Piecing it Together

Chapter 29

Alexis POV

There are five hours until Jordyn's graduation starts. I finished getting ready at my apartment. When I made sure I had everything I needed, I went to see if Jake was finished. Paige is already gone so I don't have to worry about her.

I walked into the living room where Jake was sitting.

"Are you ready?" I ask without looking at him.

"I've been ready, just waiting on you." Jake says with a sarcastic tone.

I look at him. "Are you trying to poke fun at me?"

He gets up and walks towards me. "You can say that, or you can say I'm poking fun at every girl in the world." Jake wraps his arms around my waist from behind. "See, us guys only need to take a shower and throw some clothes on. You women need to shower, fix your hair, put your makeup on and change twenty times."

I turn in his arms and look up at him. So, he thinks us girls are the only ones that care how we look. How about I make him eat his words. I put my hands on the back of his neck and give him the look he can't resist. I bit on my lower lip as I stared into his eyes.

When I see his head start to lean down, I move my hands up in his hair that he thinks he needs to grow out. Right before he could kiss me, I ran my hands wild in his hair, messing it up.

"Hey." He says as he takes a step back and starts using his hands to fix it.

I walk over to where my purse is. "I thought guys don't care how they look?"

He opens his mouth to say something, but then shuts it. That was probably the wise choice.

We head to my car and start towards our hometown. I'm excited to see Jordyn's graduation, but not too excited to sit in the gym. It is so hot there. They have an air conditioner, but they never use it.

"Is your dad going?" Jake asks as we are about to pull off the interstate.

I looked over at him and I thought he was being sarcastic.

"I don't think so. You know the situation, Jake. Why are you asking?"

This has been a tender topic since we got back from Florida. I don't understand why Jake is asking.

"I think you need to go there and make him go. He will regret it if he doesn't." Jake places his hand on my leg. "I'm not trying to upset you, but he needs to go."

If he wasn't trying to make me upset, he shouldn't bring up my dad and Jordyn.

"Jake, he isn't Jordyn's dad. Jordyn's dad will be there so why do you think it's necessary for him to go?"

It's easy for my temper to flare with this topic.

"He is too her dad. He raised her and you know he wants to be there but doesn't feel like he is welcomed. That's why you need to get him to go." Jake's voice was now raising.

I keep my mouth shut. I did what Jake said. I drove to my dad's house.

"I will be right back." I tell him so he won't follow me inside.

Before I could get out Jake grabbed a hold of my arm.

"Ask him Alexis. Don't come back here telling me you asked him, and you really didn't." He was looking for me straight in the eyes, which was a little intimidating.

I walk into my dad's house without knocking. He was in his living room watching the news. When he sees me he stands up and gives me a hug. I gladly hugged him back.

"What are you doing here? Don't you need to get to Jordyn's graduation?"

I was surprised when he mentioned Jordyn's graduation. Maybe Jake is right. Maybe he wants to be there but doesn't feel welcomed. He did raise Jordyn and I know he loves her like a daughter still and always will.

"I do, but I came to get you. Go get ready and I will be outside." I try to sound confident in how I was talking and hope he would listen to what I was saying without asking questions or trying to get out of it.

My dad stands there staring at me. "I don't think I should go kiddo."

"Don't think and just do it. You want to be there so be there. Now I will be in the car and if you aren't out in fifteen minutes I'm coming back in and this time I will bring Jake." I place my hand on my hip as I feel some type of power for a second.

My dad gave me a sarcastic salute and went towards his room. I walk out of the house and back to my car where Jake is waiting.

"Is he going?" Jake asks the second I get in.

I look at the time to see what the time was. "He's getting ready."


Jordyn POV

It's finally the day I will officially be done with high school. This day came faster than I expected. They say when you get to high school it goes by in a blink of an eye. I didn't believe it, but it did.

I am in the cafeteria with my senior class waiting to go out to the gym. I'm not good with things like this. Saying goodbye to some people I know who are leaving right away is going to be hard. I'm an emotional person so I'm sure I'll shed many tears.

"Let's get a group picture." Callie tells us.

The group of us all get in a picture. After a couple of pictures were taken, Callie and I took some just the two of us.

She wraps her arms around me. "I'm going to miss you." She whines.

"We are going to be roommates next year, you dork." I tell her as I squeeze my arms around her.

"Don't ruin this moment." She says sobering.

Okay, maybe Callie is the emotional one.

While still hugging each other, I feel someone's arms go around the two of us.

"Are you guys going to miss me?" Christian asks.

I broke my hug from Callie halfway so I could wrap my arm around Christian. Callie did the same thing.

