The Girl Next Door Chapter 57

Kate woke up the next morning before most of her family. The only person that was awake was her dad, who she realized was already out on his morning bike ride. She made a pot of coffee, since she knew everyone would be waking up soon. She had a little breakfast, and then went out for a run, something she hadn’t done for awhile. When she walked in the door, she discovered a lot of her family was up.
“Ready for today Katie?” Megan asked.
“I’ve been ready all year,” Kate laughed.
*****
A little after three o’clock, Kate headed over to the school because everyone graduating had to be there early. She immediately saw Andrew and walked over to him.
“Hey Andrew!” Kate gave him a hug.
“Excited Kate?” he asked as he returned the hug.
“I’m as excited as I was when we won states,” Kate replied. Andrew laughed.
“Everyone!” the principal shouted out. “Over here!
They had to listen to a speech from their principal, talking about how special a day their graduation day was (Kate and Andrew rolled their eyes at each other; they had only heard that a hundred times already). By the end of that speech, it was nearly four o’clock, and time to line up. Andrew was in front of Kate (the order was alphabetical; his last name was Grant), and they filed out of the auditorium into the stadium. They filed into their seats and Kate spotted her family right away. Andrew’s family was right next to Kate’s. They smiled at their families, and then waited for the speeches. Their principal spoke first.
“Blah, blah, blah,” Andrew whispered to Kate.
Kate laughed silently and so did Andrew. Kate made the talking gesture with her hands and made a face to go along with it, and Andrew almost lost it. At that point, she could just feel her mother staring at her, so she elbowed Andrew in the arm to tell him to quit it. He smiled at her and stopped laughing, but they both still had huge grins on her face.
Finally, they began to call out the names. When they called out Kate’s, she could hear her family being as loud and obnoxious as they could. She laughed and walked over to get her diploma.
After they tossed their caps in the air, Kate and Andrew found their friends and celebrated. Their families came down too, and naturally took a lot of pictures. After awhile though, it was time to go home. Kate said good-bye to Andrew and went home.
*****
After getting everything ready (and after Kate changed out of her robe), Sidney and the Lemieuxs came over.
“Congrats, Kate!” Nathalie gushed when she saw Kate.
“Thanks, Nathalie.” Kate smiled as she gave Nathalie a hug.
She gave Mario a hug too as he congratulated her. Then Kate’s dad came over to greet them so Kate could get a chance to talk to Sidney.
“So,” Sidney began, “can I get a hug too?”
Kate laughed. “I guess so.”
He laughed as he gave Kate a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “How was it?”
“Well, to be honest, pretty boring.” Kate rested her forearms on his shoulder and her hands behind his neck, and he rested his hands on her hips. “But it’s nice to know I’m done with that place.”
“That’s how I felt.”
They stood there for a minute talking and laughing, and then they walked over to talk to everyone.
The party lasted for a long time, until about eleven, when the kids started to get tired. At that point, the Lemieuxs decided to call it a night, and thanked Kate’s family. They congratulated Kate again, and slowly made their way out, talking to everyone on the way.