Act III
Chapter 36 ━━ Graduation

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The next morning is a special day of Shelley Swan's life. She is currently in the Forks High School gym, sitting in between the caps and gowns, celebrating the graduation ceremony. Families and teachers are sitting on the back rows, umbrellas are on hand in case the clouds open up. 

"When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up… Our answers were things like astronaut, president…" Jessica is at the podium, presenting her speech which the class valedictorian, who happens to be the one and only Esdras Cullen supposed to but failed to do because he is obviously a shy person. 

Yeah, that's what he said to the teacher when he was requested to do the freaking speech. And Shelley finds that to be simply bullshit. 

Reading her thoughts, Esdras chuckles, shaking his head right next to her. An amused smile on his face. 

The blonde huffs, turning her attention back to Jessica. The girl looks like a ball of energy. The smile on her face suits her very much. Shelley feels very proud of her friend's confidence. 

"…Or in my case, princess. When we were ten, they asked again and we answered; rock star, cowboy, or in my case, gold medalist. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how 'bout this: who the hell knows?!" 

Loud hoots and hollers from the audience whilst Jessica's speech continues. 

"This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions, it's the time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train, and get stuck 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." 

Shelley turns to her left to face Bella. Jessica's words are sinking in her brain like a whiplash. She's thinking of the whole process of embracing vampirism. The blonde takes her sister's hand into her and squeezes to comfort her, knowing there will be no changing her mind once the elder twin makes her decision. 

Bella smiles at her sister weakly before gently squeezing back to let her know she's fine. 

Soon enough, Shelley finds herself walking to the school principal on the stage and shaking his hand while receiving her diploma. Out in the audience Charlie claps loudly, beaming with pride. 

Shelley swears the look on his face is enough for her lifetime. 

Later, when the ceremony comes to an end, Charlie and the twins walk away. Bella is awkwardly shouldering out of her gown and mortarboard. 

Being the weird kid herself, Shelley takes off her gown in the middle of the crowd of teenagers feeling ugly in it. The blonde sighs in relief when she adjusts her blouse and jeans. Better. 

Ad-libbed "see you at the party's" with various students including the usual suspects if possible. 

Charlie wraps his arms around Bella's and Shelley's shoulders. He looks deeply emotional. "I'm so proud of you both. I can't wait to see what you two do next. You're my biggest accomplishment." 

"Dad, that's not true." Bella says. 

"Yeah, it is. And it's… well, you'll see, when you have kids." Charlie tells when Mike shows up in their way with a smile. 

"Hey, I want to thank you for your advice with the date. It went well. Jessica loved it." Mike says to the blonde and she nods at Charlie and Bella, who leave her with the dirty blond boy. 

"I'm glad it went well, Mike." Shelley honestly says with a small smile. "You guys are practically soulmates." 

"I know right." Mike grins, showing his white teeth. But soon enough, it turns into a horrific expression. 

Puzzled, Shelley follows his gaze to see the rebellious satan himself making his way to them. She sees the corner of Jacob's lip perk upwards into a smirk at the sight of Mike's fear. She simply rolls her eyes. 

"Shells, baby. We gotta stop meeting like this. Is this fate?" He retaliates by taking a step towards her when he reaches them. The blonde counters by taking a step backwards, still wary how possessive he seems to be over her. 

"What do you want, Jacob?" Shelley asks with a straight face whilst her mind begins to vividly remind her of the things he did to her.

"I'm here to see you." Jacob shrugs with a pout. "Is that a crime?" 

"Just go, Jacob." She sighs, mentally praying for someone to save her from the 'Jacob' situation. 

"You weren't complaining when you were a panting mess under me yesterday." Jacob mumbles seductively, loud enough for her to hear it. And it's obvious that Mike just heard him too. 

In the corner of her eyes, Shelley can see Mike shift from one foot to the other awkwardly. Poor him. 

The blonde bites her lower lips with annoyance before turning to her friend with a sweet smile. "Mike, I'll see you at the party?" 

"Yeah." Mike nods and quickly disappears into the crowd of teenagers without a second thought. 

Shelley turns back to Jacob with a deadly glare to find him watching her already. "What is wrong with you?!" 

Without answering, he wraps his arms around her, buries his head in her neck. She feels his teeth nip at his mark from yesterday on her neck. The blonde hopes he chokes on the heavy layer of makeup she applied on her neck to cover his freaking mark.

Completely ignoring the pleasure ringing down her body, Shelley hisses trying to pry his arms off her. But they are firmly around her and show no sign of budging them. There's something about him touching her even though it's not sexual. It makes her want to jump into his bones and let him take her then and there. God, when did she become a horny dog? 

"I'm not gonna give up." He says to her, his eyes pretty dark. There's no doubt that he can sense her arousal. Can this be anymore embarrassing? 

"Have fun with that." Shelley says, trying to keep her confident face. If he wants a challenge, she'll give him one. 

Suddenly, Jacob is ripped off by her hero of a best friend whilst Shelley stumbles on her feet to keep herself steady. 

Good job, Esdras! Nice way to save the lady in distress. Love the logic. 

Note the sarcasm. 

For Shelley's luck, Edward appears beside her and catches her before she kisses the ground. Bella soon appears next with concern written all over her face as she checks for any possible injuries, which she finds none. 

"Stay away from her! Or else-!" Esdras snarls at the werewolf in front of him, only to cut off by Jacob's laughter. 

"Or what are you going to do about that, Esdras?" Jacob taunts the vampire, a smirk slapped on his face. 

The glare on Esdras's face deepens with frustration for some reason as he directly stares at Jacob. It's obvious that Esdras is reading his mind. And for some reason, Edward's face turns into a grimace, clearly disgusted. 

The Cullen twins snap their heads in the blonde's direction in unison. More like at her neck for some sort of confirmation.

Shelley squints her eyes, being the utterly confused creature she is. And that's when it hit her. 

Jacob is visualising the intimate moment he spent with her in his head. The motherfucker is shamelessly exposing it to the two brothers with his loud thoughts. 

Shelley wants to dig a hole in the ground and hide herself. She feels embarrassed. She feels shameful. Overall, she wants to strangle Jacob Black. 

Esdras on the other hand looks like he wants to murder Jacob in the worst way. But he is holding back for the sake of humans around them. 

"This is fun, I swear. But I have a border patrol in fifteen minutes." Jacob says, pointing at his imaginary watch on his wrist. The smirk on his mouth is twitching teasingly. "We can continue this later though." 

"I'll see you later, Shells." Jacob adds, walking away once again, not a single trance of fear in him at the offended vampires. 

"I'm gonna kill him." Esdras growls, clenching his jaw with anger smoking out of his ears. 

"I'll hide the body." Edward volunteers, still wearing his grimace. 

Bella smacks Edward's arm and sends both the Cullen Twins dead glares. "No one is killing or hiding any bodies." 

Esdras's stern eyes turn to the blonde when the couple takes off, leaving her with the angry vampire. 

Shelley swallows the lump in her throat, waiting for his outburst. This is going to be a long day.