*Four Months Later*

I nervously bounce my leg in my seat, earning a look of annoyance from the girl beside me, but I couldn't care less. No, I'm too anxious to care. My phone buzzes in my hand and drags my attention away from the stage in front of me.

I can see your leg bouncing, Cupcake. You'll be fine -Z

I look up and glance to the side, smiling gratefully when I meet Zander's loving smile staring back at me.

God, I love that boy.

The principle calls out another name, and another student walks onto the stage proudly with a gigantic smile on his face. He grabs his diploma and holds it up in the air, the audience cheers even louder as he turns and walks back off the stage. I stare after him with wonder, my gut clenching with fear. If I even in the slightest were to try that, I'd fall flat on my face. And it's even a vertical motion! 

Soon, half the students have been called up to the stage and it's getting closer and closer to being my turn next. Gina got called up already, seeing as they're doing alphabetically by everyone's first names. Poor Zander is going to be the last one going up. They're currently at the M stage, with only a few more students to go before they hit my section. Lord help me.

I chew on my bottom lip nervously and bounce my leg again, my fingers twisting my necklace back and forth. There's only two people in the entire school, the entire school!, with S in their first names. You guessed it, me and Samantha Willow. But as I'm sitting here, all of us in alphabetical seating order, Samantha is no where in sight and the seat beside me is empty.

"Sarah Jones!"

I jump in surprise then quickly stand, awkwardly smiling and waving at the people clapping and cheering as I make my on stage. My gown sways as I walk, just barely brushing across the floor because of my height. Given, I could have worn heels to help with that, but why wear heels when you could just wear converse?

"WOO, SARAH, WOO!!" I look out to the audience quickly, my cheeks burning wildly at the sight of Gina and Zander standing in their seats, my parents not too far behind them along with Gina's mom, all cheering loudly. I walk up to my principle and grin widely.

He smiles at me fondly and hands me my diploma, "Well done, Sarah." He reaches out to shake my hand, but in a moment of confidence, I raise my hand up for a high five instead. He chuckles and high fives me, then ushers me to the other side of the stage. Everyone cheers and claps as I walk off the stage and another student gets called up. I walk/run down to the spot where the already called students sit to wait. Gina waves me over to her, a huge grin on her face too. I sit down beside her quickly and turn slightly to face her.

"We made it!" I whisper yell, gripping her hands in mine. She nods excitedly then yanks me forward, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug.

"We made it." She sniffles against my shoulder, "I couldn't have been able to do it without you."

My eyes water at the sweet words, forcing back a sniffle I pull away slightly so I can look at her clearly, "You're stronger than you know," She smiles through her tears and pulls me back into the hug. I giggle softly, "Of course, I'll take some of the credit."

She gasps and pulls away again, slapping my arm playfully. We laugh at our own stupidity then turn back towards the stage. There're only a few students left before Zander. I glance over at him, his leg is bouncing with nerves as he stares up at the stage. I grin widely and shake my head. And he thought I was being ridiculous. I pull out my phone and shoot a quick text, looking back up to watch him closely.

Your leg is bouncing, and you thought I was bad! -S

His brows furrow in confusion. I cover my mouth to stop my laughter from escaping when he reads the message then looks around the room. His eyes finally find me, narrowing slightly before his face breaks out into a huge grin and he's looking away. He chuckles to himself while he looks down at his lap, then looks back up at me with a devilish smirk.

Maybe you should come over here and ease my worries -Z

I snort a little too loudly, a bright blush immediately covering my cheeks. Gina jerks in her seat, obviously not expecting such a loud noise to erupt beside her. She narrows her eyes at me suspiciously, "What're you laughing at?"

I cough slightly in a failed attempt to cover up my mistake, my cheeks now burning hot in embarrassment. Good job, Sarah, ya idiot. "Nothing, it's nothing." I say a little too quickly.

She scoffs softly and mutters lowly, "Yeah, that's totally believable." I smile sheepishly and turn my phone towards her, the messages pulled up so she can read them. She scans through them, her eyes widening slightly at the end. Her hand flies up to cover her mouth as she laughs silently. I glare at her playfully then turn back to glare at Zander who is already looking at me innocently.

