Fighter | l.h.

Epilogue

Finals were over. The school was getting ready for graduation and I was packing my old room. I stood up from my closet floor, taking the suitcase and throwing it on my bare bed. Luke had decided his bed was more comfortable and we could use my bed for when we visited my mom.

“You ready?” I turned at her voice and saw her standing in the doorway with a small box.

“To go to college? Isn’t that the point of school mom?” I said grabbing a box and putting stuff from my dresser in it. I felt her walk up behind me as I picked up the picture of Luke and I from homecoming. I had seen his copy so many times at his apartment, but seeing mine was almost sad. His was always clean and in the middle of the dresser, mine was pushed into a corner with a layer of dust on it. I wiped it off and put it on top of my suitcase.

“Promise me you’ll visit often,” she said as I finished packing.

“Mom, we aren’t moving for another month,” I chuckled before grabbing my phone and putting it in my pocket.

She walked over to me and handed me the box that she had walked into my room with. “I got this for you when you were little, I wanted to give it to you for your eighteenth birthday but since you’ll be gone,” she said putting it in my hand.

I gave her a skeptical look and opened the box slowly, looking at the necklace inside. It was a large ruby, my birthstone, surrounded by small little sapphires. I picked it up and looked at it, watching it reflect in the light. “Mom, I…I can’t take this,” I said looking at it.

“Your father and I thought you weren’t mature enough for it,” she said as she took it and put it around my neck. “I’ve seen you go through a lot of shit this year I couldn’t have handled when I was your age,” she said smoothing out my hair. “You’re so much braver and smarter and beautiful then I ever was.” She kissed my head softly and I held her hand.

“Mom, this really is nice but I don’t know if I can take this.” I looked at her and there were tears in her eyes.

“You deserve it,” she said smiling and kissing my cheek tenderly. “You deserve so much Christine and I’m sorry I never gave you it all.”

“You gave me everything I needed, and that’s enough for me,” I said smiling and hugging her tightly. I buried my head in her neck, taking in her smell and  pulling on her hair slightly. “I love you mom.”

“I love you too,” she said turning her head to kiss my head. “Come on, you have graduation to get ready for.”

“But that means I’m really close to being a grown up,” I say, feeling like a little kid as the words slip past my lips.

“You’ll always be my baby,” she smiled before kissing my head. I smiled and walked into my bathroom for the last time, brushing out my hair and putting in my contacts, watching the small layer of plastic cover my green irises. I took the dress off the back of the door and sighed, putting it on. The red dress hugged my top and fanned out slightly at the bottom. I put on my makeup and sighed, moving the necklace around on my neck.

I walked out and put on the beige heels my mom handed to me before sliding my arms into the purple graduation gown.

“I’m ready I guess.”

********

I stood in the line of seniors, looking down at my feet. I wasn’t even one of them and I felt so awkward. Kirsten was in line with Michael, probably bullshitting. I knew Ashton would be in the audience tonight, not for her of course. After the massive fight and him crashing at our apartment almost three months ago, any mention of Kirsten to Ashton would only upset him.