next year. We’re gonna be in different dorms with possibly different people. Especially me. I’m leaving next year. I just haven’t told Milo yet. I’ll tell him. Eventually.
“Yeah,” I finally said,” I’m ready.”
We walked out the room and straight to the car. At the ceremony, we got in our places and I was practicing my speech for being the Freshman valedictorian.
“You’re gonna do great,” Milo said, who was also practicing his speech for being salutatorian.
“I’m scared,” I said. “What if I choke?”
“You won’t, I promise,” he said.
Whenever he says that he promises that anything could happen even if it’s impossible, it turns out happening somehow. This is how I know that I’m gonna do well.
They called me up on the stage. I walked up with all the confidence I could muster and looked out into the crowd. I saw my parents, best friend and brother in the front row of the audience, cheering me on. I saw Blade in the second row of the students, waving and smiling. When I looked to my left, there’s Milo standing next to me with a warm smile. I took a deep breath and started my speech.
“Fellow Future Sophomores,” I started, ”this was a rough year. We faced tough challenges, strived to our goals, and found more problems than solutions. Today marks a new beginning. Today marks that we made it 1 year through college. Only 3 more years left! We all know that horrible s**t can happen when you least expect it, but we still did our very best to keep going, even if it was hard. I want to leave us off on a good message: no matter what happens, there’s always a bright future ahead. Keep believing and you’ll get there. Promise. Live like there is no tomorrow. Thank you.”
I got a standing ovation as Milo took the mic.
After he finished his speech, we had the ceremony. Right after the ceremony, we went to Cheddars to celebrate. We were all talking and laughing, having a grand ol’ time. That's when Elijah said this.
“I’m so glad Nemy’s coming with me to American University next semester.”
The table went silent. Everyone was looking at me.
“You’re going to AU,” Milo asked, breaking the silence.
“Surprise,” I said, nervously.
“Why didn’t you tell us,” Blade asked.
“Especially me,” Milo said. “We’re supposed to be together and tell each other secrets, not keep them. That was the whole point in the promise ring.”
“I was trying to figure out a way to tell y’all without y'all getting mad,” I said.
“Well it didn’t work, cause I am mad,” Milo said.
He stood up and walked off. I got up and ran after him. At the sight of me, he started running, and I mean full sprint.
“MILO,” I shouted. “WAIT, PLEASE!”
I chased him until he tripped and fell. He rolled his ankle when he did. He was groaning and wincing in pain.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay,” I asked.
“I’m obviously not,” he said.
“Let me help,” I said.
“I’m fine,” he said.
“You just said you weren’t ok. Just let me help.”
He stayed silent. I took that as a yes as I knelt down, took off his shoe and his sock, and examined his ankle. It was quite swollen, indicating that it was sprained. I grabbed a medkit from my bag, grabbed the ankle wrap, and wrapped it around his ankle, gently. He winced once or twice, but stopped once I got it on.
“There you go,” I said. “Better?”
He nodded.
“Good,” I said. “Stay off of it for 2 to 3 weeks.”
“How do you know this stuff,” he asked.
“My dad’s a doctor. He taught me stuff like this whenever I needed it.”
I sat next to him and looked at him.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I should have told you about AU. I was just scared.”
“It’s ok,” he said. “It’s not your fault. I just don’t want you to leave.”
He teared up and looked away. In about 5 seconds, he was in tears. He buried his head into his knees, crying his eyes out. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close.
“It’s ok,” I said. “We’re gonna get through this together.
“You promise,” he asked.
“Of course,” I said as I kissed his forehead, “I promise.”
The End… Or is it?
- Writer
