"It's fucking hot." Mo complains.
"I'm not your mom."
"Ugh, imagine being in a cap and gown in this weather!" I sigh heavily and roll my eyes as I grab our things from the car. "This is gonna be us next year! I physically can't do it. I literally just can't."
"Literally." I mumble and slide my sunglasses on my face.
"Can you hand me my sunglasses?" I roll my eyes and hand them to her. She sighs loudly. "Hopefully we get a good spot-"
"Help me, dammit!" I yell at her.
"Uh, spicy."
"I'm not spicy, but it's hot and there's stuff to grab since you decided to bring the biggest blanket you own, and I only have two hands."
"Okay, okay." She picks up her own bag, and I'm still stuck with the blanket. The bleachers will be hot from being in the sun and honestly, who wants to sit on bleachers in shorts? Not me.
We make our way to the gates and look for a good place to sit. I scan the bleachers and stop at a spot not far from the front but to the left.
"Let's sit there." We walk through people to get there and lay down the blanket partly folded and sit down. I look around, half looking for Harry's family. I give up, not wanting to look to obvious.
"Ugh, when is it gonna start?" Mo whines.
"Twenty minutes."
"Ugh!!" She groans loudly and I sigh heavily.
"Stop acting like a child."
"Feed me, Mommy." I roll my eyes, but a laugh escapes my lips anyway.
"You're fucking dumb."
The ceremony finally starts twenty minutes later, and I watch for Sammy. I eventually spot him and smile, though he can't see me. He looks quite funny in the bright blue gown, and my smile grows. It slightly fades as I turn my attention toward finding Harry. However, by the time all the graduates take their seat, I don't find him. I sigh in frustration that there's too many people blocking me from seeing him. I hate him, but he's graduating and no matter what, I still just want to see him.
I'd be lying if I said that I didn't almost fall asleep through the entire thing. And Mo surely took a nap on my shoulder. Though the moment I noticed she was asleep, I slapped her the fuck awake because if I have to sit through this then so does she.
The announcing of the names is longer than everything else because of the huge amount of graduates. When Terrence's name is called, you already know Mo and I silently booed.
"Terrence Atker!"
"Gross." I mumble. I wait it out until I hear Sammy's name.
"Sammy Lager!" Mo and I cheer loudly for him, and as he walks back to his seat, he spots us. He smiles wide and waves, then shows us the diploma in excitement. I laugh and wave back, as does Mo.
The next name I wait for is-
"Harry Styles!"
But there's no face to match the name.
And then I wonder, for the rest of the day, why wasn't he at graduation?
...
"Maybe he got his diploma in the mail. I know some schools do that." Mo shrugs, talking about Harry.
"Yeah, our school does that." Sammy nods.
"I wonder why he didn't just walk though-"
"I don't know, but honestly," Mo pauses to take a sip of her drink, "who the fuck cares?"
"Yeah." I nod and put my head in my hand.
"Cheer up. Today's about me." Sammy says and I laugh. We're currently at Denny's celebrating Sammy's completion of the prison that we call school. "But honestly, delete that fucker's number. He is cancelled."
"I already did." I chuckle. And I've regretted it ever since. I thought it would be good for me, and maybe it is. But I still wish I hadn't done it.
"Good. Okay! Let's get down to business-
"To defeat." Mo finishes, and I jump in.
"The Huns!" Sammy laughs and claps.
"Ugh our minds." I laugh at his comment and watch as the two of my best friends laugh thinking I could get used to this.
...
I slip on my only pair of sneakers, a light jacket, and grab my house keys.
"Where are you going?" Mom comes to the front door where I'm standing.
"Just for a walk. I'll be back in a bit."
"At night? Just be careful. Bring your phone."
"I know, Mom." I laugh.
"Okay, I love you."
"Bye, love you." I close the door behind me and start walking. I need the fresh air. I walk around the neighborhood, and even past the park when I came to the overly-dramatic realization that I had turned into a party girl. Talk about a drama queen, am I right? I laugh to myself.
I sigh as I decide where to go next. It's not that I just find myself walking there because that shit doesn't happen in real life; I've learned that from this experience. I know exactly where I'm going and why.
It's not a very short walk, so I take my time, trying not to tire myself out. I pass by several houses, recognizing the way because of the countless times I've been here. I honestly probably shouldn't be going here at all, but I wouldn't be Noelle if I didn't do stupid shit like this. I think we all know that by now.
I sigh when I reach the house. I look up at it with an emotion I can't even read on myself. But I'm still relaxed, somehow. The driveway is empty, the only empty one in the whole court. And ironically enough, it's the house right down smack in the middle of it. There's no use knocking on the door when clearly no one's home, but I walk right up and do it anyway. I sigh but smile just slightly anyway as I lower my head and walk down the steps back to the sidewalk in front of the house. And since this isn't some movie, nobody answers the door because there indeed is no one home. Then I notice something at the edge of the Styles' lawn that I didn't see until now.
FOR SALE
I involuntarily give a half-smile with a light and short laugh.
I'll never know where Harry Styles went.
And that's okay.
