I'M YOUR PUPPET; invincible

chapter 2

    She couldn't help but look out on the crowd for a moment as she crossed the stage. A brief, passing image behind her eyes. She could picture her father, then, in the crowd. He would have asked for her help in styling his brown curls, ensuring they were not frizzy. He would have worn his favorite green button-up, claiming it was his "fanciest shirt". He would have stood from his seat with a smile, and, without a doubt, tears on his cheeks. He would have been proud. Even if a custom such as graduation was foreign to him, and to people like them, he would have been proud. Happy.

    She smiled at the thought. He could not be with her that day, physically, but he was. He was with her in the color of her eyes and so much of who she was. He was with her in the energy that flowed through her. He was with her in the breeze blowing her short hair and the gentle kiss against her skin.

    She resumed her seat with her friends, looking towards the stage.

    "Everyone, please rise." Principal Winslow looked across the mass of them. "Congratulations, graduates. Remember, be bold, be original, be..."

———

    They found themselves at Eve's treehouse hours later, the sunset painting the sky in a mural of pinks and yellows.

    Eve sighed, head resting in her hand. "I don't know. I don't feel any different."

    "It's graduating high school," William said, "not losing your virginity. Amber, summer plans. Go."

    Amber smiled. "Nothing but swimming pools and sleeping late for two whole months. I mean...on the weekends, maybe. I'm at the community center Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Oh, and did I tell you guys I'm volunteering for the Katie Giles campaign?"

    William braced his hands on either side of himself, shaking his head. "That's your idea of a summer vacation?"

    "Hey, Giles is the real deal. Do you even know your state comptroller?"

    "I don't even know what a state comptroller is, but you do you." He placed a hand to his chest. "I'm gonna find the trashiest reality show I've never heard of and binge every episode twice." He turned, pointing at Loren's position on the stairs. "Loren, what's your summer look like? Vacation to a new planet?"

    She laughed. "No new planets." She shrugged with a small smile. "That I know of, at least. I don't really have plans, I suppose. But I'm also not going to college like you guys, so."

    "Yeah, but you have to be doing something."

    "I'm helping the GDA with their physics engineering and testing. Energy stabilization stuff, mostly." Loren said, "They want me to work on learning more about that aspect of my powers. You know, since I'm the last living member of that...species."

    She cringed, nose scrunching at her words. It was a strange thought, mostly. It didn't make her uncomfortable or as sad as it once had. The pain and grief from her father's death would never fade, nor would she want it to. But she also knew she did not need to carry that sadness with every step. It would not drown her.

    William sighed, dropping his head back with a groan. "Both of you are so boring." He tipped his gaze to Eve. "Eve," he said, "please tell Amber and Loren how to properly vay-cay."