Chapter 9- Saying Goodbye
May 1959, Lindsay's POV
Come on baby, let the good times roll
Come on baby, let me thrill your soul
Come on baby, let the good times roll, roll all night long
I've only been in New York for nine months, and I have the best friends anyone could ask for. I'm also engaged. That went over well with my parents – they hate Danny. They're glad he's not burning his draft card. Personally, I'm sure they think that if my father's shotgun won't kill him – he jumped out of the way – the Russians will. I decided to think better thoughts as I got ready for the prom. Graduation was also tomorrow, and I wanted nothing more than for everything to go right. Danny came to the house and picked me up. My parents wouldn't let him in. He had to stand in the doorway. He saw me come downstairs anyways, and the look on his face told me everything I needed to know. He helped me to the car, after my parents took several pictures, and we met everyone else up at the school gym. All my friends told me I looked beautiful, and Eric was handing all the guys rubbers.
"Safety first!" said Eric.
Oh baby, feel so good when you're home
Come on baby, rock me all night long
We all cracked up. I didn't care if Danny and I had sex tonight, so long as he used one. We were all dancing to the fast rock songs that played, gyrating just to make the teachers mad, and acting as wild as our grandparents had when jazz, prohibition, and women's rights had dominated the 1920s. I knew this was one of the last times we would all be together. I didn't even have an idea of whether or not we would even be having a school reunion. It hit me as I danced with Danny that we wouldn't see any of the others again. I wouldn't see Mac and Stella in the hall, holding hands and walking each other to class. I wouldn't see Greg and his radio, or Horatio in his black clothes with his arms around Yelina.
Come on baby, let's close the door
Come on baby, let's rock some more
Come on baby, let the good times roll, roll all night long
"This is sad," I said.
"It'll be worse tomorrow," said Aiden. "I may just cry."
"You're gonna cry at graduation?" said Danny.
"I think we all will," said Yelina. "I'm gonna miss you all."
"I wonder if our tree will still be there when we're gone," said Stella.
Come on baby, let's close the door
Come on honey, let's rock some more
Come on baby, let the good times roll, roll all night long
Oh god, the tree. The tree we had all carved our initials into alongside our beaus, the date that the music died, and soon our graduation date. We were also gonna be burying a time capsule at the base of it. We had items stashed at Gil's house, and we were all gonna fill it up the day after prom. After Mac and Stella were voted prom king and queen, the dance ended and we all left, cruising around town and drinking plenty of booze. I had never been this wild back in Montana. I wasn't even as wild as the rest of the group, but I was wild enough to fit. Soon it was the next day and we loaded a hatbox with the following: Horatio's school T-shirt and that tacky spirit flag that used to hang in his room, colored beads from Catherine, a toy scorpion Danny had bought, records of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and Elvis Presley. A ticket stub from The Blob went in next. Gil then dropped his dog tags in the hatbox.
"There's a war going on, we shouldn't forget that," said Gil.
Oh baby, feel so good when you're home
Come on baby, rock me all night long
All the guys had gotten their dog tags a few days ago. Soon we walked into the gym and put on our graduation gowns – blue for the guys, and tacky orange for us girls. Soon I was standing right behind my fiancé, waiting to receive my diploma. I heard the names of several of our friends get called. Soon Danny's name got called, which meant I was up next. I heard principal Gerrard call my name. I walked up and received my diploma while my friends whooped and my parents cried. After the ceremony was done, we all went to Don Flack's house, where his parents were throwing a barbecue for everyone. I sank my teeth into a cheeseburger, feeling quite proud of myself. Danny walked up with a mouthful of chips in his mouth and another handful in his hand. I laughed. Life was good for now. We all went to Gil's house after the barbecue and fell asleep. Horatio and Mac walked around, waking us all up. We all snuck onto the school grounds and found our tree. Danny had carved in the date – 5/30/1959.
"Let's bury our past and salute our future," said Mac.
Horatio put on his glasses and began to dig. I grinned. Didn't he know it was dark? Soon it was done and we left, leaving by couple and wondering if we would see each other again.
I think we will.
Come on baby, let the good times roll
Come on baby, let me thrill your soul
Come on baby, let the good times roll, roll all night long
"Let The Good Times Roll" by Shirley and Lee. one more chapter after this, and it comes tonight!