Broken

• Chapter 161 •

The next couple of days are silent. People come by to share their condolences, I've avoided leaving my room or seeing anyone. The twins are still at the hospital, Dona says they can be taken home in a few weeks. Today's graduation day. Although mom says I don't have to go if I don't want to, I know I have to. Dad would hate it if I missed graduation. I know he'd be there, cheering for me at the top of his lungs like an obnoxious little shit.

I stare at my reflection in the mirror. The bruise on my neck is turning moss green, my eyes have grown tired and lifeless. Dark circles hang under my eyes. Needless to say, I look like shit.

I dab a little concealer under my eyes and on my bruise. Not because I give a shit what I look like, but because everyone else does. And I don't want any extra stares today. My gaze wavers down to my hand, where mom's necklace is in place. It too, seems lifeless. My hands tremble as I hang the silver chain around my neck and clasp it shut. Goosebumps inhabit my body at the coldness of the pendant between my breasts.

"Honey, you ready to go?" mom knocks on my door.

I turn around in my graduation gown, and her eyes flash in pain when she sees the necklace that he had given her hanging on my neck. She smiles sadly, "You look beautiful. I..." she pauses, then shakes her head, "He would know exactly what to say if he were here..."

I smile softly, "It's okay, mom. Let's go."

___________________

After an excruciatingly long graduation speech made by Mr. Black, Ms. Shanice sighs deeply, "I'd like to welcome on stage this year's valedictorian; Eric Knight."

Eric walks up on stage, and everyone claps for him.

"Thank you, Ms. Shanice," he turns to our graduation class and sighs, "Well... This is it. We finally did it," he lets out an exasperated sigh. Our class explodes with claps and cheers.

"This has been an amazing school year, and I'm extremely lucky to have met all of you amazing people. I'd like to thank the faculty at this school, thank you for putting up with us for years, and helping us reach our potentials. Or help us, at least. I can honestly and genuinely say that I'm going to miss each and every one of you, and I'm sure you can all say the same. We're lucky to have a moderately small class, and many of us have known each other for years now. We've grown close to one another this year, and the memories that we've made are memories we will keep forever. And even though we're going our separate ways and will honestly probably not even keep in touch, that's okay. Because the memories will always be there, and it's time to move on to new things. New friends, new experiences. A fresh chapter," his eyes meet mine.

"A lot of us don't know what we're going to do with our lives... And that, too, is completely okay. We're still just trying to figure out who we are, what we want... We're probably going to make a lot of mistakes... But we'll figure it out eventually," he shrugs. The room fills with nervous laughter.

"A lot of us are afraid of letting go and moving on... But our lives have just begun, and we are all going to be fine. We're going to face many obstacles and our parents probably won't be there to fix them for us." Dorky parents laugh at this and I roll my eyes at his corniness. I smile despite myself.

"That's okay, too. It's the process of becoming adults and discovering who we are as individuals. Some of us know exactly what we want to do, and I envy the hell out of those people. But to those people, I say go for it. Don't hesitate. Don't let anyone or anything stop you from achieving what you want out of life. I came in here today, nervous as hell," he rubs the back of his neck and shakes his head.