May 31st, 2022

Nova

I sat in a seat with my name on it, kinda excited and kinda bummed. Everybody had received four tickets for people they could invite, and I was left with three free tickets to give out because I didn't have anybody other than Hailey. While everybody was gonna have someone cheering them on loudly whilst yelling "that's my baby", I was gonna have a smile and my picture taken. That's not Hailey's fault though.

My hair was simple, all I did was straighten it. As for makeup, I didn't do much in that department either. I put a dark red shaded matte gloss on my lips and some volumizer thingy on my eyelashes. That was literally it.

It scared me when I thought of all that was happening this week, down to the nitty-gritty. Tomorrow, I'd be a married woman. And all I could do is hope that my classmates did their part in their role for Aubrey and I's wedding. Especially Matt, since he was the one marrying us.

I looked ahead up Aubrey's row and saw that Aubrey looked much more relaxed than I did. She was talking casually to the person next to her, with one leg folded on the other. Her hair was put into some body waves, which I helped with, and she had false lashes and lipstick on. Little to no makeup, just like me.

The girls were wearing white gowns while the guys were wearing black. I thought it was cool that our school distinguished itself in that manner because most schools didn't.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the principal said, quieting all of us. I took the moment to reminisce on all the memories I made in just this one year at Norwood, I made more friends, had more boyfriends, and did a lot more shit than I've done in my other three years combined. It made me wonder how different my high school experience would've been had I spent all four years here at Norwood.

My thoughts jumped from when Nick asked me out, to when I met Brynn, to Aubrey crying in the bathroom, to Aubrey and I's first kiss, to Nick threatening to kill me, to Lewis coming into my life, to May and I fighting, to Maddy and I's beef, to Matt's gift, to the strip club, to my mom, to Nick and I falling apart for good, to prom queen, and the senior sleepover.

"Wow" I whispered to myself as I looked down. "What a year."

"Aubrey Celine Bryant," the principal announced, regaining my attention. I smiled wide and clapped for my fiancée who quickly looked back at me. Thankfully I caught it in time, because I was able to give Aubrey a thumbs up.

Hailey

"Nova Christine Milan," the principal (or assistant principal, I honestly didn't fucking know at this point) said, causing me and jump up in down and cheer for my friend in excitement. I had heard a few other names of people I knew like Aubrey, Rosalina, and Matt, but I was truly here for Nova.

Nova

It seemed like the name-calling was dragging on for like ever. I sighed, not even realizing that we were almost done.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Norwood high's class of twenty, twenty-two!" Chants exploded across the football field, and I sighed yet again, but this time it was a sigh of relief. It was a bittersweet moment but I was more than thankful to finally be closing this chapter of my life. It was some rollercoaster.

Before I could, Aubrey made her way to me. We instantly intertwined fingers, but I accidentally let go when I saw Sophie and George holding hands.

"Oh?" I questioned, approaching the two, "what's going on here? You two are a thing and didn't tell anyone?"

Sophie chucked, "school was almost over" she stated, "We figured that if people see us, they see us. If not, then oh well."

I nodded, "fair enough" I said, as Aubrey tilted her head.

"I never would've expected this," she said, referring to George and Sophie, "but you know what, I'm not mad about it. As you should girl!"

"There's a party at Lewis' place if y'all wanna go," Jason informed us as he approached. I looked at Aubrey to see what she had to say.

"We're getting married tomorrow," she said, "I wanna have one last intimate night alone with my partner before we're officially spouses. Jason made a "yuck" face, and Sophie and George laughed.

"Well, I'll see you two tomorrow then," Jason said, giving both Nova and me a hug.

"Same here," Sophie said after, hugging us as well. George just hugged us, he didn't say shit.

"Before we do any of that though," Aubrey said, most likely referring to the whole "intimate night" idea, "I'm gonna drop you off at my house, I have something to do that will not take me any longer than an hour.

"Okay," I answered, as Aubrey held my hand again. Oh to be eighteen and engaged.

***

Aubrey

I parked down the street in case Nova's mom had hired rabid animals that would damage my property since the last time Nova and I had seen her. Kidding, but I did still just wanna be on the safe side. Anyway, I checked my purse to make sure I had the pepper spray that I stole from my mom's utensil drawer. I took out my phone and looked at my camera to make sure I had the perfect "serious face."

