Opposites Do Not Attract
We've All Had Our Good Year and Bad Years
Ash’s POV
“And now our valedictorian, Ash Collins, is here to give her speech,” the principal announced and stepped aside to introduce me. Everybody started clapping while I just awkwardly and quickly made my way up to the lectern.
As soon as I was told that I was going to do this, dread filled me. Most kids who had high grades often hoped to be the one up here to give a boring speech about their time at high school, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about how many people there would be. This wasn’t just me talking to all the students, but also their parents and siblings. The group was so much larger as I stood up there, staring at the seats placed on the field in front of me and the bleachers covered by people as well. There wasn’t an empty spot to be seen except for the one I was supposed to be seated in.
I looked around the crowd, quickly finding my dad and Alex’s parents. They were cheering loudly, making other parents look at them like they had gone crazy. Those people were hypocrites though, because I had heard much more fanatic screams when our diplomas were being given out. My brothers had stayed back in Germany while my grandparents flew over to look after them, which probably was only a good thing. They probably didn’t have to hear everything I was going to say in this speech.
I continued to scan the crowd, finding some faces I recognized until my eyes landed on Alex. He was sat in between some other kids, giving me the biggest grin ever. As I took a deep breath, he gave me a thumbs up and mouthed ‘I love you’, trying to give me the extra boost of confidence needed to stand up here and speak in front of all of these people.
You see, I could have decided to give the usual boring speech and talk about how everybody would always be united and other bullcrap like that. It would have certainly been a lot easier for me to do. But I felt like I couldn’t just do that. This year had been so crazy for me, a boring speech wouldn’t just do it justice.
I put my notes on the slanted part of the stand and prayed that I wouldn’t mess up. After practicing in front of the mirror for weeks, it would nearly seem impossible. But nerves just made you forget things and mess up your words. I didn’t want to stand up here, stuttering and trying to get the words out. I had chosen all these words specifically, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I forgot them.
When the clapping stopped, I knew it was time for me to start.
“Everybody has been telling me to imagine everybody in their underwear, but this is actually making me feel a lot more uncomfortable, so I’m just going to forget about that. I guess that’s my first tip for you guys; the whole imagining people in their underwear doesn’t work unless you’re into that stuff. Yes, I’m looking at you, Jack.
“So, I guess I’ll get started by saying that there are so many other people that could be standing up here giving this speech right now. There’s people who are more academic than me, who would be able to say much smarter things than I could; there’s the creative people who could be up here giving you a new view on the world; and then there’s the people who will go out to inspire millions of strangers in their life. Everybody here has their own story, each having their own value. Unfortunately, you’re stuck with me.
“I’m 17 years old and my story here starts this school year. I happened to be the one that wrote the best letter that allowed me to come here. To be honest, I don’t know how I did it, but I just decided to go for it and it worked out. The plan totally wasn’t for me to stay here and finish the year, but look where I am now. I’m up here, speaking in front of hundreds of people, telling them my story. If you would have told me two years ago, maybe even a year ago, probably even six months ago, I would have laughed until I realised you were serious. Then you’d probably find me hiding away, never wanting to do anything like this. But hey, guess what. I’m up here now, doing something that used to be my worst nightmare. Something managed to make me change of that time, allowing me to face my fears.
“You might think ‘oh, facing your fears, what a cliche thing to say’, or you might be one of those few people thinking ‘wow, how inspiring’. If you’re on of the latter, I congratulate you, you’re probably one of the few people thinking that. But seriously, though. It’s true. If it weren’t for me actually daring to do anything, I wouldn’t be here right now. You’d probably find me in Germany, considering on not going to New York anymore to go to college. I’d probably never have left that place if it weren’t for me coming here.
“Yeah, at first it was difficult being here. My family was in a different time zone, hours away from me. I was stuck sharing a bathroom with this guy who I absolutely hated and he absolutely hated me. So, that was a great first impression, especially since his best friend was the biggest douchebag I had ever met. What was I supposed to expect? Well, turns out that guy is now my boyfriend and his best friend is also one of mine. Now, that’s a real plot twist. I’m not promoting the whole ‘if he teases you, he likes you’ thing, but it does show that there is so much more to a person than just first impressions.
“Slowly but surely, I was getting more used to what it would be like here. Apparently there were social rules, which I may or may not have broken. But in the end it doesn’t matter. You like who you like, you can’t really control that. If somebody tells you you shouldn’t do something, but you really want to, don’t let them stop you. I don’t mean go rob the nearest store because you feel reckless or crash your car just for the lols. But if somebody is keeping you from a great opportunity, don’t let them hold you back. It’s better to let go than to be stuck in a place you’ll always be unhappy in.
