fearless

xiii, i forgot you existed.

chapter thirteen. i forgot you existed.

angelina kim phan hated time. a lot. her senior year went by faster than she would've wished, her graduation coming upon her rather than having fun. not like there was fun in the next few months anyway. her only friend had been elodie for quite some time.

eventually, kasey forgave angelina, much to her luck. elodie, kasey, and angelina were a friend group for the remaining months of the senior year - kasey featuring in a few songs on angelina's videos.

ranboo was still faithful to ignoring her. both of them knew how much they would like to go and apologize to one another, but both were petty and stubborn. neither was going to say sorry first - unless it was a forced thing by their parents.

neither of their parents got involved, though. dinners were awkward to sit through, not to mention when angelina came to pick melody up to drive to school. she avoided ranboo at all costs, but in some cases she wasn't lucky enough.

not having a date to prom, angelina went to it as a group with elodie and kasey. what she wasn't expecting, was for them to kiss by the end of the night - angelina was an official third wheel. at least neither of them rubbed it in her face. what was a fling over the summer, was now a relationship.

angelina's hands were shaking. tears were pricking her eyes. was graduating supposed to be this easy? she'd been telling herself all her life that she was ready to move on and go to college, start a new life - but now that the time had come, she wasn't really ready. not even close.

the valedictorian letter was taped on the mirror in front of her, along with a few stickers and other photos. her hand trailed over a few photos from when she was ten years old. it was halloween in this one, she was dressed as a ghost, and ranboo was a skeleton. she laughed softly.

making eye contact with herself in the mirror, angelina cocked her head at how much she'd changed. she was no longer the little girl who wanted to go on the moon - but she was just angelina phan. the busy one. the one that was voted most likely to be rich in the yearbook.

the red cap and gown contrasted well against her facial features. the top of her cap was decorated to be a record from led zeppelin, and she was supposed to get her cords when she got to the school.

she hadn't heard the door open behind her. she didn't realize her brother walk into the room until angelina saw him stand next to her in the mirror. she smiled softly.

"you ready, kim?" he spoke, using the nickname - her middle name - only he was allowed to use. he made eye contact with her through the mirror. "mom wants to be first in line to get in, and she wants you to be on time."

angelina turned to see aiden normally. he actually looked decent, instead of his usual graphic t-shirt and shorts, he wore a navy blue collared shirt, with black jeans. his hair was done for once, too.

"mentally? no," angelina sighed, fixing his collar. "physically, though? yes. go tell mom i'll be down in a sec. i just gotta do something. i'll see you down there?"

aiden nodded, patting her shoulder and leaving the room, leaving angelina alone in her thoughts. shutting off the radio that was softly playing classical music, she turned back to the mirror, grabbing the valedictorian letter.

it wasn't professional, or anything - just a small thoughtful note from her counselor. mrs jenkins seemed more thrilled for the student than angelina herself. both her parents had been over the moon about it.

Angelina ━

Valedictorian! It's a pretty big thing, I told you that you could do it. I'm so very proud of you for this achievement, and I hope you do great things in NYU. Watching you these past four years has been the greatest thing to witness, my eyes being able to see little fourteen year old you turn into the most amazing young woman. I'm proud of you, and I now have the achievement of saying I was able to speak to you. Thank you for being such a great student, Angelina.