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Chapter Four

Graduation day. How I dreamed about this day. I remember being little and pretending to get my diploma.

I tried on my gown and stared at myself in the mirror. I was an adult and no longer a kid. It startled me how fast time went by. My gown covered every inch of me with its dark purple color. Two gold ribbons surrounded my neck, indicating how much I had achieved. I took one last glimpse at myself before running into the car.

I was surround by so many students, that I was getting claustrophobic. I could feel the sweat running down my face as I got closer to the stage. One by one, each student went, and the closer it got to me, the faster my legs began to shake.

"Sally Johnson." I look ahead to see two more people ahead of me. I could feel my stomach twist and turn. I could feel every limb in body freeze as I got closer and closer. I stared at my hands, trying to avoid all the eyes that stared at the stage.

"Naina Kapoor!" I could hear cheers from the audience which SURPRISED me, considering the fact that I only had three friends in the audience. I walked on stage one feet in front of the other. C'mon Naina, it's not that hard. I whispered to myself. As I got closer to the diploma, my nerves tingled more than ever; so much that I had to give my feet directions, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. I guess I was over thinking and wasn't really paying attention to how I was walking because that was when I tripped over my foot and fell on top of the principal. Way to make a big entrance huh?

The whole audience became silent and noone dared to move even an inch.  

"OMG, are you okay?!" I whispered to the principal.

"Please, just grab your diploma and leave." He said sternly.

I look at his hand, snatched my diploma, and ran off the stage.

***

I found an empty room and sat there wanting to kill myself for being a complete idiot. How could I have fell? I just had to walk like a normal human being, but noo I had to fall on top of a man. I buried my face in my heads shaking my head with disappointment. I could hear the doorknob turning from behind.

"Sorry, but the circus is closed. If you want to see me, come see my next show which is next Saturday!" I yelled with fake enthusiasm, hoping the person would leave.

"Hmm, really? When can I buy a ticket?"

I turned to see Raj behind me, wearing his dark gown and holding my favorite drink. He tossed the drink towards me, and surprisingly, I caught it.

"You can catch, but you can't walk?"

"Seriously, shut up. I already embarrassed myself enough today and I do not want to deal with you and your harsh jokes."

"Geez calm down! Seriously, joke aside, stop freaking out, you aren't going to see these people ever again."

"Nope, that's were you are wrong. I get to see everyone at the Europe trip."

"Oh yeah!! I totally forgot! I still can't believe you got your parents to say yes! What did you do, become their slaves for the rest of eternity?"

"Not exactly...I actually told them I would marry whoever they wanted me to marry.."

"WHAT!?!" Raj screamed at the top of his lungs. He began to babble and I just continued to stare at him.

"NAINA HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO YOURSELF!?! ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?! HOW COULD YOU!! YOU DESERVE MORE! YOU DESERVE TO FALL IN LOVE! YOU ARE SMART, INTELLIGENT, AND SO BEAUTIFUL. YOU DESERVE BETTER."

I just stared at Raj shocked that he said those things. Did he just call me beautiful? Did an actual living and breathing guy just say I'm attractive?

"You think I'm beautiful?" I whispered, daring to break the silence.

Raj stopped and stared at me. He stopped talking and let out a nervous laugh.

"Well yeah haven't you seen yourself?"

"I guess I haven't.." I could feel my palms begin to sweat.

"Well you are. You are probably one of the best looking girls I have seen at this school. You have these beautiful light brown eyes, this perfect tan, long gorgeous curly hair, and your cheeks are this perfect pink.."

I just stared at Raj and I could feel my cheeks transforming to a dark red.

"Well...I said something nice about you, now say something nice about me!"

"Umm...well..you aren't ugly, and if we were the last people on the planet, I wouldn't mind repopulating with you!" I winked at him, and that was the first time in my life that I saw Raj blush. He just smiled and let out an awkward laugh. I just hoped he knew I was joking.

It was true though. Raj wasn't ugly. Surprisingly, he was one of the best looking people I knew. His dad was white, so Raj didn't even look Indian, and he had dark blue eyes and shaggy, light brown hair. He also had some freckles on his face. And it didn't hurt him being tall and masculine. He was different, but in a good way. He was a good different.

"Umm..well cheers to Europe." Raj said interrupting the silence.

"Cheers." I smiled back.

We clanked our bottles, and for the first time in my life, I looked at Raj differently.