Play The Part (Player Next Door Book 3)

91 | Graduation

The title says it all. Our babies are growing up *tear, tear*

Chapter 91: Graduation

I gripped the program sheet in my hand. The words Preston Oakes Commencement Ceremony were written in beautiful cursive across the front.

I couldn't believe we were here.

The graduates were lined up in their regalia. Celebratory music was playing around us. It felt like a grand farewell. The end of a beautiful chapter.

Soon they would all be gone and we would replace them. A new year, a new student body, as transient as the seasons.

I would miss them. I will miss him.

"Hurry Millie," my mom ushered me into a seat, "It's about to begin."

**

~6 Hours Earlier~

Was it all a dream?

Sand in my hair and the dry taste of salt in my mouth.

I had some hazy memory of Austin in my pink tricycle biking around our street at 7AM.

My eyes slowly fluttered open and shut.

Undressing on the beach in front of Luke as he gave me his shirt and dunked me in the ocean with him, kissing me all over.

Watching Austin and Cearra straddling the windowsill of her bedroom like Romeo and Juliet before scaling the wall.

Burgers and diners and Chad's chauffeur.

And the last thing I dreamt of was two golden crowns.

For a King and a Queen.

"Ugh," I groaned, bringing my hand to my pounding head.

Slowly these memories came crashing around me like waves in a dark ocean. My eyes saw purple dots before I opened them. My head squished against a white pillow, mouth agape.

Was it all a dream?

"What's going on?" I croaked, half expecting Luke to answer.

But instead, there was silence.

I was in my bedroom, all alone. My twin bed was empty, and my sheets were tangled around my ankles. I peered down, noticing the extremely large white shirt I was wearing and no pants.

He's probably going to want that back.

**

~12.30 PM~

I heard yelling inside the house.

My mom's voice and then my sister's. Then some opera music and then they were yelling at Doz to turn it off.

I groaned again, opening my eyes once more. I found myself staring up at a white ceiling. It looked different. I was lying on the other side of the bed, my head where my feet had been earlier.

"They left the garage door unlocked and the tricycle was out on the front lawn. We could've been robbed!" my mom yelled.

I vaguely remembered us coming back from the beach early this morning and debating about who was going to take Austin back home.

That's when someone had handed him my little pink tricycle and he rode in circles around Dupont Avenue; a grown man on this tiny children's bike with the pink handlebar streamers fluttering in the wind.

At some point, someone drove him home. I think it was Luke.

The loud arguing continued inside the house and then I heard some crying. I heard Doz's name but couldn't quite grasp what it was about.