Blinded by Limerence

67 | Happy Graduation!

Morgan

"Morgan Nicole Darhk!"

As the vice principal of the school called out my name, I took a deep breath, hands clenched nervously to the sides of my graduation robes. Slowly, I climbed the wooden steps set up by the side of the stage and walked across the platform.

My eyes trained on the diploma that Principal Higgins held in his pale hands, a bright smile subconsciously made its way to my face. I looked up to see that she was smiling at me, too, as if to say, "You worked hard for this, Morgan."

She handed me the piece of paper that summed up my four years of high school (and torment, ahem), and I thanked her silently before turning to face the camera and the audience. That's when I spotted my parents in the crowd; mom rose from her seat, cheering wildly, but dad remained stoic, though I knew how he felt.

It was at that moment that I felt so full. I've never realized this until now, but in actuality, my life's so full of love, and I couldn't be more thankful for that. Though, if I could change one thing about my life, I wish I could've noticed that earlier...

|

"Hey, congrats."

It seemed that I was once again lost in my thoughts as I climbed down the stage and took my seat that I barely noticed Killian's congratulatory message. "Huh? What was that?"

"I said 'congratulations', airhead," laughed Killian. 

Raising the side of my lip into a lopsided smile, I playfully punched the boy's upper arm. "Thanks," I said. "So—er—you're graduating in a year. Excited?"

Killian chuckled as he shook his head. "Not in the slightest."

Cocking my head to the side, I smiled wanly. "Not the type to plan out your future, I see."

"Just realized that? Thought you had a better measure of me," said Killian, grinning. "Aren't you the same, though?"

Killian's point made me think: I'm not one to map out the future, but this is graduation, after all, and I'm not the same Morgan I was at the beginning of the year; some situations force you to grow up and plan out the next step.

But instead of explaining all that to Killian, I opted to not ruin the moment. "Yeah."

||

Soon after Killian left, Archer then Chase were called up the stage; there weren't much students with last names starting with E, F, and G, apparently.

The two boys sat a couple of seats away from me, but for a brief moment, Archer caught my eye, and instinctively, I smiled, to which he returned. 

The whole interaction made me think back to the start of the school year, when I could barely meet his gaze. My throat would dry up, and my palms would sweat profusely, but hey, that's what being in love is all about, right? Being nervous around the person you fancy?

I'd like to say that my moving on is the reason for my sudden ability to be casual, but that's not entirely true, not really.

I've grown up, matured into a scorned woman in love. I've seen what the world can do to infatuated, naïve girls, and that's all part of growing up, sadly—to know that not everything and not everyone will get a happily ever after.

I brought out my phone and opened the text messaging app.

Morgan Darhk
We're still on for later, right?

Not even a minute later, my phone buzzed with a reply. I swear, those kind of people are the best.

Archer Hastings
Yep.

|||

"If I call your name, say 'present'."

The group's reactions were a mix of groans and laughs.

"Come on, we already get enough of that shit in high school," laughed Addie, playfully (and low-key painfully) hitting my upper arm.

Addie, Archer, Chase, Killian, Eric, and I were now standing in front of Trevor's old locker, the six of us surrounding it like it needed shielding from the outside world. On the locker's door was a picture of the boy, and in front, on the floor, were numerous bouquets of flowers left by students over the past few weeks; it was a testament to how popular he was in life. 

"It's the last time you can say 'present'!" I argued, barely able to stifle my laugh. 

Eric shook his head before nudging Killian. "Not for us," he snickered, then he and Killian exchanged knowing looks before indulging in a fit of laughter.

"Besides, I'm sure that's still how they do it in college," chuckled Chase, earning sarcastic ooh's and ahh's from the twins.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Let's just get on with our little ceremony, shall we?" That said, I took off my graduation cap, and the rest followed suit.

Kneeling down in front of the locker, my eyes never leaving Trevor's picture, I placed the cap down with the abundance of flowers. "Happy graduation, Trev," I whispered under my breath before getting up.

One by one, the others put their caps in front of the locker, too, and the simple gesture seemed to be too much because mixed with the nostalgia and bittersweetness of graduation, majority of us seemed to tear up.

The gesture echoed in magnitude; it was more symbolic than anything, and yet the process of finding our caps amidst all the other caps that were thrown to the air and fell to the ground was beyond excruciating. 

In fact, I'm pretty sure we weren't able to find our own caps and wound up grabbing the nearest one, pretending it was the one we've been wearing all day. It didn't really matter much, though, because Killian and Eric had to steal some random seniors' caps, anyway, on account of their being juniors. 

"Now would be the perfect time to make a toast," said Eric, turning to look at me with expectant eyes. 

"Oh, um," I said nervously when their attention shifted to me. It was dorky, but I raised up an imaginary glass of champagne. 

"Er—this is it... This is the end of high school. Introverts would yell from rooftops on account of how thankful they are that they've survived high school, a-and the popular ones would cry and hug their friends who they'll miss so much goodbye because, well, this is the end." 

I paused for a moment to wipe my glassy eyes, not giving the tears a chance to fill up and stream down my face; Addie and Eric mirrored my actions, though discreetly. 

I went on, "I'm a little bit of both, honestly. I'm glad high school is over because wow, the workload was unbearable—" they chuckled softly at my statement, nodding in agreement "—but, uh, it's really bittersweet, you know? Because on one hand, I never want to walk through those gates again, but I still... I still... I..." 

Unable to finish my statement, I sniffled and let the sad tears run down my cheeks. "The point is, high school..." I trailed off again, my gaze studying the people around me. 

Addie had brought out her satin handkerchief and was fervently wiping tears that showed no sign of stopping; Archer's eyes were pooling with tears, but he didn't bother to wipe them; Killian was looking at me like a dad would his son—with proud eyes; and Eric and Chase interlaced their fingers together, the latter having his free hand on Trevor's picture. 

These people, all of whom were once strangers to me, have become an integral part of my life, a chapter I'll soon look back fondly on, and they'll always have a place in my heart, no doubt about it. 

I grinned, finally finding the right words to sum everything up—the goodbyes, the memories, the newly formed friendships and relationships. I sighed in content, my gaze fixed on the people—and picture—who've completed my high school life.

"High school... Well, it was everything I expected and more."