Graduation.

Today is the day where I walk the stage. Everyone is sitting down wearing their blue cap and gowns, every nerve in my body is bouncing around. Mateo and the rest of the group spread out in front of me due to our last names. My eyes look up at all the people watching us from the seats. Mom and Dad are sitting in the middle section, Christopher couldn't come since he doesn't do that good around big groups of people.

Before I left the house, he told me that he's proud of me and how happy he is that we started talking again. Everything just feels so surreal, it feels like I was just a Freshman in highschool. It's crazy to think that after this my life officially begins, well at least I think of it that way.

My attention drops back onto the stage when I hear someone tap the microphone. Our principal is standing there with a smile on his face.

"Good Afternoon everyone and welcome to the class of 2020 graduation ceremony."

Everyone began to clap and after that, I zoned out on whatever else he said. His speech lasted for a couple minutes until he said, "Now time for our Valedictorian." My head focuses on the girl walking up the stage. Why am I so focused on the girl? Well because Alison is this year's Valedictorian.

She's worked so hard to keep her grades up and maintain a good GPA, I'm really proud of her. Ever since I met her, she's tried her best in everything she does. She isn't the type to give up and move on, if she messes up, it only pushes her more. There's not a day where a smile isn't on her face.

"Good Afternoon fellow classmates, parents, grandparents, cousins, and whoever is here on this special day." A smile is on her face as she talks into the microphone. At least twelve cords rest on her shoulders and she looks proudly at everyone in front of her. She looks back down at the binder and takes a deep breath.

"Being completely honest, writing this speech was very difficult. There were many things I wanted to write down on this piece of paper, but I wrote down the most important things. Coming into high school, I was scared. It was a different setting, new people, new teachers, everything was new in general."

I have to agree with her on that, everything was new.

"Each year I spent worrying about grades, community service hours, and my GPA. It wasn't until Senior year where I really had a true high school experience. There was laughter, tears, and even more emotions I can talk about all day. I would like to thank all of the staff members that helped us have a great experience through these four years. I am forever grateful for the life lessons each of my teachers have taught me.

I'm not going to sugar coat this next part, there were moments where it felt like my walls were crumbling down. But I had a supportive group of friends and family that helped me push through. All of us had our moments where we felt stressed, whether it was trying to complete an assignment on time or watching the football team play at the state finals. There wasn't a dull moment throughout this year.

To my fellow classmates, our future holds many things for us. It is now our time to show the world what we are capable of. Thank you for being such a great class, I couldn't imagine graduating with any other students. High school is truly an experience I won't forget.

Congratulations class of 2020. I am proud to say we did it!"

Claps erupt from all over as Alison finishes her speech. She wrote a good speech and I know she would've liked to say more but the teachers on a timed schedule. Once Alison walks off the stage, everything begins to move on. The first row of students stand up and walk to the side of the stage. Alison is of course top ten and is about to walk across the stage.

"Alison Elizabeth Lopez."

The administrator calls her name and she happily walks up the stage. She grabs her diploma and flashes a bright smile to the camera. I clap loudly for her and I can hear Alejandro scream for her. I look towards him and see him standing up clapping his hands for her. After she walks down the steps, everything moves quickly.

"Nathaniel Alejandro Mendoza."

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Alejandro's first name is Nathaniel. Everyone calls him Ale though. I'm not sure why he doesn't like people calling Nathaniel.

"Adam Michaels."

I clap loudly for the boys and my heart begins to beat faster as I realize who's coming up next. Mateo. He's been very excited to graduate, excited for this day to be exact. He mentioned something about my graduation party so I don't know what to expect.

"Mateo Aaron Hernandez."

A smile is on his face as he shakes all of the administrators hand and takes a picture. He did it. I am beyond proud of him. When he told me how he was when high school first started, I was shocked. There has been a major change from what he's told him. I love him so much and I am proud.

