Idolised Lies

Chapter 36: Strawberry Kisses

The warm sun fell on the cobbled path within the university's courtyard as family, friends and relatives of the graduates hurried around, trying to find where each ceremony was taking place.

Leafy was exactly the same, she tried to follow the instructions Firey had given her but she had never been the best with directions and she was frantically looking in every direction for where the Politics and Law building was.

She asked multiple people were she was meant to be, telling them who she was here for and the name of the building but everyone seemed to give her different directions.

One of them, a young student of the university even asked for a picture with her, she agreed to it but she getting more stressed by the second.

She wasn't exactly doing the best job at hiding her face so while she had her head down to read the text on her screen, people were surprised to see someone like her in a place like this.

But she didn't care, she had one thing on her mind and it proving to be harder to accomplish than she had anticipated but finally after a stupid amount of time searching the entire campus, she found what she was looking for.

The ceremony didn't start for another half hour, Leafy had the sense to know that she would fail miserably at finding the building and had given herself plenty of time to look around.

Still, the seats were almost all full, people chattering and congratulating those around them and suddenly she felt very out of place, sat by herself hoping she didn't stick out like a sore thumb.

All of these people had a proper connection to the graduates as well as the university itself and they all seemed to know how it worked, the only connection Leafy had was her boyfriend of three years who was amongst the students graduating.

A young girl turned around and stared at Leafy in shock and awe, Leafy knew she had been recognized and gave her a little wave and a smile.

The girl's expression changed to one of glee and nervousness, returning Leafy's gesture just before her mother made her turn around.

Leafy saw her attempts to take a sneaky photo but she didn't mind, it would probably give her something to brag about to her friends and Leafy found that oddly funny.

Feeling a little calmer, Leafy took a seat near the very back of the hall, disheartened by the fact that she wouldn't be able to get a good look at Firey when he got his diploma.

Among all the hustle and volume of everyone in the room, Leafy didn't notice someone call her name and  approach her.

"What are you doing all the way back here, darlin'," came a kind, country voice.

Leafy feeling startled, looked up to see Cherri Chaud, Firey's mother smiling sweetly at her, all dressed up for her son's big day.

"Ah, I'm sorry I couldn't see you anywhere, I actually wanted to say hi," Leafy said apologetically.

"Well no wonder you couldn't see us, you're sittin' all the way back here when you should be up the front with us," Cherri tutted.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude, especially not on a day like this," Leafy gave a small, nervous laugh.

"Nonsense, you wouldn't be intruding at all, you're family, dear,"

Despite how nice Cherri always was to Leafy and how often she made her liking of Leafy known, Leafy was never emotionally ready for it.

Leafy gave a small squeak as she tried to let the tears fall as Cherri walked her to where she was sitting alongside Firey's father.

"I know that Firey would want to see your gorgeous face when he gets his diploma," Cherri teased, nudging Leafy slightly.