"He will."
"Of course he will," Mommy assured me. "Remember," she whispered. "have faith in the future. Some people are so pessimistic, they miss the wonderful opportunities. They become blinded by their hardships, so blinded they miss their blessings."
"You never did, Mommy."
"The day you were born. I knew I never would," she said.
Epilogue
There was a different light on Graduation Day now. Gone was the sense of an end. It was replaced with a wonderful sense of a new beginning.
Uncle Simon brought a truckload of flowers over to decorate the stage, and the people who attended said it was the most beautifully adorned graduation they had ever seen at our high school.
The band teacher asked me to play a solo piece as part of the program. but I asked if I could do a duet with Chandler instead.
"If he'll do it." he said. He had long ago given up on Chandler doing anything at school
performances. However. Chandler ageed, and we performed a Beethoven sonata. The applause was deafening.
When the principal handed us our diplomas, he announced what our future plans were to be. I saw how impressed everyone was when they learned I was going to a prestigious school of performing arts in New York City.
"We'll hear about this girl soon enough," he declared.
Mommy's eves were drowning in happy tears. and Daddy and Uncle Simon looked like twins with their matching smiles of pride.
There were a number of parties afterward, one of the biggest and most elegant at Chandler's home. He and I made an appearance there and then left under the excuse of having to attend a few others. His parents didn't seem to mind. They were enjoying their friends. His mother soaked up her role as hostess.
"I thought I was going to suffocate in there." Chandler declared.
We laughed and drove off, but instead of going to another party, we returned to our favorite place on my farm. Chandler had brought a blanket along and we spread it out and lay beside each other, gazing up at the splash of stars.
"I always found it fascinating that people in the same hemisphere, thousands and thousands of miles apart from each other, could look up at the same stars." Chandler said. "You see that group twinkling there. the Seven Sisters?"
"Yes."
"Let's declare them ours tonight, and every time we can see them let's think of each other, forever and ever, no matter where you are or where I am."
"Okay."
"You're going to be a famous person someday, Honey. You're going to do wonderful things."
"What about you? You're just as talented, if not more so. Chandler."
"I don't know. I don't burn with it the way you do when you play. Not yet at least."
"You will."
"Maybe," he said smiling. He kissed me. "I do love you," he said. "I can't imagine falling in love with anyone else as deeply."
"I hope not," I said. "I didn't think you would want to love me. I thought you would become impatient and angry with me because I wanted to wait until... to wait before we..."
"I can't help loving you."
"I know it's different for boys. They don't want to be teased. disappointed."
"I'm not feeling teased. but I'm not saying I'm not anxious about it."
He smiled and ran his fingers down my neck and over my breast, bringing his lips to mine.