Chapter One
"And now ladies and gentlemen, I give you with great pleasure the Class of 2004!" I scanned the sea of cheers for my parents' faces. After a couple of seconds, I spotted my mom's glasses reflecting the sunlight. I smiled at them and knew their returning smiles showed feelings of pride. Proud that I was the Valedictorian of my class, proud that I completed high school, proud that I was successful. Most of all, I was proud of myself for doing it all.
"I can't believe we actually did it! We graduated Riley," my friend Maria said to me.
"I know," I replied, "Now on to college." We embraced as our parents strolled over to us. We were outside the front door of Pendleton High laughing and congratulating each other in the June sunlight. "So what are you doing for the summer, Maria?" my mother asked my best friend.
"I was thinking of going to Spain, Mrs. Carlson. You know, to visit my ancestral country." We all laughed remembering Maria's fascination with Spain even though her family originated from Germany. "What are you doing Riley?" Maria's dad asked me.
"Actually, I'm not quite sure yet Mr. Wolf. I was thinking of visiting my grandma in New York, but I think my dad needs some help with his business." I looked to my dad to see if he would accept the assistance. He and my mother were looking at me with mischievous grins on their faces. "What?" I asked them.
"Well," my dad responded, "I would love the help, but your mother and I had another plan for you." With that my mom held out a plane ticket and a passport.
"What's this?" I wondered out loud with Maria and her parents wondering along with me by voicing things such as, "Is she coming with me to Spain, Mr. Carlson?" and "You're finally letting her travel alone?"
My mom giggled slightly and said, "It's a round trip plane ticket to England. Your father's business is paying for it. We're paying for your college classes at Oxford."
"WHAT!! Oh my gosh! Mom, Dad, are you guys serious!?!?" I was practically bursting with excitement. I wanted to go to Oxford to study law and justice ever since I was ten.
"We are as serious as you are about studying law, Riley," my dad claimed with an air of happiness in his voice.
He is a lawyer for a big firm in Orange County. He's already had cases with celebrities such as Carson Daly, Carrot Top, and Pamela Anderson (whom by the way, my dad claims is quite nice). I always looked up to him and hoped that one day I could take on his business when he retires.
I pulled each of my parents into a tight hug and gave them plenty of kisses. "Thank you so much. I love you guys."
"We love you too, Riley," they both replied. I glanced at Maria and saw that she was about to explode if we didn't talk about what just happened. I laughed and told my parents I would meet them back at the house. With one last hug and kiss to Maria's parents and my own, we headed off to walk on the beach.
"Wow! I just can't believe it! You get to study law at Oxford! I'm so happy for you!" Maria was saying as we walked in the surf and laughed at the people staring at our graduation gowns we still wore.
"Thanks. I'm happy that you get to go back to your homeland in Spain." We both had a fit of giggles after that joke. After we talked on the beach for an hour about what we'll do while we're over in Europe Maria asked, "So, can you come to my graduation party tonight?"
"Are you kidding?! I wouldn't miss it for the World!" With that, we headed towards Maria's house to party the night away.
"And now ladies and gentlemen, I give you with great pleasure the Class of 2004!" I scanned the sea of cheers for my parents' faces. After a couple of seconds, I spotted my mom's glasses reflecting the sunlight. I smiled at them and knew their returning smiles showed feelings of pride. Proud that I was the Valedictorian of my class, proud that I completed high school, proud that I was successful. Most of all, I was proud of myself for doing it all.
"I can't believe we actually did it! We graduated Riley," my friend Maria said to me.
"I know," I replied, "Now on to college." We embraced as our parents strolled over to us. We were outside the front door of Pendleton High laughing and congratulating each other in the June sunlight. "So what are you doing for the summer, Maria?" my mother asked my best friend.
"I was thinking of going to Spain, Mrs. Carlson. You know, to visit my ancestral country." We all laughed remembering Maria's fascination with Spain even though her family originated from Germany. "What are you doing Riley?" Maria's dad asked me.
"Actually, I'm not quite sure yet Mr. Wolf. I was thinking of visiting my grandma in New York, but I think my dad needs some help with his business." I looked to my dad to see if he would accept the assistance. He and my mother were looking at me with mischievous grins on their faces. "What?" I asked them.
"Well," my dad responded, "I would love the help, but your mother and I had another plan for you." With that my mom held out a plane ticket and a passport.
"What's this?" I wondered out loud with Maria and her parents wondering along with me by voicing things such as, "Is she coming with me to Spain, Mr. Carlson?" and "You're finally letting her travel alone?"
My mom giggled slightly and said, "It's a round trip plane ticket to England. Your father's business is paying for it. We're paying for your college classes at Oxford."
"WHAT!! Oh my gosh! Mom, Dad, are you guys serious!?!?" I was practically bursting with excitement. I wanted to go to Oxford to study law and justice ever since I was ten.
"We are as serious as you are about studying law, Riley," my dad claimed with an air of happiness in his voice.
He is a lawyer for a big firm in Orange County. He's already had cases with celebrities such as Carson Daly, Carrot Top, and Pamela Anderson (whom by the way, my dad claims is quite nice). I always looked up to him and hoped that one day I could take on his business when he retires.
I pulled each of my parents into a tight hug and gave them plenty of kisses. "Thank you so much. I love you guys."
"We love you too, Riley," they both replied. I glanced at Maria and saw that she was about to explode if we didn't talk about what just happened. I laughed and told my parents I would meet them back at the house. With one last hug and kiss to Maria's parents and my own, we headed off to walk on the beach.
"Wow! I just can't believe it! You get to study law at Oxford! I'm so happy for you!" Maria was saying as we walked in the surf and laughed at the people staring at our graduation gowns we still wore.
"Thanks. I'm happy that you get to go back to your homeland in Spain." We both had a fit of giggles after that joke. After we talked on the beach for an hour about what we'll do while we're over in Europe Maria asked, "So, can you come to my graduation party tonight?"
"Are you kidding?! I wouldn't miss it for the World!" With that, we headed towards Maria's house to party the night away.