vita // lh au

2.5

ZOE

"Hi, um, I'm Zoe Iravani." I said into the microphone on stage for my high school graduation. "I want to warn you, I didn't write a speech, so I'm completely winging this." Deep breath, "As many of you know; four days, nine hours, and approximately..." I looked at the clock and then continued, "Seven minutes ago, the world lost an incredible girl. On May 21st, at 8:07 in the morning, my other half, partner in crime, best friend, and twin sister died. As much as I didn't want her to, she always pushed me to be the absolute best version of myself. It was her dream since third grade for us to be valedictorian and salutatorian. After a round of rock paper scissors, it was decided that she would be Valedictorian, and I would be Salutatorian. So we studied, and studied, and studied some more until I seriously thought my brain was going to explode. I don't deserve this speech, because my little sister by three minutes deserves it. She had already written her speech, so the least I could do is read that for her today. I will warn you, I haven't brought myself to read it yet, so excuse me, because I am probably going to cry."

I took a deep breath, and began to read from the paper. "Hello everyone, my name is Laurel Iravani, and I am proud to be the valedictorian of the Class of 2014. Everyone told me this speech is supposed to talk about how everything we have worked so hard for these past four years is finally going to matter, because we've finally made it! We have finally got through the most difficult time in our lives. From entering into the scary world high school is, studying our butts off just to pass Calculus, to boyfriends or girlfriends, sports, extracurricular's, and to finding who we are supposed to be; we've made it. But friends, I'm telling you; our lives have just begun. We made it to this checkpoint, yes, but our journey is far from being over. My sister and I- I'm sorry, hold on." I sobbed, wiped my eyes, took a deep breath and continued, "My sister and I moved here from New York in the middle of our junior year. There is no way I could have survived the move without my other half, partner in crime, best friend, and twin sister." I laughed. "I guess our twin telepathy still works." I wiped my nose with the tissue I had prepared. I smiled at the crowd, and noticed almost my entire class was already in tears, and most of the audience was, too. I made eye contact with Luke, and then quickly averted my eyes to the seat next to him, where Ashton was sitting with his head in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Anyway, um, the paper," Deep breath, "I could not have done many things in life without her. She is my rock, and I cannot express to everyone how much she truly means to me. I don't know what I would do without her by my side. Thank you, Zoe, for everything you have done for me, and for everything I know you'll do for me for the rest of our lives." I realized I was bawling hysterically, so I took a moment to recollect myself; I had to finish. I had to finish this for her. I had to.

"I'm sorry I'm so emotional; I just, I just have to finish this for her." Deep breath.

"To my boyfriend; Ashton," we looked up at each other at the same time, and he looked at me with the saddest eyes I have ever seen in my entire life. "Thank you for being the best thing to ever walk into my life. Thank you for being like a big brother to Zoe, since ours is so far away. Thank you for the unconditional love you give me. I love you more than words could ever explain."

"To Luke; my other half's other half." Breathe, Zoe, breathe. "Thank you for loving my sister. She isn't always the easiest to put up with." I laughed through my tears. "Wow, thanks sis." I smiled, looking up at the ceiling, because I know she's listening. "Thank you for being a wonderful big brother figure to me, and for being one of my best friends as well."

"To Cal and Mikey, thank you for being some of the goofiest guys I have ever met. You make me laugh so hard it hurts to breathe. I love you guys more than I could ever tell you. Don't ever forget it."

"To the class of 2014; we made it. We freakin made it." I smiled, thinking of how she would have said it. "Okay, I'm gonna take a break from her speech real quick because the only thing left to do is turn our tassels, but I just decided I have something to add."

I took a deep breath, "I know this speech is already long, so I'll be quick, I promise. The day after she died, I was wracking my brain, trying to figure out how this could possibly happen; because you never think something like this is going to happen to your best friend. So I found myself looking up drunk driving statistics. I read them over and over and over again; trying to figure it out. I read it so many times that these facts will forever be imprinted on my brain. In 2012, more than 29.1 MILLION people admitted that they have driven under the influence of alcohol at least once in their lifetime. In 2013, ten thousand and seventy six people were killed in drunk driving crashes. That is one person dead every fifty-two minutes. Another two hundred and ninety thousand were injured in drunk driving crashes." I said, holding up my arm that was in the cast. "All of this because a person thought they would be okay to drive home. Or they simply didn't care."

"One week ago today, my friends and I got into a car after an end of school party. All six of us were 100% sober. At around 1:30 in the morning, as we were crossing a stop sign after fully stopping, a large vehicle blew through the stop sign, hitting us on the passenger side, hitting my sister dead on. We were rushed by ambulance to the hospital, where we found out there was a good possibility she was instantly paralyzed from the waist down. Finding out that was hard enough, but at least she was alive. At least she was alive. She then went through a brain surgery, where she had a stroke on the table. The doctors did everything they could. She was put on a ventilator to help her breathe, and three days later, she was completely brain dead. I had to make the decision on whether or not to unplug my vegetable of a sister all because a forty year old man was driving when he had clearly had way more to drink than he should have!" I realized I was yelling into the microphone. Breathe, Zoe, breathe. I looked at Luke for comfort. He had tears running down his face, but he managed to smile slightly at me and mouth, 'You've got this, Zoelle. Go on. For Laur.'

I smiled slightly back at him and continued, "Drinking and driving is not okay. If you get in that driver's seat drunk, you could kill an innocent person. And that is a pain you will have to live with for the rest of your life."

"Okay, I'm done rambling; this is supposed to be a happy day." I wiped my eyes and smiled. "That is what Laurel would have wanted. She would want us to stop moping about her and have a good time. So class of 2014, please stand. It's time for us to get the hell out of here." I smiled, earning a scolding look from the principal. I then unzipped my gown, revealing Laurel's underneath mine, and pulled her cap out from under the podium.

"Class of 2014, turn your tassels!" I yelled, and everyone cheered. I then turned Laurel's tassel, and then my own. "One more thing! I hope this is something we can all learn from. Don't drink and drive. Live life to your fullest, because you never know when it could end. Like my Nonni told me not too long ago, vivi la vita prima che sia troppo tardi, caro."

"Live life before it's too late, darlings."

THE END