“So, you girls excited to graduate?” Luke asked, bringing me back into the conversation.
“Hell yes!” Macey immediately answered. “Even though I still have some interning to do for work, but I am happy to be done.”
Macey was able to get a good internship at the science institute downtown. They rarely ever take anyone in for a job, so she was lucky to get in. Of course, with how smart she is, it was a no-brainer they would let her in. In no time she would be finding the cure for cancer or something like that.
“I am too.” I was ready to graduate, see what else was out there, and start my life.
“When do you start work?” Ethan asked me.
“I start next Monday. There is a wedding Mrs. Murre wants me to be at and take some pictures for.”
“My girlfriend is going to be the best photographer out there.” Gage pulled me closer and kissed the side of my head.
I wasn’t sure what I really wanted to do after college. For the longest time I thought about just changing my degree and being a part of my father’s business, but Gage encouraged me to stay true to what I wanted to do: art and photography. I ended up submitting some of my photos to a wedding photographer and was lucky enough for her to take me on.
I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to be a wedding photographer, but it was a start. Plus, who didn’t want to be part of someone’s special day? I could work on my painting on the side as well.
“By the way, we are heading to the beach house the day after graduation. That way we can get an earlier start,” I said a minute later. “Is that okay with everyone?”
Everyone said yes. We had been planning on going to my parents’ beach house since forever, and now everyone finally got time off work to go. It was going to be a nice break for everyone to forget about work and life after college. We all needed that.
“I personally am excited to lie on the beach, get a tan, drink tons of alcohol, and see hot babes,” Luke rattled off, a faraway look in his eyes. In my head I counted down from five. Right as I reached one, Macey brought her hand up and smacked him hard on the back of his head.
“What the fuck?” Luke rubbed the back of his head and turned to Macey.
“Hot babes? Really?” She glared at him.
“By that I meant you.” Luke tried to save himself, but all of us knew it wouldn’t work. I leaned into Gage as I watched my best friend and brother argue and throw insults at each other. Some things never change.
***
Finishing up my lipstick, I let out a sigh and looked at my reflection. I was nervous, very nervous. I was graduating college today, and I was a wreck. I didn’t want to fall on stage or do something stupid. I had been the exact same way on my high school graduation.
“Babe, you will be fine.” A pair of arms wrapped around my middle and pulled me back against a hard chest.
“I know, but I’m still nervous.” I leaned into Gage.
“We will all be there for you. Just find me.” He pressed his lips into the hollow of my neck. I closed my eyes as my head tilted automatically. Just a simple touch from him and I was a melted mess. “Or you could skip it and we can stay here all day.” Gage gently sucked on my neck.
I was seriously tempted to do as he suggested. I almost caved, but realization sank in.
“As appealing as that sounds, I have to go. But we have the rest of the night to do whatever we want.” I turned in his arms until I was facing him. My arms came up to wrap around his neck and I smiled at him.
“All night you say?” Gage’s smile turned wicked. I resisted the urge to bite my bottom lip, so I didn’t ruin my makeup. Seeing Gage’s brown eyes turn darker made an ache shoot right to my core.
“Don’t make empty promises, babe.” Deciding on teasing him a bit, I leaned forward. My lips moved toward his ear and grazed it.
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” I whispered softly in his ear. “You should know that.” I grinned as I felt his body shudder against me. Knowing I affected him, I pulled away and out of his hold. Sending him a wink, I left him standing there.
Double-checking to see that I had everything, I took a deep breath. It will go by so fast, Carter. You won’t believe it, I chanted to myself silently. I was looking forward to having my name called and getting it over with. Then we would all go to the beach house tomorrow and spend the rest of the week there. Graduating on a Tuesday was actually pretty nice in that respect.
“You are a cruel woman,” Gage said as he came back into the room a few minutes later.
“You love me.” I shot him a smile over my shoulder.
“Sadly,” he teased. I shook my head at him before straightening my dress. “You look beautiful, Princess.” My heart hammered in my chest at the term of endearment Gage still called me. It never got old.
For graduation I was wearing a simple yet pretty white dress. When Macey and I went shopping not too long ago, I saw it and fell in love. It was perfect for this. And we had to dress up under our gowns. It was some school code or something stupid like that.
My hair was softly curled and rested on my shoulders. It was earlier this year I decided I needed a change. So I ended up cutting and donating my hair. It was now about shoulder-length and I had to say I liked it. Although I did miss my waist-length hair and being able to put it in a messy bun. I made sure I could still pull it up, so I wouldn’t get paint in it.
I turned to face him and looked him up and down. He was still wearing what he wore to work, and man, did he look good. He wore a pair of light grey dress pants, along with a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and his tie now missing. When he decided to work at G&G, he had to get some suits and nicer clothes because he couldn’t show up in jeans and a t-shirt.
I knew he looked good dressed up, but every time I saw him this way, it made my knees weak. Every time he walked through the door, I had to stop myself from jumping him. Not an easy task, I tell you. I was beyond lucky to have him as my boyfriend.
Standing there, I was speechless. His suggestion of staying home all day seemed a lot more fun now. A smirk spread across his face as if he knew my exact thoughts.
