Chapter 25
Andy: From that day on, everything got better. Claire and I moved in with Jodi and John permanently. Our summer was pretty uneventful. Jodi still had to see her counsellor but that was only once a week now. We went camping again. Bear was growing up too. And the house looked completely new. Jodi and I moved into the basement. We all helped to buy new furniture for the house. Jodi painted the rooms. It was a fresh start. We only have one year left in school now. Wow.
Jodi: The first day back in school, I had a meeting with Vernon. He told me how I have to keep up my grade point average this year to make sure I graduate. Since I'm graduating a year early I need at least a grade point average of a B. Yeah, I can do that.
John: Jodi and Brian are going to tutor me this year. I need to to graduate with everyone. Before I met these guys I wouldn't have cared if I flunked a year again. But now, I can't be in high school without these idiots.
Claire: Together, we managed to make our way through the year. We had an amazing Halloween party. Brian and Jodi cooked thanksgiving dinner and we all had thanksgiving together the day after. John and Jodi spent Christmas morning with my family, and Christmas night with Andy's.
Brian: Easter time, we went camping again. We decided that wherever we are in the future, we will make this a tradition.
Allison: Soon enough, it was graduation day. We were all graduating. Together.
Jodi: We all stood in our gowns and hats, waiting to be called out. Out of our group, I was up first. I walked onto the stage and shook hands with Principal Vernon. "Well done." He whispered to me, he looked genuinely proud. I smiled at him and walked along. I looked into the crowd. I could see Andy's parents clapping for me. It was nice to have people being happy for me. John was up next after me. When he had his scroll, he pumped his hand into the air with it. "Finally!" He said. Everyone laughed and clapped for him.
We threw a graduation party at our house. Loads of people turned up. It was great, it went on until about 5 in the morning.
John: Things were looking up now. I had a full time job at the bar, Allison was working in the off licence down the road. The rest of the guys were off to college. Jodi was going to do art, Andy had a scholarship at the same college for wrestling. He was going to study some kind of sport science. Brian was off to do physics and maths, and Claire was doing fashion design. We still got the occasional letter off dad, but it didn't effect us now. We're better than him. We have our own lives now. We have a future.
To be continued...