Hey! First let me say, I worked on this straight for a few hours so pleease bare with me! (There was a significant amount of writer's block) :o Anyway, enjoy!
Thursday: Last Day of Classes
"I must say. It pains me to see you seniors graduate tomorrow. I still remember almost all of you as freshmen. Some even from Middle school!" The principal spoke through the microphone. "Now everyone, be sure to pack up everything from you're lockers. It would be embarrassing to leave anything behind. Especially if you're a senior. Enough said, have a great last day of school." With that, the bell rang, and students piled out of the All school meeting.
"I can't believe it. Today actually is the last day of actual school." Gabriella said, linking arms with her friend.
"Me either. It really went by fast." Taylor said, approaching her locker. "Too bad we have to clean out all this junk." She motioned to the several stray papers, locker posters and articles of clothing.
"Yeah, that's gonna suck. I think I'll get started during free period. But I'm gonna need a trash bag for all the stuff I have." Gabriella responded, grinning widely.
"Me too. Who knows how long it's gonna take?" Gabriella shrugged her shoulders.
"That's beside the point. Today we're going to enjoy our last day as seniors. Because it's been one hell of a year."
"You got that right." Taylor murmured. "We really should have done a bucket list."
"That'd be so fun! 10 things you have to do before you go to college. Let's do them in the summer." Gabriella slung her bag over her back."I will see you later. In 45 minutes, my high school science life is O.V.E.R. What's that spell? Over!" She raised her hand powerfully in the air. Suddenly the girls heard snickering from behind. They turned around to see who else but the cheerleaders laughing at Gabriella's posture. Taylor rolled her eyes. One more thing to be done with. Embarrassed, Gabriella shot her arms down by her side and blushed. "Almost forgot," She muttered. "Not a cheerleader."
Two arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.
"You're my cheerleader." Gabriella giggled.
"Troy!" Taylor watched the two in the act. Surprisingly, she felt a rush of envy overcome her. She didn't want to be jealous, but it seemed to tempting. Before this whole problem even occurred, he used to do the same with her. She could actually say that she missed__
Taylor shook her head. She didn't miss anything. She wouldn't, she couldn't! Slowly, she slipped away from the couple and into her first class, refusing to let it get to her.
Gabriella broke away from her embrace and looked around.
"Where'd she go?" She turned towards Troy I confusion.
"She seems to be doing that a lot lately," He commented.
"I guess I'll see her later. I'll see you too."
"Ok, enjoy your last day."
"You too." Gabriella gave him a peck on the lips before leaving.
"I hope you all enjoy your last high school free period," The speakers called after the bell rang. "But please, seniors, no fooling around, use this as a time to clean out your locker or do something productive." With the announcement, students exited the class and scrambled into free period.
Taylor collected a trash bag from one of the tables and sauntered to her locker. She had to start sometime, and what better time than now? She began with removing old papers, binders and anything else from the previous months. I have so much junk!
"Taylor!" She turned to see her best friend run up to her.
"Cleaning lockers suck!" Gabriella said, holding up an obviously over stuffed bag.
"How much junk do you have?" Taylor questioned. A lot, she noted, from the look of the bag.
"Trust me; I still have a bit more. I'm just taking it to the trash cans. The school was prepared for us." She joked.
"Yeah, you can say that again."
"Look I'm gonna go dump this then I'll see you later, ok?"
"Sure, see you then." With that Gabriella exited. Taylor couldn't help but pity her, the bag looked heavy! She was about to go and help until almost out of nowhere, Troy popped up and lifted the load right out of her hands. Gabriella giggled and linked arms with him.
Taylor couldn't fake it anymore. She felt it way in her stomach, something that she couldn't really describe. Something that appeared as a mixture of envy and hurt. They're so happy. She forced herself to look away and concentrate on her locker. She did have a lot more work to do before the period was over. Taylor reached around her pile of things, discarding trash from her belongings. I don't even remember buying half this stuff. She lifted up a sweater.
