𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 • Steve Harrington

Chapter 23

"You got this," he told Steve.

And Steve wanted to believe that was true. He silently tried to will it to be true.

But with one final sigh, he turned around and headed past the stairs and down the short hallway leading to a joint kitchen-dining room at the end.

Once he walked through the widely open door, he skimmed the room, stopping once his eyes landed on Julie sitting at the table. She was twisting the rubber end of her pencil against the side of her head, her eyebrows cinched as she read something on a notepad laid flat in front of her.

"Hey," he said.

She looked up blankly, her eyes warming once they landed on him.

A promising start.

"Hi," she said, smiling and bringing her pencil down from her temple. She pulled out a seat next to her, "Here. Do you wanna sit down?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure." He walked over and slipped into the chair beside her. "I'm sorry about them and the watching and-"

"Don't apologise," she shut down softly. "It was sweet."

All the tension in Steve eased itself instantly.

"And I wasn't ignoring you-I couldn't. I was just taking some time to think for a while... by ignoring you."

"Am I allowed to ask what you were thinking about?" Steve held onto the back of her chair, resisting the urge to touch her.

"You don't have to."

His eyebrows drew together with bemusement.

She put the pencil down and picked up the notepad, holding the front-facing side close. "Can I read you something?"

"Anything," he said adoringly. "What is it?"

"It's my valedictorian speech." The second she said it out loud, she felt embarrassed. "I know it's probably going to wind up being Jenny Leiper or even Greg Bradshaw, but I spent the past few days writing and rewriting it and I'm not sure why."

Steve had a feeling he knew. "Does it have anything to do with what happened between us?"

"It's a lot of things at once, but that might have had something to do with it." She fumbled to lower the notepad just enough that she could read from it. "It's not long."

"If it's a speech, you should probably stand."

Julie didn't have it in her to say no to him somehow. Any flame in her had extinguished, but she didn't think twice about it. She just silently stood up, tucked in her chair and postured herself.

Steve trained his eye on her, waiting and listening in anticipation.

She cleared her throat. "Good afternoon. Honoured guests, family, friends, Board of Trustees, teachers, staff and fellow graduates, it is a privilege to stand before you all on this momentous day.

"These past academic years Hawkins has faced some of the greatest tragedies it has ever seen. Our town lost the owner of our favourite local diner, Benny Hammond; our school and faculty lost a smart and selfless student, Barbara Holland-or to Mr and Mrs Holland, a loving and treasured daughter. And in their place, an irreparable hole has been left behind.

"Recently Principal Mullins told me that embarking on new chapters of our lives doesn't have to be seen as moving on, but instead adjusting to change.

"This year, for our class, graduating has become more than growing up and transitioning into a new phase of our life. It's not about trying to cement the hole closed. It's finding closure in tragedies that have mutually shaken us all. Tragedies we will carry with us and never forget."