Mr. Mendes S.M.

20

3 weeks later

Lizzie's POV

I smile as I hug Matthew tight, not wanting to let him go as we prep for graduation and my valedictorian speech. "You are going to fall in those fucking heels." He says, and I pull away laughing as tears slowly fill my eyes. "That's why I have you to walk me up there." I say, and he nods, handing me a tissues and hugging me again as I start to cry hard into his shoulder, thanking god that I wore waterproof makeup. "I'm gonna miss you, you sick fuck." I say, pulling away and squeezing his hand, waving to Shawn as he walks by, getting a smile and a small wave. "So he's staying here while you go to California?" He asks, and I nod. "Yeah, but he's going to come down as often as he can." I say. "Which is?" He asks. "Like, once a month or every two months, we haven't decided." I say, brushing myself off nervously after checking my watch and seeing that I have five minutes before my speech. "Relax. You look beautiful." He says, and I smile. "Are you sure that my white calf length skirt and black button down tucked in don't clash with the navy we're forced to wear?" I ask, and he laughs and shakes his head. "I am absolutely positive." He says, and I smile and take his arm after adjusting my black almost 5 inch heels and taking Matthew's arm gratefully as we get summoned. "Um, thanks for not letting me fall, Matthew. Very grateful for that. Anyway, hello! Here we are! Finally done with school unless you're going on to do more schooling- you know what? I wrote this speech and now I think it sucks, so I'm going improv on this. Adults will always make things seem better than they actually are, and I give them credit, they do a great job. But I am honestly grateful to all the trusted adults in my life who were honest with me, including a certain honours English teacher who flat out told me high school will fucking suck unless you do something about it to make it not fucking suck, and I am so grateful for that piece of advice because it works on everything you do in life; that it's going to suck unless you do something about it. Life is a beautiful thing, and after a lot of brushes with death, I can truly see that now. And that no matter what you do, you can go to college, into the work force, into the military, whatever you want to do. Just because this path has come to an end, doesn't mean everything is done, it just means that you're going to go on to a different path, a new story to add on to your experience. Now, there is one thing I'm going to tell you that a certain YouTuber taught me. That is to live simply, so others can simply live. You don't have to see eachother anymore and pardon my French, but y'all can be real assholes to eachother! You aren't going to get anywhere if you're a jerk, so try to be a little nicer. Anyway, I love you all, it's been great learning and being with you, but now we must go on in life, and I will miss all of you." I say, walking across the stage and smiling for the picture as I shake Michaels' hand and accept the award before going down and taking my seat beside Matthew, my phone buzzing in my pocket.

Shawn: You did beautifully.

Lizzie: Why thank you, Mr. Mendes!

Shawn: Please, call me Shawn! It's a special occasion.

Lizzie: No, I think I'll call you daddy.

I put my phone down and look over discreetly at Shawn, a smirk growing on his face as he shakes his head and puts his phone away.

45 minutes later.

I rub my hands together nervously as they get closer to my name, Matthew already having his diploma. "You're going to be okay, Lizzie." He says, noticing my nerves. "I know. It just hits you." I say, squeezing his hand tight as Shawn looks at me concerned, and I give him a small nod before leaning into Matthew's shoulder, resting my head there gently for a few minutes before popping up when I hear the name that comes before mine. "Walk with confidence and you won't fall." Matt says, and I nod, getting ready to stand up. "Elizabeth Rainier!" They call, and I go up quickly and shake hands and go back down, a huge smile on my face.

Lizzie: Attachment: 1 image

Shawn: Beautiful.

Lizzie: You know what this means, right?

Shawn: I can be with you openly?

Lizzie: Yeah. You excited?

Shawn: Of course. Now I can tell people to fuck off when they look at you like they want to fuck you.

Lizzie: Goals right fucking there.

2 hours later

I run into Shawn's arms quickly, smiling when he catches me and spins me around while Aaliyah watches with Camden. "Congratulations, Elizabeth." She says warmly, and I nod, hugging her tight. "Thank you." I say, pulling away and holding tight to my award books and leaning back into Shawn's chest. "Wanna go out?" He asks, and I nod and look up at Shawn. "Can we?" I ask. "I hate how you even have to ask that." He says, hugging me gently and helping Camden into the car seat in his Jeep while Aaliyah climbs in beside him and I get in the front after getting my bag from the trunk, tugging it open and undoing my shirt as Shawn climbs in. "Whoa there, calm down a second!" He says, and I shake my head and kick my heels off, handing them to him before pulling off my skirt and smiling at my black highwaisted shorts underneath and pulling off my top before getting a white crop top and pulling it on just so my bellybutton ring shows, finally getting my grey high top vans and pulling them on, kissing Shawn's cheek quickly as he puts my shoes in my bag and puts it in the backseat next to Camden before climbing in the driver's side and driving to a small restaurant since our options are limited because of Camden being with us, but he still is the best behaved three year old I know, so I don't know how to take that shit. "Lizzie, you okay?" Shawn asks, and I nod as my phone buzzes from Matthew, a stupid picture of him and his diploma book in his mouth captioned "I think this is what you're supposed to do with it..." "So what are you going to do now?" Aaliyah asks. "Go to UCLA and study to be an algebra teacher. I'm really good at math and I know it's what I want to do." I say, and she nods. "Maybe you'll even get Camden!" She says, and I smile. "I hope I do." I say, fist bumping him gently before he gets out of the Jeep and runs to me, hanging onto my leg, which is basically his way of saying carry me, which I gratefully do since I will miss him so much. "So you're going for a week to California? When do you leave?" Aaliyah asks. "I leave in a week. So until then I'm going to be with you guys so much you can't stand me." I say, and she smiles and hugs me tight with Shawn. "That is the most impossible thing you have said yet today!" He says as Camden plants a sloppy kiss on my cheek.