My Lover Boy <3 -Matty B. Sturniolo

20: Epilogue

Enjoy <3

This is so bittersweet wtf 🥲

Also I know that Matt and Chris have red gowns but pretend they're white too thanks 😀 Tates is navy because all the girls are navy and all the guys are white

Four months later
I can hear my white heals clack against the crowded gym floor. Everywhere I look there's colors of navy and white. Everyone is dressed in their cap gowns and smiling to each other.

I'm pushing through students and searching around the gym to find my people. When I finally look through a crowd of people I see Nick waving me over. With a sigh of relief, I quickly make my way over to them. We're supposed to be exiting to the football field in five minutes.

"You're late missy." Chris scolds.

"Yeah I was worried I wouldn't have my walking partner." Matt kisses my head from next to me.

"Sorry you know how mom is. She needed to get more pictures of her baby in her cap and gown because 1,000 wasn't enough." I roll my eyes.

"I can't believe we're graduating holy shit. This is insane." Chris looks baffled.

"T minus 10 hours until we're on our flight to LA!" Nick squeals. Not only is it graduation day but it's also moving day. On our last day of school last week we flew to LA for three days to unpack our things and get our furniture set up so that we would have everything ready for our apartment. Madi helped us since she's gonna be living there too. She flew back with us so she could be here for our graduation.

"Excuse me! Ladies and gentlemen if you could get in a single file line with your walking partner that would be amazing! We're due to walk on the field now." Our principle said into the mic with a smile.

"Alright I'll see you guys out there." I say to Nick and Chris as me and Matt link arms and get ready to go.

We make small talk about things we're excited for all the way out to the field. There's a white carpet that goes all the way up to the stage. It's in the middle of two separate sections of chairs.

When me and Matt walk up he twirls me and gives me a rose. Then, I go up a couple rows of chairs ahead of Matt because we have different last names alphabetically.

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆

"And now for our class of 2022 valedictorian, Tate Morgan." (Yes I know this is cliche but just go with it). Cheers erupt from the stands where the families are, and from the students in their seats. With a nervous breath, I grab my note card out of my pocket.

When I make it up to the stage, the principle shows me to the stand and gives me a wink.

"Good luck." She mouths. With a nod i start my speech.

"Hello everyone. Students and families. I'm Tate Morgan. Many of you know me for many different reasons. The girl you've seen in the hallway during that one passing period, the girl you've seen in the cafeteria one time, the girl who you might not have even known was in your grade. But here I am with you all for the same reason. To start a new part of our life and celebrating a major mile stone. Graduating high school. For some of you this was probably a reachable goal. And others you didn't even think you'd make it to your senior year. Some of you thought you weren't even gonna have good enough grades to graduate. Whether you graduated a straight A student or barley passed, I'm so incredibly proud of you." I take a moment to clear my throat and look around at all the eyes around me.

"You managed to make it through not only four years of high school, but preschool, kindergarten, five years of elementary school, and three years of middle school. Through those years you've most likely been through something hard. You found yourself, lost yourself, and rediscovered yourself at the same time. You might've gone through something that the person sitting next to you could've never imagined if they were in your shoes. One final thought I have for you before you all leave this place, think about who you want to be. Be who you want to be, love who you want to love, and above all else be the person you admire most in this world. Congratulations class of 2022. Here's to the future." With a smile and shaking hands, I exit the stage. Cheers and claps erupt all around me.