My Russian Teacher

epilogue

3 years later...

Y/N:
"Hurry up Y/N, you're going to be late!" My mom yells from the other side of my bedroom door. "I'm coming." I say as I scramble around my room to find my heels. "Have you seen my shoes?" I ask in a panic. "They're out here." She tells me.

I open the door and find my shoes beside the sofa. "My feet already hurt." I complain the moment I slide my feet into the heels. My mom lets out a small chuckle, "Pain only makes us stronger."
"You sound like Melina." I laugh, rolling my eyes playfully.

I stand up, smoothing out my dress and look up to my mom to see that she has tears in her eyes. "The ceremony hasn't even started and you're already crying." I giggle. "I'm so proud of you, honey. And you look so beautiful." She smiles, pulling me in for a hug.

"Oh, I almost forgot..." I pull away and run back into my bedroom. Well more like a shuffle, I can't run in heels. I reach for my favourite necklace - with the silver arrow - and bring it out so my mom can put it on for me.

"Can you put this on for me?" I ask, walking back out to her. "Of course, turn around." She says, before clipping the necklace together. My mom grabs my shoulders and turns me back around to face her. "I'm so proud of you Y/N." She smiles, placing a kiss on my head. "You already said that." I laugh. "I know. But you're probably gonna hear it about a thousand more times today, give or take, so get used to it." She admits with a smirk.

"I'm so nervous for my speech." I admit with a sigh. "You're going to do amazing sweetheart. You don't need to be nervous." My mom assures me. "But what if people hate it?"
"Y/N, they chose you to be the valedictorian for a reason. Nobody is going to hate it." She tells me. "Yeah, I still don't know why I was chosen for this." I laugh nervously. "Because, you are one of the smartest, hardest working and most kind hearted people that, that school has ever had. And...you are going to MIT which looks really good for them." She chuckles.

"You ready to go?" Mom asks. "As ready as I'll ever be." I smile.
I grab my phone and purse before we make our way out to the car. "Who's driving?" I ask. "I am. You're not a good driver." Mom says nonchalantly. "Hey!" I laugh, "You're the one that taught me."
"And I feared for my life every time I was in the car with you." She smirks. I gasp and playfully slap her arm. "That's mean."
My moms laughs as she gets into the car, and as hard as I try to contain my own laughter, I can't.

"So Yelena, Melina and Alexi are meeting us there?" I ask. "Yep, and I think afterwards they want to take you out for dinner." She says.
I smile to myself. Four years ago I never would have imagined I'd be here. I never thought that I would have a family that wanted to be there when I graduated, or to celebrate the fact I'm going to college. I know that not everyone in my class has the same privilege as I do today, so I am so incredibly grateful.

"Maria's coming too, right?" I ask. "Yes she is." Mom smiles. "Yay!" I exclaim.
I glance down at the ring on my moms left hand. "I still can't believe the size of that ring. You can't even see where the titanic hit it." I chuckle. "I know right?" She laughs.
"So what are you planning for my bachelorette party?" Mom asks. "What? I'm supposed to plan that?" I ask.
"Well as my maid of honour, it's kind of your responsibility." She says. "How was I supposed to know? I thought I just got to boss all the other bridesmaids around." I state. My mom starts laughing.
"I'll get Yelena to help me, she'll know what to do right?" I ask hopefully. "You can ask her, but I don't know if she'll be much help." She chuckles.

•••

I'm not going to lie, I'm really nervous about my speech. Crowds have never been my thing, let alone speaking in front of them.
Some people say to picture everyday naked and that will help with your nerves, but honestly that just scares me even more.