"What's so funny?" Jenny appears beside me with a small smile, her diploma held tightly in her hand. I shake my head and motion for her to sit in the second empty seat in our row. She plops down silently, leaning over to read my phone that is now facing her. A huge grin spreads across her face as she reads and laughs.

"Zander Mills!"

I look up quickly to Zander get up from his seat. With a soft squeal, I turn my camera on and start recording. He walks up onto the stage with a soft smile, shaking hands with the principle and exchanging a few other words. People cheer loudly, making his smile grow brighter.

"I LOVE YOU, FRUIT LOOP!" I scream at the top of my lungs, gathering a few laughs from the crowd as we all continue clapping. Zander grins widely and blows me a kiss. I giggle and pretend to catch it in the air.

"CLASS OF 2017!" Zander shouts loudly and takes his cap off. The rest of us graduates stand up and take our caps off as well. He holds his fingers up and counts down from three then throws his cap into the air. We all repeat him and throw our caps into the air, the audience erupting into even louder cheering. The graduates start pushing towards the exit, filing out to get pictures done with their friends and families. Somehow, the three of us get mixed up into the group, unable to get out of the crowd until we're outside.

"Oh my gosh, they're still animals!" Gina huffs heavily, turning to glare at all the people scattered everywhere, "Animals!"

Jenny laughs loudly and places a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Gina, chill, our families are right there anyways." She points towards the doors where our parents are pushing their way to us. I relax slightly when I see them, my grin returning when my dad runs up and engulfs me in a huge hug, with mom joining in soon after.

"We're so proud of you, sweetheart." My mom kisses my forehead, her eyes tearing up slightly. I smile up at her brightly, turning to look at my dad, my eyes widening in surprise to see him full on crying. I frantically look back towards my mom to see her shaking her head at him and gently rubbing his shoulder comfortingly.

"My little princess is all grown up," He wails loudly, reaching out to grip my shoulders and pull me into another hug. I close my eyes and force down my small laugh, instead wrapping my arms around him tightly. Slowly, he pulls away and wipes away his tears, shaking himself slightly then putting on a serious expression, "Okay, okay, I'm good. Go see that boyfriend of yours and bring him over here." He smiles at me softly then points towards where Zander is standing by himself. I turn back towards my dad and lean up, gently kissing his cheek before running off to see Zander.

At first he doesn't see me running towards him, but when I shout to gain his attention, he spots me immediately and opens his arms to catch me. I jump into his arms and wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, giggling happily when he starts spinning us in circles. He holds me up by my thighs, taking some of the pressure off his neck. I lean forward and capture his lips in a kiss, my hands sliding up to run my fingers through the baby hairs at the nape of his neck.

He pecks my lips a few more times before breaking the kiss completely to rest his forehead against mine, "I love you too, Cupcake." I grin and kiss him once more before dropping my legs down, forcing him to put me down.

I pull away and grab his hand, "C'mon, our family is waiting for us."

And in that moment, after hearing that small little statement, I swear his smile was brighter than the sun.

~ The End.~

~•~

I guess one can't eat chips and type at the same time...😂😂

Well guys, this is it! This is the end of the line. Thank you all who've been reading and supporting me, and to those who'll be reading in the future ❤️❤️  I started this book over a year ago and finally finished today, five days before my birthday, so let this be my present to you ❤️😂 I'm so happy yet sad that it's finished!

BUT

Like I've said before 😏😏😏 This isn't it!! I'll go into more detail in the Author's note (which I'll either start writing right now or tomorrow) So I'll reveal all there!

Q&A Questions! Guys, I've decided that I am going to do a Q&A thing for the characters so if you want to ask whichever character whatever question you'd like, go for it! When you write out your question be sure to include who it's for! Example: To Zander - What's your favorite color?
Like that! ❤️❤️ I'll probably wait a while so the questions can build up so until then, ask as many as you want and to whomever you want!

Don't forget to Vote, Comment, Share, AND FOLLOW FOR UPDATES PLEASE I BEG OF YOU!! 😂❤️

This is NOT the last of me!

Stay tuned!
~Molly