“However, this isn’t just simple a fairytale. Everybody here has had their ups and downs. We don’t just go through life with everything going the way we want it, that would just be way too easy. These downs can be small, like failing a test that doesn’t even matter anymore now, or it can be as big as somebody close dying. I had my own low. Many people here probably already know about it, the news spread across school like wildfire, but for you who don’t, sometime last year I was raped. It’s something nobody wants to go through. It makes you feel used, degraded, and worthless. I was lucky enough to have the friends that were willing to help me out, to tell me that all those thoughts were wrong. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be up here telling you about this. They helped me realise that it isn’t something somebody should get away with and it isn’t something to be ashamed about.
“I had a friend tell me something important once: ‘Everybody goes through some bullshit. It doesn’t matter how you measure it, it doesn’t matter how it weighs out to someone else’s bullshit. The fact of the matter is that you have to press on and you have to smile, and you have to figure out how to keep trying.’ Don’t believe you’re somebody less just because there’s somebody supposedly having it harder, your problems are still something you have to face. Don’t let somebody tell you that your problem doesn’t matter just because somebody else might need the help more than you do. Before you’re able to take your time to help somebody else, you need to fix your own problems. You have to keep pushing.
“I’m not going to say anything about us supposedly being united forever, because frankly, many of you aren’t going to remember me and I won’t remember you. I do know I’ll always remember my year here at Dulaney High; the good, the bad, and anything else I consider significant. I’ve made some friends I’ll always have. We are all going out to do different things in our life, some including other people here, and others not. Just one thing, just make sure you will never forget the time we spent here together.
“Thank you.”
“And now our valedictorian, Ash Collins, is here to give her speech,” the principal announced and stepped aside to introduce me. Everybody started clapping while I just awkwardly and quickly made my way up to the lectern.
As soon as I was told that I was going to do this, dread filled me. Most kids who had high grades often hoped to be the one up here to give a boring speech about their time at high school, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about how many people there would be. This wasn’t just me talking to all the students, but also their parents and siblings. The group was so much larger as I stood up there, staring at the seats placed on the field in front of me and the bleachers covered by people as well. There wasn’t an empty spot to be seen except for the one I was supposed to be seated in.
I looked around the crowd, quickly finding my dad and Alex’s parents. They were cheering loudly, making other parents look at them like they had gone crazy. Those people were hypocrites though, because I had heard much more fanatic screams when our diplomas were being given out. My brothers had stayed back in Germany while my grandparents flew over to look after them, which probably was only a good thing. They probably didn’t have to hear everything I was going to say in this speech.
I continued to scan the crowd, finding some faces I recognized until my eyes landed on Alex. He was sat in between some other kids, giving me the biggest grin ever. As I took a deep breath, he gave me a thumbs up and mouthed ‘I love you’, trying to give me the extra boost of confidence needed to stand up here and speak in front of all of these people.
You see, I could have decided to give the usual boring speech and talk about how everybody would always be united and other bullcrap like that. It would have certainly been a lot easier for me to do. But I felt like I couldn’t just do that. This year had been so crazy for me, a boring speech wouldn’t just do it justice.
I put my notes on the slanted part of the stand and prayed that I wouldn’t mess up. After practicing in front of the mirror for weeks, it would nearly seem impossible. But nerves just made you forget things and mess up your words. I didn’t want to stand up here, stuttering and trying to get the words out. I had chosen all these words specifically, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I forgot them.
When the clapping stopped, I knew it was time for me to start.
“Everybody has been telling me to imagine everybody in their underwear, but this is actually making me feel a lot more uncomfortable, so I’m just going to forget about that. I guess that’s my first tip for you guys; the whole imagining people in their underwear doesn’t work unless you’re into that stuff. Yes, I’m looking at you, Jack.
“So, I guess I’ll get started by saying that there are so many other people that could be standing up here giving this speech right now. There’s people who are more academic than me, who would be able to say much smarter things than I could; there’s the creative people who could be up here giving you a new view on the world; and then there’s the people who will go out to inspire millions of strangers in their life. Everybody here has their own story, each having their own value. Unfortunately, you’re stuck with me.
