CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

LONG LIVE — TAYLOR SWIFT
For a moment a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world

JUNE, 1995.
ONE MONTH BEFORE.

PEOPLE ALWAYS SAY that high school ends in the blink of an eye. They also say that it's the best years of your life. To Olivia both of these sayings were true.

As she stood in front of her mirror and smoothed down her blue graduation gown, she found it hard to believe that the woman staring back at her was her.

It felt just like yesterday that she was walking through the doors of Los Feliz High School for the first time. She had come a long way from the person she was four years ago. From her parents' divorce and her break up with Jason to joining the band and finding her soulmate, she had gone through a lot that allowed her to grow as a person and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't proud of who she had become.

A shout from outside her open window disrupted her thoughts and she tore her gaze away from the mirror.

She shook her head with a small smile and walked over to the window to see Bobby and Mikey playing basketball. Off to the side, Kat, Alex, and Reggie were talking amongst themselves. Next to them was her mother and Luke, trying their best to tie his tie. The older boys were wearing their own caps and graduation gowns.

Mikey passed the ball to Bobby and looked up at her. "Hurry up, Olivia! No matter how long you spend getting ready, I'm still going to be the pretty sibling!"

Sylvia scolded him with a singular glare and turned to her daughter. "Come on, Livy. We've gotta get going soon if we want to get good seats."

Nodding her head, she retreated back into her room and headed downstairs. When she joined them in the driveway, she saw Luke tugging at his tie.

"This is stupid," he grumbled, leaving the two untied ends to hang off his neck. He turned to Sylvia. "Why do I have to wear this again?"

"Because I said so and you live under my roof," she replied with a smug tilt of her head.

Luke didn't want to go to the graduation ceremony. He'd much rather stay in the garage and plan for the band's upcoming summer tour (affectionally called the Tell Your Friends Tour). He didn't even want to stay in school after running away from home in December. The only reason he did was because no one else was willing to drop out with him and there was be no point in doing so without them.

When graduation came around, he was adamant about not attending. All it did was remind him of his parents and how badly they wanted to see him walk across the stage.

When Sylvia found out about his intention to skip the ceremony, she scolded him for days. No child under her roof was going to miss their graduation. The band ended up giving him an ultimatum saying that they wouldn't attend unless he did, trapping him into attendance. He knew how much the ceremony meant to them. To top it off, Alex had gotten himself voted class valedictorian so Luke really didn't have a choice in the matter.

Luke let out a frustrated groan, causing Alex to roll his eyes and step over. The blond tried tying the fabric together, but his hands were shaking too much to get it right.

Olivia saw this and gently nudged him to the side. She knew how nervous he was about delivering his speech.

The way their school picked their valedictorian was by voting for one of the top five students in the class. She pulled out of the running immediately. Her anxiety didn't allow her to feel comfortable enough to campaign for the title, but Alex remained as a contender. He didn't want to—he was just as anxious as her—but he did it in hopes that his parents would be proud of him. He thought that if he was valedictorian, his parents would support him the same way they did before he came out.

Alex stepped aside with a grateful look and pulled his cue cards out of his pocket to practice his speech for what felt like the hundredth time.

"You know," Olivia said to her boyfriend, "you could've just gotten a clip on tie."

"And make my life easier?" Luke sarcastically replied. "Why would I ever do that?"

Olivia tucked his tie into his gown and nodded her head towards Reggie's car. "Come on, headache."

As the pair trailed behind their friends, Luke took a hold of her hand. "Are you nervous?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "We're just walking across a stage, Luke."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about."

Olivia's jaw clenched as she remembered her driving test scheduled later that day. "I'm scared shitless."

Luke stopped walking, causing Olivia to pause as well. His hands cupped her cheeks and he stepped closer to look into her eyes. "It's okay to be anxious," he affirmed. "But you're a good driver, Olivia. I promise you'll pass with flying colours. Do you want to know how I know?"

"How?" She had a feeling she was going to regret asking.

"You had the best teacher."

She playfully rolled her eyes before stepping out of his grasp. "You're so full of yourself," she said, pushing past him.

Luke jogged up to her and slug an arm over her shoulders. "I know, baby, but I'm a performer." He raise his brows and grinned. "We're all narcissists."

The pair piled into the black BMW and spent the entirety of the trip listening to Alex practice his speech. The four other teens have heard it countless times, having helped him write the speech, and every time Alex found something to change.

"Okay, what sounds better?" Alex asked, eyes canning his cue cards. "Honourable faculty or esteemed faculty?"

"Esteemed," they chorused.

Alex nodded and scribbled something down using the pen Luke had stashed in the back of the car.

