“Your dream is to write. You can do that from anywhere. You think being this guy’s assistant is a golden ticket, but it’s just a job. You don’t know this yet because you’ve never had a real job, but they’re all the same. You’ll love your job for the first few months, but then it’ll get boring or rote or your awesome co-workers stop being awesome. Soon, you start to see a job for what it really is: a way to make money and pass the time.”
Cameron seemed taken aback by the statement, but he’d learn eventually.
“If you really think that, then why are you still at your job? I never hear you applying anyplace new.”
“I have a son to look out for.”
“Will you stop it!” Fury lit up Camron’s face. “Stop using Hobie as an excuse. Don’t say shit like ‘Hobie and I can’t come to graduation.’ Just say what you really feel: you don’t want to go because it’ll be too hard onyou.” He slid off the bed and put his shoes back on. “Newsflash, Walker: There are lots of people who love their jobs. You had a dream, and you still have the talent to achieve it. But you made your choices. Now let me make mine.”
Walker’s jaw tightened in anger. He didn’t know what to say back. Somehow, saying that Cameron didn’t understand didn’t ring true.
“I think I’m going to go,” Cameron said. His eyes darted to Hobie’s room. He stared at the closed door with an intensity that kept Walker frozen in place. Anger reddened his whole face. He took a tentative step forward.
“He’s asleep. Don’t wake him.”
They stared each other down for a second before Cameron relented. He charged into the kitchen and took out a notepad and pen from a drawer. Tears fell down Cameron’s face, and Walker felt like they couldn’t all be for him. Cameron scribbled away on the pad. He held it up to his face and read it to himself. He heaved in a breath and glared at the note, like it was the Voldemort of notes.
He tore it up. Walker felt the slashes of the paper ripping. Cameron let the pieces fall to the floor. He barged down the hall and left, leaving Walker sitting on his bed in his quiet condo.
CHAPTER twenty-nine
Cameron
Cameron stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. The long, white graduation robe billowed out around him. Now he knew what he’d look like obese. He placed the matching cap on his head and straightened the tassel.
Whoa.
It might have been a mock graduation, but in that moment, the realness shocked Cameron. The last time he wore a cap and gown was high school graduation, but he had wanted that to end just as soon as it began. Once he got through that graduation, he would be done with high school and onto the next chapter of his life. He knew he would come to Browerton and find people just as passionate and knowledgeable about film as he.
No looking back.
He heard sniffles off to the side. There was his mom, watching him. She already had a tissue in hand, and she dabbed at her eyes.
“It’s a mock graduation,” he reminded her.
“I don’t care. You better get used to this,” she waved her hand at her face. “I’m letting the waterworks run free today.”
She wasn’t much of a crier, so it was an odd sight to Cameron. His mom always worked hard to put on a happy face. As he got older, Cameron got good at picking out the genuine smiles. Like the one she had on now.
“So what’s exactly going on today?” she asked.
Henry jogged over, a phone in one hand and decorations in the other. “It’ll be a cozy graduation ceremony in the front lawn of our building. I’ve arranged for a special commencement speaker, then Cameron will get his diploma, then we’ll eat lunch. Very short, very sweet.”
“Wow.” Cameron couldn’t believe how legit all of this sounded and that Henry went to all this effort. He even got Cameron a robe from the theater wardrobe department. “Thanks for doing all this, Henry.”
Henry didn’t look at him, and gave off a minor late winter chill. He ripped off a square of toilet paper for his mom to dab at her eyes. It seemed like everything was going to make her cry today.
“We still have a little bit of time before the festivities start,” Cameron said. “I have to write coverage on a pair of scripts for Arthur.”
Arthur wrote him a congrats email on his graduation and attached two scripts. Cameron wished he could have had a small break, but in this moment, he appreciated having something to take his mind off the festivities of today. Among other things.
He hoped that despite how he left things, Walker would show up.
Wishful thinking.
“I just want to say again how proud I am of you. Of everything you’ve accomplished and will accomplish. This job with Arthur is only the first step.” She brushed his hair out of his face in one familiar swoop.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay with me so far away?”
