UNEDITED
Calla Henrik's family runs the best ATV business in town, and she's ready to take over the family business for the summer while her parents go on a much-needed vacation. She's ready to earn some money before she attends the University of A...
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Four years later...
Maddox
Graduation ceremonies are something special... but they're also overrated. I would've preferred receiving my nursing degree in the mail. I'd rather be in Edmonton watching Calla's graduation ceremony. But she convinced me to welcome the experience. So here I am, surrounded by my fellow nurses. We're dressed in our black graduation gowns and caps. A thin line of blue encompasses the shoulders and chest. I run my hands over the front of my graduation gown, my emotions overwhelming me.
I can't believe I'm here.
"Maddox," Kaito says. "Come on, bro. We're taking a selfie."
I blink, turning to Kaito. On the first day of classes, back at Okanagan College, he approached me and asked if I wanted to be lab partners with him in Human Anatomy. Little did I know we'd become fast friends and be graduating together. Alexis, Samantha, and Zach came soon after. And... well... Here we are. "Sorry. Something distracted me."
My group of friends is small, comprising Kaito, Alexis, Samantha, and Zach. Our grad class is large this year, but the five of us have strayed from the rest of the class. We bonded over late nights of studying with large amounts of coffee and takeout. We practiced inserting IVs into each other's veins, laughing over the mistakes and the blood that dripped from our fingertips. Throughout our training sessions, none of us ever hit a nerve. I call that a blessing. We also quizzed each other before exams and got drunk during pub crawls a few times. Most of the time, I watched them make fools of themselves. I was comfortable with being the designated driver.
"Hey," Samantha says, giving me a nudge. Alexis and Zach are trying to figure out how to set up a timer on Zach's iPhone. "What's up with you? You seem distracted."
I meet Samantha's brown eyes, a sheepish smile on my face. "I miss Calla," I admit. "I wish she could've been here. She... She encouraged me to keep fighting for this." I make a wild hand gesture at the outdoor stage and the rest of campus. The day I stitched her up on Terrace Mountain comes back to me with a force that knocks the breath from my lungs. It's a memory that will never fade. It's what drove me through the stress of nursing school.
Samantha gives me a sympathetic smile and squeezes my shoulder. "At least she's coming home tonight, though, right? And you've got special plans for later."
"Yeah," I sigh, ignoring her teasing comment.
I'd be lying if I said keeping our long-distance relationship hasn't been hard. FaceTiming only curbs the loneliness for so long. That being said, it made our reunions much more special. The summers we spent together made up for lost time, too. I'm looking forward to seeing her every day, though. After four years, Calla and I are moving in together. Calla's already secured a job within her family business and with the City of West Kelowna. She's going to be managing all the regional parks and land on the Westside. Her flight will leave tonight, after her own graduation ceremony. I've also gained a part-time job at Kelowna General Hospital. The other half of my job will be the new paramedic station up at the campsite.