When they got to their high school, they saw that their football field had been set up for the ceremony with rows upon rows of fold out chairs and a stage facing the stands where guests were meant to sit.

Teenagers dressed in blue gowns trickled into the outdoor stadium and were organized by last name before being escorted behind the stage where they were to wait for their entrance cue.

Fifteen minutes later, music started playing through the air and the sea of guests silenced in anticipation. With direction from their teachers, the graduating class made their entrance with wide smiles.

In the stands, Olivia could see Mikey and her mother waving at her. Next to them was Reggie's and Bobby's parents, who were also trying to get their child's attention. On the other side of Mikey was Kat, but she was joined by no one other than two empty chairs.

Olivia's heart broke for Alex and she prayed that he hadn't noticed his parent's absence. If he did, his mind would be so focused on that instead of his speech.

She tore her eyes away from the stands, but before she could completely face the stage, her gaze landed on something peculiar. She could've sworn that she saw the Pattersons hiding in the back row.

The graduating class took their seats and the ceremony began. After a drawling address from the principal and a speech from the school board's superintendent, it was Alex's turn to speak.

Olivia held her breath as he walked up to the podium. She could see his shaking hands from thirty feet away.

Alex cleared his throat and tapped his cue cards on the podium. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, esteemed faculty, family, friends, guests, and last but not least, the graduating class of 1995. Today is an exciting day: today, I'm going to give you a speech."

His eyes scanned the crowd until they landed on the closest Sunset Curve member. Olivia sent him a thumbs up and mouthed encouraging words to him in hopes that it quelled his nerves.

"And if I'm being completely honest, I never understood how imagining your audience in their underwear was supposed to help with nerves because all I'm feeling right now is uncomfortable."

There was a chuckle that rippled through the air and Alex's shoulders deflated in relief as he continued.

"I can't stand here today and say I know each and every one of you personally, because I don't and it would be a lie. But that doesn't make us strangers. Maybe you've heard of my band, Sunset Curve—"

"Tell your friends!" Reggie shouted, hands cupped around his mouth. He and Luke were seated beside each other and they soaked in the laughter that followed his interruption.

"Thanks for that, Reg." Alex continued with a shaky breath. "Or maybe we only sat next to each other for two weeks in history class. Maybe your best friend is the sibling of my cousin's ex-girlfriend. Maybe we walked past each other once in awhile in the hallway and never spoke. But one way or another, our paths have crossed and today we stand here, together, at the end of our high school journey and on the precipice of our future. 

"Now is our time to take on the world, and to find our passions and pursue them shamelessly and faithfully. Now is our time to leave a legacy.

"William Shakespeare once said, 'Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.' We can't always count on being born great or having greatness thrust upon us, but we can count on the fact that the opportunity to achieve greatness will always be in our grasp.

"Contrary to popular belief, greatness doesn't come from money or recognition."

Alex's eyes searched for his friends again.

"Greatness comes from our friends reaching out to us, from those who go out of their way to be thoughtful and kind. Greatness comes from accepting people as they are because everyone deserves a chance."

His gaze then searched the stands for his parents and his heart stopped when he saw the two empty seats next to his sister.

Kat gave him an apologetic look and urged him to carry on.

"Uh—" He shook himself free from his disappointment and he cleared his throat again. "Leaving a legacy and achieving greatness comes from leaving those whose paths you cross with a little more happiness and hope.

When Alex was first voted in as class valedictorian, he struggled greatly in writing his speech. This led him to seek out help from the two greatest writers he knew: Olivia and Luke. They helped him as much as they could, but they refused to completely write it for him. Instead, they told him to write a speech that he needed to hear because chances were someone else needed to hear it too.

Alex took their words to heart, but instead of writing a speech catered to him, he also wrote a speech full of words his friends needed to hear too.

They sometimes forgot that their legacy wasn't only their music, but the connections which were formed by it.

"Our time at Los Feliz High School will not be remembered by grades or popularity, but by the relationships we made along the way. These are our legacies.

"It went by fast, just like everyone told us it would. And there's a universal truth we have to face whether we want to or not. Everything eventually ends. Personally, I've never liked endings and I've never liked change. The last day of summer, the last chapter of a good book. But some things are inevitable. Leaves fall and the book closes. Today is one of those days, today we leave our legacy.

"It'll be hard to say goodbye, but as Winnie the Pooh once said, 'How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.'

"All good things must come to an end. That's what makes life so valuable. It doesn't last forever. So make your life count for something, because even if you fall short of your hopes and dreams, at least it was yours to pursue." He was met with a sea of emotional faces and he knew that he had done his job right. "These past four years with you have been nothing short of wonderful. And from the bottom of my heart, I wish you all the very, very best. Thank you."

