By: CNJ
PG-13
12: Countdown To Graduation, Part 2
Mona:
"...so, it's true that Ms.
Fedders is leaving?" Stacey asked Mary Anne.
"Yup," Mary Anne nodded.
"We were all kind of shocked."
"I saw some of the freshmen
crying earlier today and wondered what was going on," Claudia put in. We
were at a BSC meeting.
"Wow, she sounds like a
great teacher," Charlotte Johanssen put in. She, Karen Brewer, Vanessa
Pike and Becca Ramsey are in middle school now and are in training to take
our places once we leave for college at the end of the summer. They've
been sitting in on our meetings and even accompanying us to our jobs so
the kids can get to know them as well as giving them experience. We call
them our officers-in-training. The BSC-in-training. Come September, they
will be the BSC the Next Generation.
"She is," Mary Anne told
them. Ms. Fedders teachers sophomore and freshman English and is the moderator
of the Stoneybrook High Beacon, which Mary Anne is on. Mary Anne
is the head editor of the newspaper.
"That must be why Ms. Silverbein..."
Kristy muttered.
"Ms. Silverbein did what?"
Claudia asked, munching on a Hershey bar and passing around chips.
"Mona, Mary Anne, and I
saw Ms. Fedders and Ms. Silverbein walking down the hall and had an arm
around her and Ms. Silverbein seemed to kind of stiffen," Kristy explained.
"Ms. Silverbein's a friend
of Ms. Fedders, so Ms. Fedders told us to take it easy on her," Mary Anne
put in.
"Poor Ms. Silverbein," I
let out my breath.
"I still can't believe it,"
Mary Anne said softly. "Everyone in our homeroom was so shocked ."
"Where is she going?" Karen
asked.
"She got a job as a publisher
for Scholastic Instructor magazine in Maine," I told them.
"So she's leaving the teaching
field altogether?" Vanessa asked. "Think it's teacher burnout or something?"
"I don't think so," Kristy
said. "She say she likes teaching, but..."
"I think she really wants
to go into publishing," Mary Anne added. "It's probably her first choice."
The phone rang just then and we took a couple of clients. We let Karen
answer one call.
"Speaking of first choices..."
Stacey looked around. I couldn't tell if she was nervous or happy. She
smiled a little, but her dark blue eyes seemed a little troubled. "It came
through...I got the scholarship to the northeastern college of my choice."
"Oh, conGRATS, Stace!" Claudia
whooped.
"Way to go!" Mary Anne screamed.
"YYYYESSSS!" Kristy yowled
and all of us hugged her.
"Thanks..." Stacey said
softly once we'd settled down. "You all...I'm a bit...apprehensive about
this...leaving Stoneybrook...us starting over..."
"Change is scary," Mary
Anne said softly. "I can't wait to get out of Stoneybrook and out on my
own, but I sometimes have a few butterflies myself." I got the feeling
Stacey was having the toughest time adjusting to us moving from high school
to college. Mary Anne and I had both been accepted to Staten U. in NYC
and were talking about rooming together. Mary Anne had a partial scholarship
there and I was waiting for my financial aid forms to be processed. What
a big step we were headed for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stacey:
"...I'm so proud of you,
darling," Mom told me as we ate dinner that night.
"Thanks..." I murmured.
It's so hard to think about leaving her in the fall. Mom and are really
close, especially since she and my dad divorced when I was in seventh grade.
As she got up to get the dessert, I looked after her fighting back tears.
My friends were so anxious to be away from Stoneybrook. I wasn't. I guess
I was looking forward to college and eventually being independent, but
I didn't feel ready to leave Mom behind. I'm still deciding between MIT,
Aberdine U. in Vermont and New York U. in upstate New York. I had the option
of going to Stamford U., which was nearby, but I got the feeling the Mom
wanted me to try something further away. Would she feel alone with me gone?
I worried that I'd feel adrift without Mom and my friends around. I was
so at home here, seeing my friends every day, the same kids I'd been friends
with since middle school. I'd have to start over next fall. Sure, we'd
keep in touch, but we wouldn't be able to see each other every day, not
even every week. Was I ready for that? I wished one of the other BSC was
headed to one of the same colleges I'd been accepted to, but none of them
were. Mary Anne and Mona were going to Staten U. in New York City and had
already sent in their reply to their acceptance letters. And Kristy would
be right near them at Fellowdean U. and was getting ready to send in her
response. Abby and Anna, our two associate BSC members, were headed to
New Jersey. Anna had considered Julliard, but wanted to go to Trenton Music
Academy instead, partly to be near Abby, who was headed to Dexter U. Claudia
was going to Granite U. way out in Minnesota. I wished I had her daring.
