Best Friends (11 page)

June was the month of graduations. Robby Edwards graduated from the high school proudly with his certificate of attendance. Tobias Sherman graduated from the high school proudly but with no clear idea of what he wanted to do next. A week later, Flora, Nikki, and Olivia graduated from Camden Falls Elementary. A day after that, Alyssa Morris graduated from preschool.

“I haven't seen so many caps and gowns since your aunt Allie graduated from college,” said Min.

Of all the graduates, Robby was perhaps the most excited. “It means I can start my job,” he said. “It means no more school for babies. It means I'm a man.” And then he asked his mother for the sixth or seventh time, “Are you
sure
our class gets to graduate with the rest of the high school kids? We won't have to graduate with the babies at the elementary school, will we?”

“No,” said his mother patiently. “Your teacher promised. The only reason your class was moved to CFE was because of space. You'll graduate with the twelfth-graders. And, Robby, remember that Flora and Ruby and Olivia will be graduating from CFE, and I'm sure they don't think of themselves as babies. Okay?”

“Okay,” said Robby. “Oh, I hope it doesn't rain! I really hope it doesn't rain! We need sunshine for high school graduation! I better wish on a star. That usually works.”

Robby's wish came partially true. Graduation day was overcast and dreary but no rain fell. The ceremony was held at four o'clock on a June Thursday in the Camden Falls Central High School football stadium. As there was open attendance, the bleachers were packed.

Olivia had begged to go. She'd known Robby all her life. “Please, please, please?” she'd said to her father the week before graduation.

“But your mother and I will be working at the store.”

“I could go with Min. She's taking Flora and Ruby.”

“All right,” said Mr. Walter. “You can go. And why don't you put together a Congratulations basket for Robby?”

 

“What do you suppose people wear to graduations?” Olivia asked Flora on the phone on Wednesday night.

“I don't know, but I think you're supposed to look pretty nice.”

“Should we wear dresses?”

“Maybe.”

“I'll ask Nikki what she's going to wear.” Olivia hung up the phone and dialed Nikki's number. “Hi,” she said. “Guess what. Flora and Ruby and I are going to the graduation, too.”

“Oh, to see Robby,” said Nikki.

“And Tobias. Anyway, we wanted to know what you're going to wear.”

“Uh-oh. I didn't even think about that. You know what I
have
been thinking about?”

“What?”

“What if my father gets to feeling guilty and decides he should come back to see Tobias graduate?”

Olivia felt a chill wash over her. She remembered what had happened when Mr. Sherman had returned after Christmas. “You don't think he would, though, do you? I mean
why
would he come back, after what Tobias did to him?”

“That's true,” said Nikki slowly. “Still … Tobias is his son.”

“Well, let's not think about that. Let's think about our outfits,” said Olivia.

In the end, Olivia, Nikki, Ruby, and Flora all decided to wear dresses. Flora's was one she had made herself, Ruby's was one she had worn in a dance recital (it was the fanciest of the four dresses, involving sequins, but Min couldn't talk her out of it), Olivia's was the one she wore when she went to church sometimes with her grandparents, and Nikki's was a brand-new one recently provided by Mrs. DuVane (who would also be attending the graduation). Nikki was supremely grateful for it.

 

“Isn't this exciting?” said Olivia as she and Flora and Ruby and Min walked across the high school lawn toward the stadium on Thursday.

“Look at all the caps and gowns,” said Ruby. “It's like a flock of penguins.”

“Penguins don't wear hats,” said Olivia.

“Well, if they did,” said Ruby.

“I wonder which one is Robby,” said Flora.

“I wonder which one is Tobias,” said Olivia.

“Come on, girls,” said Min. “Let's find seats.”

Flora and Ruby helped their grandmother navigate the steps of the bleachers until they reached a row with space for four people.

“Lord love a duck,” said Min, puffing, as she sat down.

Olivia leafed through the program that had been handed to her as they approached the bleachers. She found Robby's name, then Tobias's. “I wonder where Nikki is sitting,” she said aloud. “She was afraid her father might decide to show up.”

“Lord love a duck,” murmured Min again.

“But I'm sure he won't,” added Olivia.

The members of the high school band, minus the graduating seniors, filed onto the football field then and sat in rows of chairs that had been arranged next to a podium. And then the seniors, all 322 of them, walked onto the field and sat in another, much bigger arrangement of chairs.

Olivia felt a flutter of excitement, but it faded quickly when a woman, who turned out to be the superintendent of the schools, stepped up to the podium and started to make a speech. A long speech. Olivia lost track of it early on and was relieved when the woman finally stopped talking. Unfortunately, when she finished, the high school principal made an even longer and duller speech. Luckily, this was followed by a speech given by the valedictorian of the graduating class, a girl who looked so much like Olivia that Olivia began to picture herself standing in front of that podium in six years. Now
that
was something to strive for. Valedictorian of her class.

At long last, the speeches were over and it was time to award the diplomas. They were to be handed out alphabetically by last name. Olivia looked for Robby. Then she looked for Tobias. And then she began to scan the stands for Mr. Sherman. She was startled when she felt Ruby nudge her and hiss, “Olivia, Robby's next!”

Olivia jumped to attention. She returned her gaze to the seniors. A boy named Nathaniel Edmond was shaking the hand of the superintendent and receiving his diploma. At the head of the line of waiting seniors was Robby. He was standing stiffly, arms at his sides, staring at Nathaniel and the superintendent.

Nathaniel walked back to his seat.

“Robert William Edwards!” called the superintendent.

A cheer arose from among the other seniors. In the stands around Olivia, people applauded and stamped their feet. Robby, grinning widely and waving at his audience, walked smartly to the podium. When he was handed his certificate of attendance, he shook hands, said thank you, and returned to his seat, tossing his cap in the air.

