A/N: Oh my gosh! I just can't say enough how much you guys mean to me as readers and how your reviews make my day and make me smile :D This has been an amazing story to write, and I'm thankful that y'all liked it so much. This is the last chapter before the epilogue. Again, I love you all so much :D
Love, Miss Graphic T-Shirts
Today was the day.
Today was the day.
Oh my God, today was the day.
I, Sam Puckett, was graduating high school in a matter of hours.
I hadn't gone home since the fight with my mom. There was no way I could go and face her again after what she said to me, and what she said about me and my choices.
So that was why I woke up that morning in Carly's bedroom, rather than my own.
"Carly," I said, giving her a light shove. "Carly, get up!"
"Meah."
"Carly, we're graduating high school today."
"We're WHAT?" she said, sitting up fully.
"We're graduating high school today, Carly!" I repeated.
"Oh my God… I overslept, didn't I? We're going to be late for school…"
"Carly, Carly, Carly, calm down. Seniors have the day off today, remember?" I reminded her.
"Oh." She said. "Well then. Don't wake me up. I'm going back to bed."
Later that afternoon, Spencer took Carly, Freddie and I out to lunch to celebrate our big day.
"Anywhere you want." He said.
"Galini's!" we all chanted.
"Then to Galini's it is!"
We all piled into Spencer's car and then drove over to Galini's, home of the most delicious pie ever known to man. What? If your graduating high school and you're going out to lunch to celebrate, you should at least have something you love. And for us, that would be pie.
"Ay, Spencer!" Mario said as we came into the shop.
"Hey Mario, got some coconut cream pie for us?" Spencer asked.
"Absolutely!" he replied in his thick Italian accent. "Four slices coming up!"
He went about cutting us some pieces and then handed them to us.
"So, a-Spencer, what's the big event? I don't see you around here that much a-anymore." He said.
"My little iCarly midgets are graduating high school today!" Spencer said, tousling all of our hair, which we all fixed after.
"Ah, graduating high school. A big one!" he said. "Well then the pie is on the house for my favorite grown-up customers."
"Aw, thanks Mario." Carly said. "C'mon guys, let's go sit."
We all sat down at our usual table in the center and dug into our pie, which was freaking AMAZING. Just like I said the last time we were here, all I want to be in life is to be Mrs. Sam-This-Pie.
As the afternoon went on, Carly and I decided to go get ready, and then something hit me.
"Carly… I've been borrowing your clothes for the past month… but what am I going to wear to graduation?" I asked. "I mean… like… I don't have a dress."
She went over to her closet and pulled out a purple number. "Here."
"But…"
"Put the dress on, Sam." she said.
"Well okay then." I obeyed, slipping the dress on. It was a little big, so Carly altered it with some safety pins she found on her desk.
"All set?" she asked. "I think it looks good on you."
"Thanks." I said, smoothing out the dress. "I think so too. But… now that I think of it, why do we even have to wear dresses? I mean like… we're wearing robes anyways? Why can't I just wear shorts and a tank top?"
"Sam, don't even start with me." Carly replied, slipping into her own hot pink and black number. "What do you think?"
"Lookin good, Carls." I said. "Hey think you can do my hair all special?"
"You are so lucky we're best friends." She said, grabbing her hair brush. "Sit down, we got work to do."
By the time we were all ready, we only had a solid ten minutes until we absolutely HAD to leave the house to get to the high school.
"Augh, I'm so hungry." I said, eying the fridge, where I know Spencer had some leftover ribs.
"You eat ribs in that dress and ruin your makeup, I will find a way to murder you." She said, fixing the strap on her heels.
"You couldn't murder me if you tried." I contradicted.
"No, probably not. But where there's a will, there's a way." She said. "You can walk in your heels, right?"
"Relax, Carly, everything is going to go fine." I said. "Would it calm your mind if we got Freddie and Spencer and just left now?"
"Yes," she said, picking up her purse. "Yes it would."
Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Ridgeway.
"I can't believe my little sister is graduating." Spencer said, fixing his tie a little. "And her little partners in crime."
"Don't tousle our hair." Carly said quickly, seeing it coming.
"Fine then." Spencer said. "Now go find your classmates, I'm going to go sit in the gym. See you in a few, kiddos."
He pushed past us then and went towards the gym. I smoothed out my dress. "You guys ready?"
"Yeah." Freddie, said, taking my hand.
"Not really." Carly said, her voice nearly quavering. "But let's go."
