How Jessica Stanley managed to be valedictorian will forever be a mystery to me. I easily could have done it, as could my siblings, but for the sake of keeping a low profile it was all but forbidden. Carlisle had never expressly told me I couldn't do it, but the sentiment was there.

Salutatorian was fine, though. Edward disapproved, but considering I would only graduate human once he let it slide. Emmett grinned when he saw me. "Look at you! Our little Rowan all grown up."

I rolled my eyes, but my smile gave away my lack of actual annoyance. "Yeah, yeah. Let's not forget that Edward, Bella, Jasper, and Alice are graduating too."

"But the only person in that list who hasn't already graduated one too many times is Bella. Let us have this moment," Alice said.

"Pictures, pictures! Try to look somewhat excited, Rowan," Esme said, grabbing me before I could make a beeline for my mates, who were standing off with bemused expressions.

"Esme-" I protested, quickly plastering on a smile before she could take several images of me talking. "Do we have to do this now?"

"Yes, because I know you'll not want to do it after the ceremony," she said, an ounce of scolding in her voice. "Now keep still and smile. Edward, Jasper, Alice, get in there with her. I'll take pictures of you all with Bella once we get there."

Ten minutes and many pictures later, I was finally free actually go to my mates. "Sorry."

"Don't be. We'll take copies of the best photos," Caius said, ignoring the incredulous look I sent his way in favor of sending Esme a smile.

She looked faintly amused. "Of course."

"You look lovely," Aro said, smiling at me.

"Thanks. I feel like I'm wearing a plastic bag," I told them, tugging at one of the gown sleeves. "Fortunately, Alice picked out something... cool."

That was probably the only bright side to the dress she picked out.

"Here," I said, reaching out to straighten Caius's tie. "You all look dashing."

"Thank you, love." Aro smiled and reached towards me with a hand. I knew what he wanted even as Emmett called for my attention and twined our fingers together, registering his hum of contentment.

"You going with them?" Emmett asked. Rose and Emmett were the only ones left - Edward, Alice and Jasper had already left for the garage since they were leaving together, as had Carlisle and Esme.

"Yeah, I'll meet you there. Good?"

"Absolutely. Don't forget to meet up, Esme wants more pictures with Bella included. Oh, and after that she wants more pictures of you four, and-"

"I get it! Esme wants pictures," I said, grinning.

"We're going to be late if we don't hurry," Rose said, dragging Emmett towards the garage. I followed after them, and soon we were on our way to graduation.

Caius was driving, and his eyes, blue thanks to the colored contacts, slipped towards me every few moments. "Are you nervous about your speech?"

"A little," I admitted. "But I think it'll be alright."

"That's the spirit," Aro said, smiling.

"Oh, before I forget: for the sake of appearances, I think it may be better if I'm only seen dating one of you for today."

Some variant of "It should be me" was spoken by all three vampires. Fortunately, having seen this coming already, I had determined who would be acting the part beforehand.

"Actually, I already know who it's going to be," I told them, surprised Aro hadn't already seen the memory of the decision in my mind. "Marcus will be my only boyfriend today."

"Why him?" Caius complained, both he and Aro looking quite put out. Marcus, on the other hand, looked quite happy with this arrangement.

"No reason, really. I couldn't decide who to choose, so I made your names equal to a number one through three and asked Bella to give me one of those at random. She didn't know what it was about and was very confused," I said, grinning.

"What numbers were we?" Caius asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter," I assured him. The last thing I needed was them bickering over a perceived ranking.

"You were three," Aro said smugly.

"Hey!" I protested, scowling at him. "Not fair."

Caius parked the car. "Three? I really think-"

"The number I chose for you didn't mean anything," I said, glaring at Aro. "Can we please move on?"

"Yes," Caius huffed, though his annoyance melted away when I pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

"Sorry, mia cara," Aro said, having the dignity to look a little abashed.

"You're forgiven. But one more thing: this means you can't be overly touchy. Either of you."

"Oh, fine," Caius grumbled.

"I think this is a great arrangement," Marcus said, an edge of teasing in his voice. Caius must have said something I couldn't hear, because Marcus rolled his eyes. "Oh, stop pouting."

I squeezed Caius's hand and he shot me a smile. "We'll be perfect gentlemen."

"I don't doubt it," I said, unbuckling my seatbelt and looking for my family. I saw Emmett wave from a few spots down. "There's Emmett, he probably knows where everyone else went."

Marcus opened my door, his hand a cool contrast to the muggy air. Caius and Aro followed behind us. Emmett shot me a grin. "So you made it in one piece, eh, Ro? Esme had me wait, she wants to meet inside for pictures. Edward is already in there having pictures taken with Bella, so we were just waiting on you."

"Lead the way," I said, flashing Marcus an excited smile as I all but skipped towards the entrance. I never thought I'd make it to my high school graduation, but I had done it and found a proper family along the way. Not many people could say the same.

"Rowan, you're here! I just finished taking pictures of Edward and Bella!" Esme beamed at me, and I released Marcus's hand to hug Bella.

"We're graduating, Bells! Who would have thought?" I asked, grinning at her.

She smiled back. "Are you sure they're letting you?"

"I ain't salutatorian for nothing," I told her, amused.

"Oh! That reminds me, I saw Jessica earlier and she wanted to take a picture with you since she's valedictorian," Bella said.

"I'll be sure to find her," I promised. After several rounds of pictures, we were finally free to go find our places for the ceremony.

"You'll do great," Marcus murmured, pressing a kiss to my temple.

"Here, let me get your cap on," Rose ordered, securing my graduation cap with several bobby pins. "There. You're a supermodel. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Rose," I smiled.

"Well, go on. You've got a speech to make," she said, shooing me in the direction of the rest of my classmates. I brushed my fingers against Aro's as I passed him, telling him I'd meet up with them later.

I spent several minutes trying to figure out where exactly I was supposed to be standing before finally taking my place behind Jessica as the last guests made their way into the auditorium. Naturally, she turned to me as soon as she had a moment. "Rowan, who are those people you're with? Like, does everyone in the Cullen family have ridiculously good genes? And are they single?"

I laughed at her, ignoring the prickles of jealousy I felt. "No, sorry. Marcus is my boyfriend, and his brothers are both married."

"They look so young, though!" she exclaimed, sighing. "You ready for your speech?"

"As I'll ever be. You?"

"Oh yeah, totally. It's going to be awesome, like, out of the park awesome. I'm sure yours will be too," she added as an afterthought, and I remembered why I never hung out with Jessica.

"Bella said you wanted to get a picture together?"

"Yes! After the ceremony, since we're like, the top two in the class, we have to take a few pictures together!"she said, then shushed me as the door opened.

The ceremony seemed to pass in a blur. I remember my speech but I hardly remember making it, and suddenly we were tossing our caps, a spinning cascade of yellow raining down on the graduated class of 2006.

I drifted back to my family after taking several photos with Jessica, laughing as Emmett swept me into a hug with a loud whoop. "You did great, Ro!"

"Did you expect anything less of me?" I retorted, straightening my graduation gown once he set me back on my feet.

"A fair point. Alice has already left with Jasper to prep for the party," he informed me. "Word on the street is you're not going?"

"Word on the street is Edward's a snitch," I quipped, spotting my brother through the crowd and shooting him an annoyed look. Edward simply shrugged. "But yeah, I'm dipping out. Figured my boys wouldn't appreciate the wolves around, considering Bella took the liberty of inviting them."

"Fair enough. I'd be careful, Jessica looks like she's eyeing them up." Emmett sent me a wink and shooed me off.

Marcus wrapped an arm around my waist when I reached him, his fingers pressing lightly into my side. I glanced up at him. "You good?"

"I am. Aro and Caius are waiting in the back," he murmured. "Congratulations. We're all very proud."

"I hope the ceremony wasn't too boring," I said.

"Not with you in it."

I smacked his chest lightly. "You're a sap."

"Yo, Rowan! How about the graduation, huh? Great speech, by the way." Mike appeared from the crowd, a grin on his face, and Marcus's fingers tightened around my waist.

"Thanks, Mike. This is my boyfriend, Marcus," I said, in a pathetic attempt to alleviate the tension between the two men. Aro must have told Marcus and Caius about Mike's attempt to ask me out.

"Oh, uh, nice to meet you, man," Mike said awkwardly.

"You as well." Marcus's tone was courteous, but I knew him well enough to recognize that it was only a veneer.

"I think Jessica was asking for you, Mike," I told him.

"Oh, really? I better go find her, then. See you later, Rowan." He waved and slipped off through the crowd.

I glanced up at Marcus, amusement written on my face. His eyes, brown instead of their normal red, found my own. "Oh, hush."

"I didn't say anything!" I exclaimed, laughing.

"You didn't have to."

"Fair enough. Let's find the others." We weaved through the crowd, Marcus's hand moving to rest on the small of my back. Eventually, the two of us reached Caius and Aro, who were standing near the back of the room and chatting quietly with Carlisle and Esme as they waited for Marcus and I to show up.

"Aro, Caius!" I waved and bounced over to them, feeling my cheeks warm at the smiles they gave me. "I nailed that speech, huh?"

"You certainly did, well done," Carlisle said, smiling. "Rowan, we're going to head back to the house to help Alice prepare for the party, and ensure she doesn't go overboard. When will you be back?"

I shrugged. "Whenever Emmett tells me that the party is over."

"It would be odd if you didn't show your face," he said. "People would notice."

Unfortunately, he had a point. "Alright, but only for, like, half an hour. Then I'm out."

"That's fine. You can come back to the house whenever, there's no rush. Go, mingle, have fun," Esme said, giving me a soft smile. They breezed off, leaving me with my mates.

"An excellent speech, mia cara," Aro said, smiling widely.

"I should hope so, considering you three helped me write it," I said. So I put off writing my speech until a few days before graduation. Sue me.

Caius smirked. "Didn't we tell you it would be splendid?"

"You did. Caius, your tie," I said, straightening it once more.

"What, was it crooked again?" he asked, an all-too-innocent expression on his face. It made me suspect that at least this time, he had skewed it on purpose. If the bemused expression on Aro's face was anything to go on, then my hunch was likely correct.

"Okay, so here's the plan. I'm gonna hang here for a few more minutes and then we're going to drop by the house so I can show my face at the party, hopefully before the pack arrives," I informed them. "Then we'll pop off until the party is over since I really don't want to have to deal with Jessica and Mike all night."

Caius growled at Mike's name. "I don't like how he looks at you."

"Hey, relax. You know I'd never go for him."

"That's not what I'm worried about," he muttered, his piercing gaze roving through the crowd.

"Alright, I'm going to the bathroom to ditch this gown, please try not to kill anyone," I told the three of them, disappearing off into the crowd before they could protest. I ran into Jessica in the bathroom, where she was slipping out of her own graduation gown.

"Nice dress," she complimented me. "Sure to drive your boyfriend crazy, am I right?"

"No doubt. Alice picked it out," I told her. I draped the graduation gown over my arm. "You going to our party tonight?"

"I was actually about to leave! I'm super excited to see your house. Like, the only one who has ever seen it besides you guys is Bella."

I shrugged. "We just like our privacy, I guess. Marcus wanted to take me out after graduation, but we'll be stopping by the party first."

"I'll see you there! Oh, I posted our pictures on Facebook, they were just so cute!" she squealed as I held the door for her. Graduation cap hanging from a finger, I didn't have to go far to find my mates. They were waiting in the hall, and I'm quite sure all three of their jaws hit the floor when they saw me.

"You look breathtaking," Marcus murmured, his arm curling possessively around my waist as soon as I reached his side.

"You two need to stop looking at me like that, you're fake-married, remember?" I asked lowly, addressing Caius and Aro. I passed Aro my cap, brushing hands with him as I did so.

"It's not like we can help it, you looking like that," Caius grumbled, his eyes now more purple than blue as they swept almost hungrily over my figure. "Here, I can take the gown."

"Thank you. A true gentleman," I said, tossing him a flirty smile. I passed him the gown as we headed towards the exit.

His lips twitched upwards into a smile. "I do try."

The drive back was too quick considering I didn't want to attend the party in the first place, but we arrived regardless. The drive was packed, and even though we could have gotten into the garage Caius chose to park outside so we could leave unhindered later. Said vampire pressed a kiss to my wrist after turning of the engine, his nose cool against the sensitive skin.

"It kills us to have to act like you're not ours," Aro murmured.

I gave him a small smile, tangling my fingers with his. "We won't be long, don't worry."

"What are your plans for after?" Marcus questioned, the only one of the three who wasn't acting overly clingy.

"We're going to go on a hike," I told them.

"It's nighttime," Caius pointed out.

"I can see in the dark. Shadow control, remember?" For emphasis, I wiggled my fingers. "And I'll change my clothes into something more appropriate before we leave."

Marcus grunted something that sounded suspiciously like "pity" before I opened the door to the car and hopped out. Aro frowned as he swung open his own door. "I would have helped you."

"Sorry. Well, let's get this over with," I said with a sigh, looping my arm through Marcus's as we walked up the drive. Alice had really outdone herself, I thought, and felt bad that I was going to be dipping out early. Then I spotted Mike as I walked in the door and all traces of guilt disappeared with his beaming smile.

"What's up, Rowan? You're looking good! Bella just got here, she's upstairs! Sweet house, you've been holding out on us, you know?" he asked, grinning.

I returned his smile with my own strained one. "Thanks, Mike. We better go find Bella, so I'll see you around." I nudged myself past him and towards the stairs.

"I'm going to rip him apart, you should have seen his thoughts," Aro snarled in my ear. Instead of asking how Aro had seen Mike's thoughts I grabbed his hand, the house shaded enough for me to conceal the action, and sent soothing thoughts his way.

"Please calm down, you're making Caius uneasy," I said, giving his hand a light squeeze. Caius was indeed starting to look murderous as the implications of Aro's statement settled in his mind.

"My apologies, mia cara," Aro said, his thumb tracing circles against my hand.

I shot Caius a look. "Please stop looking like you're going to kill my classmates."

"Well he- sorry," He said quickly, once my look morphed into a glare.

"Half an hour," I told them, letting Aro's hand slip out of mine. I sighed and wondered if Marcus was the only one out of them that had an ounce of sanity. Indeed, said vampire looked remarkably unruffled considering Aro's statement, but I shot him a small smile regardless.

I could only hope that we didn't run into the wolves, because this half hour was starting to feel like it was going to last an eternity.

Edited 4/16/2021