The Lies We Tell

Epilogue: Graduation Day

I took a deep breath, trying to mentally prepare myself for everything ahead. As valedictorian, I was giving the commencement speech. I'd worked on it for a month. Something about it didn't feel right, no matter how many times I went over it. I just wish I knew what it was. Whatever it was felt just out of reach.

"You ready to give that girl what she deserves?" Lexi asked me quietly as she fixed my hair.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be for this thing," I said with a sigh.

We'd planned everything out to the last letter. I'd go up, give my speech, and get my revenge on all of them.

Chad came over when Lexi was giving me one last check. He put his arm around her waist and she smiled at him. "Lookin' good," he said as he gave her a quick peck. I smiled at them. They were such a cute couple, and they were staying together at college.

Me, on the other hand, I'd elected to do online courses and help out Mom, who'd had a nervous breakdown a month after Dad died and was getting treated for it. I felt like it was my best option, and my guidance counselor agreed.

Lexi glanced at him, smiling. "Okay, then. I think we're ready."

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When the principal called me to the microphone, I was terrified. Thanks to speaking to a camera, I was better at public speaking, but I was still scared.

I took my place at the podium and looked out at the crowd. About a thousand pairs of eyes were looking right back. I swallowed my nervousness and looked at the front row, trying to block out everyone else.

"High school," I stated, sounding confident. "High school is more than just a period of classroom learning. High school teaches us things. High school gives us memories." I glanced down.

"Some of my best and worst memories were made here. To me, it's more than just a building of classrooms with books and knowledge. To me, it's where I found friends, where I found me. In my time, I lost friends. I've made mistakes." I pointedly looked at Miranda, Whitney, ChiChi, Heather, Mary, and Riley. I met their eyes and watched them look away. None of them still spoke to me. They ignored me completely.

"I made friends and lost them. That just shows things aren't always rosy. We all have our rivals, be it for valedictorian or for the most popular, the one who always gets the lead in the school play or the chief editor of the school paper, the band leader or debate champion."

I wasn't sure how it happened, but I realized why the speech didn't sound right. My eyes were drawn to the next part and suddenly I couldn't do it. I met Lexi's expectant eyes and made my final decision. I shredded my notes right there at the podium and handed the pieces off to the principal, who was standing nearby.

"One of the most important lessons I've been taught inside those four walls outside of classes, was that high school is temporary. Each of those rivalries will be forgotten as we all move on to college. We're not going to remember them. We're not going to remember the arguments, or the fights. We're going to come to a reunion in ten years and look at each other as our equals. We're going to ask how we're doing in life.

"High school isn't something we survive. No matter what we want to believe while we're getting up at six so we can be in our seats at eight after staying up until one in the morning to finish that paper we kept putting off, we're not merely scraping through. It may feel that way, but in the end, we're being nurtured so we can thrive. It's preparing us for the real world. We're going to use those relationships and lessons to get by in the real world."

I looked down at the podium for a long, silent moment before finding a confused Lexi in the crowd, watching me. "You know, something else this place has taught me is how to forgive. It's not always easy to do." I glanced at the entire audience. "In high school, we all have people we need to forgive. Whether it's the boy who harasses you or the girl who spreads vicious rumors at your expense. I've had both. But I forgave them. In ten years we won't even remember why we hated each other. We'll be different people then, just like we're different people than we were on our first day here.

"High school is more than just a place we go to learn math and science and languages. We go to school and grow as people, but only if we choose to. I did. This is the place I learned forgiveness and that not being okay is actually okay. I only hope it's taught all of you the value of those things. In ten years, those are going to be worth so much more than we realize now."

As I looked at the audience, I silently panicked. Maybe shredding my notes wasn't such a good idea. I didn't have a clue as to how to end it. My speech was probably supposed to be longer, but I was out of ideas. Randomly talking was good for a video, but not for speeches. "Thank you," I said awkwardly before walking back to my seat.

The principal came back to the microphone and the commencement continued. I was called up first - since I was valedictorian - and walked up and across the stage, receiving my diploma and shaking hands. I made it back to my seat and watched everyone else get their diplomas.

Looking back on what I said, I was glad I did. Those things felt so important. Really, learning how to interact with people and how to navigate relationships and learning about ourselves - that's what high school was about. Those things, more than any class we took, would stick with us. It's the most useful thing we could have learned.

As the ceremony drew to a close, I knew I would have to face Lexi. Surprisingly, no matter how it went, I knew I'd be okay with the outcome. She came into my life when I needed friends and she stuck around. I had no doubt that she'd be sticking around for a while yet.

THE END

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Hello, my friends!

Thank you for sticking around to the end! If you're reading this after I've finished posting it, thank you for reading to the end!

I want to take a moment and talk about sexual harassment and its victims. What is sexual harassment? It is defined as "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature". Statistically, 3 in 5 women and 1 in 5 men are victims, but only 80% of victims report it.

Often, victims are afraid of how they'll be viewed if they report even one incident or of how the person doing it will react. However, there is a lot of support for even the victims that don't come forward. Stories like this one to empower them to talk to someone about it - even if they don't report it - and other people that's been through it to help them see they're not alone.

If you know someone that's experienced this, just listen to them. If you're going through this, please talk to someone. If you see it happening to someone, please speak up. It's little things that make a big difference.

Thank you for your support!

Hannah