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It was a beautiful day in May, and the air was warm with longing. Row after row of perfectly aligned metal chairs sat waiting to cramp the butts of hundreds of eager seniors and proud parents. The stage and podium were hung with royal blue and silver ribbons, and matching streamers spiraled around the tree trunks of Memorial Park.
I stacked the last box of programs on the stage stairs and wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand. The graduation committee was far more work than the prom committee had been, and having to deal with Lisa Wallace was about as much fun as having to work with the Ds. It was almost over though, I reminded myself.
In a matter of hours, I would walk up on the stage, shake the principal’s hand, take my diploma, smile for the cameras, and kiss high school goodbye forever. It was bittersweet.
“All set?” Eddie came around the stage and handed me a bottle of water.
“Yeah.” I smiled and took a long drink.
The drive to the graveyard was a short one from Memorial Park. The redbuds and tulip trees were already shedding their blossoms, and they rained down on Matilda’s grave like pink and purple confetti. Wayne and Chloe were waiting for us. Wayne had brought a bouquet of white roses to lie across the uneven earth, and I had ordered an extra graduation cap to add to the prom crown on top of Matilda’s tombstone.
We all stood around, silently watching spring pass us by. There wasn’t really anything to say, but it just felt right to share the moment together, all of us who had shared Matilda’s secret afterlife. She wouldn’t be walking down the aisle with us, but she deserved a graduation sendoff just as much as she had deserved senior prom.
Wayne patted Eddie’s shoulder, and they exchanged soft smiles. “Everyone always wishes for one more day. I got a few extra weeks. Thanks,” Wayne said.
It was the sweetest thing I could ever imagine him saying to the guy who had raised his girlfriend from the dead, and I loved Wayne for it. I always would love Wayne, but I wasn’t in love with him, and that was okay. He just wasn’t who I was meant to end up with. I couldn’t even say for certain that Eddie was who I was meant to end up with. We were eighteen now, and technically adults, but that didn’t mean we were done becoming who we were going to be. A lot can change in a very little amount of time. If the past year hadn’t taught me that lesson, then nothing would.
I loved Eddie. He made my heart skip beats, and he made me laugh. He was a good person, even if he was a little crazy. I mean, who else is going to raise the dead in order to win my heart, and twice at that? I liked to think that we would get married, make little crazy babies, and grow old together, but only time would tell.
In the fall, we would start at UCC. Eddie wanted to be an archeologist and dig things up in Africa. I was going for business management, since I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do yet.
Wayne’s dad had finally calmed down, and he was starting to accept the fact that Wayne wasn’t interested in college. They were looking at a welding vocational program at one of the community colleges near Jasper.
Chloe wasn’t really all that surprised about the art school in Chicago she was accepted into. Her parents were both alumni, so it was pretty much a done deal before she was even born. She was excited about having her own dorm and full-sized art studio though.
UCC was close enough that Eddie and I were going to be able to commute together. Eddie’s mom was giving him her beat-up Jeep as a graduation present. It was currently packed with way more stuff than we needed for the road trip to Chicago we were set to leave on in the morning. We were going to check out the art gallery at Chloe’s new school and help her settle in, since she was taking a summer painting course.
We were all still standing around Matilda’s grave when a car door slammed, and Mr. and Mrs. Hunt joined us. Mrs. Hunt hugged Wayne, since he was the only one she knew in our group. She spared the rest of us a teary smile. “It’s real sweet of you kids to come out here to see Mattie today.” She sniffled.
Mr. Hunt took off his sunglasses and rubbed at his watery eyes. “Bless you kids. It’s good to know our little girl had such good friends.”
No one had the heart to tell them that, aside from Wayne, the rest of us hadn’t made friends with Matilda until after she had died. Or maybe it was just that none of us were all that eager to see the inside of a padded room.
We lingered for a minute longer, and then we left the Hunts so that they could share some private time with Matilda too. Graduation was drawing near, and there was something I had to pick up at home first.
Time tried to stand still, but the moment finally came when we were all seated alphabetically. Eddie and I were right next to each other. Wayne was only a few seats down, and Chloe was in the row just ahead of us. Ever since prom, the four of us had been inseparable. Chloe had even started eating lunch with us. I think the fact that she soon wouldn’t have the opportunity to had finally sunk in. We had both spent the last week crying after school, promising that we’d call every day and never grow apart, even though distance has a way of doing that to the best of friends.
The future was a scary place, but I’d had practice with scary. I don’t just mean zombie horror film scary, but that was near the top of the list. I’d come to terms with who I was and who I wasn’t. Sure, I’d made a few mistakes on the way. I’d made some really big ones too, but I’d learned something new with each one.
I learned that shunning those who mattered most to me for the sake of some shallow, fake reputation was so not worth it, even if there was a zombie terrorist involved. I learned that I never wanted to disappoint my parents again, but that they would still love me if I did. I learned that sometimes friends can be found in unexpected places, and I learned that the right shoes can make anything seem possible.
One by one, the principal called out our names, and we stood to accept a certificate that proved we had not only survived, but we had thrived through arguably the toughest transition of our lives. When my name was called, I walked with purpose in Matilda’s shiny blue shoes, up the stage stairs and into my future.