Happenstance 3 (Happenstance #3)(22)
Author: Jamie McGuire

“Not me,” Charlena said. “Get me the hell out of here.”

I smiled, glad to hear I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

The band began to play, and the room quieted down. Kiki followed Mrs. Hunter through the double exterior doors. The sun was already hot, beating down on us, but it felt like liberation to me. We walked in a line down the south sidewalk to the lobby entrance of the auditorium. The line circled around until we were all inside the glorious air-conditioning, and then we waited again for our cue to walk inside.

I looked for Weston, and once our eyes met, he waved at me and winked. I waved back, feeling strange to be around so many of our classmates without him near me.

Mrs. Hunter and Coach Morris swept open the doors, and we walked down the aisle to the front six rows that had been roped off for us. Before I sat in the front row, I saw Sam’s and Julianne’s hands poking up from the sea of heads, waving to me. I waved back and took my seat.

A few moments later, a familiar voice whispered in my ear, “Hi, gorgeous. What are you doing later?”

Immediately, I felt at ease. Weston was sitting right behind me.

“Whatever you’re doing,” I whispered back.

He touched his lips to the skin just behind my ear, and then I could hear him settling back into his seat.

“So cute,” Kiki said with a knowing smile.

Principal Bringham was introduced, and after a lot of talking by a lot of people, our school song, and the speeches given by the valedictorian and salutatorian, the superintendent and principal took their places. With a microphone in his hand, Coach Morris headed toward the sound booth in the back of the auditorium, getting ready to call names. I stood with the first row of students, and we lined up at the base of the stairs leading to the stage.

“Laura Kathryn ‘Kiki’ Abrams,” Coach Morris’s voice called over the PA.

The crowd erupted into applause with several people yelling various cheers. For half a second, I wondered if the room would get awkwardly silent after my name was called, but the thought didn’t have enough time to linger.

“Erin Easter Alderman.”

After a short pause that was clearly surprise at the name that had been called, the room broke into applause, and both Sam and Weston stood to yell for me.

“Way to go!” Sam said.

Julianne snapped a dozen pictures.

“Woo! Erin!” Weston called. “Good job, babe!”

I climbed the stairs, shook Principal Bringham’s hand, and then crossed the stage to the superintendent. I shook with my right hand and took my diploma with my left. Chairs were lined up in rows toward the back of the stage, and I took my place next to Kiki.

“Charlena Nicole Arnt,” Coach Morris called.

The crowd erupted again.

One by one, the names were called, students walked across the stage, and then they took their seats. When it was Weston’s turn, my small cheers were drowned out by his football and baseball teammates. He took his seat behind me, and once again, he leaned up to kiss me—this time, on the cheek.

As each name was called, there were more empty seats in the reserved section. My throat began to tighten, and my eyes began to burn. The emotion surprised me. I had been counting down the days for this moment. But it wasn’t bittersweet or even relief. It was everything I had ever felt from kindergarten to that moment, all at once. Every memory, every smile, every tear, every disappointment, every victory was piling on top of me under the bright stage lights.

Once the formalities were over and we were outside, Mrs. Hunter organized the pandemonium long enough to count down to the moment when we’d throw our graduation caps. The photographer got his camera ready as did all the parents, friends, and various family members. In unison, the graduates ripped off their caps and tossed them into the air.

As the caps returned to earth, Weston pulled me into his arms, and in the height of the celebration, he made the entire world around us freeze in the moment with one incredible kiss. It told our love story, our future, and our past. And it was all in front of nearly everyone we knew. When he finally let me go, slowly, everyone around us began to move again as if they hadn’t noticed that we just had one of those moments that only a memory could accurately capture.

Weston hooked his arm around my neck, seeming so much happier than he had earlier in the day.

“Now what?” I asked.

“There’s a graduation party at Diversion Dam, complete with a keg and bonfire, or there’s a quiet night on our overpass with Fanta Orange, falling stars, and lightning bugs. Lady’s choice.”

“Wow. That’s a tough one,” I said, a wide grin spreading across my face.

Chapter Nine

THE CICADAS WERE SINGING in a high pitch, the haunting rise and fall competing with the crickets chirping somewhere in the pastures bordering the overpass. The steady stream of headlights heading north and south beneath us and the intermittent gush of air with each passing semi added to the light breeze blowing through the grass. The twinkling stars above made the evening perfect.

Weston was lying next to me, allowing me to use his arm as a pillow. As soon as we’d stepped out of the air-conditioned cab of his Chevy and spread the denim quilt across the truck bed, I had noticed the early summer heat hadn’t left with the setting sun like it usually did this time of year. Even in a white lacy tank top and shorts, the sticky humid air settled on my skin, and beads of sweat were beginning to form along my hairline and at any points where our skin touched—which was a lot.

Weston had dipped his hand into the ice chest and popped the top of a can of Fanta, handing it to me, before we’d settled in. We took turns drinking it as we stared up at the sky, listening to the muted tones of summer.

Graduation hadn’t taken long, but the hundreds of pictures, the mingling, the polite good-byes, and hugs and smiles were just the prologue to the family parties, the presents, and the questions about my future and Weston’s future and anything else I didn’t have the answers to. The soreness in my cheeks from retaining an appreciative, polite smile for hours and the exhausting trading of energy it had taken to socialize were much better than being alone, but it had taken some getting used to.

Thoughts of what I might have done this afternoon had my life not taken such a drastic turn had been a quick reminder to endure the burning in my cheeks and to be grateful that people cared enough to ask me about the future I now had.

Still, sitting quietly with Weston in my very favorite place was the best part of the day. He mindlessly played with my hair while his eyes scanned the millions of stars lighting the sky. They were more visible outside the city limits, so much that each time I looked up from our spot on the overpass, I would suck in a sharp breath at the sight.