by Allen, Jacob
Samantha and I continued to grow in our feelings and commitment to each other. There was nothing held back; there were no worries about having to end it in the summer. We promised each other to lead independent lives at Harvard while continuing to date; I didn’t have to sacrifice my football commitments for her, and I didn’t expect her to give up academic opportunities to be with me.
It was a far cry from February, when I had demanded she kiss me.
Actually, for all of the Broad Street Boys, it was a major change. We’d once run the school as gods, able to ruin or raise reputations with a single phrase. When we threw parties, we established who was hot and who was not. If people fucked with us, they were done.
Yet, somehow, three sweet, somewhat quiet girls had managed to tame all three of us. How that had happened—and how all three had wound up being friends beforehand—still was a bit mind-boggling. One relationship by itself was fine. But for all three of us to have fallen for all three of them?
I guess love really was a mysterious force.
“For if we have the right dreams, if we understand if our dreams are pursued for external or intrinsic reasons, then we can accomplish anything we want.”
God, I loved that girl. I hadn’t said that yet—I didn’t want to scare her off by moving too fast—but I knew now that it was real. I really did love her.
“And once we pursue the dreams that matter most to us, that are unaffected by peer pressure, societal influence, or anything else that does not originate inside of our souls, then, truly, the world will experience the greatest change. Thank you.”
We all gave a thunderous round of applause. Samantha found me in the crowd, and I blew her a kiss. As usual, she blushed. I knew she wanted to give me a kiss back, but to do so in front of everyone associated with Providence Prep might have been a bit much. I had to laugh—I admittedly enjoyed the opportunities to be a little playful and try and embarrass her. It was nothing malicious, and she loved it too.
We went through the proceedings, with everyone shaking Principal Collins’ hand. There was one thing that I needed to do before I officially received my diploma—or, perhaps better said, I needed to do it after I received my diploma.
“Nicholas Mark Locke.”
I crossed the stage, shook Principal Collins’ hand, and leaned in.
“The Fireball in Samantha’s locker was me,” I said.
He froze, and I walked away with the world’s most satisfied smirk on my face. I looked to Samantha, winked, and went back to my seat. I’m officially off the hook now. Can’t do anything now!
The rest of the names were called, we left the building, and we threw our caps in the air. I found Samantha, kissed her, and squeezed her tight.
“What the hell was the wink for?” she said.
I shrugged.
“Had something on my shoulders I needed to get off of me,” I said. “Don’t worry. It helped lift something off of you too.”
Samantha gave me a cockeyed look, but before she could say anything, Kevin had run up behind me, tackled me, and lifted me.
“We’re doing a Broad Street Boys photo,” he said. “Come on. Oh, and Samantha, come along too. We’re going to do a couples’ photo as well.”
“Alright, alright, just put me down!” I said with a laugh.
I reached out, grabbed Samantha’s hand, and led her toward the Collins. Principal Collins gave me a scowl when we came over, but I just ignored him. At this point, he was no longer the principal; he was another old man trying to cast judgment on the younger generation for having fun to a degree that he never did.
“Alright, Broad Street Boys first!” Adam yelled. “Two photos. One, Ryan in, one, just the seniors.”
“I guess excommunication was inevitable,” Ryan said.
“Excommunication?” Adam said in confusion.
He put his hand on his younger brother’s shoulder and gave a squeeze.
“Nah, man. You’re in charge of this now. The rest of us are all leaving. You have to carry on the legacy.”
“Legacy, my ass, we’re just a bunch of party animals trying to bang as many girls as possible,” Ryan said. “I’ve been carrying this shit ever since this one over here became the last domino to fall.”
“Guilty!” I said, raising my hand in triumph.
Ryan just rolled his eyes. I would say I was curious to see what Ryan did in the next two years with us gone, if he continued to act as the Broad Street Boys’ reputation suggested or if he softened up, but honestly, that just wasn’t the case. I was pretty much over us being the Broad Street Boys.
I was much more interested in us becoming lifelong, real friends, and in Samantha and I going as far as we could. If others wanted to refer to us by the nickname in high school reunions and such for the sake of simplicity or memory, that was fine, but the name meant very little to me now.
We took our photos before we called the girls over. Samantha came up to me, and hugged me tight.
“Can you believe that this all worked out the way it did?” she said.
“No, but there’s one thing I can believe,” I said, whispering into her ear. “I love you.”
Samantha, mid-photo, whirled to me in surprise. But then a loving smile came over her face before she kissed me.
“And I love you too.”
“Hey, hey, you two, face the camera!” Ryan shouted.
Samantha rolled her eyes, but we did as commanded. Ryan took a couple of photos before handing the camera back to Adam. We all crowded around him and looked.
There, right there on that screen, was the real legacy of the Broad Street Boys, Class of 2020.
Three dudes who controlled the school, but not the girls they fell in love with. And as a result, they couldn’t have been happier for it.