Living with Trouble

Chapter 52

Love would never leave us alone
Ah in the darkness, there must come out to light ~ Bob Marley & The Wailers

☆

A few months later

"And we stand here today honoring our students who graciously worked hard throughout the year. I couldn't be more proud of these kids, I remember the day..."

I moved to the side of my chair, angling my head so I could see the back of Victor's head. As if he could feel my eyes, he turned, eyes matching mine. A small smirk curled on the corner of his lips, he winked before turning back around. I covered my mouth, concealing my giggle.

We sat in our cap and gowns, with Quinn sitting by my side, and Lily a few seats down. I couldn't help but feel sadness consume me. I can't believe it's over, I was just a freshman spending my time with friends, crying over grades,  gossiping over lunch, and deathly avoiding Victor in the halls out of embarrassment. I couldn't help the lump that formed in my throat when a round of applause erupted from the crowd.

I stood up, clapping my hands and joining the rest of my class as we celebrated our hard work. We threw our caps in the air watching the red hats fall gracefully to the ground. I turned to Quinn squeezing her tightly and rubbing her back. Lily ran up to us joining the hug. I stepped back wiping away the tears that glistened on my cheeks.

No words had to be shared between us to understand what we were feeling. We smiled, eyes watery and lips quivering. We then split apart returning to our respective families. A silent promise to hang out later lingered in the air.

My mother hugged me with tears brimming in her eyes, "I'm so proud of you," she whispered in my ear. "Your dad would have been so proud." The dam broke at that, thoughts of my father clouding my mind. I miss him so much, I wish he were here with us. I his I could run into his arms and that he could congratulate me on coming this far.

Nico stared up at the two moms crying over their kids growing up. He tilted his head, confused as to why they were so sad. I squatted so I was down at his height, "they're not sad buddy, those are happy tears." I smiled warmly.

He grinned wrapping his tiny hands around my neck. I hugged him back, "congrats Niya," he chirped.

"Thank you, Nico."

Cora hugged her big brother, burying her face in his chest. "I can't believe you're leaving me alone for high school," she shook her head. Cora is going to be a freshman next year and often feared the thought of high school, a totally different world from middle school.

After forcing Victor and me to take a million pictures, our moms took us out to dinner. I scooted into the curve of the dark brown booth, besides Victor. I leaned into his body, his arm lazily circling my waist. The lights in the restaurant were dim and light music played from the speakers.

Kendall sat across from us her elbows propped up on the table and head in her hands. "So, how long?" She asked, looking between the two of us.

I raised an eyebrow, "how long what?"

"How long have you two been dating?" My mom answered raising an eyebrow of her own.

My eyes widened, what? I looked up at Victor who had a casual expression on his face. He looked down at me and shrugged his shoulders, "go on, answer them."

I gulped leaning back into my seat, "a few months now." I peeked an eye open at Kendall who was sitting with a shit-eating grin on her face. "Called it, you owe me sixty," she pointed in moms direction.

My jaw dropped, "you guys knew?"

Mom grumbled placing a couple of twenty's in Kendall's hand. "Honey, we've been under the same roof for almost a year now, and we're mothers. You don't think we don't know when our kids are canoodling," Kendall said.