Her face is flushed and it’s clear she has been crying. She strips off the graduation gown and recalls the horrible day. It was truly tragic, just like every other day of her recent life. When her name was called there was only polite applause for her, probably leftover from the previous name that was called, and it died rather quickly. She looked at her mother who sat with arms crossed, not caring to clap. Margarette only got murmurs as she hurried to line up behind some nameless classmate. As she was handed the pretend diploma, devilish grins and nods of acknowledgement rippled through the mob for the girl that broke up the perfect pair. Sharon and Tommy’s breakup was a story now told over lunch breaks and water coolers in almost every nook of the miniscule town, and they all blame Margarette, even though she has not been associated with Tommy these past few weeks. Yet that didn’t hurt her as much as her mother’s reaction during the graduation ceremony. Her mother had chosen to remain silent throughout the ordeal.