We all walked inside then and followed a couple of the other kids in our class down to the drama room, where we were all meeting, supposedly. Inside, teachers rushed around handing out the red robes to the boys and the white robes to the girls.
"Shay! Puckett! Benson! Come get your robes!" Ms. Briggs shrilled from the corner.
We all made our way to the corner where she handed us each a robe and then had us try it on to see if it fit.
"You know what? At this point? I don't even care. Just go get your caps from Mr. Howard." She said, waving us away. "Gibson! Get your robe!"
We all walked towards Mr. Howard who handed us each a cap.
"Fix the tassels yourselves, smarty pants." He said, waving us away. "I've got better things to do."
Geez, even on our graduation day, these people were grumpy as heck.
Ten minutes later, Principal Franklin came in.
"Alright kids, line up, order of last name. It's go time." He said. "And… I'm proud of all of you. Really."
He left the room as we worked at getting into line. Carly and I were next to each other in line because surprisingly, there was no one in our class with a last name in between Puckett and Shay. Freddie was the first in line.
Principal Franklin came back in. "Okay guys, I'm gonna lead you out to the entrance of the gym, and you remember what to do from there?"
We all nodded and there was a mix of, "Yeahs" and "Uh-huhs"
I took a deep breath and we began our walk towards the gym. The slight hint of the graduation medley playing in the background.
I never knew how long graduations went on for until I was actually in one. Goodness gracious, can these people stop talking? Finally, it was time for the diplomas.
"Now, we will begin the handing out of diplomas. First up, Fredward Benson." Principal Franklin announced.
Freddie stood up and we all erupted into clapping. I couldn't stop myself from smiling. That was my guy up there. My boyfriend. He shook Principal Franklin's hand and smiled as people took pictures, and then he went and sat back down.
This process repeated over and over. We all cheered whenever our friends got their diplomas. Gibby, Brad, Wendy… and then finally, they called it.
"Samantha Puckett." I took a deep breath and stood up and walked out and around until I got up onto the platform. Freddie smiled at me from the front row and I smiled back. I shook Principal Franklin's hand. "Congratulations Sam, I'm very proud of you."
"Thanks." I said with a smile. I took my diploma and then went and sat back down.
"Carlotta Shay." They called up.
I squeezed Carly's arm and she went up and repeated the process. There were a few more people after her, and then finally, the moment we had been waiting for.
"And now," Principal Franklin said. "I have the great honor of presenting to you on behalf of the School Board and Board of Trustees, the Ridgeway High School of Seattle, Washington, graduating class of 2012!"
We all stood up and cheered, throwing our caps in the air, letting them fall back where they may. I wrapped my arms around Carly and we hugged and cried.
"We did it!" Carly said. "We did it, Sam!"
"I know!" I screamed.
I couldn't believe it. Me, my best friend and my boyfriend were now high school graduates.
Oh… my God.
People ran around hugging and crying and then began to run off and find their families. Carly and I ran to find Freddie and we all stayed close to the platform as we waited for our respected significant others. We all sat gabbing when suddenly, I saw Colonel Shay, who I hadn't seen in over eight years, coming up behind Carly. He had his fingers to his lips, telling us not to say anything. We just kept on distracting Carly until he put his hands over her eyes.
"Guess who?" he said in his deep voice.
"Oh my God!" she ripped his hands off her eyes. "Dad!"
She turned around and wrapped him in a gigantic hug.
"Hey baby girl." He said, receiving her hug warmly.
"Dad, I can't believe you made it!" she said.
"The Air Force can wait." He said. "Especially when my baby girl is graduating."
They continued to hug things out and then he said hello to me and Freddie.
"You all are so grown up." He said. "It's a good thing I came."
"Colonel Shay, you didn't happen to see my mom, did you?" I asked.
"No, Sam. I'm sorry, I didn't." he said. "Freddie, your mom is talking to some teachers over there. And Carly, I want to go meet that Gibby character. Think you and Spence can introduce me?"
Carly nodded and then her and Spencer and Colonel Shay took off, leaving me and Freddie alone.
"I'm sorry, Sam." he said, turning to me.
"About what?" I said, trying not to cry. "It's not like my mom didn't show up to my high school graduation or anything. You know… it's all good."
He just held out his arms and I fell into them.
"I love you Sam." he said, kissing my hair. "I'm here for you."
"I know you are." I said into his robe. "And you have no idea how much you mean to me."
He pushed me back a little and just gave a secretive smile. "Don't worry, I think I do."