The outdoor stadium erupted in applause and Alex stepped off of the stage. He smiled to himself as he heard his friends shout proud phrases into the air.

All of the important administrators took their places on the stage and one by one students of Los Feliz High School were called up to get their diploma.

Olivia was the second one in the band to get hers—Alex being the first. And to no one's surprise, she had won a music award. ("That's my girlfriend!" Luke shouted after it was announced.) As she walked across the stage, she looked out to her friends and family and blew them a kiss. She could feel how loved she was.

She shook the hands of all the administrators, thanking them as they praised her accomplishments. When she got to Miss Taylor, the older woman looked at her with such pride that it almost made her cry.

"You've got a bright future ahead of you," Miss Taylor said as she handed her the music award. "Don't forget me when you win your first Grammy."

"You'll be one of the first people I thank in my acceptance speech," Olivia promised, shaking her hand.

When Olivia made her way back to her seat, she locked eyes with Luke. He stared at her with such love that she almost stopped walking in her tracks. 'You're a star,' he mouthed to her as she sat back down.

She cheered the loudest she had ever cheered before as each of her band members walked across the stage. By the time it was Bobby's turn, her throat was sore and everyone around her was annoyed by her outbursts. After it was Christa's turn to walk, Olivia decided that it was probably best for her voice if she just stuck to clapping.

The last person was called and ten minutes later the ceremony was finished. Just like that, they were finished high school.

It didn't take long for the members of Sunset Curve to find each other. They collided with each other, jumping over one another and trapping each other in a group hug. Countless praises were sung to Alex for his speech and to Luke for not dropping out.

When the group of five found their families, they suffered through the suffocating congratulatory hugs together.

"Okay, stand together," Sylvia instructed, holding a camera to her eye.

"Mom," Olivia groaned as Luke put an arm around her, "you've taken, like, a hundred pictures already."

Sylvia rolled her eyes and there was a bright flash. "I know, but I'm proud of you, mija. I'm proud of both of you." She looked at Luke, knowing how badly his parents wanted to come down from the stands and congratulate him. They had attended the ceremony, Sylvia having bought them tickets, but they didn't want Luke to see them in fear of ruining his day. "Your parents are proud of you too, Luke."

Luke gave her a small smile. He knew how much his parents would've loved to be there, but his pride still outweighed his guilt.

After a few group pictures and awkwardly avoiding Reggie's bickering parents, Olivia knew she'd have to leave or else she would miss her drivers test. She said goodbye to her friends and their parents and the Montez family headed for the DMV.

THE BOYS WERE hanging out in the Montez's driveway, waiting for Olivia to return from her test. They tossed Mikey's basketball back and forth, taking shots every so often.

Reggie passed the ball to Luke and gave him an expectant look. "So...?"

Luke let out a sigh and shook his head, already knowing the direction the conversation was headed in. "No, Reg. I haven't told her yet."

"Why not?" The bassist whined. "If you love her, you should tell her."

Luke passed the ball to Bobby. "What if she doesn't—"

"I swear to god, Patterson," Bobby groaned. "If you even question the love Livy has for you I'll throw this basketball at your dick."

Alex glanced over at Kat who was trying not to laugh at Bobby's crude language. "Uh— Okay, that was aggressive," he said, sending a pointed look to the rhythm guitarist. He turned to Luke and shrugged. "But yeah, Bobby has a point. Olivia's in love with you."

"Did you learn that during one of your boy talks?" Luke questioned with a mocking undertone.

"Yeah, actually I did," Alex fired back. "You know, you should be nicer to me, she tells me a lot of things you'd probably love to know."

Luke rolled his eyes and looked off to the side. "I don't want to freak her out," he confessed, getting back to the topic of conversation. "What if it's too soon?"

"It's not too soon," Reggie said. "If anything, it's overdue. I'm pretty sure you guys have been in love with each other since you met, you just didn't realize it until recently."

"I completely agree," Kat added, causing the four boys to look over at her. She shrugged and sat down on the steps next to the garage. "What? Anyone with eyes can see it."

Just then, Sylvia's car pulled into the driveway. Everyone turned to see who was driving and wide smiles came over their faces when they saw it was Olivia.

"You got it?" Reggie asked as she got out of the car.

"I got it!" She cheered, holding up her temporary license.

When Olivia's test started, she was so nervous that she forgot release the parking break before trying to back out of her spot. Luckily for her, her examiner was understanding enough not to deduct points and instead let her have a moment to collect herself. After a pep talk even Luke couldn't beat, she performed the test and passed with flying colours just like he said she would (though she'd never tell him that since it would only inflate his ego).

The boys cheered and Luke ran forward. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up and spinning her around. "I'm so proud of you!" He set her back on her feet and let each of the boys congratulate her.

