Chapter 28
Ashley's POV
I felt the warm naked body move next to mine. A smile cracked on my lips as I reminisced about the events of the night before. I rolled over on my side to face Spencer. She was lying on her stomach with her back fully exposed, and her head facing away from me.
I placed gentle kissed on her exposed back, making my way up towards her neck. She stirred before moving her head slightly towards me.
"Hey beautiful," I whispered into her ear.
"Hey," she whispered in her sweet angelic voice. She flipped her head around so that she faced me. A small smile cracked on her lips.
We lay there starring at each other for I don't know how long, but I wanted to take in every features of Spencer before she left.
"Thank you for last night," Spencer said scooting closer to me.
"I made the most of what we had left, and I wanted it to be special."
"It was the precious moment."
"I hope that we have many more together," I whispered giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"We will," she smiled. "There something I have to tell you."
"You can tell me anything," I said unconsciously tightening my grip around her. I wasn't going to let her slip through my finger again.
"I done a lot of thinking, for my family, friends, you, and I've learnt so much that I couldn't just leave it all behind."
"Spencer, what it is?" I asked turning to face her fully.
"I withdrew from the Academy," she said quietly.
"Wait, what do you mean? Like you're not going?" I asked sitting up.
"The Navy's been in my family for generations, but I guess I'm the first to break that tradition."
"I thought you were all for it. What about your parents?"
"I was all for it…until I met you. Everything was planned out for me, but you changed everything, in a good way. You made me realize how important life is. I know that the Navy is something that I would do, but my passion is writing. I want to write novels, columns, and papers, interview famous people, maybe even be on the news. I still have attend Plebe Summer but my parents understand where I'm coming from and I hope you do to."
"Of course I do Spencer. If this is what you really want, then there is nothing stopping you. You choose the life you want to live, and I'll be right there next to you."
I felt this weight being lifted from my shoulders. I didn't like the fact that we wouldn't be able to spend the summer together, but it was only a minor cost. But I didn't have to worry for four years about Spencer getting hurt, and now she was doing that she truly loved. I was happy for her.
"Where are you going now?" I asked running my fingers threw her beautiful locks.
"The lacrosse coach at Boston University reached out to me, so I'll be going there for journalism and playing lacrosse, two of my favorite loves, besides you," she said giving me a peck on the lips.
"Oh, rival teams, I wonder how that will go over," I joked. Spencer laughed and tried to push me off the bed.
"Spencer!" I laughed and shouted, trying to stay on the bed.
Eventually both of us ended up on the ground laughing. I wrapped my arms around Spencer and pulled her closer to me. She was lying on top of me, her lips inches away from mine.
"How did I get so luck?" I asked tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I guess we must be two lucky people," she said closing the gap between us.
I held on tight to Spencer, never wanting to let her go. This was the last time that I would be able to hold Spencer for while. I cherished every moment that I had with her, and I looked forward to future moments.
It was around one when we finally decided to get out. I let Spencer spend the rest of the time that she had with her family and Glen. I threw on a pair of running shorts and a t-shirt before getting in the car. I drove across town and picked Sid up. Carmen was at the house when I arrived. She was already dressed in a white dress with her hair pinned up in a gorgeous braid.
"Ashley! Hey!" she said waiving to me as I walked in.
"Carmen! Wow you look great," I said taking a seat next her, while Dana fetched the boys.
"Why thank you! And I must say you have a very original outfit on for today's special event," she joked.
"It works nicely doesn't it," I laughed.
"Did you hear about Spencer?" she asked. I assumed that she was referring to the Academy. I nodded. "I'm proud of her. She's doing what she loves."
"And what about you? Are you doing what you love?"
"Ashley, the Navy is all I've ever dreamed about. I would do anything to serve my country, so yes I'm doing what I love."
"I'm proud of you Carmen."
"I'm proud of you too Ashley."
"So what are you doing here?"
"Picking up Emily, we were going to go for a quick lunch before rehearsal. Would you like to come?"
"Thank you, but I'm going to let you two spend some time together. Plus, I've got to take care of this goober," I said pointing to Sid who was running around the house.
Dana and I finally cornered the boys. With some difficulty, I finally got Sid to leave. I waved goodbye to Dana and Carmen before making my way to the car.
"You look happy," Sid said hopping into the passenger seat.
"And?"
