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━━━━━━━━☆★☆━━━━━━━━
The next morning is a special day of Shelley Swan's life. She is currently in the Forks High School gym, sitting in between the caps and gowns, celebrating the graduation ceremony. Families and teachers are sitting on the back rows, umbrellas are on hand in case the clouds open up.
"When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up… Our answers were things like astronaut, president…" Jessica is at the podium, presenting her speech which the class valedictorian, who happens to be the one and only Esdras Cullen supposed to but failed to do because he is obviously a shy person.
Yeah, that's what he said to the teacher when he was requested to do the freaking speech. And Shelley finds that to be simply bullshit.
Reading her thoughts, Esdras chuckles, shaking his head right next to her. An amused smile on his face.
The blonde huffs, turning her attention back to Jessica. The girl looks like a ball of energy. The smile on her face suits her very much. Shelley feels very proud of her friend's confidence.
"…Or in my case, princess. When we were ten, they asked again and we answered; rock star, cowboy, or in my case, gold medalist. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how 'bout this: who the hell knows?!"
Loud hoots and hollers from the audience whilst Jessica's speech continues.
"This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions, it's the time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train, and get stuck somewhere chill. Fall in love a lot. Major in philosophy because there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind. Then change it again, because nothing is permanent… So make as many mistakes as you can. That way, someday, when they ask again what we want to be… we won't have to guess. We'll know."
Shelley turns to her left to face Bella. Jessica's words are sinking in her brain like a whiplash. She's thinking of the whole process of embracing vampirism. The blonde takes her sister's hand into her and squeezes to comfort her, knowing there will be no changing her mind once the elder twin makes her decision.
Bella smiles at her sister weakly before gently squeezing back to let her know she's fine.
Soon enough, Shelley finds herself walking to the school principal on the stage and shaking his hand while receiving her diploma. Out in the audience Charlie claps loudly, beaming with pride.
Shelley swears the look on his face is enough for her lifetime.
Later, when the ceremony comes to an end, Charlie and the twins walk away. Bella is awkwardly shouldering out of her gown and mortarboard.
Being the weird kid herself, Shelley takes off her gown in the middle of the crowd of teenagers feeling ugly in it. The blonde sighs in relief when she adjusts her blouse and jeans. Better.
