Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(112)

There were only a few weeks left before our senior year was over, and my homework was now pretty much non-existent. We were at the point where most of our classes were filled with busy work or movies. We’d been watching the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice in our writing and literature class, which was fine with me and most of the other girls in the class, but I was pretty sure Reed and the few guys taking our class wanted to nap.

I was looking forward to today’s viewing because we were going to get to see the end. I liked that part, not just because it was swoon-worthy, but because the main character, Elizabeth, stood up for herself. We settled into our desks and Sienna and I were getting quite comfortable, prepared for Mr. Bosch to turn the lights off, when he instead slid to sit on his desk like he had an announcement.

“I know, I know. It’s movie day. I promise, we’ll get to the movie,” he rolled his eyes a little. I wondered just how many senior semesters he’d endured. “But I had a quick announcement to make before we started, if that’s ok with you guys?”

He pulled his glasses forward a little to look out at us over the tops, overdoing it for our benefit. Mr. Bosch was everyone’s favorite. “Well then, if I could get a drum roll, please...” A few of the students started patting their desks, and soon the room sounded like it was full of messy thunder.

“Nolan Lennox.” My eyes shot wide. No, no… no attention, no thank you, no please? “If you could come up here, I have something special I want to present you with.”

I looked at Sienna, my shoulders scrunched up to my ears and my body stiff. I had no idea what this was about, and I was not looking forward to standing in front of this classroom of students again. Hesitantly, I walked up to the front and turned, rigidly, to face my teacher.

At first he laughed a little and told me to relax. I leaned a little onto his desk and then just turned to look at him, bobbing between his eyes and my feet with my glare.

“Nolan, I am so honored to present this to you. I’ve never had a student deserve it more, and I wanted your fellow classmates to know what you’ve achieved,” he was a little emotional as he spoke. “Your memoir essay was very well-received by the writer’s college, Nolan.”

I gulped a little, my heart pounding as I waited to hear what this meant.

“Class, Nolan entered her essay in a very competitive contest. Only three awards are given out, and students from throughout the country compete for this award. Nolan, you were given the Note of Distinction. That’s the highest prize, and it means $5,000 a year for your education, provided you keep your GPA up.”

I wanted to faint, but instead just held myself up on his desk, my eyes I’m sure as wide as they’d ever been. I vaguely could hear the others in my class clapping and whistling for me. I was so stunned, I think it took a few minutes for me to let it all sink in and to smile. I shook Mr. Bosch’s hand as he handed me an envelope full of the information about my award as well as confirmation about my stipend.

When I turned to walk dazedly back to my desk, I caught Reed’s view and the look on his face was so very much the old Reed, my Reed. He was…proud. Sienna gave me a huge hug and whispered how proud she was of me in my ear. I couldn’t believe it.

I couldn’t wait to get home to tell my parents, so I broke the school rule and snuck into the girl’s bathroom to call my mom at work. I wasn’t certain, but I think she cried a little as we spoke. And for the rest of the day, a weight was lifted and I felt invincible.

--------------------

Ironing the purple silk gown was impossible, each time I flipped it I only seemed to add a new set of wrinkles to the mix. I still couldn’t believe that I was graduating from high school and would be moving from my tiny room into a place of my own with Sienna. Sure, it would be a dorm room, one surrounded by hundreds of other 18-year-old pseudo grownups just like me. But it would be far from home, or at least the farthest I’d ever been.

My mother was excited for my new adventure in life, but I could tell my dad was having a hard time letting me go. We still had two months at home together over the summer, but my dad had already started prepping my car, checking oil, hoses, vents and parts I didn’t know existed. He’d called Buck a few times, too, to get his opinion, and together the two of them had worried themselves into more than a dozen new parts for my old beater of a car.

I had practiced my speech for tonight’s ceremony at least a hundred times. As much as I wanted to be valedictorian, I was also thankful that the responsibility had fallen into someone else’s lap, and Sienna was worthy of the honor. I was content to be her number two. My speech was one that was pre-written by years of students before me—the traditional school pillars of pride. Sienna and I had fits of laughter the night before about the pillars and how silly the entire thing seemed. Preaching about character, adversity, discipline and respect to a couple hundred graduated teenagers who were thinking about the beer party that awaited them seemed nothing more than a tremendous waste of time. But my dad planned on filming the entire thing anyhow, so I would perform it well.

The sky outside was orange with the sunset and I was anxious to get to the football field for the ceremony. I heard a knock at our front door. Sarah was here to pick me up so I grabbed my gown, speech, purse and headed to the front room, yelling out to my parents that I’d meet them there. When I turned back to the door and opened it wide, Reed was standing there.