The Game of Love

The Game of Love Chapter 43

By the time my line was called up, I was boiling up in my cap and gown. Thankfully, I wasn’t sweating like a hog. I was just burning up and had this urge to take off my cap and gown. Seriously, where was the A/C?

“Luke Warner.” Leila got up on her feet and everyone followed her example. I merely clapped for him, and I felt my heart race just as Luke walked off the stage. I took a deep breath as I heard my name boom:

“Sarah Winrey.”

Leon, Sophia, and Leanne (and of course, my parents), got up on their feet, cheering for me with Leon being the loudest. What made me laugh was when he cried out at the top of his lungs, “THAT’S MY GIRLFRIEND!” I turned my face to meet his, and he was smiling goofily at me. I couldn’t help but smile as the principal and all the other adults shook my hand, gave me a hug of praise, and say, “Excellent job. Congratulations.” And as I walked on and off the stage, my legs were still wobbly and like jelly.

Towards the end, I zoned out of the principal’s and valedictorian’s final words. But I snapped back to reality when these words entered my ears, “Congratulations to JamesMadisonHigh School class of 2010!” At that, everyone stood, including me, and tossed their hats up in the air, flying across the room. The room was filled with loud chants, cheers, hollers, whistles, and outbursts. The exhilarating feeling still pulsed through my veins, coursing my body with thrill and excitement. And as all the adults walked off the stage in an orderly manner, we had done the same.

Once we were out the convention center to meet up with our parents, the heat immediately got to me. I turned to Leon. “What’s the temperature?”

He dug in his pocket for his phone. After doing this and that with his Android, he checked the weather and replied, “Its eighty-eight degrees.”

I heaved sigh and aggravated groan, “Oh my God… It’s sweating balls out here!” Leon raised an amused brow and gave a low chuckle. “Oh you know what I mean…shush…” He smiled and I bumped my shoulder into his teasingly. He did the same to me, and we ended up laughing.

After about a minute, I bit my lip and my face went red. “Did you really have to say that?” I finally asked.

He didn’t need to ask what I meant—he knew immediately. A wide Cheshire grin grew on his face. “What’s wrong with telling the entire graduating class and their parents that you’re my girlfriend?”

I bit the inside of my cheeks. “It sounded a little…possessive…even though you didn’t say that in a threatening tone…”

Leon rolled his eyes as he pointed out, “But you laughed at it. You’ve got to admit that you liked it when I shouted it in there.”

My smile showed that I completely agreed with it. However, I added, “It was a little embarrassing and…out there…” His grin only widened as he tweaked my nose. I scrunched up my face as he had done so and my parents had finally reached us.

“Congrats, Sarah!” my mom squealed as she pulled me into a big, suffocating hug. My dad joined in on the hug.

“Congrats, sweetie,” he said. He smiled towards the way he said it despite me hating being called that.

When the pulled away from me, Mom hugged Leon, while Dad shook hands with him, congratulating him sincerely. “So…” my dad began, “where are your parents.”

Leon and I stiffened. Neither of us bothered to mention his situation to my parents. However, Leon figured that now should be would be a good idea to just flat out say it. “They weren’t planning on coming,” he said flatly and dejectedly. Despite the indifference in how he said it, it was like a knife twisting in my heart. Leon was so used to being neglected and unloved that saying these things doesn’t bother him enough to make him cry anymore. Instead, he just has this edge in his voice.