Lyla studies her reflection in the full-length mirror in her room. It's one of the last pieces of her bedroom furniture still standing, along with a queen mattress and a lone lamp. All her other possessions have been packed away, ready for the movers' arrival tomorrow.
She smooths the crepe folds of her poppy blue dress carefully with her hands and exhales, a little unsteadily.
"Can I come in?"
Miseul appears in the doorframe, carrying a garment bag over her arm. Lyla turns to acknowledge her mother.
"Hi Mom."
"I managed to iron the wrinkles out of your gown and stole."
Miseul smiles and hangs the garment bag on the valance rod spanning the bedroom window. "Have you picked your shoes?"
Lyla points to the floor where a pair of light brown, open-toed platform wedges wait to be worn. Miseul nods approvingly and gazes into the mirror alongside her daughter.
"Is Dad coming?" Lyla asks after a beat, her voice quiet.
Miseul inhales swiftly and releases her breath in a sigh.
"Yes. Your father will drive over separately from the hotel. Everything is in order for court next week."
Miseul's words sound strange and foreign, yet Lyla knows difficult decisions have been made. She turns around and peers into her mother's face.
"Are you going to be okay, Mom?" she asks, concern lining her brow.
Miseul laughs and gives Lyla an endearing look.
"My youngest is graduating high school and we are leaving the only home we've ever known. I'm not okay today, but I will be tomorrow."
"Oh, Mom—"
Lyla wraps her arms around her mother's waist and gives her a reassuring squeeze.
"Today is a new beginning for us both," she murmurs.
"Don't make me cry now." Miseul chides softly. "Let's finish getting you ready."
Lyla pulls away reluctantly.
"Okay."
She steps over to the garment bag and unzips it, revealing a flowing black gown, a bright golden stole, and three distinct, roped cords with multi-colored strands. A clear bag containing a distinct, black cap hangs from inside the garment hook; its yellow tassel dangling towards the floor.
She fingers the silk fabric of the stole and closes her eyes.
Though her high school graduation is finally here, it feels as though Lyla Duncan is only just beginning to live her life.
---
The atmosphere in the Kremer Center is charged with energy as students in stately, black gowns fill the grand lobby.
All around, relatives make a fuss about finding their seats while the teenagers stand tall in their robes. Dr. Ortega hisses at the boys pulling at their neckties while Cat fixes her graduation cap for the seventieth time. Mr. and Mrs. Silva stand proudly beside Marco as he lets one of his oldest sister's kids play with his graduation tassel. And Aiden sulks in a corner with his mother while wearing an expression one would don facing death by guillotine.
Lyla acknowledges them with a small wave. Eun-sook reciprocates with a tense, brief smile before steering her son away from onlookers.
An anonymous Internet blacklist went live the night of Marbleton High's senior prom. Lyla's still not sure how the whole thing came to be, but the bloggers detailed all types of sordid information about Aiden, along with nineteen other teenagers in the county whose relationship track records left many people hurt and vengeful. While she and Darren and their friends danced the night away, the blacklist had circulated AIM chat rooms and inboxes like wildfire before it detonated in Autumn Liu's BlackBerry as she shimmied against Aiden in her curve-baring black dress.
YOU ARE READING
See You When I See You
Teen FictionBOOK 1 // Seventeen year old Josie Chen has never been the main character of her own story. After her mother's sudden and unexplained departure, Josie takes it upon herself to care for her dad and younger sister. Josie stoically defers her own drea...
