CITY OF GOUMI
May 31st, 1989,
I just graduated high school and I'm chasing my dreams.
I am Amelie Ashton, people called me Amy instead. I'm a 17 year old girl from Denver. I'm raised in a joint household of my stay-at-home and a writer father, my workaholic yet calm mother, and my sibling who constantly annoys me every time...ick. My parents are of Scottish descent and my family would visit to Glasgow thrice a year. My family moved to Colorado when I was only at the age of three.
It was graduation, I was in my room sitting on a bean bag while holding my cap. I got my things tidied up, I was thinking about moving out after graduating.
After I wore my graduation robe, I placed my cap while my makeup artist whom was hired my by parents did my hair and my makeup. My dad called me,
"Amy, you better hurry for the graduation!". I heard my dad calling me,
I quickly grabbed the graduation cap and wore it. After wearing my graduation cap with my makeup, I started wearing my graduation uniform, and headed downstairs. My parents were waiting for me in the car, so I walked outside to my parent's old Audi car and hoped inside. My dad saw me and got startled, and he started the engine. Then he drove me to my school as soon as possible.
When I opened the door and stepped down, my best friend Hannah Rae Lincoln waited in front of the school in excitement and shouted,
"Amy!", then she ran towards me and hugged me very tightly.
Her face was filled with tears of joy and so I cried. All of my teachers and my classmates are inside the auditorium. My parents, Hannah and I walked inside to attend the graduation. When I was about enter the auditorium, I saw my crush, Cole. His friends often called him a "Canadian" as he is a Canadian person who moved to Colorado from Alberta and he genuinely likes wearing flannel every time I go to school but this time he is wearing his robe and cap.
My face was red, blushing on my cheeks. I tried ignoring him and rolled my eyes. He never talked to me as usual because he often talks to his friends...
I used to had an idea of confessing my feelings towards him before.
That idea was made when I met him when I was in 8th grade. He was quietly rude yet very antisocial, and he always sticked on his book. Does that make the teachers go pissed? Yes, he does piss a lot of teachers in my school. He eventually changed his behavior after he was suspended in 10th grade, and I still won't forget about it.
Before I could go near him to talk, my parents immediately walked to me and grabbed my hands as the program is about to start. One of my teachers, Mrs. Daniels and the other staff looked me with their eyes on the stage.
She is holding a diploma along with other teachers at the stage. When Mrs. Daniels called my name on stage, I walked out. Later, Mrs. Daniels handed out the diploma along with the certificate as I am about to receive it.
A few hours later, the graduation was about to end, when I looked at Hannah my tears started to fall to my cheeks, then I started remembering her hanging out at the park and eating ice cream together at the bench. Hannah was looking at me too, and she was flattered and she gave me a smile. Mrs. Davidson, my history class teacher told us not to throw our graduation caps to the air, but we students wanted to so my students held their hands to their cap and the caps floated air. I look to my cap as I was proud of my journey.
Few hours later, it was time to go home. Ahh, I hope I would meet Hannah again in college someday...
As I was about to go home, Rachel, my blonde classmate or at least I should sat my enemy approached me, crossing her arms and stared at me like I did something wrong.
"I guess this is over now."
I rolled my eyes as I heard her and replied
"Yeah I guess so.. we'll meet again someday," I said, pretending to look bad at her. Her face went calm, then pouted after I said my farewell at her, staring at me and she eventually walks out. When I heard my parents calling me to hop inside their car, I turned around and walked inside the car.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
My parents and I went to the car and drove home. Later, my family prepared for my graduation party- I almost took all of the spaghetti my grandmother made and my sister got mad at me, looking at me like I'm in a bull fight- like relax a bit? I'm hungry and so are we. Few hours later, We all celebrated happily tonight.
The party concluded at midnight, of course I did my usual— combing my hair, removing my makeup, and brushing my teeth before going to sleep with my red plaid pajamas. I don't mind sleeping with pajamas, I never see them as childish.
The next day, my parents were sitting in the couch, and my dad stands up and approached to me and said,
" Do you need anything for your resume, sweetie?" he asked me if I can let him help my resume— I refuse as I already have the resume written few days ago.
