I looked back at Cadence and all that tension and stress in my chest eased.She looked lighter.Soft around the edges.Like she could breathe again.And for the first time since Paxon decided to go rogue, the knot of dread sitting under my ribs actually let go.
This right here felt right again.
Cadence stood between us.Paxon’s hand rested gently on her back, and Toby bounced beside her like a hyperactive squirrel.Seth hovered close enough to guard without overwhelming, while Bryan let out the quiet exhale he only gave when tension drained away.
And me.Watching.Cataloging everything.Making sure everything was okay.
Cadence finally looked up at all of us, confusion and relief and exhaustion tangled in her expression.
“Guys,” she whispered, like she didn’t know what else to say.
I offered her a faint smile.“You don’t have to talk.We’re here.All of us.”
It was exactly what she needed, because she closed her mouth and smiled—and it was the smile we’d been missing since before the holidays.The real one.The carefree, completely happy one that lit up her eyes and warmed her cheeks.
I blinked and glanced away.Her sincerity caught me off guard, like when I forgot to open my eyes during my swim laps and I hit my head against the wall.Again.
For the first time in a long time, everything was finally headed in the right direction.
Chapter Thirty-One
If someone had shownme this moment a year ago—me in a grey graduation gown, hair soft around my shoulders, cap pinned neatly in place—I would’ve laughed.Or cried.Or both.
But here I was.
Standing in the line with the rest of my class, the June sun warming the back of my neck, the buzz of excited talking and the occasional “Don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t trip” mantra floating through the air.
I wasn’t supposed to make it to graduation.But I did.And before me was a future so open and filled with possibilities I didn’t know what to do with it.After I made up with Paxon, that very night, I was finally able to check my college applications.I made it into a couple and settled on the same one as Bryan at Clarkson.There was a professor there who did her research around music therapy, which ended up being the deciding factor for me.I wanted to work under her, especially after I looked into her past research and the contributions she made.She was a big supporter of Hope’s Embrace too.It turned out my dad knew her as well, so she was excited to meet me at the start of the semester, especially since she knew and used the songs I created for Hope’s Embrace.
Mr.Ferris tapped the mic, breaking me from my thoughts as he asked the audience to settle as the graduation ceremony began and we were ready to finally walk across the stage.People hushed, but not by much, because it was graduation and no one actually expected silence.
I scanned the crowd, trying to pick out the faces in the packed bleachers.They were so far away that it wasn’t easy, even though my family and friends had told me where they’d be sitting.It still took me a moment.
I found Dad first, holding up his phone like the proud parent I never expected to see at my graduation.Janice sat beside him, already wiping tears—another surprise I hadn’t dared hope for.
I spotted my lawyer, Amy Rivera.She had become someone so important to me, always on my side, always willing to stand up for me.Next to her was Lindie, who had been released from the hospital in early May.
