His Wolf Pup - a Jasper Hale Story

72- Graduation

"Emma! Are you ready? We have to go!"

"I'm working on it!"

I quickly tried putting my shoes on as Alice yelled up the stairs at me. "This is not my fault," I muttered as Jasper laughed at me. "If Alice hadn't spent so long on my hair and makeup, I would have been ready in time."

Alice was still upset. "We're going to be late!"

"You all drive a million miles over the speed limit!" I yelled back. "We'll never be late!" I finished putting my shoes on, grabbed my purse, and told Jasper, "Alright, let's go. Stop holding us up."

Jasper simply laughed as he followed me out of our room and down the stairs. Everyone was dressed up nicely and waiting for us in the entryway.

"Come on, you guys," I told everyone. "We're going to be late."

"You're the worst," Alice said as she followed me to the cars.

There was no way we would all fit in one car, so we split up. Emmet drove Rosalie, Esme, Alice, and Noah, while Carlisle drove Edward, Bree, Jasper, and me. We had slowly been taking Bree around people, and she had adapted to their diet enough that she could not breathe around humans and be fine. So, that was the going plan, and if she felt like she needed to leave, Rosalie or Emmet would take her home. The drive to the school was quick, as I had suspected, and we were at the school before I knew it.

As Carlisle and Emmet parked in our usual spots, we all got out one last time. Esme came around and helped us put our caps and gowns on. Bree took one last deep breath in and held her breath, ready to be surrounded by a lot of people. With that, we all made our way to the grass field where our graduation was being held. Almost everyone else was already there, but we weren't late like Alice predicted.

Carlisle, Esme, Emmet, Rosalie, and Bree were sitting with everyone else's families while the rest of us joined our classmates. Bella was loudly talking about Jacob to Mike as we passed her, but I could not have cared less. Jasper just grabbed my hand as we walked past her, making me smile at him. We all sat down where we were supposed to. Jasper and Noah had to sit next to each other and the others who had "H" last names, while Edward, Alice, and I sat next to the others with "C" last names.

As Jessica got up to give her speech, I couldn't help but smile. "When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were things like astronaut, President, or in my case, princess. When we were ten, they asked again, and we answered- rockstar, cowboy, or in my case, gold medalist. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how's this? Who knows?! This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions; it's a time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train and go somewhere chill. Fall in love- a lot. Major in philosophy because there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind. Then change it again because nothing is permanent. So make as many mistakes as you can. That way, someday, when they ask again what we want to be... we won't have to guess. We'll know."

Her short but sweet speech got a round of applause from everyone. No matter how crazy she sometimes was, I knew she had a good future ahead of her.

Then the principal started calling names. I subconsciously grabbed the choker around my neck like I used to do when I was nervous. It had been a while since I had worn Emmet's present, and I was glad I had put it on before I had left. We went up pretty early on. I followed Alice and Edward up to the stage. Our names were called one by one as we accepted our diplomas.

"Emma Cullen."

As I walked up to the stage, there were loud cheers from the audience. I saw Jasper cheering from his seat while the rest of our family did the same from their seats. What I was not expecting was the entire pack sitting over to the side screaming in celebration.

My smile widened as tears threatened to fall down my face. I slowly made my way across the stage, soaking up every moment of this so I could remember it forever.

I made it across the stage where Alice and Edward were waiting for me. I hugged both of them before we walked back to our seats. We sat together and waited for Noah and Jasper to walk across the stage.

When they did, everyone cheered for them once again. The pack yelled as loud as they did for me when Jasper walked across the stage, making him smile unnaturally wide. He looked out at the crowd, found me, and somehow smiled even more. I'm sure he confused the entire school since none of them had ever seen him smile like that before.

The two boys sat back down as we waited for everyone to be finished walking across the stage. As soon as everyone had officially graduated, we all got out of our seats and celebrated with our families.

I ran straight to Jasper and wrapped him in a hug. "You did it, Puppy!" He said, lifting me and spinning me in a circle.

"No more high school!" I cheered as he set me down.

We both pulled back with smiles on our faces as Emmet attacked me with a hug. Everyone else came over as we all celebrated our graduation. Even the pack ran over and gave hugs and congratulations to everyone.

While we were celebrating, I realized Edward had pulled Bree a little ways away to give her space. It made me realize something. "Why don't we move this celebration back to our house," I suggested. "That way, we can all relax a little more."

That suggestion worked for everyone since Jasper, Noah, and Bree were all a little on edge with everyone's families being here.

As we all started to walk away, someone called out my name. "Emma!"

I turned around to see Charlie walking up to me. I smiled as I walked over to him. "Hey Charlie," I said. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you on graduating," he told me. "And that I'm glad you're happy with the Cullens."

"Thank you, Charlie. That means a lot."

He gave me a small smile, hugged me, and went back over to Bella. Even though I couldn't stand Bella, that didn't mean I hated Charlie. If anything, I wished Bella treated him better since it was clear that he loved her a lot.

I turned back around and headed over to the parking lot. We all got into our separate cars and drove back home, where our celebrating would continue.