Soon enough, too soon for my liking, our vice principal makes us get in our seats in alphabetical order. Thankfully, Nathan sits a few seats away from me so I don't feel totally alone. He gives me a warm smile before we are instructed to quiet down and get ready to walk out. We quickly stand up and put on our caps and gowns before heading out row by row in two single file lines.
As the doors that we will walk through open, I hear music start to play through the auditorium in front of us. Nathan looks back at me and mouths "don't fall" with a smile before turning back around.
When I step into the huge room, there are more people than I expected. I look around and try to spot Luke and my family, but am disappointed to see none of them. I turn my attention back to walking, it's not easy to walk in heels in such a small space. I can barely see as camera flashes go off on either side, from all directions. It gives me a headache and makes me wonder how Luke deals with this almost all of the time.
I couldn't be more grateful to sit down. My feet already hurt and I was glad to be away from the constant flashing lights. With the amount of kids that we had in my class, I knew this was going to be a long, drawn out process; so I sat back and tried my best to relax. I wanted so badly to text Luke while I had to sit here and wait, but we were told not to use our phones during the ceremony and I knew that one of the teachers that were on either end of my row would yell at me if they saw my phone out.
It feels like hours go by as we listen to the many speeches and songs that our school band plays. When it is finally time for each student to go on stage and receive their diploma from the principal, my nerves start to kick in. I still have a few minutes before my row is to go up there, so I try to calm myself down. I was glad that my last name was in the middle of the class, that way I didn't have to go first or last. Linley and Connor are both a few rows ahead of mine and I can't help but smile at Lin's excited face as she goes up there. She looked gorgeous as always and I'm sure Michael thought so too.
Once it is finally time for my section, we all stand up and make our way to the stage. I keep telling myself to not look at the crowd and I will be fine. When it is my turn to go up onto the stage, I hesitantly walk up the steps. One of my teachers is standing there, smiling warmly at me. I give my best smile back and make my way up. As I step onto the stage, I mistakenly turn to view the audience. The room is filled and there are many, many more people here than I could see when I came in. The crowd is huge and they are all watching me. The sudden realization of why I have stage fright hits me like a train. I walk slowly and can't help but keep my eyes on the hundreds of people staring at me.
Suddenly, I spot that beautiful boy that always stands out to me. How I found him in this giant group of people is beyond me, but I'm glad that I do. He is only a few rows back from the student section and I can see him perfectly. Everyone else in the room seems to disappear and it is just us in the room. The tingly, anxious feeling in my stomach dies out and is replaced by warmth and calmness just by looking at him. I smile at him and am brought back to reality when I realize that I am almost to the principal. He shakes my hand and congratulates me before handing me my diploma and that was all it took.
I was done with high school.