She'd be far out in the midwest. Dawn, another associate member of ours
and Mary Anne's stepsister, told us she had decided to go to Tucson U.
in Arizona. Dawn's parents are divorced and her dad lives in California,
where she's originally from, so she won't be too far from her dad, stepmom
and little sister. So, where would I go? I worried as we ate dessert. I
used to want to head to NYC, where I lived until I was in seventh grade,
but that idea had faded. Much as I love New York City, I didn't want to
live there now, although I'd make sure I visited.
"Are things all right?"
Mom asked softly. I was quiet a minute. "You seem kind of blue for somebody
who just won a scholarship."
"I guess..." I hesitated.
"Just thinking about the big changes coming up...in my friends' lives and
mine. It's going to feel weird not seeing them every day."
"It'll be hard," Mom told
me. "But you'll find a niche in college. And as strong as your friendships
are, they'll last the distance." I hope so, I thought when I headed upstairs.
I did my homework and just before I went to bed, I peered out into the
spring night. The trees were blossoming in really pretty pastel colors
and when I opened the window, I could hear crickets chirping. Like a beacon
ending our childhood and high school years, I thought sadly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claudia:
Mona and Anna raced to catch
up with me after school later on that week and we headed to the auditorium
anteroom to work on prom preparation. Just two more weeks, I thought.
"Ready to roll?" Caitlin
Giotti asked when we came in. Caitlin's the president of the senior class.
"Yeah..." we all nodded
and joined the others, who were most of the prom committee. It's about
ten of us and we've been working on decorations, food, and location and
other things. We're having it at Fairview Gardens down the street from
Stoneybrook Community College. It'll be a Caribbean theme and will have
a DJ. We'd put out a vote to the senior class and the DJ had won out over
a band big time. Now we're working on food and decorations, which is the
fun part.
"...think a buffet style
will be better," Susan Perry was saying. "That way, we could just get whatever
we felt like. It might be a bit messy, but there wouldn't be any waiting
around to be served and everyone could fix their food the way they like
it."
"Sounds good," Mona put
in. Others chimed in agreement. So we decided on a buffet-style. It's going
to be like a formal dinner with chicken, veggies, and desserts. I hoped
we remembered to order a lot of chocolate, since Mary Anne and I are both
chocolate fiends. I wondered if Mary Anne was bringing Tim Hastings to
the prom. She and Tim have been going out since January, but lately, I
think they've been having trouble. I knew Kristy was bringing her boyfriend,
David Amesworth. Those two are still a hot item so far. I myself am toying
with the idea of asking Jim Masley, a junior, or going stag. Stacey, Abby,
Anna, and Mona are going stag. The BSC is making plans to all go together.
It seemed like it was shaping up to be a fun night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kristy:
"Sure they'll let you in
wearing that?" David leaned back as I held up my skirt and top for the
prom.
"Sure, why not?" I asked.
The skirt was a sequined leather while the top was white and loose. It
could pass for a full dress. As you might guess, I only wear dresses in
cases of dire emergencies. I would wear jeans, but I don't think the people
at Fairview Gardens have progressed that far. Maybe when our kids
come of age. Oh, well.
"You'll be a first," David
leaned back on my bed and laughed. I put the outfit away and laughed along
with him, falling onto the bed. I was sooo glad I found this outfit quickly
since I detest clothes shopping. "So, you're definitely going to Fellowdean
next year?" David asked.
"Yup," I nodded, leaning
close to him. "And did you decide between Hartford U. or Connecticut U.?"
"I think it'll be Hartford
U," David nodded.
"That's good," I stroked
his hair. "Thank the stars for e-mail."
"We sure can keep in touch
these days," David smiled.
"Ahhh, the nineties and
twenty-first century wonders," I sighed. We lay there a long time, whispering
things back and forth. No one else was home yet, so we had the whole house
to ourselves. Boy, I couldn't wait to get out of Stoneybrook. I'd leave
and only come back for visits and that's it. Look out, world here I came,
ready or not, along with my friends.