Standing at the side of the stage I let out a breath as my name was finally called "Rosalie Toretto!" I smiled a little walking out onto the stage hearing the claps from my fellow students and their families, I shook my principal's hand as he handed me the scroll he held.
"I'm very proud of you Toretto, you kept your head down," Principal Sikowitz said as we turned to the crowd with a smile so our picture could be taken, I spotted my sister in the crowd giving me thumbs up video camera in hand, I nodded back with a small smile not really in a celebratory mood.
This was all wrong, I was supposed to have an entourage of family members here to scream my name and make me embarrassed in front of everyone.
Leon would be wolf whistling trying to make me blush, Letty was supposed to be arguing with some hotty totty mom in the crowd and Dom he should have been here looking up at me with proud eyes.
Handing my diploma to one of the teachers off stage I sat back in my seat and pulled out the slip of paper with a speech written on it from my pocket waiting for everyone else to get their diplomas and pictures done.
Glancing down at the paper I sighed it was all a bunch of happy go lucky crap, none of it was heartfelt, none of it was actually how I truly felt just generic words I was expected to say.
I looked up rolling my eyes so the tears wouldn't show, I noticed some of the parents whispering as they looked in my direction and I knew they were talking about Dom, everyone knew by now that my brother was wanted by the police.
"I am, personally, very honored to introduce this year's class-elected speaker. She started off high school with very poor grades and attitude" I let out a small knowing laugh as did a few of my teachers "but with hard work and perseverance she made it to the top of her class. Rosalie Toretto" Principal Sikowitz said clapping his hands along with everyone else in the room.
Smiling widely, falsely, I stepped back up towards the podium placing my speech on the stand and looking out to all the faces, I could see adults whispering to each other, students looking up at me in admiration and my lone family member beaming with pride.
"Ladies and gentlemen, family, friends, teachers, and of course, my fellow graduates" Suddenly I realized my speech didn't mean a thing to them, they weren't listening to me, they didn't elect me because we were all such good friends, it's because I'm a Toretto.
I'd never really made any friends in school, I was always too busy with my family, people had tried to befriend me but only to try and get into our 'elite' inner circle.
The girls would try and get to my brother through me with their overdone makeup and pushed up boobs whereas the boys just wanted to be racers or wanted to be a Toretto by association.
Shoving my speech in my pocket I gripped the stand my nails digging into the wood "I know most of you or probably all of you have heard about my brother by now, Dominic Toretto?".
I saw my sister looking up at me worried but I couldn't stop now, I wouldn't stop now "Well none of you know shit, Dom is a man who cares a lot about his family who sticks by his own values and plays by his own rules".
"He's not some street racing thug, he's a man who would help each and every one of you if you called out in need and that's something we should all abide by".
Clenching my jaw I huffed "We all have our own insecurities and we're all just trying to figure out who we are but if I were only half of the person my brother is I know I'll have a successful and fulfilled life".
"I used to have a great sense of who I wanted to be as I'm sure many of you do but now that we're leaving school, everyone wants a serious answer from us, who are we? What are we doing in life?"
Mia just looked at me she had no emotion on her face, I had no idea what she was feeling right now "Well, how about this - who the hell knows? This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions, this is the time to make mistakes"
"So, who will we be four years from now after all the mistakes and life searching? Writers? Lawyers? Teaching students of our own? Who knows. In many ways, I'm less certain of my future than I've ever been"
"So make as many mistakes as you can right now. That way someday when they ask what we wanna be, we won't have to guess – we'll know. So..." I stopped to take off my red silk gown as everyone looked at me strangely "You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only option and now I've finally realized something".
Dropping my gown to the floor I stood back towards the podium picking up the microphone "The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. Rosalie Toretto, out!".
Dropping the mic I walked off the stage as my classmates all jump up in an excited roar for my display of rebelness and all begin throwing their caps off.
With my head held high, I took back my diploma glaring at all the parents, teachers and classmates that ever tried to make me feel inferior, making my way over to my sister I noticed her putting away her video camera and laughed internally, this will be one hell of a home movie one day.
Taking her hand I dragged her out of the auditorium, pushing open the doors I smirked hearing the absolute chaos I left behind me before remembering the only family member I had left was deathly silently "I'm sorry Mi" I said turning around as my sister crushed me in a hug.
"Mia?" I called as she pulled back from me with tears in her eyes "I am so proud of you" I frowned in confusion "I ruined my only graduation..." Mia shook her head with a proud smile "you told the truth, you were yourself and Dom would be so proud of you" Mia explained as a sob hitched in my throat.
"I wish he was here, he should have been here" I cried out as Mia nodded taking her bag from her shoulder and pulling out some keys "Well he's here in spirit" I took the keys from her hand bewildered until she grabbed my shoulders and slowly turned me around.
I gasped when I saw a beautiful black and blue Mazda parked in front of my school looking beautiful "Is it mine?" I whispered looking down at the keys in my hand "Well Dom promised you a car if you graduated" Mia told me as I looked at her shocked "They built it for you, all of them".
My eyes burn as I tried not to cry but a few tears escaped my eyes as I slowly walked over to my car and brushed the paintwork with my hand gently "They must have been working on it for a long time" I mumbled as I stared at the car.
"Jesse designed it, Dom got the parts and they all worked on it while you were in school. We all had to get more sneaky after your accident" Mia told me with a small laugh as I looked down at my cast in annoyance.
"How could he do this Mia?" I asked tearfully as my older sister wrapped her arms around me comfortingly "I don't know baby" she replied with her own tears falling down her cheeks "but he'll be back".
Sobering up I wiped away my tears as I held my sister to me as my mind began to run wild with ideas and thoughts "No he won't Mi, he won't be back but I'll find him or I'll die trying".