"Okay," I said to myself, "let's do this shit."

I began walking toward Nova's mom's house, rather slowly. I guess that may have just been the paranoia doing that, so I eventually just took a deep breath and ran full blast. I must've looked like a crazy bitch running down a three hundred-foot road just to gently knock on a door.

"Who is it?!" Nova's mom yelled, and for obvious reasons, I didn't say anything. Instead, I just knocked again, prompting Nova's mom to open the door.

"You?" Nova's mom asked, looking at me. "You got some damn nerve to be standing in front of me after all the bull shit you've put into my kid's brain young lady."

I tilted my head a little, "well hello to you too Ms. Milan" I said, "now before I say anything else, I will tell you that I do in fact have pepper spray on me, and I will in fact use it if you decide to go 'crazy Haitian mom' on me." Nova's mom looked at me but didn't make much movement with her face.

"Little girl" Nova's mom began, "why are you here?"

I breathed a breath of relief and smiled, "I'm here because I would like for you to attend Nova and I's wedding."

Nova's mom looked at me like I had three heads, "are you serious?" she questioned, which I expected. "Aside from the fact that I absolutely do not support gay marriage, my daughter will have me arrested if I show up."

I shook my head, "no she won't" I argued, "as long as you can do your part and not try to ruin the wedding or attack anybody."

Nova's mom folded her arms, "please give me one good reason as to why I'd wanna see my teenage daughter get married to someone that's one hundred percent against her religion?"

"Because she is your only child," I said, folding my arms and trying to give the same amount of attitude. "You missed her prom because you couldn't let your pride go, you just missed her graduation earlier today because you couldn't let your pride go, and now you're about to miss her wedding because you're too proud to admit that you miss and love her! Who the fuck cares if she marries a woman or man?"

Nova's mom still looked incredibly unfazed. "I can always have another child," she said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Right," I shot back, "with who? The ghost of your ex-husband's past?" Nova's mom sucked her teeth.

"You got a mouth on you," Nova's mom replied, "good luck putting up with my daughter."

I laughed, "I'm managing," I said, "some days are a dog fight between us but we've accustomed to one another."

Nova's mom smiled, "man if there's anything I've loved about Nova, it was how incredibly easy she could adjust to environments." I smiled, genuinely.

"You're not slick!" Nova's mom yelled suddenly, startling me. "You're trying to sweet talk me into going." I eased up and fixed my posture.

"Although I did enjoy that thirty-second conversation, I did not mean to do anything," I said. "I can't force you to be there, of course, but I'm more so doing this for you. Like I said before, Nova is your only baby and you can say all this bullshit about making another one, but would you really wanna go through all that hard work of bringing up a child and this and that just because your first one didn't come out the exact way you wanted her to?"

Nova's mom opened her mouth to speak, but I kept going. "And you know what, you're gonna have another baby, and they're gonna come out gay too. Just because their mother was a homophobic twat."

"I would have that same rowdy energy with you" Nova's mom confided as she folded her arms, "but you have pepper spray on you and I ran out of milk. So I guess I'll just stay on your good side."

I nodded and smiled, "smart lady."

"But," Nova's mom said sighing, "you're right. I do love Nova very much, although I don't agree with her choice. And I do know that this could be her first and last marriage."

I looked at Nova's mom with desperate, hopeful eyes. "So does that mean you'll show up?" I asked, "I can bring you to Nova personally before the wedding."

Nova's mom smiled, "as long as nobody tries to send me to jail, we can do that. I may hate to say it, but I should, so I will. Thank you for making Nova so happy that she knows at just eighteen years old, that she's met the one."

I smiled, genuinely. "Thank you for giving her to the world. I know you don't support it but I swear I'll do my best with her and love her every step of the way."

Nova's mom tried to hide her smile this time around, but her rosy cheeks and slight twisting of the mouth made it impossible to do. "Come here," she said, opening her hands for a hug.

"Don't gotta tell me twice in law!" I said back, giving her the biggest, tightest hug I could give.

Thank goodness.