Julie sat down on the floor beside June and leaned in and kissed her gently. June tentatively returned the kiss and finally lifted her eyes to look at Julie. She said, “I’m so sorry Julie. I don’t know what I was thinking. I just wanted to hurt you.”
Julie kissed her again and said, “I know. I suspected you were up to something when you left the floor. At first, I thought you were going up to hug Dad, but when you moved in on Steve, I knew exactly what you were doing. I had to decide if you wanted me to see you doing this or not.”
June mumbled, “I’m sorry. It was stupid. Can you forgive me?” Julie hugged June and then smiled and nodded.
I broke things up by announcing that the ceremony was about to start. Julie stood up and pulled June to her feet and examined the cum covered mess before her. She pulled out many paper towels and wet them in the sink and then meticulously wiped the cum from her gown and brim of her cap. It left obvious wet spots but they would dry soon enough.
Hand in hand they blew by me and out to the auditorium. They hurried down the aisle to the main floor and took their seats as their friends tittered about their tardiness. The twins were a year older than their friends and the difference in maturity was obvious as they composed themselves amidst all their giggling friends.
Dad had taken a promotion to an overseas position for a year when I was six and the twins were five. There were no English-speaking schools in the area and Mom and Dad decided to keep us out of school until we returned to the States. I lost a year in the first grade and the twins started Kindergarten at age six instead of five. It wasn’t long before school administrators recognized the twin’s aptitude and they proposed moving them a year ahead into my class. They objected because their friends would be left behind so Mom and Dad made the decision to leave them where they were and here they were, ranked first and second in their class.
Julie’s speech was kind of a cookie-cutter graduation speech: We’re adults now and we are heading full steam ahead into the world to make our future. She delivered it well and got a rousing round of applause. Mom and Dad were proud of their girls. After today, no one would ever care whether they were first of second in their class. They were going off to the same college in the fall and their rivalry would be renewed.
After the diplomas were passed out, the ceremony ended with the traditional tossing of the caps in the air. Dad said he had to get right back to the airport and he and Mom kissed and hugged and he patted me on the shoulder as he pushed his way against the exiting crowd toward the main floor. He found Julie and June in a crowd of hugging and kissing teens and gave them each a hug and a kiss. Then he was gone again.
Professional and family photographers were everywhere taking pictures of families and friends that they may never see again. Others would be life-long friends but those would be few. Mom and I waited for what seemed like hours. The twins were very popular with the boys and the girls. Everyone wanted photos with them. Mom and I finally moved down to the main floor to kind of move things along and they got the message. There were kisses and hugs galore. They were careful not to mention tomorrow’s party so that no one would get their feelings hurt because they weren’t invited.