"You must have had a fun night with Spencer," he said looking straight ahead. I choked when he said that. I don't think that anyone mentioned the three letter word to Sid, but for some reason it seemed like he was implying that. I didn't know how to respond to that so I just turned the radio up. From the corner of my eye I saw Sid smirk at my reaction. He knew.
I sat in my assigned seat, surrounded by the rest of my classmate. Emily sat next to me, and Spencer was sitting a few seats down. Every once and a while I would catch her eye, and she would give me a small smile and wave. We were hoping that we would be able to sit together, but she was in the area for speech-givers. Spencer had been freaking out of her speech for about the past two weeks, hopefully we got everything under control.
"Welcome to the Graduation of the Class of 2009," our principle said into the microphone. "I want to congratulation you on your recent achievements. It has been a great honor to be your principle. But enough of that like to introduce our speakers of this evening, Jason Monroe, Carmen Sanchez, Monica Heart, and Spencer Carlin. In a few minutes we will hear from each of these wonderful students. I would like to take a minute to recognize…" His speech continued for about five more minutes. He talked about some teachers, the school, students, achievements, and other things. I wasn't really paying attention. My gown was really uncomfortable, and not to mention a weird purple color. I kind of wish that I was a guy to that I wear the white cap and gown instead of the weird purple color.
"And now I would like to introduce our first speaker, Jason Monroe." There was a round of applause as Jason got up from his seat and proceeded to the podium. Jason got up and talked about the success of the school and the 'high school' experience. It was probably one of the most classic graduation speeches I've heard, all about we made it, all this work is going to pay off. Carmen got up and talked about the hardships that go on during high school that don't always go as planned, but we always have the choice to choose our destiny. Monica talked about all these famous people and their high school experience, or something like that.
"I'd like to announce our final speaker, Spencer Carlin." I watched as Spencer walked up to the podium. The purple cap and gown looks much better on her. Her white dress was invisible through the neckline of her gown. Her hair blew in the wind, but still she looked beautiful.
"Classmates, parents, faculty, families, it's been a hard four years, but today, we are released into the world to find our way. But that's not what I want to talk about today. Today, I want to talk about failure. So many people today think that failure is the only other option besides success. So many people think that they are failures in some way; even I thought I was a failure at some points. But I'm here to tell you that failure is your way to success. The connotation of failure does not exist, but the word does. We use it in so many ways that the definition gets scrambled into a negative connotation. I used to think that if I wasn't able to do something that I was a failure. But, maybe it was just that I wasn't cut out for that. Everyone is cut differently. We are all different shapes and sizes; none of us are the same. We try to compare ourselves to one another, because we believe that we have something in common. But that's when we believe we are failures because we are different from one another. You can't compare yourself to any; the only person you can compare yourself to is you.
I used to think that if I compared myself to someone, I would find my failure and fix it. Sometimes it wasn't that easy. Sometimes you discover more about yourself that you wanted to. I learned that to compare yourself to another is a failure, but to compare yourself to you is the way to success.
When I first picked up a lacrosse stick, I was horrendous. I couldn't throw a ball without hurling it to the ground. I failed in the eyes of my parents. But that failure, it wasn't a failure to me. To me, it was a sign that I need to try again, to pick up that ball again and again until I got it right or I realized that lacrosse wasn't cut for me.
Many people say that high school is a time for failure, and it is. But it's also a time to ignore that failure and get back up on your feet and try, try, again. Failure doesn't define you. You define failure.
Now before we walk off this stage and part our separate way, I want to give you a little piece of advice. You are the only person that can define yourself, and failure is just another word in the dictionary, it doesn't define who you are or what you can do. Thank you."
There was a loud round of applause as Spencer walked off the stage. She had her Carlin smile plastered on her face. Her parents were standing in the crowd, clapping, crying, and laughing. Glen was next to them hollering his brains out. I gave Spencer a thumb up as she looked over at me.
"And now I would like to present these graduates with their ticket into the real world."
We had rehearsed this graduation thing a hundred times and there were still people messing it up. We filed in line alphabetically. Emily was behind me and Spencer made her way back to the spot in front of me.
"You were amazing." I whispered into her ear. She turned around and gave me a quick peck on the lips. Luckily there were people surrounded us so we didn't have to broadcast our PDA.
"Thanks," she said turning around. Her reached behind her and grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers as we waited to 'be released into the world.' Principle McNally began to hand out diplomas, while calling out the names of students.
