BPOV
"If you don't wake up, we're going to be late getting you to the school," Edward says against my ear.
I keep my eyes closed but smile.
School has been done for me over the past week. I only had to go in for Graduation rehearsal where they made me go over my valedictorian speech at each run-through. It's safe to say I have it memorized.
"Everyone left with Tanya ten minutes ago. Your dad has probably caught on that you didn't stay over with her last night," Edward points out, I feel his body leave mine.
I open one eye seeing he's already showered, he stands at his dresser, slacks hanging low not buttoned or zipped yet.
His body has transformed since we started dating, he's bulked up, but it's definitely more muscle.
I watch the muscles in his back flex when he bends down to the next to last drawer to get a shirt out.
My stomach tightens at the sight of him and I wonder if it will always feel like this for me… us. I can tell by the way Edward looks at me it's the same for him too.
"Oh, now Sleep Beauty decides to wake," he says sitting on the end of the bed to finish buttoning up his dress shirt.
I roll my eyes, stretching before I sit up.
"You need to rethink the lawyer thing because you are such a comedian," I tell him, getting up to start the shower.
Edward smacks my ass as I pass.
I laugh but don't let him distract me.
"This year hasn't been quite easy for me or any of us at Forks High…" I recite as I start rehearsing the speech as I shower.
It's when I finish that I see Edward through the glass sitting on the closed lid, quietly watching me.
"How long have you been sitting there?"
"Since I heard you start talking in here," he says simply.
I turn off the shower and step out.
Edward hands me a towel before I start drying my hair and applying my makeup.
It's when I'm stepping into my dress and pulling it up that my nerves start to kick up. I glance at my phone seeing we still have a half-hour to spare.
"Do you think my speech is okay?" I ask Edward who is scrolling through his phone on the couch.
"I think you'll get a standing ovation," he replies, sliding his phone into his pocket.
"But—"
"Bella, you cover the elephant in the room without it actually being present," he says, cutting me off. "Your school was rocked by what happened to not only you but what the other girls went through. All of you graduating this year came out on the other side."
I exhale the breath I'm holding and nod.
What he didn't know was this wasn't my speech to give, it was someone else's.
When we arrive at the school Charlie approaches us with a frown.
"The Cullen's have been here for forty-five minutes," he says.
"I overslept," I grumble.
Just as he's about to interrogate me Edward steps in.
"She overslept, I saw everyone leave and that Bella wasn't with them so I went over to the house to see if she was awake yet," Edward explains lying through his teeth.
Dad eyes us for a minute but he likes Edward so he chooses to drop it.
"We should go take our seats," Dad says.
Edward nods.
I give Charlie a hug and Edward gives me a chaste kiss before leaving me to head to the stadium with my dad.
I spot her flowing blonde locks from across the parking lot before I see her. This is why I was okay arriving a little later than everyone else.
She's standing with Emmett looking at the school.
I make my way across the parking lot to greet them.
I reached out to Rosalie about a month ago when I was announced our class Valedictorian.
Between the two of us, it was a close race but I felt like this was handed to me because she switched schools halfway through the school year. It didn't feel right.
I might get in a lot of trouble with the school, but I was okay with the consequences that may result from what I was about to do.
"You were able to get your dad to come?" I ask her.
"He was a little confused but I was able to plead with him to come back to Forks," she explains softly.
"Swan, you are pretty crafty," Emmett says with a chuckle from beside us.
I only smile.
This is the right thing to do.
Rose, as she asked me to call her, is wearing a white sundress, with cute brown wedges. I spot the phoenix pendant that Emmett gave her during the trial.
"Ready?" I ask her.
"What if they won't let me on stage?"
"Let me worry about that," I tell her.
We head over to the stadium, mostly everyone has taken their seats.
I zip up my gown, place my cap on my head and take my seat when I hear my name announced.
Jazz gives me a look but I shrug shooting him a smile.
I turn to look in the stands.
Charlie was sitting in the front row with Edward and his family.
They all look at me confused when Rose walks up the stairs to the stage.
Mr. Cope is about to stand when she speaks.
"Bella has invited me to speak here today in her stead. I hope you can all indulge me for a few moments," she says, commanding everyone's attention with her steady voice as she begins. "At the beginning of the year, we were both the top students in our class, and although Bella is the valedictorian, she has graciously allowed me to speak here today."
She pauses to take a breath.
"This year hasn't been an easy one for me, or any of the students and their parents here at Forks High for that matter. As a lot of you are aware, the senior class of twenty-twenty-two was marred with a scandal that loomed over what was to be our most memorable school year. All involved did their best to move forward, the citizens of Forks came together as a community," she says.
The Kings were no longer welcome in Forks or Port Angeles, Royce's parents soon moved to California after the trial.
"The one thing I took from what happened, that sustains me even today, is that there are good people in this world. When I think of the future, I think of the people who made it possible and brighter for me to step out of the darkness.
We all are about to embark on the next chapters in our lives; some of us are planning on going to college in the fall, while others are entering the workforce for the first time. We are all striving to create a life of fulfillment, trying to find our own happiness.
Today marks this milestone for not only us, but the people who have supported us. They too are moving on to their next chapters. So, in closing, my hope for the Class of twenty-twenty-two is that you find what makes you happy."
