Passionate Exchange

Chapter Seventy-Two

It's the day of our graduation. I've been looking forward to this day but also dreading it at the same time. Graduating from high school means new opportunities and experiences but it also means leaving Portland. Portland has become a second home to me over the past year. It pains me to be leaving soon.

Penny nudges me to check that I'm okay. I give her a tight-lipped smile in return. Today's a good day. I shouldn't be thinking about all of the bad aspects that come along with it right now. I need to spend time with the people that I care about the most and enjoy it.

All of the students are led into the basketball arena by the faculty. There are already thousands of parents, extended family, and friends sitting in the crowd. My eyes search around until I see Sophie and Henry with their thumbs up, eager smiles on their faces. I wave to them as Penny does the same.

I follow Brody's line of sight and notice his mum sitting in the crowd too. Only, she isn't alone. His dad, step-mum, and younger brother are with her too. This is the first time I've seen Toby in person. He's even cuter than I thought. Brody's showed me some photographs of him, but they don't do his tiny face justice.

I find myself smiling at how happy Brody looks to have them here. His relationship with his father hasn't been the best over the past couple of years but it's getting there. Toby has definitely brought the two families together.

I reluctantly rip my eyes away from him as we take our seats in front of the stage. I end up sitting next to Penny and Brody with Tyler and Archer in the row behind us. It's strange having us all together but a good strange. I feel like the group is complete.

The dean speaks briefly on our time here and encourages us all to stay in touch with the school. Penny leans over to me and whispers, "I can't wait to get out of this place." I chuckle softly and she joins in.

It's different for me. This is the place where my life changed, leaving it means going back to London. Of course, I'm happy to graduate but sad to see my time here coming to an end. Although going back home means seeing my dad and Sadie again. It feels like it's been an eternity since I last saw them.

I look around at my friends as we listen to the dean's speech. Tears start to prick my eyes as I realise how much I'm going to miss this. This is one of the last times we'll be together like this. After I leave, the only form of communication we'll have is over the phone. It's going to take a while to get used to that.

As if he senses my sadness, Archer intertwines our hands. His thumb rubs comforting circles against my palm causing me to visibly relax. I close my eyes to savour the feeling of his touch. He squeezes my hand and I squeeze his back, confirming that I'm okay.

I turn around for a moment and our eyes meet. I shoot him a grateful smile before focusing my gaze back on the stage. I don't know how he does it. He always manages to make me feel better with a simple smile or touch. All he has to do is be around and I forget about everything bad in the world. He's the best distraction I could ask for.

After her speech, they go through a list of the top academic achievers. I listen for anyone's name who I recognise. One of the names they call is Emery Turner. It takes me a while to work out where I know her from but when I do my eyes widen.

She sat behind me in AP Calculus. She was always one of the quiet ones. She never raised her hand to ask a question or spoke to the people around her. I tried to speak to her once, but I got the feeling she wasn't in the mood to talk so I stopped. I think the teacher knew she didn't like to talk because he asked everyone the questions except her. I wasn't aware that she was so intelligent. Good for her.

They start calling people's names to go up and receive their diplomas. We all cheer when each person walks up to the stage. Seeing everyone so happy and carefree is like a breath of fresh air. Over the last couple of weeks, all I've seen around the school are faces etched with concern and stress. Finals do that to you.