Photograph | l.h.

Chapter Forty Five

Chapter Forty Five

One Year Later

Luke

There he sat, in a large sweaty auditorium among all of his fellow classmates. Although his class was rather large, Luke was lucky because with his last name being in the middle of the alphabet, he only had to sit through half of the names before his name was called. Though he had to sit through the rest of his classmates, Luke would feel relieved as soon as he had his diploma in hand.

Calum's last name was close to Luke's, therefore they sat in the same row. They did not sit directly next to each other, but Luke wished they did because he wanted somebody to talk to during the long ceremony.

"Let's begin!" The principal of their high school said cheerfully, as she smiled at the large graduating class with tears in her eyes.

Luke did not understand why she was so emotional; their principal witnessed graduations every year. He thought that by now, she would just be used to it.

As the ceremony began, Luke scanned the crowd to try and find his parents. There were many people in the large auditorium, so he gave up trying to look for them after searching for a few minutes.

The ceremony began with the valedictorian giving a speech about how high school is the best four years of everybody's life, and how sad it is to see it come to an end. Luke couldn't help but yawn throughout the corny speech; he was not a huge fan of high school and wanted nothing more than to be done. The past four years were fun, Luke thought, but he would not necessarily say they were the best.

"To the class of 2013! Get out there and do something with your life!" The valedictorian yelled into the microphone, ending his speech on a positive note.

As the class was dismissed, Luke and Calum escaped from their row. They quickly found Michael, and the three graduates made their way out of the large crowd of students to go and find their families.

Though before Luke could find his parents, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He quickly spun around, coming face to face with the familiar pair of dark brown eyes that he had become so fond of.

"Hello mister graduate," the familiar voice smiled widely, showing her perfectly straight teeth.

"Hey," Luke chuckled, pulling her in for a hug.

Maya, Luke's... girlfriend? A girl who has been hanging around him for the past three months? Friend with benefits? He wasn't sure what to call her.

Maya came into Luke's life unexpectedly, and at a time where he felt as if he needed somebody. He met her at a small show that the band performed at, one where the crowd was smaller so it was easy to interact. Maya was actually interested in Michael, though he wanted more than just a friends with benefits situation, while Luke on the other hand, did not mind at that point in time. Maya was pushed Luke's way, by the influence of his fellow band mate, and for the past three months the two had hit it off. Although she was not technically Luke's girlfriend, he liked having her around because she made him feel good; and he did not feel as if there needed to be a label on their relationship.

"What's your plan? We should go party," Maya winked, but Luke knew what she actually meant by party.

"As much as I would like a quickie right now," he laughed as he kissed her head, "I have to find my parents. I'm going out to dinner with them."

"Okay," Maya smiled, her perfect teeth complimenting her tan complexion. "Meet up tomorrow?"

"For sure,"

"Okay," she smiled, leaning up and kissing Luke's cheek softly.

As soon as she walked away, Luke found his parents almost immediately. Thankfully she was gone before he found his parents, because Liz wasn't the biggest fan of Maya. She thought that Maya was too wild and that Luke could do better.