Page 77 of Broken Souls

“Okay, call me if you need anything.”

Axe pulls up in front of the school, which is crowded. All the girls' dresses are full of colour. I get out of the car and Axe links his arm through mine. I honestly thought no one would ever come to my graduation but here I am walking in with the man I love. Since I'm not used to walking in high heels, I slowly walk towards the building, Axe being patient with me. A black and red dress comes into my vision so I know it's Amelia. She's getting out of a car.

“Elora,” she squeals when she sees me and waves me over.

Axe and I reach her and she gives me a hug, then stares at Axe wide-eyed. A man gets out of the car and comes to Amelia's side. My eyes go wide. He is a lot older than I thought he was.

“Guess we both got sugar daddies.” Amelia gestures to Axe.

“Amelia,” I gasp.

“This is Richard.”

“This is Axe.”

The men shake hands.

“You look great,” Amelia says.

“So do you.”

“Baby, I'll see you later.” Richard smiles at Amelia then gets back in the car.

“He's not coming in?” I ask.

“No, my parents are coming.” She laughs. “They don't need to know about him. Now, let's walk in there and show all those motherfuckers we own this shit,” Amelia says confidently, making me laugh.

When Amelia and Axe and I walk in, some eyes turn to us. Just like our eyes turn to every dress in there. The further we walk in, I realise Amelia and I really chose some risky dresses. A lot of the girls here are wearing white dresses and the rest are wearing princess type dresses. Amelia and I are the only ones wearing black and red.

“All these girls are absolute bitches yet they chose dresses to make them look innocent and modest. Guarantee you half these bitches will be on their knees within the hour at the after party.” Amelia leans close so no one else hears.

Axe laughs. “I miss high school.”

When the ceremony starts, Axe sits in the back while I take my seat. The ceremony is daunting. We sit in alphabetical order while everyone's families are at the back. We each go up on stage and collect our certificate. It ends and everyone goes outside to take photos. Axe is waiting outside for me and smiles when I walk to him.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” I wrap my arms around him.

Amelia comes over when her parents leave. We take a few photos and I take one with Axe. As it gets later, everyone starts to leave. Axe drops Amelia and I off at the club where the dinner is being held.

“I'll see you later,” Axe says, then leaves.

We choose our seats while everyone's socialising. It gets pretty boring. We complain about how long it takes the food to come out. No one sits down until the food actually gets placed on the table. A bunch of girls sit at the table with us, thankfully they're human. They're just the sporty girls so they stick to their own part of the table, not even acknowledging us. We dive into the food, even going back for seconds. After the food, a slideshow is shown of everyone over the years at school. Obviously Amelia and I aren't in it.

“Everyone, we will now be doing awards that each friendship group have decided for their friends.” Two of the human girls stand in the middle of the room and announce the awards. Most of the awards are silly ones that everyone laughs at.

“Elora, the award for persistence,” one of the girls says. I go up and collect it, smiling because Amelia always chooses that word to describe me. I hope she likes the award I chose for her. The awards keep going. “Amelia, the award for spirit.”

Amelia smiles at me then goes up and gets her award. Our awards seem to be the only ones that mean something. Other awards were foolish like the best hair and the funniest practical joke. I know Amelia and I'll cherish our awards. We're the only ones who understand them. After the awards, the girls make a speech.

“We've had a great six years together but we've officially come to an end. I wish everyone the best for wherever they go after tonight. We give a shout-out to those who couldn't bare the pressure and dropped out before graduation. Let's give a round of applause for Joel Lewis, Ember Chambers, Hannah Willet, Mitchell Wyomi and Reeve Danes.”

“Pfft,” I can't help but let out and all eyes turn to me.

I can feel the eyes of the werewolves penetrating me since they all know those five didn't drop out. Amelia breaks the silence by chuckling. The girls who made the speech start the round of applause to get the light atmosphere back. I, however, am amazed that the humans haven't questioned the dropouts. Like, come on, five students dropping out on the same day, how suspicious is that. But I guess since it's the end of the year, no one really cares.

The dinner comes to an end after some light dancing on the dance floor. Amelia and I just watch from the side. Soon enough everyone is at the after party. One of the humans with a huge house is throwing it. I laugh as I see the way everyone is dancing now. Going from friendly dancing at the club to downright pornographic grinding at the party. All the guys have taken off their suit blazers, ties and rolled up their sleeves. Some of the girls have gotten changed before coming here, some are still wearing their dresses, and some have even taken off their dresses and are only wearing the slips underneath. As the party goes on and I can visibly see everyone getting drunker, it's clear everyone's letting loose tonight.