Ah, the life of the free

So for those of you who were wondering what happened with the kiss.... It was better and worse than expected, depending on your perspective. My grad was very exciting and I felt my heart swell with the magnitude of all our acheivements, with the splendour of academia, with praise to God who sustained me these last few years.... but also a nervous anticipation as I stood to walk up on stage and receive my (fake) diploma. They called out my name and I was smiling and the crowd was a blur and the lights were so bright. I felt myself being propelled towards the president. I shook his hand and he grabbed hold of me to take a picture and then I shook hands with the provost and then the head of my department, and then the dean of my faculty was there! He draped a cord around my neck and I threw my arms around him and kissed him on the cheek and he made a little surprised sound and then I was off the stage and down and out the doors! (The only minor mishap was my absolute inability to walk in my new 6 inch heels which was kind of embarrassing. I think I'd better go back to flip-flops)
Later we congregated in the gym to congratulate each other and eat and drink and take pictures. Suddenly the dean was there with my group of chemistry friends and he was laughing so hard he could hardly stand up.
"That is the first time," he wheezed, "that I have ever been kissed by a student on stage."
My other professor was staring at me and silence fell in the group of people. I felt my face turn a million shades of crimson and I fished for words.
"Yeah, well, I did make ten bucks doing it."
He roared with laughter even more. "Oh, I know! Benson already told me!"
Benson, that vermin. I looked for him to shoot flaming arrows into his liver but he was discretely standing behind someone else. The heat in the room was becoming unbearable. I tried to mumble some excuses but they were all laughing too hard to hear and anyway, it was kind of funny to me too.
As for the ten bucks, I still have to collect, but if I have to kill Benson for it, mark my words, I'm going to get it.
And that was not a bet, by the way. I'm finished with bets and wagers and gambling and anything like that. Absolutely finished.
In terms of other things, I am enjoying being graduated. It's hard to believe that it's all over. I've been working this week at my Dad's store, doing all sorts of mindless labor that I spent four years trying to avoid, like mopping floors and hanging up shirts and sticking price tags on shampoo bottles. You know what? It's actually quite enjoyable, and quite a nice mental break. I have lots of time to think about things and plan the next chapter in my book and pray about the future.