"Yes, I'm going to miss you." I told him.

I think he was a bit surprised that I admitted it so easily without making it a joke. I got so used to being sarcastic around him that being straight up felt a little strange.

"I will too." Callie says.

I look at Christian who is smiling from ear to ear. "You won't miss me too much."

I move my arms down and look at him. "Why is that?"

"I'm going to college in Pullman too." He says as he is smiling.

Callie looks at me and then back at him with a raised brow. "Are you stalking us Christian?"

Christian puts his hand to his chest and acts like he was applaud.

"I'm going to Murrow, not WSU. We will still be in the same town, but you won't have to worry about running into me ever."

He then walks away. Maybe he wasn't acting offended by Callie's question, maybe he really was. I looked at Callie and she knew she had to apologize.

We walked back up to him.

"I didn't mean it like that Christian." Callie says with a soft voice.

Christian turns to her smiling. "I know. Murrow is the only close school and it's cheap. I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't think about both of you when I decided to go there, but you guys aren't the only reason. I occasionally do things for myself."

"LINE UP." Our class sponsors yell out.

I look at Callie and Christian.

"Are you two going to be okay walking together still?" I joke at their weird tension going on.

Christian wraps his arm around Callie. "We will be fine. We got love for each other." Callie's eyes got wide and so did mine. "You girls take things so seriously. I understand Callie has a boyfriend she loves and blah blah blah. I'm saying she got love for me in a friend's way."

Before I could say anything or Callie, the teacher yelled for us to line up again. I went to where Kyle was and stood by him. About fifteen minutes later, we walked towards the gym. Here we go, our last event as high school students.

We walked in. I'm looking forward to it. I don't like having people stare at me. It makes my anxiety go up.

When I get up to the bleachers, I stay standing like everyone else until the last group of people are up here. I scan the gym for Paige and my family. I spotted Paige who was smiling right at me. She mouths the words I love you. I then noticed her pointing. I looked at the direction she was pointing.

I see Alexis and Jake. My mouth drops open when I see who is sitting by Jake. I feel my eyes watering. He saw me staring at him. He gives me a smile and a head nod.


Paige POV

I get to the gym earlier than Alexis and Jake. Jordyn's mom was already here, and I went to sit by her. She wasn't really talking to me, but I didn't expect her to. She has changed a lot the last couple of months. She used to be so lively and talkative. Now I barely hear her talk. Jordyn has said the same thing about her.

About five minutes before everything is supposed to start Alexis and Jake finally show up. I was in shock when they walked in. Mr. C was with them. I look at Miss. C whose face had no expression on it.

I don't know how she is acting like this isn't a big deal. I think it's a huge deal. Alexis took a seat by me and then it went Jake and Mr. C. No one said anything. The awkward silence was broken when the graduates started to walk in.

Jordyn has a big class, so it takes a good ten minutes for everyone to get in. It doesn't help that the school thinks there needs to be a huge pause between each set of students.

While Jordyn is standing up there, I can't help but stare at her. She looks beautiful. She dealt with a lot this last semester and she didn't give up. She made it through and now she is going to be starting a new chapter in her life.

Jordyn catches eyes with me and I mouth I love you. The smile on her gets bigger and my heart feels warmer. Little things like this remind me how much our love is true. I put my hand by my chest and point towards my right.

Jordyn's eyes look down the row and that's when she sees what I was pointing at. Her eyes grew. I knew she wasn't expecting him.

The graduation ceremony continues. There was a lot of talking and speeches, then there were the awards. The last thing before the valedictorian speeches were announcing the top ten students in academics.

"Number four with a 3.99, Jordyn Chancellor."

Jordyn pops up and walks down the aisle. As she walks to the end of the line she trips a little but catches herself. While clapping for her I couldn't help but laugh. The announcer even cracks a joke towards her. "Now she is number four in her class for academics, but last in balance."

Jordyn's face turns pink. She looks so innocent right now. I just want to go hug her.

When they were finished with the top ten, they went into the speeches.

Now comes the students getting their fifteen seconds of fame. Of the people I cared to cheer for which were only about five, Callie was first. She got a warm reception with claps and cheers. I could hear the flirting whistle and I knew it was Derek.

Jordyn's turn is finally here.

"Jordyn Chancellor." The person says in the microphone. "Jordyn will be attending Washington State University." I stand up along with Alexis and Jake. We all clap loudly and scream for her. Pretty much we embarrass her to the best of our abilities. Mr. Hartley stands in place of the superintendent who hands the diploma outs. He gives Jordyn a long hug. It was cute.

