Forever Tied to you

1

Sophie

The sunlight dances across my bedding through the small slit in the blinds. Excitement and exhaustion mingle together as it hits me, today I finally graduate college.

Four long years I spent studying, learning and cramming as much information as I could about legal practices and the justice system. I didn't choose it so that I could go the standard route of becoming a cop or working security, no, I want to go to law school and work towards ensuring that the system is fair and provides an equal amount of justice for the crime.

It's idealistic I know, but my family has always been fairly well off, not in the sense that we are rich by any means, but comfortable and they had done everything they could to pay for college so that I wouldn't need to worry.

Instead, I crammed studying around a part time job that allowed me to save up very little. After the first semester on campus I knew that having roommates was a terrible distraction, so I found an apartment and paid my own way, saving what I could when I could.

My parents didn't know, never will know, that I have essentially been on my own this whole time. They don't need to. I haven't had any boyfriends, flings, heck there's only like three people I have actually spoken too out of classes and it was usually to tell them they dropped something.

I am the true definition of a loner.

It's not because I don't like other people, just that I needed focus. In high school I had plenty of friends but after we all separated for college our talks became few and far between and just like everything else, fizzled out to nothing.

I sigh as I climb out of bed and curl my strawberry blonde hair to the side. I put on my knee high spaghetti strap white graduation dress and slip my black gown over it, opting for flat shoes so I don't embarrass myself.

Once I'm ready I head to the ceremony where I will receive my degree before I come back to load my car and head home to my parents house.

I nod and smile politely as I find my seat and the bustle of students looking for their relatives catches my attention. My parents weren't going to make it, some emergency came up they had to take care of and honestly I didn't mind. I was an adult and as such I could maneuver experiences on my own.

One by one we all walked up and collected our degrees before returning to our seats. Once everyone was done the tassels were switched and hats were ceremoniously thrown into the air as people hugged their friends and their families.

Me? I just focused on getting out of there as quickly as possible. I still had a lot to do on my trip to world domination, but first I needed to get home and find a way to get to law school.

"I'll help you with that." My neighbor Pete smiled as I tried to shuffle my last few boxes out of my apartment.

Pete was older, in his mid thirties and he was always nice enough. His girlfriend would occasionally bring me leftovers when they made dinner and it made me feel more comfortable knowing that I at least had someone familiar close by if I ever needed it.

"Thanks Pete." I smiled at him as Gracie came out of their apartment behind him.

"I'll help too!" She smiled, picking up a box and following Pete. "I really hope our next neighbor is as cool as you Sophie. I'm going to miss you." She sighed when we got to the car and she set the box in the back seat.

"I'll miss you both too! Seriously I'm glad you were my neighbors, it made me feel safer somehow!" I smiled "and thank you both for helping me with my stuff."

"No problem." Pete smiled wrapping his arm around Gracies waist and kissing the side of her head. "Drive safe and if you ever come back this way you should stop and say hi."

"I will." I grinned before climbing into my car.

It was going to be a long three hour drive back home, but I was hoping that my parents would give me some good news once I got there. They did, after all, know that I was graduating and what my plans were with law school.

They had assured me that they would think of something and that taking the summer off to rest would give me the best opportunity to consider everything without rushing. I just hoped it wasn't a delay tactic because I was certain on what I wanted, all
I needed was the funds to pay for it.

A few hours later I pulled up to my childhood home. It wasn't huge or rich by any means, a simple two storey house in a cul de sac of a middle class neighborhood.

I had spent years riding bikes and running on these roads as a kid, and even more time exploring all the different passageways that cut between our neighborhood and those around it.

As I walked up the paved footpath to the front door, reminiscing about my childhood and all the fond memories I had, the friends I grew up with and how hard my parents worked for me every step of the way, I realized just how much had changed since I left.

The lights were off and I knew they were already asleep. I put my key in the lock and quietly slipped into the house, before tip towing up to my childhood bedroom and closing the door.

I would talk to my parents about law school tomorrow. It wasn't a big deal if they couldn't help me, I could always take our student loans to cover the costs since college was already paid for. It wasn't a life or death issue, just an option I wanted to try not to have to use.

I slipped into some pajamas and climbed under the covers. Tomorrow would hold the conversation to Define my future and either I was going to be ecstatic, or I was going to be left with my back up option.

Neither were remotely close to putting a dent into the unpleasant news that actually awaited me though.