The auditorium is packed. Every seat is filled with parents, grandparents, and siblings, all holding cameras and phones, waiting to capture the moment their kid walks across the stage and receives a piece of paper that says they survived high school.
I’m sitting in the fifth row of graduates, squeezed between some kid whose name I never bothered to learn and Marcus, the guy who shit his pants when I pushed him up against the lockers for talking to my girl. He keeps looking at me now and then, biting his fingernails as if he’s waiting for me to lose my shit again if he does or says something wrong. Smart kid. He’s learning fast.
We’re all dressed in these ridiculous blue gowns that are too hot and too long, and the cap on my head keeps slipping forward because I refuse to use the stupid bobby pins they handed out.
The whole thing is surreal.
I'm graduating. Well, fuck me, that’s new. Four months ago, I wasn’t sure I’d make it. Hell, a year ago, I knew I wouldn’t. I was failing half my classes, skipping the other half, and spending more time in detention than actually learning anything. I was the kid everyone expected to drop out. The one nobody gave a shit about.
But then Lola and Pete Bellamy came into my life. Suddenly, I had people who believed I could be more than I thought I could.
I scan the rows of graduates ahead of me, searching for Bells.
It takes me a minute because everyone looks the same in these stupid gowns, but then I spot her. She’s sitting three rows up. Her cap is sitting perfectly on her head; trust Bells to follow the rules and use the bobby pins, her dark hair spilling out from underneath it in soft waves.
Even in a shapeless blue gown, she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
My girl.
As if she can sense me staring, she turns around. Her eyes lock onto mine instantly, and she smiles. That soft, private smile that’s just for me. The one that makes my chest tight and my cock hard, even in the middle of a fucking graduation ceremony.
I wink at her, and she rolls her eyes, but her smile widens.
The principal walks up to the podium, and everyone falls silent. He begins talking about achievements and the future, along with all the other clichés they’re supposed to say at graduations. I mostly tune it out, my eyes drifting over the crowd.
I spot Pete Bellamy in the fourth row on the left. He’s sitting alone, his posture a bit stiff on his left side, but he’s here. After everything he’s gone through, he’s here to watch his daughter graduate. When he looks over at Lola, he smiles, and when he catches my eyes, he nods.
That nod means more to me than any diploma ever could. He’s treated me the way a father should treat a son—better than any blood relative ever did for me.
I owe him everything.
The principal concludes his speech, and the valedictorian rises. It’s some kid named David Chen. Honestly, I thought it would be Sam—she gives off that nerdy, smart vibe with her color-coded notes and obsession with perfect grades. But whatever.
David approaches the podium, adjusts the microphone, and begins his speech about perseverance and community, which is actually pretty good. The audience sits there listening, nodding along, hanging on every word. I tune it out completely. My eyes drift back to Bells, watching how she’s sitting up straight, paying attention because that’s what good girls do.
People applaud when David’s finished and now it’s time for the main event.
“When I call your name, please come to the stage to receive your diploma,” the principal says.
They start with the A’s.
I watch as students step up one by one, shake hands with the principal and the vice principal, receive their diplomas, move their tassels from right to left, and walk off the stage as if on an assembly line of achievement.
It is endless. Boring as shit. But then I hear “Aubrey Baxter.”
The auditorium erupts in cheers. Aubrey makes her way up the stairs to the stage, her gown swishing around her ankles, and when she accepts her diploma, the crowd goes wild.
Noah, sitting a few rows behind me, cups his hands around his mouth and yells, “That’s my girl!” loud enough for everyone to hear. Loud enough that the principal shoots him a look.
People laugh, and Aubrey’s face turns red, but she’s grinning so wide as she moves her tassel and walks off the stage.
They keep going through the Bs, before it’s Bells’ turn.
“Lola Bellamy.”
My heart leaps, and I’m on my feet before I even realize it. I cup my hands around my mouth.
“Hell yeah, Bells!” I shout, and I don’t give a fuck that everyone can hear me. I whistle so loud that the principal’s head snaps in my direction, his face going red as he glares at me over his glasses.