The entire class of graduates and those in the audience rose to their feet in thundering applause.
We had no idea what the future held for us, but each one of us had our own paths to follow.
Alice and Jazz had a chance meet up after college in Seattle, they dated for two years before their love would eventually fizzle out. It was nothing specific, but just time to move on. Because my friendship with Alice never quite picked back up, I only knew from Jazz that he would eventually find happiness with Maria, a partner at Edward's law firm in Chicago.
It was a chance meeting when Jazz came out to visit me, that he met her at a random happy hour Edward texted me about. He was able to get a teaching position at Northwestern in the History department. They married within six months of dating and had their daughter Lucy, a year later.
Rose and Emmett were one of those couples that would stand the test of time. Emmett eventually took over and expanded his father's business just as Rose graduated from UDub. They got married right before she started law school.
They found out soon after they were married that Rose couldn't carry to term after her second miscarriage. It was their second anniversary when the adoption agency they were working with told them that their son, Henry, was born.
Tanya and Maggie only lasted through the summer after graduation. They both went to schools on opposite sides of the country, not to mention the fight Tanya picked with her before leaving. Maggie eventually moved back to Forks after college, becoming the principal of Forks High once Mr. Cope retired.
Tanya would never admit to it, but Maggie being in Forks is one of the reasons she never goes home. Carlisle and Esme visit her in San Francisco multiple times throughout the year. Tanya had a serious girlfriend during her first year of med school, but nothing held a torch to her first love. She was now a workaholic, the only time she took time off was to visit me and Jazz in Chicago.
Edward and I broke up during my junior year of undergrad. He was too busy trying to study for the bar exam, I tried to be supportive but my loneliness won out. I chose him over me more than once and it led to our first massive fight. There was yelling and there were things both of us held back from the other, I ended up moving out of our shared apartment a week later.
It was then that I went down the path of trying to find myself. I dated and made new friends while still trying to navigate through my classes. Tanya never pushed me to talk about him when she came to visit, she was good like that. A year after we broke up, I met Benjamin, he was a few years older than me and worked in finance.
We dated for seven months when he proposed, I said yes, but still to this day I'm not sure why. I loved him, but I think deep down I only did it because he was safe. Another year went by and I still hadn't committed to a wedding date, Benjamin called me out on it. We fought about it and I left to go to the bar down the street from our condo to cool down.
It was packed for a Thursday night, but I chose a table in the back by the bar. I probably looked like a nightmare, I left wearing a black strappy mini dress that I mainly wore only at home and my red flannel was open, sliding down my shoulder. My hair was wild, falling forward to shield me from the masses.
"Can I get you anything, Doll?" The waitress asks me.
"Whiskey?"
"Are you asking?" she teases with a laugh.
"Whiskey, straight," I say definitively.
I'm two pulls into my whiskey when I hear him.
"Either my eyes are playing tricks on me or you are looking just as pissed as the last time I saw you," Edward says standing next to my table, imported beer in hand.
He looked good, his hair was longer slicked back. He was wearing a black suit but his jacket was discarded somewhere. I look around the bar seeing a group of suits sitting near the entrance a black jacket on the back of a seat.
I run my hand roughly through my hair, my ring gets caught.
"Fuck," I groan.
He sits his bottle down and helps me untangle my hair from the princess cut diamond.
"I guess congrats are in order," he says with a smile.
I take a sip of my whiskey laying my head down on my arms.
"Tell me what's wrong, Bella," he says in that soft tone of his.
It's been almost three and a half years but something in this moment makes me open up to him. I tell him about Benjamin and about how I've been feeling that none of this is right.
Benjamin knew about Royce, but Edward had been through the trenches with me. I've been through enough therapy myself over the last few years and have come to terms with everything that happened.
Maybe all of this has been brought on due to my clinical. I decided I wanted to help women who have been through assaults and domestic violence. This is what my life revolves around. So to think about all this wedded bliss I'm supposed to be feeling, I hesitate if this is what I want… with Benjamin.
"What are you up to?" I ask him.
"I work for the DA's office," he says, giving me a rueful smile.
I feel genuine pride for him.
I tell him exactly that.
He also tells me he's a bachelor.
I ask about his mom and he shows me pictures of his sister, Emilia and new baby brother, Elliot. He still doesn't see Kate, but does meet up with his father when he goes back to Chicago.
"Well we're both equals now having one engagement each under our belts," he teases with a wide grin.
My heart pulls.
I shoot him the stink eye only causing him to laugh more.
The bartender calls out the last call.
As I'm climbing out of the booth he stops me.
"I think this is long overdue but I owe you an apology, Bella," he says.
I start to wave him off but he gently grabs my hand.
"Please let me apologize," he says. "You didn't deserve the way I treated you and I feel like seeing you here tonight gives me the chance to give you that apology."
"Edward, I think a lot happened and time just wasn't on our side," I say honestly.
We step outside and I ask for his phone.
"Wait, you still have my number?" I ask surprised.
He shrugs.
I text my phone from his.
"We should do this again," I tell him.
He nods, taking his phone back with a smile.
I stayed with Benjamin a month before I called quits on our engagement.
Edward and I were friends for four months before he asked if we could try again.
This time we were each other's second engagement.