Social Norms

Chapter 16

When I wake up the next morning, I can tell my grandparents are at my house because I hear loud cackling drifting down the stairs and thumping on the floor above me. When I come upstairs, I see Granny Yuwa and Poppa Mustapha inspecting various plants in the living room with Mom. They're talking about nitrogen fixation, which immediately makes me roll my eyes. 

Why can't my family just have normal conversations like everyone else's? 

When Granny Yuwa sees me, she comes over and gives me a huge hug, "Congratulations, Kristina. We're so proud of you!" I hug her back and take in a deep breath. She always smells the same, like Chanel No. 5.

Whenever I smell that perfume on anyone else, I can only think of my Granny Yuwa. I think the only reason why I even like that perfume is because it can make me see her so clearly in my mind, no matter where she is in the world at that time. 

I say, "Thank you so much, Granny. How was your trip?" She scoffs, "Our flight from New York to Dallas was great, but the flight from Paris to New York was horrible. We had turbulence the entire way." Poppa Mustapha yells in our direction (because he's losing his hearing), "The flight was fine. Don't worry her with our troubles, Yuwa. Today is her day." Granny smiles and shrugs, "That's because he slept through the whole flight." I laugh and go into the kitchen.

As I pour a cup of coffee, Dad and Grandpa Jack walk in the door. Grandpa takes one look at me and says, "Hey, Honey. Congratulations on making valedictorian! Your grandmother would've been so proud of you." I reply, "Thanks, Grandpa," and smile warmly at him. The truth is that I barely remember my grandmother on my mom's side. The thought suddenly occurs to me that it must have been really hard on my mom to lose her mother when she was still relatively young. I couldn't stand the thought of losing my mom. 

My thoughts are interrupted by Grandpa saying, "Your dad says you're tied with four other people for valedictorian. You must have a lot of smart people at your school." I smile and nod. Dad says to Grandpa, "Her boyfriend is also one of the valedictorians. He'll be giving the speech during the ceremony today." 

I wince inside. I want to say "He's not my boyfriend anymore," but I also don't want to say it, so I say nothing. I just look down into my cup of coffee and shrug. I'm getting really nervous about giving Logan the poem I wrote. 

Maybe I should just give it to him another time...

***

The graduation ceremony is being held in the football stadium. There's a stage set up on the side line, and all of the chairs for the graduates are arranged in an arc around the stage. All of our families are sitting in the stands behind us. 

As I'm sitting in my chair watching the rest of the seniors walk in to Pomp and Circumstance, I look up into the stands to see if I can find where my family is sitting. I finally spot them in the middle on the right side. I see Ms. Traci and Abby sitting next to my mom, and I feel a little queasy because it reminds me that this is Logan's big day. 

I wonder what he's going to say. I wish I could've helped him write his speech... But, then again, I know that whatever he says, it'll be great. He succeeds in everything he does. I look down at the green grass on the field and think back to that last football game. I think about how he turned the game into a complete blowout. I think about how he looked all sweaty in his football pads. He really is a modern-day gladiator, and that's why everyone who knows him loves him. It's hard for me to believe what my relationship with him turned out to be. It felt so explosive when it was happening, and now it feels so deep. 

I have to get him back. I have to make him love me again.

If I'm being completely honest, I have to say that I'm actually quite bored during most of the ceremony. The only thing I want to hear is what Logan has to say. Mr. Edwards gives a welcome speech. Then, someone from the community sings The Star Spangled Banner. As I listen to the Superintendent drone on about how hard we worked to get here and how we all have bright futures ahead of us, I begin to become really anxious. I wish he would just shut up and get on with the program.