"Spencer Carlin." I felt Spencer's hand leave mine as she started towards the platform. She walked with such grace and pose. Principle McNally handed Spencer her diploma and shook her hand before letting her walk of the platform.
"Ashley Davies." My heart started to pound a little faster. Emily squeezed my shoulder and gave me a little push further. I walked towards McNally, who hand my diploma waiting for me in his hands.
"Excellent work Ashley. Good luck next year," he said shaking my hand.
"Thank you sir," I said taking the diploma. I walked over the stage as they called Emily's name. I joined Spencer back in our assigned seats.
After all of the names were announced, Principle McNally returned to the podium.
"Congratulations Class of 2009, good luck!" he said happily into the microphone. There was a roar from the crowd. I watched as the first cap was thrown into the air. Spencer wrapped her arm around my shoulder and took off her cap.
"We did it Ash," she said throwing her cap into the air.
"We did," I repeated reaching for my cap and throwing it in the air along with the others.
The crowd began to disperse as people went to go find their parents, friends, and other family. Spencer and I parted from the crowd and headed towards the stand.
"Ashley! Spencer!" I heard Sid shout from a crowd of people. I saw him running up towards us in his cute little tie and button down shirt.
"Hey Sid," I said giving him a hug and rustling his hair. He turned to Spencer and hugged her around the waist.
"Congratulations," he said.
"Thanks bud. Hey where are mom and dad?" I asked. He led us towards the stand. My parents soon came into view, along with Spencer's, Carmen's, and Emily's. Carmen and Emily soon joined us.
"Congratulations sweetheart," my dad said giving me a tight hug.
"Thanks dad."
"Let's get a picture," I heard my mother say. She rounded up Carmen, Emily, Spencer and I. She had to make sure everything was perfect, but of course being the teenagers that we are nothing turned out perfect. We broke out into laughter just as my mother was taking the picture. Then, she forced us to take a 'nice' picture, which I might add turned out awfully.
After graduation we all decided to go out and get something to eat. Spencer, Emily, and Carmen all piled into my car. I let Spencer choose the place, because she always has the best taste for food. We ended up at some Italian restaurant near the city.
"So Spencer you leave tomorrow?" My mom asked taking a bite of food.
"Actually, I've changed my mind about colleges. I still have to attend the Summer Program at the Academy, but I'll be at Boston University."
"That's wonderful Spencer. What do you plan on doing?"
"Communication and Journalism, and playing lacrosse."
"That sounds amazing. I'm sure going to love it," my mom said giving her a warm smile.
"What about you Carmen, you're leaving tomorrow?" my mom asked Carmen. She nodded.
"You must be excited," Dana said. Spencer and Carmen shared looks and then shrugged their shoulders. I knew that they might be not excited because they were leaving their significant others. I reached under the table and grabbed Spencer's hand stroking it with my thumb trying to comfort her.
We ate the rest of our dinner in silence with a few simple conversations in the middle. After we paid the bill be each headed to our separate cars.
"Hey Spence," I said following her out to her parent's car. "Do you wanna get out of here?"
"Yeah, let's go," she said grabbing my hand.
We drove over to the lake that Spencer introduced us to. I guess it had become sort of 'our place'. Somewhere where we could just be along. I grabbed a blanket from the car and placed it on the ledge. We stuck our feet in the cold water and just sat there enjoy each other's company.
"Everything is going to change after tomorrow," Spencer said quietly.
"I know," I said trying to contain myself. "I know."
"Our schedules won't match up."
"We'll see each other," I said reassuring her, "Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring, Summer."
"And during the year?"
"Tournaments, Phone, Skype calls, you can call me any day any time."
"I'm going to miss holding your hand, kiss your lips, running my fingers through you hair."
"I'll everything thing about from your cute snoring to your sarcastic humor."
"How many days until I see you?"
"Here," I said pulling out my phone. I clicked on one of the apps that Sid had suggested to me, countdown. I know that it's a little cliché, but hey. "Well I start school on August 15th, and Worlds are July 6-13. Plebe Summer ends on the 15th. Emily and I are planning on driving down August 9th. Takes about two days to get to Maryland. So August 11th. But we'll talk everyday and Skype whenever we can."
"56 days," she said looking at my phone.
"56 days," I repeated.
"We better make this last night count," she said giving me a seductive smile.
