Graduation Planning

A fan hummed quietly in our principal, Mr. Cunningham’s office as I sat across from him at his desk. “I’ve reviewed your speech for Friday. It’s looking fantastic. The staff and I agree, you don’t need to make anymore modifications to it. Now, are you sure you don’t want to announce to the class that you’re valedictorian beforehand?”

I shook my head. “No, Sir. I’m afraid that if we do, its going to cause problems for me. I just want to do my thing and walk out quietly.”

Mr. Cunningham nodded in understanding. When I had started in my freshman year, Kylee had him and the other staff wrapped around his finger, believing that I was relentlessly bullying her. One day, near the end of that year, she played her little stair act. I begged Mr. Cunningham to review the footage before suspending me. He had been shocked to see that I was nowhere near Kylee when she fell down the entire flight of stairs.

Ever since, he had worked with the staff to make sure I was as far away from her as possible, and always reviewed footage before coming to any conclusions. He still called home on occasion, as was required. But when he realized my parents weren’t going to listen to him contradict Kylee’s crazy stories, he had quit trying to stand up for me.

“Its going to blow everyone’s socks off when you step up on that stage.” He grinned. “I hope that everyone realizes how fantastic you truly are once they see you standing up there giving your speech. You are one of the most gifted students I’ve seen at this school in recent years, and I can’t wait to see where you’re going to go.”

“Thank you.” I smiled. The bell rang, singnaling the end of the school day. So I bid Mr. Cunningham a good day, picked up my bookbag, and worked on making my way out of the school before Kylee could catch me leaving.

Waiting at the entrance was Mr. Harland’s driver. He had been picking me up after school and took me to work every day so that I wouldn’t have to walk or take the bus. When he opened the door, a stunning sight caused me to forget to thank him. “Mrs. Harland!” I exclaimed.

“Hello, Dear!” She smiled. I got in the car and sat next to her.

“Are you going to see Mr. Harland?” I asked.

“Oh, no, dear. I’m actually here for you! Mr. Harland gave me special permission to divert your work tasks for the day to help me with something extremely important.”

“Oh. Okay. What do you need me to do for you, Mrs. Harland?” I inquired.

“You’ll see. Buckle up.”

The driver got in and we started off. Mrs. Harland made small talk with me while we were on our way to… wherever it was that we were going. She asked me about my day, about my entrance to Harvard, and asked if I needed help financing my education.

“Well, I actually managed to score myself a full ride! There are a few different scholarship opportunities that I was able to apply for and win. If I did my math right, I won’t have to pay a dime! The only thing I’ll have to worry about are my living expenses. I’ve saved up enough from working for your company that I think I’ll be okay for awhile if I can find myself an apartment and get a few room mates.”

“Darling that’s excellent! You’ve worked so hard to get yourself to this point. Mr. Harland and I are so proud of you!” Mrs. Harland wrapped her arms around me in a hug. It was the warmest, most comforting hug I had experienced in a long time. I almost wanted to cry.

“Thank you.”

When the driver pulled into a valet parking spot in front of a store in the Luxury district, I raised my eyebrow at Mrs. Harland. “What are we doing here?”

She smiled and said nothing as the driver got out and opened the door for us to get out. I slid across the seat, and followed Mrs. Harland into Varsache.