Graduation

MICHELLE'S POV

I've decided to extend my stay overseas. Although I was supposed to only help the Korean branch I flew to our startup European branch in Germany. It's small and can use the help.

I've been loving riding the train to different cities around Europe. I have time to get work done and it's quite relaxing.

While on the train for an event in Amsterdam I get a call from Chandice.

"Hey what's going on."

"Are you planning on staying over there forever?" she asks.

"Honestly I wouldn't mind moving here. I love the scenery."

"No way! I need you back here. You keep getting requested. I think we might need to clone you."

"Haha. I'll finish up here and I'll book a flight back home."

"Alright, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay."

"Just okay?"

"Yeah, just okay. Sometimes that's enough."

"I see. Well my offer still stands if you want to talk."

"Thank you Chandice, I'll see you soon."

"See ya."

…

I arrive home and I see a blonde girl throwing stones at my second floor bathroom window. Another girl is looking at her phone as she leans on a car near my driveway .

I thank my driver as he gets my suitcase out of the trunk.

I make my way towards them and as I get close to the rock throwing girl I say

"Hey, are you trying to break my window?"

"Ahh!" she screams as she jumps causing me to do the same.

"Oh shit!" I hear the other girl say as she jogs towards us. She grabs the shoulders of the blond girl who still has her hand on her chest and steps between us.

"Can I help you two?" I ask.

"Are you Michelle?" the blond asks.

"Liz, maybe this wasn't a good idea we should go." the other girl says.

"Hold on Ollie. Are you Michelle?"

"I am and I think I remember you two from somewhere."

"We are Amanda friends."

"Amanda? How…Is she?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. She's okay but since the day you two stopped talking to each other I've noticed that she isn't happy or as happy as when you two still talked."

"Oh."

"Uh yeah, so I was hoping to get you two together to at least talk."

"I'm willing but I'm not sure if Amanda is up for it."

"She WILL err…she is, trust me. Look, I have a plan. I'm sure you already know how her mom is. She won't be attending her graduation so I was hoping for you to attend and cheer her on and after we are going out to eat so you can join us and you two can have a chance to talk."

"If Amanda is okay with it then sure. I'll be there."

"Great, Ollie!"

"What?"

"Give her one of your tickets."

"Why don't you give her one of yours? This whole thing was your idea."

"Come on! It's not like everyone in your family will show up."

"Yo that's fucked but true. Alright."

Ollie walks up to me and reaches in between her chest and digs around before pulling a piece of paper and handing it to me.

"Why were they there?" Liz asks.

"I don't have pockets" Ollie replies.

We both look at her skeleton leggings.

"Stop staring! Anyway, here."

I'm reluctant at first but then I take it from her.

"Um…why is it damp?"

"The A/C on my car doesn't work."

"I see..Thanks."

"No sweat."

"No, actually there is some sweat." I whisper to myself.

"What." she asks.

"Oh! No nothing. Uh, would you like to come in for a drink or something."

"No, we have somewhere to be." Liz says.

"Yeah we're going on a dat-." Ollie gets interrupted by Liz covering her mouth.

"Okay then. I'll just head inside… by the way, my bedroom is downstairs at the back of the house. That's my upstairs bathroom you were throwing rocks at."

"Oops Sorry." Liz says.

I make my way inside and after taking care of things I lay on my bed and take a look at the ticket again.

I'm still not sure I should go. Maybe Chandice was right. I should forget about the past and start again.

AMANDA’S POV

It's been almost a month since I last saw and talked to Michelle. I haven't been able to think too much about it since I've been busy preparing for graduation. I'm not sure what i'll do in the future but I'll figure it out.

I hope.

...

Graduation day comes and I follow my classmates to our seats.

I instantly look around for my friends. I notice them and we mouth stuff to each other every once in a while.

Lisa was the first to get on stage. She got a lot of cheers and applause. Ollie and I were competing to see who would cheer the loudest for her.

Ollie was up next. She didn't get as many cheers but Lisa and I made up for it. Although Lisa was way more loud than me.

After a while it was my turn. The fact that I still had my mother's ticket in my pocket weighed in my head. She said she was too busy to attend. I guess going on a date with some dude is more important than my graduation.

I step on the stage after my name is called the first cheers I hear are from Ollie and Lisa followed by my former volleyball team but then I hear her.

I was able to recognize her voice through all the cheers and polite applause.

I look around forgetting where I was. I was snapped out of it by our principal placing my diploma holder in my hand and gently pushing me towards the other end of the stage.

I continue to look for her as I make my way back to my seat.

I look at Lisa who points at Ollie. I look to Ollie who then points towards the stands where her family is.

That's when I see her sitting next to Ollie's sister and brothers.

My mouth fell open and I don't know how long I stared until I turned back around and looked straight forward.

I felt my heart race.

I take another look and she gives me a little wave.

I turn around again.

I feel a lot of emotions building up.

The rest of the ceremony goes by in a blur.

I'm walking with my friends towards Ollie's car when Lisa says

"I wanted to surprise you. I'm sorry.

I just wanted you two to have a chance to talk."

"It's okay but I don't think I want to do that. Let's just get out of here." I replied.

"About that." I hear her say as we get closer to Ollie's car.

Michelle was leaning on her car, her eyes widened as she looked up from her phone towards me.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

I wasn't sure what to do. I just wanted to turn around and run away.

My heart began beating faster as she approached us.

"Hey, congrats!" she says.

I looked down, not able to face her.

"Thank you. Where are we celebrating again." Lisa says.

"Right, the restaurant. I'll take you guys there. Ah, Ollie follow me?"

"Yeah get in ladies." Ollie says unlocking her car.

