Miss, Do I Know You?

43 - Wednesday, June 30

The sun shone bright as we stepped outside the school and into the dwindling crowds. My heart weighed heavy, burdened by the finality of the moment. I had come to the end of an arduous yet wondrous chapter of my life. Though, for reasons all too clear, each fiber of my being was ecstatic, something about it hit me a little harder than I had anticipated. Every moment felt like a precious drop of water slipping through my fingers, never to be reclaimed.

Sophia's arm looped around mine, scintillating as ever, dragging me back to the present. "Why are you crying?" she teased and squeezed tighter, as if to hold me together. "You're supposed to be happy."

I tried to stifle the tears, but they came unbidden and bittersweet. "I'm not crying because I'm not happy. I'm just... I mean, we just graduated."

"You've got someone else who's probably just as happy about that diploma, if not more," she said, not having any of it. "So shut up before you make me cry too."

I forced a shaky laugh. "Soph, I've been praying for this moment. Trust me, I'm delighted. I just wasn't used to liking school this much."

Her smile turned into a look of horror. "Girl, what's wrong with you? You're seriously crying because you're gonna miss school?"

"Not exactly," I said, unable to put it into words. It was that feeling of finally having found my place somewhere, and now having to say goodbye to part of it. It was a mixture of happiness, sadness, and the overwhelming realization that things would never be the same again. "I'm just going to miss you and didn't realize it until now."

Her expression softened, and I could tell she was trying her best to not get emotional. "Have I got somewhere to be? I've lived here all my life, and that's not changing anytime soon."

"Yeah, but we'll probably see each other even less now." I gave a timid smile. "Promise me that we won't grow apart just because school is over."

An incredulous eyebrow raised. "You seriously think we would?"

"Just promise me."

"Okay, okay. I promise," she said, chuckling. "As long as you start reading text messages on time, I don't think we'll have any problems with that. Alright, enough with this, or I'll start tearing up. Will I see you at the afterparty?"

"I've got plans today," I instinctively said. And then my eyes widened in horror. "Fuck. It's already starting to happen."

Her eyes rolled, though her smile remained. "Didn't hurt to ask, I guess."

Lucas arrived to chat with us, a welcome distraction from my own dramatic thoughts and the melancholy I was starting to feel. But my attention was snared as another familiar figure sauntered by. Our gazes clashed, leaving us locked in a silent exchange.

Olivia looked different. Better. The weight dragging her down seemed to have lifted, and her once somber face was now alight with a vivaciousness I had not seen in a long time, suffused with a joy that bubbled forth like a sparkling brook in the midst of spring.

With a gentle smile, she broke the staring contest, and her eyes spoke volumes. It was a silent greeting, a wordless congratulation that told me everything had changed. Our promise to graduate together had been fulfilled, but it was not without its bittersweet realization. Life had changed us, molded us into different versions of ourselves. We both knew that we had not been in a good place or were not good for each other anymore. Standing together at a crossroads of our futures with the sun glinting off our smiles, we had come to terms with growing apart. It was for the better.

I couldn't resist pulling her into a hug. We didn't really say anything, at least not out loud, perhaps because there was just too much to be said. Life was slowly but surely changing for both of us, and it was a change that we couldn't avoid or hold onto. And though I had always thought of change as something scary and unwanted, I had realized that it could also be beautiful. It wasn't something I could put into words, not really. It had always felt like something had been clawing at me, trying to rip me to shreds from within. Maybe I had regretted things at some moments, but I regretted nothing at all. Because sometimes, the best things come from the unexpected.