Milk And Cardamom | S. Brown ✔

[11]

Luke was sitting on his desk, eyes straining over the books opened in front of him. He was studying for the entry test after which he would be applying for Yale if he passed.

So far his grades had been fairly good but from the second year in high school, he had started studying even harder upon finding out that the university he was aiming for accepted GPAs above 4.

Dora had gone back to stay with her father so there was no one else to keep him company either hence he decided to keep himself busy with studies. It was also easier to stay awake the entire night and study rather than go to sleep and be greeted with nightmares.

His phone rang and he ignored it but after the second time it rang, he realized it wasn't the ringtone but the alarm bell. His hand reached out for it, eyes flickering towards the screen.

The alarm rang again and the words on the screen read: Graduation Ceremony - 4pm.

At first he didn't understand why he had set such an alarm. His own graduation had commenced an year earlier and his head was already crammed with all the material he had been memorizing for the entry test.

But then realization struck him; it was Dora's graduation ceremony and according to the clock, they had only one hour to reach there.

"Oh God, how could I forget," he quickly wrapped up his work and dashed downstairs to tell Camille to get ready as quick as possible.

He had promised Dora to come to her graduation and he couldn't break that promise, not at any cost.

Surprisingly, Camille had remembered and was already getting ready so all he had to do was to change into formal clothes and then leave as soon as possible.

"Thank you so much for going with me," Camille offered him a warm smile as he took the driving seat after opening the other door for her.

Luke was quite the gentleman, taking care of even the most negligible of things to make sure that no one from his family had to face any discomfort.

"She's my little sister too," he replied, backing the car off from the garage, "I have to be there for her, right?"

"Right," her smile widened.

Lucas had changed a lot from the reserved silent boy he used to be ever since he met Dora. She somehow brought the best in him, encouraging him to be cheerful and giving him reasons to be happy as well.

To him, Dora was a little angel that had lit up his life. And as he considered her as a younger sister, he made sure to be there for her and do everything he could for her in return.

He parked the car along with the several other cars that belonged to the families of other students from her batch. When they entered the auditorium, it was full already.

The students wearing their graduation gowns were up on the stage and the ceremony had just started.

Dora's eyes were searching for them in the crowd, lips puckered into a slight frown as she thought Luke and Camille had probably forgotten to attend her graduation. But soon as she spotted him, her eyes shone and a smile danced on her features.

She was glad they had showed up.

With the graduation certificates handed out one by one to all the students among cheers and pause from the audience, the ceremony finally came to its conclusion.

The students left the stage at last so Dora made her way towards Luke and Camille. Her mother engulfed her in a hug and after pulling apart from her, Dora tackled Luke into a tight hug as well.