Southern Belles, a Novel About Love, Purpose & Second Chances (9781310340970) Read Online Free Page A

to shine,” CeCe said smiling.
    “Ce, thank you. I did not want to walk up
the aisle, alone, with a million eyeballs on me.”
    “Okay ladies,” Mrs. Palen instructed, “as
soon as you hear Pomp and Circumstance begin you can start walking
down the aisle just as we practiced earlier.” She then turned
towards the rest of the line of students and informed them, “I will
stand at the back here and tap ya’ll on the shoulder to let you
know when to start walking down the aisle.”
    With my long curled brown hair, perfectly in
place, I locked my right arm with CeCe’s. A few seconds later I
heard the sound of trumpets, tubas, and clarinets start up.
    “Here we go Char,” CeCe said beaming as if
we were walking down the red carpet.
    As we marched down the aisle flashing lights
sparkled throughout the gymnasium while the music filled the warm
country air. Our banner, ‘Class of 1995’ proudly swayed over the
podium where I would be speaking in just a little while. As we
neared the front row I saw all of my brothers whistling and yelling
“Go Char”. My parents, with cameras held up to their faces, were
smiling and cheering us on. Beside them, my grandmothers were
waving and clapping. On the other side of my brothers, I could see
CeCe’s parents. They were smiling proudly and snapping up pictures
of us while we floated towards the podium. Stepping onto the stage
I unlocked arms with CeCe and started towards the end of the row,
with CeCe filing in behind me. As I sat down, I started rehearsing
my speech in my mind. I had almost forgotten how mad I was at
Jersey for not showing up yet again for another important moment in
my life. Watching all my fellow classmates fill up the seats made
my stomach begin to twist and turn as I knew I would be speaking in
front of more people than I had in my whole life in just minutes.
Suddenly I felt CeCe elbowing me in my side, temporarily relieving
my building anxiety.
    Whispering towards my ear, CeCe said, “look
who’s sneaking in the back of the line.”
    Trying to contain my composure I saw Jersey
and five of his buddies looking somber. Mrs. Palen appeared to be
reading them the riot act, while shooing them in pairs towards the
front of the gymnasium. CeCe later told me that she could almost
see daggers springing forth from my eyes like little ninjas darting
at his face.
    “Char, don’t worry about him, you have an
awesome speech to give,” CeCe again whispered.
    Mrs. Palen motioned me to go to the podium
to begin my speech.
    Nervous, I walked up to the podium to give
the speech I’d been waiting a lifetime to give. Although I could
compose speeches relatively easily, speaking to a crowd of more
than a thousand was nerve-wrecking.
    “Welcome to the graduating class of 1995.
Thank you for coming today and for traveling with us in this
journey here. Without you, we could not have made it.”
    Turning towards my fellow graduates, “And to
you Class of 1995, I say today is your day.”
    I continued on with the first few paragraphs
of my favorite Dr. Seuss book.
    “ Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!”
    ”You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.”

”You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.”

” And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.”
    I went on for another few minutes after the
last few verses of Seuss before ending with this: “Class of 1995,
this life is yours for the taking. May you choose the paths less
traveled and wherever you end up may you always find yourself in
the company of good friends.” Smiling