One Chance

©2008 Bailey Thompson

“This is it” I thought, “This is my one chance to make it a good memory.” I made my way through the crowd of anxious parents towards the stairs. Carefully, I walked up the stairs, making sure I didn’t twist my ankle on my 4 inch heals. When I got up the stairs, I made my way to the classroom I’d been in so many times for geography class. I glanced around the room at the other graduates’ faces hoping to see one of my best friends. Instead she came up from behind me and said “Can you believe it Bailey? We’re Graduating!”

            I smiled back at her and said “I know!”

            Half an hour later, the moment had arrived and all the graduates were standing in an alphabetical line awaiting their turn to enter the ceremony. When my turn came, I started to walk down the aisle when I heard “Hi Bailey!” I turned and saw my grade.1 teacher standing there with a huge smile on her face. I continued down the aisle thinking “don’t fall, don’t trip, look good” until I reached my destination and stood amongst the other graduates. I stood looking out at the quiet crowd, as O’Canada played on the stereo.

            After 2 hours, the ceremony was finished. Following the ceremony, came the part that mattered most to me: The after party. For weeks before the party, I promised myself I’d have fun and make this a night to remember. Now that it was finally here, I only had one thing to do: follow through with my promise.

            When I arrived at the hall, I was greeted by my best friend, once again. We took seats at a random table and admired the decorations the parents had carefully selected.

            When dinner was finally served, my friend and I chatted about memories from school and what we wanted to do in the future.

            Following dinner, we enjoyed a video Djed dance. As the caterers moved the tables to make room for dancing, the graduates rushed into the dance area. The DJ turned up the music and the room erupted with fun!

            Normally, I’m very quiet and not a make-a-fool-of-yourself kind of person.

So dancing in public wasn’t something I was used to, even though I enjoyed it. Something got into me and I knew there was nothing stopping me from having fun. I kicked off my heals and danced the night away, enjoying myself the whole time.

The best part? The fact that I can write about it sure I’d made it the best it could be.

Now the story doesn’t end there, a few days after graduating, I got the compliment I’d been dreaming of. The guy I’d had a crush on for years casually mentioned “You looked really good at grad”.

            Having that much fun at graduation and having that someone I’d been staring at for years notice me seemed too good to be true.

            I went to graduation confident with my looks and in a great mood. What matters most is that I enjoyed it. Getting a compliment shouldn’t matter unless you agree with it first.

            The lesson of the story? You only live each day once, make the best of each moment you get while you still can.

By Bailey Thompson

Author's note: This one was written while I was on vacation in Wasaga Beach. I brought a chair out to the lake and sat listening to the hum of the waves and watching the bright orange sun set. It really did seem perfect. I actually wrote this just for the memories and not to show anyone. But some family members got into my notebook of stories while they were visiting and liked the story, so I thought others might too.