Tobias, when he accepted his diploma later, was more subdued, but as he left the podium, Min, Flora, Olivia, Ruby, Nikki, Mae, Mrs. DuVane, and Mrs. Sherman cheered loudly, and Ruby (feeling bad because Tobias's cheering section hadn't been as large as Robby's) inserted her fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle, which caused Min to raise her eyebrows.

When the last diploma had been handed out, everyone left their seats and the football field was filled with excited seniors and equally excited families. Olivia decided that she had never seen so many cameras. Everywhere she looked were groups of people posing for someone's camera. Three girls in their caps and gowns threw their arms around one another and, nearly tumbling over sideways, grinned while a mom snapped their photo. Robby posed with his beloved Mrs. Fulton. A boy posed with his parents. The valedictorian posed with the principal.

“Gosh, just think,” said Olivia wistfully, “this will be us next week.”

 

And so it was. The week between was busy. Robby had his long-awaited graduation party and then began training to work at Sincerely Yours. Olivia and her friends finished up final assignments and cleaned out their desks. Olivia said a lot of good-byes (in her head). She said good-bye to the CFE playground and cafeteria and library. She said good-bye to her desk and the classroom she had so happily shared with Flora and Nikki. She bid good riddance to the gym, but even as she did so, she thought with a shudder of the even bigger and scarier gym she was likely to find at the high school.

On the afternoon of graduation day, Mr. Donaldson sat on the edge of his desk and addressed Olivia's class, his first at CFE.

“You've been great,” he said. “Memorable. My other classes are going to have a lot to live up to.”

Olivia's classmates smiled, but Olivia could feel her lip trembling.

“All right,” Mr. Donaldson continued. “I think you know what will go on this afternoon. Are there any questions, though? No? Okay. Be sure to arrive by four o'clock. And remember, white outfits for the girls — pants are fine — and white shirts and black pants for the guys, okay? See you in an hour or so.”

Olivia slid out of her seat. She had cleaned out her desk along with everyone else, but now she stuck her hand inside to make sure she hadn't missed anything. She was hoping to find an old note from Nikki or an early assignment with Mrs. Mandel's handwriting at the top. But her desk was truly empty.

Olivia sighed.

Then she caught up with Flora and Ruby, called “See you later!” to Nikki, and headed for the Row Houses.

“Only two walks left,” said Olivia as the girls turned onto Aiken Avenue, “not including this one.”

“What?” said Ruby.

“Only two more walks to or from school.”

“I'm sure you'll be back at CFE again sometime,” said Ruby. “What about my graduation?”

“That won't be the same,” said Olivia. “I mean two more walks when I'm a student here.”

“Well, what about this: only one more disgusting school lunch tomorrow,” said Ruby.

“I didn't even mind the lunches,” replied Olivia.

“I wonder why you have to come back for one more day after you graduate,” said Ruby.

“I don't know, but I'm glad we do.” Olivia kicked at a pebble.

“Olivia, you're not going to be sad all afternoon, are you?” asked Flora. “Because this is supposed to be a happy occasion.”

“Lots of happy occasions are sad, too,” said Olivia.

“Actors love roles with complicated emotions,” Ruby spoke up.

Olivia sighed again. “Well, my emotions certainly feel complicated today. Maybe it isn't the same for you. You guys have only been going to CFE for a year.”

“But we had gone to our old school since pre-K,” said Flora. “We miss our old school. We were sad to leave it.”

“Sorry,” said Olivia. “I wasn't thinking.”

“It's all right,” replied Flora, “but, Olivia, try to be happy about today, okay? We're only going to graduate from sixth grade once. We'd better enjoy it. Plus, afterward, we'll go to the party at your store. That will be fun, won't it?”

“Yes,” said Olivia.

An hour later, Olivia and her parents and brothers pulled into the parking lot of CFE. The lot was packed.

“Honey, you're beautiful,” Olivia's father said as they walked toward the school.

“Thank you,” replied Olivia. She looked down at her dress, which Gigi had made just for this occasion and was the most grown-up dress Olivia had ever worn.

Later, sitting on her folding chair on the stage in the auditorium, Nikki a row in front of her, Flora a row in front of Nikki, Olivia tried hard to feel happy — to feel proud of her accomplishments and brave about the next school year. And she was certainly surprised and pleased when she was presented with the overall achievement award and thrilled with the cheering and applause that arose from the audience and her classmates as she accepted her plaque. But as she returned to her seat and gazed around the auditorium at all its familiar details — the drooping hem of the curtain at the third window from the back, the chair in the front row that was missing its seat, the ceiling tiles, the new green carpeting — Olivia couldn't help but feel that a wonderful chapter in a book had come suddenly to its end.

 

The party at Sincerely Yours was all that Olivia could have hoped for. It reminded her, in fact, of her surprise one-oh birthday bash. Many of the same guests were there, and they were, Olivia realized, all the people who were the most important to her: her parents and her brothers, Gigi and Poppy, her aunt and uncle and cousins, her best friends, and her Row House neighbors.

She looked at the door to Sincerely Yours and saw the
OPEN
sign, which meant that people outside on Main Street saw the
CLOSED
sign. She looked at the
CONGRATULATIONS, GRADUATES!
banner draped along one wall. She watched Robby, who was telling every single person at the party, individually, that he would soon be an official employee of Sincerely Yours. She smiled at Mr. Pennington, who was sitting in a chair with baby Grace in his lap. She laughed when Ruby approached her wearing a cone-shaped party hat on her forehead as if she were a unicorn. She posed for a photo with Nikki and Flora, the three of them holding their diplomas and grinning.

And all the while, Olivia was thinking of this chapter in her life, the one that was ending, and realizing that she did not want to turn the page to see what would come next. She wished instead that she could go back to page one.