“I’m 17 years old and my story here starts this school year. I happened to be the one that wrote the best letter that allowed me to come here. To be honest, I don’t know how I did it, but I just decided to go for it and it worked out. The plan totally wasn’t for me to stay here and finish the year, but look where I am now. I’m up here, speaking in front of hundreds of people, telling them my story. If you would have told me two years ago, maybe even a year ago, probably even six months ago, I would have laughed until I realised you were serious. Then you’d probably find me hiding away, never wanting to do anything like this. But hey, guess what. I’m up here now, doing something that used to be my worst nightmare. Something managed to make me change of that time, allowing me to face my fears.
“You might think ‘oh, facing your fears, what a cliche thing to say’, or you might be one of those few people thinking ‘wow, how inspiring’. If you’re on of the latter, I congratulate you, you’re probably one of the few people thinking that. But seriously, though. It’s true. If it weren’t for me actually daring to do anything, I wouldn’t be here right now. You’d probably find me in Germany, considering on not going to New York anymore to go to college. I’d probably never have left that place if it weren’t for me coming here.
“Yeah, at first it was difficult being here. My family was in a different time zone, hours away from me. I was stuck sharing a bathroom with this guy who I absolutely hated and he absolutely hated me. So, that was a great first impression, especially since his best friend was the biggest douchebag I had ever met. What was I supposed to expect? Well, turns out that guy is now my boyfriend and his best friend is also one of mine. Now, that’s a real plot twist. I’m not promoting the whole ‘if he teases you, he likes you’ thing, but it does show that there is so much more to a person than just first impressions.
“Slowly but surely, I was getting more used to what it would be like here. Apparently there were social rules, which I may or may not have broken. But in the end it doesn’t matter. You like who you like, you can’t really control that. If somebody tells you you shouldn’t do something, but you really want to, don’t let them stop you. I don’t mean go rob the nearest store because you feel reckless or crash your car just for the lols. But if somebody is keeping you from a great opportunity, don’t let them hold you back. It’s better to let go than to be stuck in a place you’ll always be unhappy in.
“However, this isn’t just simple a fairytale. Everybody here has had their ups and downs. We don’t just go through life with everything going the way we want it, that would just be way too easy. These downs can be small, like failing a test that doesn’t even matter anymore now, or it can be as big as somebody close dying. I had my own low. Many people here probably already know about it, the news spread across school like wildfire, but for you who don’t, sometime last year I was raped. It’s something nobody wants to go through. It makes you feel used, degraded, and worthless. I was lucky enough to have the friends that were willing to help me out, to tell me that all those thoughts were wrong. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be up here telling you about this. They helped me realise that it isn’t something somebody should get away with and it isn’t something to be ashamed about.
“I had a friend tell me something important once: ‘Everybody goes through some bullshit. It doesn’t matter how you measure it, it doesn’t matter how it weighs out to someone else’s bullshit. The fact of the matter is that you have to press on and you have to smile, and you have to figure out how to keep trying.’ Don’t believe you’re somebody less just because there’s somebody supposedly having it harder, your problems are still something you have to face. Don’t let somebody tell you that your problem doesn’t matter just because somebody else might need the help more than you do. Before you’re able to take your time to help somebody else, you need to fix your own problems. You have to keep pushing.
“I’m not going to say anything about us supposedly being united forever, because frankly, many of you aren’t going to remember me and I won’t remember you. I do know I’ll always remember my year here at Dulaney High; the good, the bad, and anything else I consider significant. I’ve made some friends I’ll always have. We are all going out to do different things in our life, some including other people here, and others not. Just one thing, just make sure you will never forget the time we spent here together.
“Thank you.”
Notes
Although I already finished writing on the 5th of December, I now feel so empty. What has my life come to? Every day, I'd come home and barely do my homework just to be able to write a bit for this story. Really, I'd slack quite a lot. Ok, this story has had quite a lot of ups and downs; points where I couldn't stop writing, and other times I just couldn't think of what to write. It reflects through my writing, but it's all part of the process. I hope many people are still able to enjoy this story, and that it will help me improve later on.
Epilogue and a new story will come soon. Stay tuned, I'll post an update here as soon as the first chapter is up. I hope it's something you guys will enjoy. It still takes place in high school and it's an Alex story once again. I'm writing it with another awesome author on this site (you may or may not know her, but I'll wait a bit longer to announce that detail ;) ). It's just so weird to write from a point of view that is so different from Ash's story. I feel like making her pop up already...
PS. If you pester me for a sequel, I will do it as soon as I have time... which means finishing another story.... which probably won't happen for another long time... but still. I have a plan!
@Daydreamers
I happen to cringe xD
5/25/20