"No thank you Dad, I think I can do it on my own." I politely refuse as my dad looked at me and he half-nodded.
And for the next four months, those days were mediocre and I forgot that most of my resumes that I submitted got rejected except for one university— Goumi University... my parents were like "What kind of name is that?" and "What on earth is that..." reactions.
A few days later, I already prepared my luggage for my university dorm that I rented. I already prepared my makeup, my clothes, and my things that would used for decorations such as clocks and books. I was on the outside of my house with my family waiting for me to say good bye. My parents helped me packed my luggage as I'm about to enter the taxi.
My mom said,
"Honey, I hope you are doing well in college," as she is about to gave me her telephone number, she then grabbed my hand to write down her contact number and said,
"In case if you want to call us on the telephone," she then wrote it down to my back of my palm.
"**********" it said on my palm.
As my parents hugged me, I felt warm as the sun and I suddenly shed a tear. I entered the car and I sat on the seat, the taxi driver dragged my luggage and settled my luggage into the taxi's trunk. A couple of minutes later, the taxi driver held the steering wheel and stepped on the brake pedals.
As he started the engine, the taxi pressed a button to the radio and started playing songs. The rhythmic songs of the taxi played on the radio gave me a catchy atmosphere.
Later, I started to yawn, so I grabbed a blanket from my bag, then I covered myself and fell dozing while the taxi driver was driving. The taxi driver spent hours holding and steering the wheel, giving him drowsy eyes.
The taxi driver kept an eye on the road, it was raining outside, and the taxi driver pressed a button to the windscreen wiper, it started to wipe raindrops, the rain stopped and the sun's bright rays shone upon the windscreen.
I woke up inside from my blanket while laying in the seats and the sun ray's brightness shines in my eyes. It felt like they were burning and I immediately covered my eyes. The taxi driver's face went red and shouted,
"Why are you sleeping with your blanket!? " I started sweating and said with an unperturbed expression,
"I like sleeping with blankets." The taxi driver raised his eyebrows and said, "Weird.".
As the taxi driver gave me a weird grimace expression, I immediately felt embarrassed and folded my blankets, and returned it to the bag. I later grabbed a sandwich from my lunch bag my mom prepared for the trip and the aroma filled my nose with a watering mouth. I was so hungry after waking up, so I grabbed one sandwich that my mom prepared and the bits fell onto the mat. The taxi driver rolled his eyes and continuously drove the car until I arrived at the city. I rolled my eyes to him and continuously ate my sandwich that my mom prepared for me.
The taxi driver aggressively pressed the radio like a wild animal, switching radios from dramas to music.
I looked at my watch, and it said,
"4: 45 PM".
I took a nap as the drive will take hours to arrive at the city since it's a mile long destination. The taxi driver opened the windows, I felt a cold zephyr while sleeping, giving me chills. It was 5:12 PM, and the taxi driver stopped at the gas station. I opened the door and walked to a convenience store. I smelled the fresh scent from the air conditioner, and I took the lunch bag again and started grabbing chips and sodas in case I became hungry while driving. I placed my chips and sodas in my lunch bag and then, I opened my luggage and I set down my lunch bag to my luggage.
Then, I went to the taxi inside to continue driving to the city. The taxi driver closed the windows he opened during the ride. Then, he pressed the air conditioning button. I'm not wearing a jacket or a sweater, and it was really cold that I shivered down to my body. The driver started the engine as fast as he could. The taxi drove towards the city. It was raining again, the road was slightly slippery yet so hard to see. But the headlights illuminate the foggy road and proceeded driving until we arrived at the city.
Upon seeing the city's building, I was flattered by Romanesque architecture, and the taxi arrived at the bus stop. I quickly grabbed my wallet from my pocket, and handed out the bill to the taxi driver. I paid the taxi driver using my allowance that I earned throughout the year. Before going outside, I grabbed my luggage from the trunk and closed— like that, and I looked upon the city, people biking around and chatting with their coffee on a cafe nearby.