After all the students went through, they all walked out. Just like our class last year, they will be standing around outside to greet people.

We pile out of the gym, and I notice Mr. C disappearing. I feel bad for Jordyn. I get he came, but he at least could have stuck around to say something to her.

When I get outside, I make my way through people to get to Jordyn.

She has her back to me, so I snuck up behind her. I reach down and pinch her butt. She jumps holding her butt turning around.

"What in the world?" She says while turning towards me.

When her eyes met mine, she realized it was me.

"That ass though." I wink at her.

"You are lucky you aren't dead." She says with a fake angry face.

I tilt my head to the side smiling at her. "You wouldn't kill me. You love me too much." I wrap my arms around her and hug her. "Congrats babe."

Jordyn hugs me back with her hands on my lower back. When we broke the hug, I noticed there were people around who wanted to talk with her.

"I will see you later, so you can talk to everyone."

Before I walk away Jordyn stops me. "Go to my house and we can go to people's grads parties together."

I nod my head.

"I love you." Jordyn says as she kisses my cheek.

"I love you too." I gently squeezed her hand and walked away from the massive group of people.



Jordyn POV

Paige disappears in the crowd. I wish she would have stayed, but I understand why she left. I will at least get to see her in a bit. I need to stay out here a little longer and entertain people who want to chat.

When the crowd dies out, I finally was able to escape. I went to my car and drove home. I'm not having a graduation party like most of my friends are.

When I get home, I see Paige isn't here. I went inside and went to my room to change out of the dress I had on under my gown.

When I was done changing, I grabbed my phone out and called Paige.

"Where are you?" I say once she answers.

"No hi or anything?" She says laughing on the phone.

"Hi. Now where are you? I thought you said you were going to be here when I got home." I didn't mean to, but my voice sounded very lonely and crybaby like.

"Babe, I will be there in a second." Paige hangs up without saying goodbye.

Why didn't she tell me where she is?

I waited for Paige to show up. It was about twenty minutes later when I finally heard a door shut in my driveway. I stayed in my room to wait. She can come up here. I already made myself look stupid on the phone.

Paige walks in. She comes up giving me a hug. She then gives me a kiss.

"Don't be mad, she starts off." I raise my eyebrow. "I went to see Mr. C. I saw your face when you noticed him at your graduation. I thought it was shitty he didn't talk to you. I was trying to get him to stop by, but he wouldn't come."

Paige gives me a frown.

"I'm sorry if I crossed a line."

"Thanks" I say, giving her a light kiss on her nose. "He showed up. That was good enough. I think it was a closure to our relationship."

"Are you okay with that?"

"Yes." I wrap my arms back around Paige. "I am ready to move forward completely."

Paige pulls back from the hug giving me a kiss. "Okay babe. You have parties to get too."

"No, we have parties to get too." I corrected her. She gives me the look and I know what she is going to say. "You are coming with me, no buts about it."

Paige and I went to a couple of parties. Most of them just stop in to say hi and leave.

The real party was at Derek's. Even though he graduated last year, he thinks he needs to have a party. It helps that he is saying it's for Callie, but there will be no parents. In other words, we are about to get super trashed.

Callie, Paige and I go to his house together. There were already a lot of people here. I'm assuming a lot of people his age and older. When we got to the door there was someone there who was holding a clipboard.

"Names?"

"Paige, Jordyn and Callie." Callie answers.

The guy looks at his list and then backs up at us.

He was wearing a dumb smirk. He looks like he is one of Derek's football friends from college.

"I was told that you three aren't allowed in."

"What the hell. This is my boyfriend's house so move." Callie says in an angry voice.

One thing about Callie is when she gets angry, she can be scary.

The guy stands up and gets in Callie's way. "Rules are rules."

"Go get Derek." Callie demands.

The guys point behind us. We all turn around. The instant we turn around we get silly string shot at our faces.

Callie went soaring off the stairs chasing Derek around the front yard.

I turn to Paige. I can't hold my laughter in.

"You look ridiculous." I say pulling strings off her face.

"You don't look great yourself." She says back laughing.

After removing some of the strings from her face I move my lips to hers. She quickly slides her tongue in my mouth and deepens the kiss. After about thirty seconds I pull away.

"You aren't even drunk, and you want to jump my bones." I tease her.

Paige winks at me which drives me crazy. We turn to walk in the house when the guy with the clipboard is standing there with his mouth open.

"You two must be the lesbians."

Paige turns to me, and I read the look.

"He's going down." We take off from the steps and chase after Derek alongside Callie.