"It looks like you're going to be the designated driver for the grad party tonight," Bobby mused, nudging Reggie who looked equally excited at the fact.

Olivia nodded. She wanted to drive everywhere and anywhere now that she was legally able to. "Look's like it." She grinned and held up the keys to her mom's car. "Come on, let's go celebrate my success."

The boys tossed the basketball to Mikey and piled into Sylvia's car.

With the windows down and their unreleased demo blaring through the speakers, the five teens knew that today would be a day they'd never forget. If not for their high school graduation, then for the carefree feeling of being with their chosen family.

It occurred to them that life was nothing but a series of moments. Olivia's stage fright was just a moment. Luke running away was just a moment. Reggie painting his name on the wall of Sylvia's Sweets was just a moment. Bobby's break up with Allie was just a moment. Alex checking on his little sister after a fight with their parents was just a moment. The day they met in detention and the day they formed the band were just moments.

Everything they've done, every up and down, every phrase and action, was simply a moment passing in time. They might remember it, they might not, but one thing they'll remember for sure was the people they spent it with and the way they felt. How their sarcastic comments made each other laugh, how they always made each other feel at home, and how they made each other feel like they were on the top of the world.

Alex was right about what he said in his speech. Life was a collection of moments that would eventually end. No matter how beautiful or tragic a moment is, it will always end.

They knew that they wouldn't be young forever. Time passes and people change. They knew that there would come a day that they would no longer be a band. Whether that day came after fame and fortune or failure and regret, they knew one thing for certain. No matter what, they'd still be friends and that was enough for them.

After stopping by Target for ice cream and getting lost once or twice, Olivia pulled over at Sunset Curve and the band got out to witness the view.

"If you could go back and change one thing in your life, what would it be?" Reggie asked, getting comfortable on the hood of the car.

"My haircut in ninth grade," Olivia replied almost instantly.

"Taking so many AP classes," Alex answered, passing her the pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream they had bought.

Olivia looked over at him. "Oh, that's a good one."

"Right?"

Bobby muttered something about them being nerds before giving his answer. "I'd try out for the lacrosse team. They had cool jackets."

Luke let out a laugh and took the ice cream from Olivia. "I can't imagine you wearing a letterman jacket."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "What would you go back and change?"

"Nothing," Luke stated confidently.

"Not even running away?"

"No." He shook his head. "I feel bad about that, but I wouldn't change it. At one point it was exactly what I wanted, so why would I regret it? Besides, I can fix my relationship with my parents after we take off."

Olivia opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by her cell phone. Furrowing her brows, she pulled it out and answered. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Olivia Montez of Sunset Curve?"

"Yes, this is she." The boys were busy bickering, so Olivia slid off of the hood of the car in hopes of hearing better. She tilted her head at the unknown voice. "Who is this...?"

"My name is Tara," the voice replied. "I'm the assistant to the promotor of the Orpheum Theatre."

Olivia's jaw dropped and she immediately turned to the boys who were borderline yelling at each other. "Guys," she hissed, covering the mic of her phone. "Guys! Shut up! Shut the fuck up, Bobby, I swear to god, I'll castrate you."

The boys looked at each other in confused silence and Olivia brought her phone back to her ear. "Hi, sorry. What can I do for you?"

"We've received a call—well, multiple calls actually—vouching for your band to play at our venue," Tara explained. Olivia could feel her heart hammering in her chest. "We also received your demo in the mail and gave it a listen. We have an opening for the 22nd of July and if you're available, we'd love for Sunset Curve to perform."

Olivia almost dropped her phone. "Uh— Yeah. Yeah! Definitely. We'd— We'd love to!"

Tara could hear the shock in the young girl's voice and softly chuckled. She briefly went over the details and set up a date for the band to visit the venue.

When the phone call finished, Alex spoke up. "Who was that?"

Olivia looked over at the boys she considered family with a wide smile of awe and disbelief on her face. "We're playing the Orpheum," she said softly.

"Shut up."

"What?"

"Don't fucking play with me, Olivia."

"Are you joking, right now?"

She shook her head, unable to trust her voice. She could feel her body shake with excitement as reality set in. "We're playing the Orpheum!"

Luke nodded and jumped off of the car, leaving the ice cream in his place. "We're playing the Orpheum," he repeated back to her, his face bright with pride. He rushed forward, picked her up, and spun her around. "We're playing the fucking Orpheum!"

The boys laughed in disbelief and ran over to the couple. The five of them collided, jumping on each other like they did at graduation. They jumped around in a circle, joined in a group hug.

Out of all the moments in the puzzle of their lives, this one had to be the best yet.

RAE SPEAKS !

Sunset Curve watching Alex give his valedictorian speech: