"Happy graduation guys!" Cat lets go of me and I turn around to see my grandparents standing behind me.
"HEY! I though you couldn't make it!" I said walking up to my Mamaw and giving her a big hug.
"Hey Rob!" My Gramps says. I give him a hug too.
"Miss your graduation!? We wouldn't miss it for the world." Mamaw reassure me. "And Cat must be one lucky girl… That was something. The whole speech and then that." She smiles at me. I turn and look at Cat who walks up next to me. She gives my grandparents a hug. Cat was practically family to them.
"Hey kid! So… How long exactly have you been waiting for that?" My Gramps asks her.
Cats face goes red and a smile comes over her face. "Oh… only about 10 years. Not that long." She chuckles and smiles at me.
I look at her. "10 years! Sorry about that…" I smile back.
"Oh like you haven't been waiting that long too." Mamaw points out. We all laugh.
"Well congrats Rob. So I here everyone is going to Tori's now. Her parents invited all of us along. You kids hang out or whatever you call it and us oldies will keep each other company. See you later." They chuckle and leave.
"I'm not the only one who saw Cat and Robbie kiss, right?" We all turn to see Sikowitz with a confused look on his face.
"No Sikowitz. We did." Cat reassures him.
"Are you sure… I don't think I believe you… Prove it." He says smiling. Cat looks at me and leans forward. I lean in all the way and give her a long, drawn out, passion filled kiss.
Sikowitz starts clapping like a retarded seal with a smile across his face. "Do you believe us now?"
He gives a little nod. "I want to congratulate and thank you again for everything you did for me. You guy are truly an inspiration." He opens his arms for us all to come in. After a big group hug, Tori starts to cry.
"After today… after this summer, it's all over. Our childhood, out adolescence, us." Tori explains.
"Yea, but we do have a whole summer to spend together. A whole summer to make more memories." Andre says wrapping his arm around her.
We all leave and heard to Tori's house. Cat's mom has to go to work because she works nights at the hospital, so cat decides to tag along with me again. We both get in the car. I start the engine as she starts to say something.
"Have I told you how amazing that speech was? Or how great a kisser you are?" She smiles at me and leans over. I give her a short but soft and passionate kiss. She pulls back and sits in her seat to buckle her seatbelt.
"No. But I wouldn't mind you gushing about it." I say.
"Well let's start off with… Where did that speech come from?! Last thing I remember is Robbie Shapiro is, 1- Afraid to speak in front of a crowd. And 2- For years afraid to be Valedictorian because he would have to write a speech. Where the hell did that piece of amazement come from? I mean, you made me cry!" She blabbers.
"Well thank you. And let's just say that the old Robbie has moved out. There's a new one in here." I smile at her and grab her hand.
"Well let's just hope he's as good as the old one." She intertwines our fingers.
"He's better… Hey Cat? Can we talk for a minute?" I ask her. A worried look comes over her face.
"Oh… 'Can we talk' is never good." She laughs a little bit. "But sure what's up Robbie." She gives me her full attention.
"Cat… I don't know how to say this… No, I know how to say it, but I don't know where to start." I explain.
"Just start from the beginning and be honest." She replies.
"Cat…I got accepted into MIT in the winter. January 17th." She just stares at me. Not in an angry way, just an obvious way.
"AND WHY ARENT YOU HAPPY! ROBBIE THIS IS AMAZING! You've wanted to go to MIT since we were kids!" She smiles but I can see the hurt in her eyes. Cat was always the person to hide her feelings with a smile. That's what I love about her. She always so happy even when it hurts her the most. She puts everyone in a good mood.
"Don't hide it Cat… I can see it in your eyes… I'm sorry. I just figured you should know… That I'm not going to accept it. I can't leave my family and my friends to go all the way across the country to Massachusetts. I can't leave you." I explain.
The tears well up in her eyes. "You can't let me be the reason you stayed behind. I'm not going to be the one who keeps you from doing what you love. I'm sorry but I won't let it happen. You're going to MIT Robbie." She wipes her eyes.
"But Cat…"
"No! You're going whether you like it or not. This is the opportunity of a life time, and you're not going to pass it up for me! You can come home on breaks, plus I'll be here in a few years. I'll wait. You will be here in a few years too, so as long as you promise that your mine, we will be fine!" She says with a smile on her face. There goes Cat again, hiding her feelings with a smile.
"I'll think about it." I say.
"You will think about it and then say yes. OK?" She pushes.
"Fine! And of course I'll always be yours." I say as we pull up at Tori's.
After all of the congratulations, the hello's, and a few 'look how old you've gotten's', we all settle down. We have the small talk with all of our friends. Cat grabs my hand and pulls me up onto the stage. The band that was playing the music was taking a break so Cat walks up to the mic and taps it.
"Hey everybody! Happy graduation!" There were some claps and cheers but then they let her continue. "It's going to be hard not seeing any of you in the halls anymore. We are all going to separate now, some of us are going to college, some of us are staying here. It kinda sucks. But, I think we have some cool news. For those you who don't know him, this is Robbie Shapiro." My face goes red and I know what she is going to say. "He was the Valedictorian. How did everyone like his speech?!" She lets them all clap again. I wasn't expecting such an applause or even the cheers that I got.
"Anyway, for those of you who want to follow your dreams, you really need to do it. Don't let anything get in your way and don't let anyone stop you… Now Robbie has some good news! He got into MIT!"
There was screaming and yelling around the room. People who didn't even like me were congratulating me. I was shaking hands and giving high fives to everyone that night.
We go back to the gang. Jade just stares at us. "MIT Robbie… Why didn't we know!? That awesome!"
"Yea..." Jade looks at my reaction.
"Oh… I get it… You don't want to leave." She looks at Cat.
"It doesn't matter if he leaves. He is mine forever!" She says trying to cover up her fear of losing me.
"Of course he is lil Red. Have you see the way Rob looks at you. It's the way my parent looked at each other."
She pulls me in for a short kiss by the tie again. "Ok enough you too, we don't need you guys jumping each other on the couch." Jade chuckles at her rude comment and Cat just gives her a glare. With one last kiss she pulls away just as Sikowitz walks up to us.
MIT and NYU are my dream colleges and seeing as though MIT is practically Ivy league (but its not) and it costs a hell of a lot of money, im stuck with trying my best to go to NYU.
This story has a bit of a personal story in it. The ending has my own little twist to my personal story though. It didn't end the same at all. Obviously I haven't graduated high school, the kiss never happened. It's rough losing someone you care about. Whether they're moving across the county, or even died. Those words left unsaid, the proper goodbye that you never got to tell them.