Chapter 1- Graduation

A month ago…

All the students of Woodenville high had gathered to take their seats in the large hall, along with the parents of the school and other guests. They were all waiting for the ceremony to begin. In front of the hall, a huge decorated sign congratulating the class of 2020 stood bold for everyone to see. The graduands; who were followed by the school principal and other esteemed faculty members, then marched into the hall in two straight lines fully clad in their grad caps and gowns, taking the special seats that had been reserved for them right in front of the stage. Joana was one of the lucky people who would be graduating from high school today; along with her boyfriend turned fiancé, Andrew, and her best friend, Sandra. She spotted her grandmother, Jennifer who was fondly called grandma Jen amid the audience who were applauding the graduands and taking pictures of them as they marched. Grandma Jean had come to represent her as her guardian, she gave Joana a warm smile as she saw her and waved while holding in her hand a gift basket and a bouquet; graduation gifts for her granddaughter.

After they had all settled down, the coordinator for the ceremony ushered everyone to rise as they sang the school song and the national anthem. They sat back down after singing and then the principal was invited onstage to give a brief welcome address before the presentation of awards and diplomas.

The names of the students were called in alphabetical order for the presentations, and one by one they all took their turns to walk the stage until it was Joana’s turn. Her row was escorted to the front of the stage and when she was called, she climbed on top and went to receive her diploma. She shook the principal with her right hand and held her diploma in her left hand, pausing to take a quick picture. She then got off the stage unable to contain the excitement within her. She was now a high school graduate!

The ceremony ended with speeches from the guest speaker and the best graduating student, Stephanie Peterson. The chairman gave a closing remark after which the academic procession stood up and departed from the hall, followed by the graduates in an orderly manner.

The parents and other students went outside to congratulate the new graduates. Grandma Jen, after finding Joana, went to her and gave her a tight hug before presenting her with her gifts.

“I am so proud of you,” she said to her. “Your dad would have been too.”

“Oh yeah,” she remembered her dad, her superhero who had passed away from an illness five years ago. Her mother had her when she was just a teenager and obviously was not ready to carry on the duties of motherhood at such a young age. After getting pregnant, she came to live in the house with Joana’s dad and grandma Jen, who loved and treated her like a daughter. After giving birth, Joana’s mother ran away from the house, abandoning her for her father and grandma Jen to raise. They both took on the responsibility and couldn’t have been happier to raise such a fine young woman. Things were perfect until Joana’s dad died. The only person she could look up to now was her grandmother. She didn’t know her mother too well, and the last she had heard about her from her father when he was still alive was that she had a new family; a new husband with kids of their own. Her mother had never come back or even bothered to check up on her since she left. But Joana never cared about that. She had all the family she needed right here.

“Let’s take a picture,” she said to grandma Jen as she handed her phone to one of the students and beckoned on him to take a shot of her and her grandmother on her special day.

“Congratulations to our new lives, baby!” Andrew said. He had seen them from afar off taking a picture together and decided to head to where they stood.

Joana smiled as she took her phone back from the student after the picture and went to hug Andrew, who swung her in his arms and kissed her. Andrew was like her other half. Their relationship had started as just friends and had progressed over the years. They had been together for such a long time until he decided to tie the knot with her by proposing to her on the day of their final prom in high school. She said yes, of course, and they had planned to get married a month after graduation. They both didn’t have plans of going to college, as Joana hated school and Andrew was going to take over the automobile business from his dad. They would both get married under the beautiful moon and would have a happy family together at a young age.

Grandma Jen left the couple to go and congratulate other graduates and greet the parents, and Joana and Andrew went over to their friends to continue taking pictures.

Upon getting home, Joana met a surprise. Grandma Jen, along with Sandra’s parents had co-planned a graduation party in Joana’s house for them. Friends and family members came to give them warm hugs and to wish them well in their life journeys. Sandra had college plans, as she had applied to several universities, both in and out of the country. She got a few acceptance letters but finally decided to study abroad, as she loved to travel and explore new territories. She chose to continue her studies in a popular German university. Joana was very happy for her friend, even though she was going to miss her terribly. Sandra was going to leave for Germany immediately after the wedding, she definitely wouldn’t miss a chance to wear a beautiful dress while standing next to the gorgeous bride.

Joana looked around her as the party continued. Andrew had returned to his parent’s house and she didn’t know if he was going to come. Even if he didn’t come now, they would still see each other tonight, thanks to the tall oak tree that stood by her bedroom window.