Love Will Keep You Up All Night

My alarm went off way too early for me and I groaned as I turned it off. I sat up and looked around my room, today was the last day that I was going to wake up a senior in high school. After I got up I went to eat breakfast, but I couldn’t eat much because I was nervous. Finally I had to get in the shower and start getting ready. Mom did my hair for me and I put on my dress and waited for Sidney to get here. Mom could tell I was nervous because I was shaking my leg like I do when I’m either bored, nervous, or hyper and she knew that I was neither hyper or bored. I really just want Sid to get here so he could help calm me down.

Ten minutes later the door bell rang and standing there was Sidney. When he walked in he greeted everyone before coming to sit next to me. He kissed my forehead and grabbed my hand. He was still a little shy around my family when it came to public display of our relationship.

“You look really nice, Taylor.” He said

“Thanks, Sidney I don’t want to do this.” I whispered.

“It will be okay, I’ll be right in the room with you. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I’m not afraid, I just don’t want to leave my friends.”

“Remember that you’re going to see them all on Wednesday.”

“That’s right, I actually forgot about my party.” That news lifted my mood a bit.

“I have something for you.” Sidney said digging into his pocket. “Happy graduation.”

“Sidney, you did not have to get me anything!” I said looking at the rectangle box.

“But I wanted to.”

I removed my hand from his and took the box. I slowly opened the lid not knowing what to expect. I gasped and covered my mouth once I saw what was inside. Laying in the velvet was a familiar looking gold chain with an 87 on it. It was Sidney’s necklace.

“Ohmygod, Sidney is this yours?” I asked.

He nodded and lifted my chin so I could look into his eyes. “Yes. I wanted you to have it, that way I’m always near your heart.” He kissed me softly and I just melted against him. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. He really cared about me and he made me feel loved. I wasn’t scared anymore about spending the summer with him. I knew we could handle it. I kiss was broken by a bright flash. I pulled away to see my mom standing there with my camera in her hands.

“Mom.” I groaned and she just laughed. “Smile.” she said. Sidney and I moved closer and smiled at the camera. This was the start of what I like to call the picture attack. I was being bombarded with cameras and commands to smile and who to stand with. By the time it was time to leave for the school my cheeks were sore from smiling and I was blind from all the flashes.

As soon as I got out of the car I was ushered to the lobby where we were lining up. I quickly said hi to my friends and found my spot. As we started walking to the gym my nerves picked up again. I touched the necklace that I now had on and tried to calm myself down. When we walked into the gym, I wasn’t expecting the noise level. I looked around for my family and saw them standing and clapping. Dad was snapping pictures, mom and Gigi were crying, and Sidney had the biggest smile on his face ever. They were all very proud of me and I couldn’t be happier for all the support. The waiting was the worst, there were so many speeches to sit through and then my last name was near the end so I had to just sit and wait. I cheered like crazy when my friends’ names were called. Finally they were close to my name.

“Taylor Samuels.” My princliple said. I stood up and heard loud cheering coming from the stands where my family was, from friends that were in lower grades, and from the seniors that I knew. I had tears in my eyes as I shook everyone’s hands and grabbed my diploma. It was official, I graduated from high school. After about another half hour the principle introduced the graduation class of 2010. We all cheered and threw our caps up. When there was enough room, I went to look for my friends. As I was about to jump on Anna, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and stopped me.

“Congratulations baby.” He whispered in my ear. I turned to face him and saw that he actually had tears in his eyes.

“Why are you crying?” I asked laughing as more tears streamed down my face. “You didn’t just graduate.”

“I know, but you just looked so happy.”

“Thanks. Do you know where everyone is?” I asked looking around

“They went to go get your grandparents. I told them I’d find you and wait with you.”

“Oh okay. I’m just looking for my friends.”

“They’re over there.” He said pointing to the left of where we were standing. It was times like this that I liked having a tall boyfriend.

I walked over to where my friends were all standing around talking to each other. I told them that I wanted to get pictures with all of them in our gowns. So we all set out to find our families and told each other to meet outside. Sidney and I walked down the hallway to the auditorium. As we walked through the halls, I remembered all that happened in my four years here. Fights, friends, sports, drama, gossip, and anything else you could think of.

When we reached the auditorium, I was squished by my family with hugs. I couldn't stop the tears that fell when I saw my mom crying. Today was just an emotional day and thank god it was done. I just wanted to go home and hang out with everyone. I told mom and dad that I wanted to go get pictures with my friends and they agreed.

After about an hour of pictures with everyone together, we finally went out to lunch. When we got home we looked through the pictures and grandma and grandpa gave me my present. Mom and dad gave me mine too, it was a brand new laptop and I loved it. That way I could talk to them while I was in Pittsburgh. Later that night my phone was going crazy with texts from the team and my friends. The last thing I remember about my emotional day was curling up next to Sidney on the couch as we watched a movie with my family.