Free Marked by Destiny by W.J. May Page A

it was, if it would still be in werewolf
form.
    “Rouge Thomas.”
A voice called over the loud speaker, followed by Grace Nightly. I
couldn’t stop myself from grinning as we stood. Grace had gotten
our seats mixed so we quickly switched around as we walked up the
aisle towards the stage. We shook hands and accepted our diplomas,
and walked off stage…feeling nothing. This massive moment I had
been waiting so long for didn’t feel so monumental. It kind of felt
like… no big deal. What a let-down.
    As we walked
off stage, Simon let out a loud whistle. I looked at Sarah and
Michael who were clapping politely. Sarah held up her camera so
Grace and I leaned in together for the far away photo. As we walked
to the side of the stage, I tried to figure out why I was
disappointed. I did feel a sense of liberty as I took my diploma
and joined the rest of the graduates. I tried to drum up some
excitement. This was it! I was free! The last string that had held
me to the system had been cut. I was now officially free to move
about the world!
    Except all I
wanted to do was head back to the pool house and read Bento’s wolf
book.
    After what
seemed like forever, everyone had received their diplomas, the
President of the school introduced us officially, as graduates. We
all moved our tassels to the other side of our hats and then threw
them up in the air as the audience clapped. It was silly. Everyone
around me laughed and hugged each other. I should be doing the same
thing. All the people I loved were here to share it with me. I
tried not to check my while standing beside Grace as she hugged
classmates and joined in on photos.
    We were
dismissed to the gymnasium to meet with family and friends. Michael
and Sarah were already inside the gymnasium when we walked in. I
momentarily wondered how they had beat most of the crowd of
parents, but quickly squashed the thought as the method was quite
obvious. Sarah gave Grace a quick hug and handed her a little box.
She turned to me and hugged me tightly.
    “Congratulations dear.” She kissed me on the forehead as she handed
me a larger present. “Don’t bother opening it now. It’s a picture
frame to put your diploma in. Thought you might like to hang it
up.”
    “Thank you
Sarah, that was very sweet of you.” I hugged her before turning to
Michael. I’d hidden behind Grace when we walked in because I
suddenly felt shy and uncomfortable. Whatever had happened that
morning had changed something between us. I had no idea how to get
back to the way we had been. I slowly brought my gaze to his
face.
    In one motion
he stepped toward me and swooped me into his arms, swinging me
around. He set me down and grinned. “Congrats!” He handed me a
small box.
    “Open it now,
Rouge!” Grace leaned over my shoulder to see.
    I lifted the
lid. Inside lay a lovely silver pocketknife inside. I lifted it up
and turned it over to see it. There was a sterling mark and an
inscription.
    It read: Freedom – the opportunity to choose... all my love
Michael
    “It’s beautiful
Michael, thank you.”
    A quick smile
crossed his lips. “I’d planned to have a card to show that your
university courses would be paid for but I when I called to see
what courses you were taking at the registrar’s office, they said
you weren’t enrolled.”
    Crap. That was
supposed to be something we would talk about as we headed out East.
I swallowed and glanced at Grace’s surprised face. “I was going to
tell you, I just hadn’t… yet.” I looked down at the pocketknife in
my hand.
    Grace squeezed
in between me and Michael. She put her arms around both of us. “Can
we talk about this later? Maybe we could just celebrate the
moment?”
    Sarah squeezed
my hand. “You kids enjoy yourselves, I’m going to head back to the
house and meet up with Caleb.” She nodded at Michael and Grace
before heading to the exit.
    Awkward silence
followed as we watched her leave. I took a deep breath and exhaled
it slowly, prepared to