Chasing Secrets✓

47.

Amara

College Graduation Day.

Many people have experienced the overwhelming rapture as they approached their college graduation ceremony. For me, that's a day that I never wanted to forget.

High school was one thing, but it will never top college. The amount of emotions that you feel on graduation day is unbelievable.

I don't think you can experience anything else like it.

At first, I felt extremely anxious to celebrate with my friends and family. But as mom, Luke and Cotton rounded the corner, pulling up in their utmost graduation attire, the rush of anxiety soon simmered. They gawk in awe as they see my nervous makeup filled face. Internally I panic, the thoughts of parading across the stage in front of that many people occupied my mind. Then, the more I thought about reality, I started to get curious about being able to start a new chapter in my life and the events that the future had in store for me.

I was prepared for the storm.

"Ow! Mom you're spiking the nerves out of my skull," I yelp as my mother stuck another pin in my graduation cap that was oversized for my tiny head.

"If you stop moving your head about I might actually get to pin it properly," she scolds and digs the pin deeper into my skull. My hands flare upwards and I back away. "Okay mom. I think my head's bleeding now, thank you."

"Gosh, you're so grown up monkey," she squeals, clasping her hands together and resting her chin on them, gazing at me whilst I adjust the gown clad on my body.

"Just the other day you were 3 years old, stealing peanut butter from the fridge," she teases and I side eye her.

"Well if you had just given it to me like I always asked then I wouldn't have had toppled the whole carton of milk on top of me," I retort.

"Well you never listen when I say too much peanut butter can cause cancer," she huffs.

"Mom, not everything leads to cancer," I roll my eyes at her.

She shakes her head menacingly. "Well excuse me for wanting to make sure you were healthy."

I sigh and proceed to adjust the finishing touches of my look one last time. I strap on my new pair of gold open toe ankle strap heels with transparent crystals that compliments a short ruffled backless chiffon dress under the black gown representing the school. With my oxygen tank safely strapped on my back, I was ready to head to the big hall.

"You look amazing pumpkin," Luke compliments and Cotton makes the sound of a camera click with his teeth as he does the action.

"Gorgeous," Cotton adds and I go over to ruffle his hair. He swats my hand away. "Hey hey! Took me a while to get this bad boy slicked back."

I gave a hearty laugh and give each of them a long hug.

"This is it. What I've been waiting for," I say, with a hefty sigh.

As always, I think about Lucien and what he's doing right now. If he's happier without me.

Luke notices my gloom and holds up my chin with a finger. "I know that look. You miss that boy don't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" I say with a small voice.

"I know when my daughter is upset. He'll be here, we all promise you that. He'll never miss up on his opportunity to graduate, much less seeing you in a beautiful dress," he winks and I blush, averting my eyes to my heels.

"God I really hope he does. I just hope his mom is okay. He's okay," I say under my breath.

As we hug each other one last time, we shuffled over to the grand hall of Stanford, seating ourselves in an isle close to the stage as we await the invocation to begin.