What Is Home?

Graduation

Jamie POV:

I stood in front of my bathroom mirror, smiling sadly to myself as I saw my reflection. I stood there wearing my cap and gown, with my national honors society sash and all of my honor chords. I couldn't believe that today was really the day. Everything was starting to feel real.

In the background I could see my mom walk into the bathroom behind me. She smiled proudly before wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head on my shoulder.

"My baby's all grown up." She whispered with a sad smile that matched my own.

"I know. I can't believe it." I whispered.

My last day of school was last week but it never really hit me that it was over until now. In less than two hours, I will walk across that stage and I will walk across that high school stadium for the last time. The moment is very bittersweet. I made a lot of good memories in high school and I met a lot of really cool people. I don't know if I'm ready to let go of them yet.

"Come on. We should get going before your father starts to get antsy." My mother said with a quiet chuckle before patting me on the shoulder and releasing me from her hug. I didn't respond. I just nodded and followed her downstairs to where my dad was waiting for us by the front door.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I replied. With that, we locked up the house and got in the car before driving to the school. As we drove, I just leaned my head against the window, watching all the trees and houses fly by. We drove down the same streets I drove down for years to get to school and it was almost like I was watching my memories fly by with me.

Once we got to the school, my parents dropped me off at the front of the building before they went to the stadium to grab seats. I then walked inside because they would be lining the seniors up in alphabetical order to walk out. Memories flooded through me as I walked down these hallways. 

All of the memories I made with my friends, on and off the field warmed my heart. I remembered all the times Gianna and I cut class to go get food or doordash our lunches. I remember how happy I was when I made the varsity soccer team and how happy everyone was for me when I scored my first career goal. I remember walking into school after winning the D2 state championships junior year and how everyone cheered for us when it was announced that we would be moving up to D1. I also remember how they cheered even louder for us when we won the division one championship the following year. I remember how it felt to get my first D1 scholarship offer, and how it felt to get every one after that.

Every single memory brought a soft smile to my face, but the memories I remembered the most weren't from soccer. They were all the memories I have of her.

*Flash back*

"I'm telling you, Chesca Bertucci has to be the new foreign exchange student." Gianna insisted.

"Dude just because her name is Francesca and she's from Positano doesn't mean that she's the foreign exchange student. Do you know how many fucking Francesca's there are in Italy!" I stated.

"Okay so you maybe have a point." Gianna admitted.

"You can say that again." I stated.

"Actually, I won't." Gianna said after a pause. I looked over at her to see that she had a smug look on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"Told you I was right." She said as she pointed towards the front door of the school. I looked and all I could see through the bright morning sun was the stubby Italian man that own's the restaurant down the street.