Antonio shooed me off, and I turned, running smack into Ezra’s back. Seriously, I had run into walls that were softer. Ezra grunted and growled under his breath, not even glancing backward as I shoved away from him, rubbing my forehead and growling in return.
Mrs. Jonas gave us a disapproving look. “I know you two aren’t in attendance anymore at this school, but if you both keep up these shenanigans,” she paused, “or if the four of you have planned any pranks for the graduation ceremony—”
“We need to go,” Pearl interrupted from where she stood in front of Ezra, her tone clipped. She was still irritated.
“Now,” Jack said very quietly, which was never a good sign.
Mrs. Jonas glared at the four of us, her eyes roaming down the line until she got to me. She pointed a finger. “You are trouble.”
“You’re the second person to say that to me today, so it’s not really breaking news.”
Her face scrunched in aggravation.
King Nelson cleared his throat quickly, offering, “Mrs. Jonas, I’ll take this unruly bunch where they’re supposed to go. You just relax before you have to go onstage.” He motioned for us to follow him, which we did.
Although, we still heard Mrs. Jonas hollering after us, “There had better not be one person flying through the air, a wet t-shirt contest, wild animals roaming about, or an unwilling flash mob during the ceremony!” She must have paused for breath, because there was a gap of silence, then she shouted, “This is going to be on live television, so don’t ruin it!”
Hell, I had only done the wild animal party once. I’d had to have a little fun with that part of my power, since I knew I could do it now. It wasn’t my fault if one of the pythons was last seen entering the administration building and never found. That could have happened to anyone. The bugger had just slithered away when I hadn’t been looking. Other than the fact the python was hard to control, like the alligators had been, I blamed it on the goat that had been giving me a lot of trouble. It had kept eating everything in sight, including the sandals I’d had on that day, which I had been in the process of pulling out of its mouth for the second time when said python disappeared. At least the python wasn’t that big. Yet.
I didn’t trip and fall. Thank God for small favors.
I sat with my diploma for Political Science in my hand as the last of my classmates were walking across the stage. We were in alphabetical order, so I hadn’t been able to sit next to any of my friends. Not that I had really wanted to but, sadly, once I had calmed down during Mrs. Jonas’s droning on — and on — behind her podium onstage, I felt I should apologize again. My abusive uncle had been another secret I had kept to myself, even when they had held nothing back. At times, I definitely acted more Com than Mys.
I had read my mom’s letter while I sat on the slip-covered folding chair, instead of listening to Mrs. Jonas. She hadn’t written a lot of words. But it had made me misty-eyed, and I had quickly blinked back my tears, not wanting mascara tracks staining my cheeks. The gist of it was that she hoped and prayed I forgave her for sending me to her brother, but that there had been no other choice. She wrote that if I was reading this, then it was my graduation day and she was proud of me and my hard work, and she knew in her heart and mind I would go on to do great things and live a life full of happiness and love. Under her signature, she had, once again, asked me to forgive her.
That was all. It was enough. The letter rested in my pocket now and, as soon as I got home, I was going to put it in the scrapbook in my closet that she had started years ago of us. The only thing, other than her money, I had left of her.
Sighing quietly, I rested further on my chair, ignoring the gazes I felt on me from the audience. When Pearl, Jack, and I had gone across the stage at our separate times there had been freaking standing ovations. Nothing like a little early sucking up from Mysticals who don’t even know me, or them. Ezra’s name was about to be called, and I cringed, ready.
“Ezra Zeller, Bachelor’s Degree of Political Science,” Mrs. Jonas stated loudly.
Boom. The applause was almost deafening as he began sauntering across the stage.
I stood, clapping right along with everyone else, mine less polite than the roar, since I also blew through my index finger and thumb, whistling loudly, just as I had for Jack and Pearl.
In due progress, the ceremony was over. In Commoner school, the graduates threw their caps in the air but, since Mysticals wore robes with hoods, that didn’t even cross anyone’s minds. Instead, we cheered with our hands in the air as the fire Elementals of our class shot sparkling fireballs above our heads from their palms, the air Elementals blowing them high into the air, and then the water Elementals putting them out, keeping us safe. Not too shabby, and pretty damn cool to witness.
Afterward, we only had a half-hour to talk with each other and celebrate.