Chapter
2
As May arrived, all the talk at school was about the upcoming
graduation. Alexa was looking forward to it. She had already bought her dress.
It was a shiny, pale blue dress that accented her eyes and fit her slim figure
perfectly.
Meanwhile, Brian was almost fully recovered and was ready to rejoin the
Backstreet Boys. They had already planned rehearsals for their
"Millennium" tour for the end of May. The tour would start in the
middle of June. They would hit all of the cities they had missed before, when Brian's
problem had been discovered. The tour would run until mid-August. Then the Boys
would have a month of vacation time and start the second leg of the tour in
October. It would end in November. Alexa was happy for Brian, who was very
excited about it, but she was also sad, knowing that although they'd be back to
Lexington for two concerts, she would barely see him all summer. Then she would
be off to college. Even though the University was nearby, Alexa had already
planned to live in the dorms. She needed to get out of her house. It was very
hard being there, for there were too many painful memories of Elisa there.
Alexa was ready to move out.
***
The night of graduation, Alexa was full of nervous excitement. She was
all dressed up in her beautiful dress. Her hair had been pulled up into an
elegant twist. Her makeup and nails had been done perfectly. She wore a
beautiful necklace of diamonds and sapphires, since the sapphire was her
birthstone. She had gotten it as a graduation present from her parents. She
wore new matching earrings, too. Brian had made reservations at a fancy
restaurant for just the two of them after the ceremony, and then Alexa was
taking him along to a party that one of her friends was throwing.
***
"Alexa Renee Morgan." Alexa walked forward to receive her
diploma. Her principal handed her diploma to her, and the superintendent shook
her hand. Then she walked over and stood next to her classmates. Alexa looked
into the audience for her family. She saw her mother, smiling proudly. She smiled
back at her. Her grandparents were next to her. Brian and his family were in
the row behind them. As she gazed at Brian, he caught her eye and flashed her a
thumbs-up and an endearing grin.
"Presenting the graduating class of 2000," the superintendent
finally announced at the end of the ceremony. Then "Pomp and
Circumstance" was played as the class filed out of the auditorium.
***