Everyone on my row begins to stand up and I follow their actions. We all walk to the side of the stage and people start moving up closer and closer. Once there's just three people in front of me, I start to feel scared. Don't fall. Don't fall. Don't fall. I keep repeating this to myself when there's only one person in front of me.

"Veronica Itzel Ramirez."

Releasing a shaky breath, my feet begin to move up the steps. Everything is loud around me but my focus is directly on the people waiting for me. I shake everyones hand and tell them thank you. My diploma in hand, I look towards the camera and smile my best smile I have in me. After that, I walk down the stage and sit back down where I was.

After everyone has walked and grabbed their diploma, we are all now seated waiting for the principal to release us. "Now that you all have walked the stage, I would like all of you to stand." We follow his words and a smile forms on my face as I realize what we're about to do. "Please move your tassel to the left side."

More students around me began to cheer as we moved the tassel. "Congratulations class of 2020!" Caps start flying up in the air and I let out a laugh. I did it. I finally graduated high school. An arm wraps around my waist and I look up to see Mateo.

"Hey sweetheart," he leans down and tries to kiss my forehead but my cap is in the way. I chuckle lightly and take my cap off. His eyes meet mine and he pecks my lips. "We should go find our parents. I know my Mom said that she was going to your house after this to set up for the party." I nod at him and grab ahold of his hand.

I lead us to the front of the building as Mateo is on the phone with his Mom trying to find where they are. Everyone is trying to find their families which means that everything is crowded. I move closer to Mateo's side as people keep pushing past us, his arm wraps around my waist tightly and I feel safe.

"Did you find where they are?" I ask him.

"She said they're at the front." We get to the front doors and the sun from outside shines down on us. We both search around for our parents, my eyes find my Mom looking around and I pull Mateo towards them.

"Oh there they are!" Mom says and everyone turns to look at us. Mariana runs towards Mateo and he instantly picks her up. She giggles as he tickles her side lightly. Mom brings me into a tight hug and moves us side to side. "I'm so proud of you mija."

"Thank you Mom. I love you," I pull back and kiss her cheek. Tears fill her eyes and I squint mine at her. "Don't cry because then I start crying."

"I won't," she chuckles. Her arms loosen around me and I'm engulfed in another set of arms.

"Congrats Veronica," Dad says in a low tone. "I am very proud of you and I love you so much." His arms tighten even more around me and I try not to cry. I'll admit, I have never had a sentimental moment with my Dad. When I was little I remember we used to watch movies together and I would always fall asleep. Sometimes he would wake me up early just to go to the diner.

This means a lot that he was here today. I know he gets busy with work but I can tell he's trying to change. I pull away from him and smile. "Thanks Dad, I love you." He kisses the top of my head and lets me go. I move over towards Mateo parents and give them a hug too. They both tell me how happy they are for me and I thank them.

"Veronica," a small voice says. Mariana grabs my hand and pulls me down until I'm crouched down at her level. Her arms wrap around my neck and I laugh at the gesture. Carefully, my arms wrap around her small body and I stand up. My feet are starting to hurt since I'm wearing heels and it's been a couple hours now.

"Are you coming home with me?" She asks and I can tell she's sleepy.

"I think you're coming to my house first. You finally get to see my room!" She rubs her eyes with her hands and smiles. She's trying her best to stay awake but she can't.

"You can go to sleep Mari. I can give you to Mateo since he's stronger." She shakes her head and holds me closer.

"No I wanna stay with you," her head drops onto my shoulder and I start to rub her back. I don't mind carrying her but I just offered Mateo because of my feet. They really hurt. Mariana loosens her hold around me which tells me she fell asleep already.

"Oh she fell asleep," Mateo says as he places a hand on my back. He smiles down at us and I blush.

"Is she gonna come with us or your parents?" I ask.

"Well she was going to go with my parents but her car seat is in the truck so it doesn't matter." Everyone starts walking towards the parking lot and I try my best to walk in these heels.

"Your feet hurt right?"

I let out a sigh and lean towards Mateo's side more. "Yes, I'm ready to take them off." When Mateo's truck comes into sight, I have not been more excited to get in Mateo's truck. He unlocks the truck and I walk towards the backseat. I carefully set Mariana into her car seat and she is sound asleep since she didn't wake up at all.

When I sit down in the front seat, I immediately take off my shoes and slip on my crocs that I left in here. I get off the truck again so I can take my gown off. Mateo opens the driver's side door and does the same thing I do. He turns on the truck and it rumbles to life.

"We finally did it," I grab his hand and kiss the back of it.

"Yes we did sweetheart. Yes we did."

~

After leaving the graduation ceremony, we headed back to my house. Alison, Adam, and Alejandro are going to meet us there. Alison said they were getting food for everyone since Mom is already going to start setting up the party.

"I am so sleepy," I did not get any sleep last night. Overthinking is what kept me up. I can't take a nap since the whole party thing is going on. It would be rude of me to just sleep while everyone helps.

"Why don't you go sleep with Mariana?" Mateo asks me as his hand rubs my back. We're sitting on the couch waiting for Alison and the others to get here. Mom went to get some stuff last minute at the store, so it's Mateo, Mariana, and me.

"No, I have to help my Mom with the party, plus I don't wanna take my makeup off." His strong arms wrap around me and pull me closer to him. His cologne is strong and I inhale the scent.

Safe. Is the only thing I feel when I'm with him.

"Close your eyes Veronica." his deep voice says. Butterflies form in my stomach and my cheeks heat up. "I'll help your Mom, don't worry."

"But my makeup-"

"Veronica." I stop talking right away. "Go to sleep."

I'm not going to argue with him so my eyes close and I move closer to him. His hand continues to rub my back in a soothing way and sleep is slowly starting to take over.

~

When my eyes open, I find myself in my bed. A small body is next to me and I look down to find Mariana huddled up against me. Her hair is covering her face and I gently move it so she won't wake up. The door opens slowly and my eyes move from Mariana to the door.

Mateo walks in slowly holding a cup of water, his steps are quiet as he makes his way towards me. When he's close enough, he hands me the glass of water and sits next to me.

"I took off your makeup while you were sleeping." One of my hands moves up to my face to feel around once he says that. I grab my phone and open up the camera to see my bare face staring back at me.

"Thank you," I whisper and lean forward to plant a kiss on his lips.

"I came to wake you up so you can get ready. It was either me waking you up or Alison. I didn't think you wanted Alison to come screaming in here," one of his hands stroke my hair and the other light traces shape on my palm. "The party starts in an hour."

My eyes widen and I smack the back of his head. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier!"

"First of all that hurt and second of all, I wanted you to sleep. You looked tired. Plus you know guests don't arrive exactly on time." Guilt takes over me once I realized I actually hit him hard. He places his head on my lap and I rub the spot I hit gently.

"We should wake up Mariana if the party is starting soon." He nods and turns to Mari. Gently, he begins to shake her and she slowly stirs awake. Her eyes open slowly and scan her surroundings. I'm sure she's going to be excited in a couple of seconds once she realizes we're in my room.

"Mateo," she says slowly and grabs his hand. Everytime Mateo is with Mariana, my heart melts. Watching him take care of his little sister just makes me happy. He cares for her so much to the point where a fly wouldn't touch her.

"Good morning princess," he tickles her side lightly. A sleepy smile forms on her face and her eyes meet mine. I smile at her and wave. She immediately sits up and looks at me with wide eyes.

"Are we in your room!" She exclaims and I laugh at her reaction. She jumps off the bed and starts looking around the pictures on my closet door. Mateo took a picture of both of us on Thanksgiving and I hung it up. Everyone in Mateo's family is now my family. I love them so much.

"Look Veronica," she points at the picture. "It's you and me!" I stand up from the bed and walk towards her. I crouch down to her level and smile.

"It was on Thanksgiving, remember," she nods her head and jumps a bit. She's a big ball of sunshine. I love her so much.

"Okay Mari, we should let Veronica get ready for her party." A pout forms on her lips as she hears what Mateo says. She looks at me as if she wants me to tell Mateo no. Of course I'm gonna tell him no, I can't say no to her.

"It's fine. She can help me get ready, right Mari?"

"Yeah I'm gonna help Veronica!" Mateo laughs at her and walks towards the door.

Once he's out of my room Mariana pulls me to my vanity and sits me down. It's time to get ready for the party.

~

"Thank you for coming." I hug one of the last guests goodbye. It was a great party in all honesty, I'm very thankful that my Mom and Alison planned it. A lot of people came, especially family members I haven't seen in a while. It was a good time, I really enjoyed it.

"Hey," Mateo walks up to me and takes my hand. "Let's go to your room really fast."

I look back at everyone but Mateo begins to pull me into the house before I can say anything. We walk into the room and Mateo sits me on the bed while he stands in front of me.

"Is everything okay?" I ask. I'm sure my face has concern written all over it. He pulls out something from his pocket and I can see it's a small box.

"I got you a graduation present and it really means alot to me. But before I give it to you, I want you to know that I love you so, so much. You have changed my life completely and there's no one else I would rather be with. You're my person and you're staying with me forever." I am too emotional today, tears already form in my eyes as he says that. "Don't cry because then I'm gonna start crying V."

I shake my head with a smile and wipe my eyes. "Sorry, today has just been so crazy."

"It's okay," he sits next to me on the bed and grabs my hand. He opens up my palm and gently places the small box on it. "Open it."

My eyes look at his and all I see is love. He nods his head towards the gift waiting for me to open it. I slowly open it and when I see what's inside I smile. It's a charm bracelet filled with many different little charms.

Carefully, I take out the bracelet and look through every charm. There's at least eight charms on the silver bracelet. There's a flower, a camera, a butterfly, a building, a milkshake, a lock and key, and lastly an infinity sign.

"This is beautiful," I whisper, my attention focused on the bracelet. Mateo lets out a breath, he always gets nervous when gifting me something, I already told him that I love everything from him. "I love it."

He grabs my chin gently and turns my head towards him. "Each charm has a meaning, that way you can remember all the things we've done when I'm not with you. You're never alone V."

My bottom lip begins to shake as I look into his eyes. I can't help but let the tears flow down my cheeks. Everything from today is finally escaping my body at this moment.

I finally realized something. Something I never would've expected.

I did it. I graduated high school. And I'm not afraid to start my life anymore.

My quiet sobs are muffled by Mateo's shoulder. His arms wrapped around my waist and held me tightly against him. I can't stop the tears, they continue flowing and flowing. I grab onto Mateo's shirt tightly with my free hand since the bracelet is in my other.

"Shh it's okay. Let it out sweetheart," I let out a sob at his words. He always knows how to comfort me. No one else has ever made me feel the way he does.

After a couple more minutes, I finally quiet down but I'm still sniffing. Mateo pulls me back and laughs lightly. A frown takes over my face at his reaction. "Your mascara is runny." His thumbs rub under my eyes carefully removing the wetness from my cheeks.

I take a deep breath and try not to cry at the words I'm about to say.

"Thank you. For loving me, for being by my side, and for being who you are. You taught me that I'm not alone, and I love you for that." I can't hold back the tears and my crying starts again. His eyes are filled with tears too, this is about to turn into a crying mess.

"I have never felt the way I do for anyone else. I- I can't even express everything I feel for you. You opened up a side of me I never knew I had. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you Mateo. I love you so, so much."

My heart is beating super fast, I can't contain my emotions right now, it honestly feels like I'm about to have a heart attack. Mateo grabs the bracelet from my hand and puts it on my wrist. Our hands intertwined and I feel loved.

"I love you so much Veronica Itzel Ramirez... or should I say Hernandez." I slap his shoulder lightly and kiss his lips. He always knows how to lighten up the room. I love him so much.