"Should one of us go with Michelle?" Lisa asks.

No one says anything, they just stare at me.

"I guess I'll go." Lisa says jogging towards Michelle's car.

"Hey! Liz, wait!" Ollie yells out to her.

Ollie and I look at each other.

We begin following Michelle's car. I'm still not sure what to do.

"This is all Lisa's doing, you know." Ollie says. "If you aren't comfortable I can take you home."

That sounds like a good idea but I kind of want to properly talk to Michelle even if it ends up with us breaking up. I also don't want to make things awkward.

We arrive at the restaurant and I instantly recognize that it's the same one she brought me to on our first date.

We enter and Michelle says her name. The Maitre D' leads us past the main area onto a closed off section just like before.

Lisa and Ollie sit next to each other. Michelle sits across from them next to the last free chair. I take the chair and I squeeze in between Ollie and Lisa causing them to move closer to Michelle. I didn't want to sit next to her but now I'm sitting right in front of her.

A waitress approaches and gives us menus.

"Can I get you ladies anything to drink?"

"A beer please!" Ollie responds.

The waitress looks over at Michelle.

"Just one drink wouldn't hurt right." Michelle says.

"Ooh! In that case can I get a cosmopolitan please!" Lisa chimes in.

"What about you?" The waitress asks me.

"Uh, can I get a shot of vodka?... and some water."

"Sure." the waitress writes down our drink orders and leaves.

I look up slightly and catch a glimpse of Michelle's concerned face.

I quickly look back down at my lap.

"Liz, right? Thank you again for inviting me."

"You're welcome. It's Lisa by the way but you can call me Liz."

"No she can't." Ollie whispers causing Lisa to elbow her on the side.

"Anyway I'm happy you were able to make it. Right Amanda?"

I don't answer. The rest of dinner goes by in a blur. I keep ordering shots through the night. I was about to order another one when I heard Michelle say.

"Amanda, don't you think maybe you've had enough?"

"Why the fuck do you care! I'm old enough to do whatever the fuck I want."

I don't know what happened but just hearing her say anything to me filled me with anger or maybe resentment towards her. I look up at her blurry face barely able to make out the pained expression on her face.

I didn't feel remorse, just felt kind of hot as I continued to try and flag a waiter to order my drink.

Lisa pulls my hand down and says "Amanda you've had enough, calm down. Here, have some water."

Lisa holds my hair and brings her cup of water up to my lips. I take a sip and I begin to get a hold of myself…for like a second before I get nauseous.

"I think we should go." Ollie says.

Michelle calls a waiter and soon we are walking out of the restaurant.

Lisa and Ollie help me sit on the trunk of Ollie's car.

"Why arE we WaiTiNg foOoorrr?" l think I asked.

"We are waiting for Michelle." Ollie replies.

"WhEre iS sHeEee?"

"She's talking to the owner I think. She'll be out here soon." Lisa says.

"Hey Liz, what are we going to do with her? Her mom will kill her if she shows up like this."

"I know and we didn't even give them the chance to talk."

"I told you that we should've left before ordering food."

"I know but I was hungry."

"When Michelle comes back we should have her take care of her."

"You know…that's a good idea."

"It's better than the alternative."

"Yeah, you're right."

I hear them talk but I don't know what any of it means.

I lean back on the rear car window as they begin talking again.

"Hey girls, thank you for waiting for me. Are we ready to go?" I hear HER say.

Yeah…Well actually we were hoping you'd do us a favor."

MICHELLE'S POV

"What is it?"

"Could you take Amanda home?" Lisa asks me.

"Uh…yeah but is there any other way? I'm not on good terms with Amanda's mother."

"Oh no we meant YOUR house."

"Um, I don't know if Amanda would be okay with it."

"Well she's out of it so we can't ask her but also we absolutely can't send her home to her mother in this state."

"I'm not sure how she'll react, being in my house, when she comes to."

"She'll probably be cool with it after she realizes how bad the alternative would've been."

"I guess you are right."

"Great! Can you take her now? We actually have a thing we need to do. Right Ollie?"

Lisa elbows Ollie who then says "Uh, true yeah."

"Okay then."

We all turn and look back at Amanda who has fallen asleep.

I carry Amanda to my car and ask Lisa to open the passenger door for me. I gently place her down on the passenger seat and buckle her in making sure the seat belt doesn't hurt her.

After closing the door I say goodbye to Amanda's friends. I shake Ollie's hand and Lisa gives me a hug.

"I'll be heading home now. You two have fun." I say with a wink as I walk to the driver side. I managed to catch a glimpse of Lisa's blushing face and Ollie's surprised face.

…

As I drive towards my house I look over at Amanda who's still sleeping. I move some of her hair out of her face. I let out a deep breath. As the distance to my home becomes shorter.

I park my car in the garage and I look over at Amanda. I take another deep breath and exit the car. I carry Amanda to my room.

"Mmph mmmh Michelle?" she asks as I lay her down on my bed.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Mmph not so good."

"Not so good? Do you need me to get you something so you can feel better?"

Amanda moans as she repositions herself on the bed.

"I don't want nothing from you."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"You left me."

"I recall you literally running away from me and leaving me at a red light."

"Mmmh."

"What's that?" l say sitting on the bed next to her and leaning in closer to better hear her.

"I was mad."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't. It's not your fault. I just… I wanted you to only have eyes for me."

"I do."

"Prove it." she says propping herself up with her elbow.

"Make love to me and make me feel like I'm the only one you want."

"I would love to but right now you need to get some rest. Okay?"

"I knew it…I knew you didn't like me as much as I do you." she says laying back down.

I tuck her hair behind her ear and whisper

"We have the rest of our lifes for me to show you how wrong you are."