Set it Free

Chapter 2 (Part One)

*Dedicated to Giggle_Wiggle for the awesome cover!*

It didn’t take long for the congratulations to set in.

Old friends and relatives swarmed me with “I’m so proud of you”s and “I’m gonna miss you so much!”es. I did my best not to respond back with “Oh? You will? Because we haven’t talked since the fourth grade after you spilled your damn juice on my dress…”. But I wasn’t bitter. Not at all.

My parents managed to worm their way in through the crowd surrounding the stage, both wrapping me up in a group hug.

“We are so proud of you!” Mom gushed.

Sure you are, I thought. I was off to go study music. Harper, on the other hand, the golden child, was living it up at her fancy college in Boston. She was in her second year of law school. Meanwhile, I’m spending the next four years singing. Very impressive.

Granted, it’s at Julliard, but that doesn’t change anything in their eyes. Music is music is music. It’s all useless to my parents. If they had their way, I would be sitting right beside Harper in law school. Or maybe medical school, if they were feeling generous.

It took almost a full year to convince them that I was serious about singing. Studying music in college had been my non-verbalized dream since I was seven. From the start I knew my parents would never approve, so I did what every good girl does and told them I wanted to be a lawyer, like my sister.

At some point I decided to tell them that I have little to no understanding of the American court system, nor do I wish to learn any more about it. Music was my passion and always would be - I thought I could make a career out of it. To say shit hit the fan when I told them this would be a bit of an understatement.

Dad stood awkwardly a little off to the side. “Yeah. Good job,” came out in a mumble. He seemed thrilled.

Thanking them both, I could see Mal heading my way, dragging her Dad by the hand. I was surprised she was handling this so well; her mother died two years ago in a plane crash, and I knew it was hard on Mal with her not being here. I could never imagine what that would be like - losing half your world in just a few short seconds.

She pulled me into my second post-grad hug, squeezing my sides like there was no tomorrow. Her dad congratulated both of us on being official high school graduates, then went to find the refreshments table. Typical male. A few seconds went by until I pointed out the bone-crushing hug to Mal. Giving me one more big squeeze, she released me.

“Sorry! But everything is happening so fast! We only have this summer and then you’re off to New York and I’m going to Maine…” She blubbered, tears beginning to brim over her eyes.

I pulled her back into my arms. “I know, I know! We still have a few months though! Just think - this is going to be the best summer of our lives!”

Malorie bobbed her head up and down in agreement. A few sniffles later, and she was back to her usual bubbly self, just in time for Henry to spot us.

He grabbed me from behind, wrapping his arms around my torso. “So how does it feel to be out of high school? Ready for what awaits at Jaime’s party?” He whispered in my ear. I knew full well what awaited at the grad party tonight…

I turned around and gave him a playful shove. “Just fantabulous! Never better! Ah-May-Zingggg!” I exaggerated in the highest voice I could muster up, ignoring his second question. This must have only made matters worse, because Henry proceeded to pick me up bridal-style and carry me away from Mal.

Not knowing what else to do, I whined. “Put me down THIS INSTANT. NOW!”

That only got me a smirk and a simple, yet effective, “No.”