When did I wear this? Why did I get it? Gross, and it smells like ass! She tossed it into the now growing bag, and felt around the locker. Ouch! She recoiled her hand to examine the damage, a paper cut. Great. Taylor reached back for the cause and pulled out a picture. She hadn't given it a proper glance before placing it face down on the floor.
She didn't want to look at it. Not even for a second. Taylor clamped her eyes tight. She shouldn't be feeling like this! She vowed to herself that once the week was finished, the drama would be done, no questions asked.
Taylor didn't dare cry. Not here, not now.
"Thanks for helping. I'll see you later."
"Ok." She averted her attention to the end of the hallway, nearly wishing that she hadn't. Yes, she loved Gabriella, and Troy was a pretty nice guy too, but seeing them together, more elated than she could ever be was too much for her.
"Hey Tay!" Gabriella said, playfully tapping her friend on the shoulder. Taylor didn't respond, rather closed the locker and tied up her bag.
"Are you done already? Tay?"
"Yeah, I'm finished." She responded, gripping the bag and walking away.
"Ok then," Gabriella remarked. She was about to walk in the other direction when something caught her attention. She dropped something. Gabriella bent down and picked up the object. She glimpsed back to the hallway where her friend had vanished.
"Class, settle down, settle down." Mr. Collins called as the class got quiet. "I know you've heard this multiple times, but I just wanted to say it again. It was a pleasure teaching all of you this year. Trust me, college is tough and I hope that you have paid perfect attention to the literature we read and discussed this year. As part of discussion, I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on English in general."
"Didn't we already do that?" Jason asked, supporting his head on his right hand.
"We discussed literature. This discussion is just a free for all. Any moment you enjoyed in English class."
Chad moved his desk into the circle, skimming the class as he did. A puzzled emotion overcame his face as he double checked the class. Someone was missing, she was missing. She's never lat__Stop! Chad smacked his forehead in frustration. Don't do it. He sat back in his seat, crossing his arms.
"So who wants to start the discussion?" Mr. Collins called, eying the class. "Students, think about it this way. It's the last change you'll ever have to engage in a high school opinionated group discussion!" When no one responded, he tried another approach. "Ok, how about this. You can say anything you would like, even things you didn't like from class. Don't be afraid to hold back, except with the use of cuss words." Following that, half the student's raised their hands.
"Of course." He muttered. "Go ahead."
Chad sat up. He didn't want to think about her, but where__? Before his thoughts were finished, he spotted her out if the corner of his eye, entering the room.
"Sorry I'm late," She uttered, silently taking her seat.
"Taylor, it's the last day so I won't mark you. " Mr. Collins retorted, continuing on with the conversation. Taylor nodded, leaning back with her head down. Chad got a quick look at her face, before turning away.
"That's a very interesting take on the book." Mr. Collins remarked, fully engulfed in the discussion. The students continued the conversation until the final bell rang.
Taylor collapsed on her bed. It's over. It's finally over. She checked the clock. 7:03. she had every intention of going to sleep. Tomorrow was graduation, finalizing the end of her high school career. Whatever had happened today, it would be in the past; she didn't want to acknowledge any of it.
She had closed her for only a few seconds when her phone rang. She groaned, automatically pressing the ignore button.
"Tay, baby do you want anything to eat? Drink?" Her mother called from downstairs.
"No, I'm fine." Her daughter responded rising back on the bed. It wasn't long before she dozed off, still in her work uniform, still tired, for the night.
Chad slammed his phone down in frustration. He hadn't really expected her to answer. Why would she? But, the whole deal with English class, and his previous conversation with Troy had finally got to him. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't deny it. He needed to talk to her.
I just checked my watch and realized, I'm posting this at around 12:45! I won't be able to update for about a week due to a non-internet-accessible vacation and didn't want to leave you guys hanging! Anyway, thanks for reading!
_Veronica