Bitter (wlw) (txs)

eighty-seven

Two years later

"That was fucking great" Mei said as we walked out of the venue our graduation commencement ceremony had just been held. Or at least, we tried to walk out, given that we were surrounded by tens of thousands people also trying to exit the place.

"It was...a lot. But yeah, it was pretty amazing. I didn't think I was gonna cry" I laughed.

"Yeah, you were bawling your eyes out" Vic said, hand in hand with Mei. The two had been together for a little more than a year by then, and I honestly was happier for them each time I saw them together. It had taken them almost a year to actually get together after something first happened, but all's well that ends well.

"As if you weren't like that at your graduation last week" I rolled my eyes at her.

"I was just stating a fact. I know it's a big emotional moment" she patted my shoulder. "I'm proud of both of you" she added, moments before Mei kissed her, and the kiss went on more than I thought it would. I sometimes still needed to get used to being the third wheel.

Part of me couldn't believe I'd actually graduated and earned a whole degree even if it'd been more than six months since it happened. Attending the ceremony so many months later made me feel all of the emotions linked to it again.

And I'd also just started the master's degree I'd been dreaming of being accepted into, which felt even better. It hadn't been an easy process, I'd put an insane amount of stress on myself in order to get the highest marks in everything and it had often taken a toll on my mental health, I'd even thought of leaving everything at some point, but I luckily didn't.

That, paired along with the few encounters I'd had with my parents over the previous two years, leading me to finally admitting that I was better off without trying to win their love and approval back, had definitely contributed to making that period of time a not easy to live one. But luckily, I was never alone during it.

Both Vic's and Mei's parents said they'd wait for us where their cars were parked, because they were in a different part of the venue and it would have taken too long to find them inside.

I'd only briefly met Mei's parents a few times before, but they were both incredibly kind and welcoming people. And I'd been seeing Vic's family every now and then because I didn't want to not go to my hometown ever again, and they kindly allowed me to spend time at Vic's house whenever I wanted to go back.

But it kind of still felt weird to just be standing there as both my friends hugged and greeted their parents. Until Vic's mom unexpectedly pulled me into a hug too.

"Hi Ellie" she said with a radiant smile. "I'm so incredibly proud of you, never forget that"

"Thank you, Monique" I couldn't help but smile back.

"Hi Ellie! The ceremony was great, wasn't it?" Mei's mom said immediately after.

"It was" I nodded, still smiling.

"You're coming along for lunch with us, right?" she added.

"Uh, yes, of course. But I'm gonna meet my girlfriend first. You can go ahead, though, I think it's gonna be a while before I find her here" I said. "She can drive me there, also"

Sam had been with all the other professors in the completely opposite side of the venue, and I'd probably spent most of the ceremony trying to unsuccessfully spot her among all the people.

I'd only told more about Sam, and that she was a professor at my university, to Vic's parents once I graduated, a few months earlier. Although I knew they wouldn't be judgy about it and that I could trust them with that information, I wanted to make sure she officially wasn't in my course's faculty before telling them. I never added the detail of her being my professor for the whole first year, but they probably figured, given that they knew she taught English.