“We better get going,” Gage said before I could change my mind and end up jumping him. Narrowing my eyes at him, I grabbed my cap and gown. I didn’t need to bring anything else, Gage had everything anyway.
The car ride to campus didn’t take long. Our apartment was kind of in the middle of everything. We were about a fifteen-minute drive to campus and about the same distance from downtown, where Gage and Ethan worked. I wish I could say it wasn’t a nice place, but it was. My parents wouldn’t let us move in together unless it was in a good part of town and they approved of it.
So, after looking at ten different places, my parents approved of this one. We were on the top floor and it was a two-bedroom apartment. It had a beautiful kitchen and a big living room. My dad said, and I quote: “My daughter will only live in the best places and nothing less.” That meant they paid the down payment and the first month’s rent. However, now Gage and I were paying the rent ourselves, no matter how many times my mom tried to give us money.
The both of us liked living together and doing it on our own. Yes, it was hard, and looking at the bills made me want to pull my hair out, but we had to learn how to do it sometime. I know my parents were nervous about us moving in together so young. Gage had just turned twenty-three, and I was about to turn twenty-one, but it just felt right to us. I think they were just afraid things wouldn’t work out between us. But so far things had been pretty great.
We finally found a parking spot in the mess of cars. The parking lots were filled, and I was almost afraid I would miss my own graduation. I had to force myself to take a deep breath and not get too worked up as I exited the car. When Gage laced his fingers through mine, I relaxed a little bit. He always had that effect on me.
As we walked toward the football stadium, where the ceremony was being held, I smiled at all the memories that came up. When we passed
by the quad, where we all used to hang out, I felt like I could see the memories. I remembered all the laughs and stories that were shared there between our little group. We passed by the English building that Gage and I had our very first class together. The same place we got to know each other a bit more.
The more we walked, the more all the memories resurfaced. I was going to miss this place. As weird as that sounded, it was true. So much had happened on this campus. Some good, some bad, but all worth it in the end. To think I almost went to NYU instead. If I had done that, I wouldn’t have met Dylan, Anna, and Gage. I wouldn’t have met the love of my life nor gotten over the one person I thought who was.
As we neared the stadium, more and more people showed up. Our class was pretty large, so I expected this to be pretty packed. Since it was May 23, it was actually really nice out today. Perfect for an outside graduation. Hopefully we wouldn’t cook under our gowns.
When it came time for Gage and me to split up, we stopped off to the side. With his help I put on my light blue gown and pinned my cap into place. I sent him a shaky smile.
“When they call your name, take a deep breath and watch your step. We will all be in the stands yelling your name, so don’t worry.” He pulled me into his arms. I closed my eyes and breathed his scent in. I nodded into him, wishing he was graduating with me instead of last year. “The moment it is over, I will find you. Meet over in the end zone, okay?”
“Okay.” I pulled away and nodded. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. The kiss made my toes curl like it always did. When he pulled away, I gasped for air.
“Good luck, princess.” Sending me a wide smile, he turned and walked off. I watched him go until he blended in with the crowd. Once I couldn’t see him, I turned and headed for where I was supposed to be.
Heading for my section, I kept my eyes open for Macey, Amy, and even Anna. We all got ready separately and said we would meet up before the event, but by the looks of it, I wouldn’t be able to find them. Because we were seated alphabetically, I wasn’t anywhere near Macey or Anna, but at least Amy was a row ahead of me.
A week ago, they made us all get together and practice this. We were told where to sit, and where to stand and walk to get our diplomas, and whose hands we had to shake. At the time I thought it was kind of stupid to waste our time on this, but now I was glad we did.
I was finally able to push my way to my seat. I was seated between a short blonde girl, who I recognized from the cheerleading team, and a nerdy but cute guy on my right. They seemed pretty nice, so there was that at least.
When I reached my seat, I noticed the nerdy guy was there talking with some people. I sent him a polite smile, but my eyes were already scanning the area. Somewhere in the crowd my parents, Luke, Ethan, and Gage were sitting. My aunt and uncles were here too, but I had no clue where they were.
Everyone being together was a first. Normally they were all busy with their own lives and children, so it was nice they all made time to be here. They all came out for Luke’s graduation as well. I was pretty sure my parents had a party planned for everyone, once this is over.
It wasn’t until everyone around me started to take their seats did I finally see Amy. She sat a row ahead of me and only four people down. Once we saw one another, I sent her a smile and a dorky thumbs-up.
These past three years things shifted between us and Amy. She distanced herself from us for a while, and for a bit we didn’t know why. She just stopped texting and mostly stuck to herself or Ethan. When we would hang out, she had some excuse to not show up.
Later, we found out that her mother cheated on her father and they were going through a nasty divorce. They had to go to court and everything. Amy told us she was the one who found her mother cheating, and when her dad eventually found out, he was angry that she kept it from him. Amy was somehow put in the middle of everything.
It took Amy a while before she realized that she wasn’t the cause of them getting divorced. That what her parents did, putting her in the middle, wasn’t right. The whole thing just made all three of us closer. We spent more time having girls’ nights after that.
The divorce was a good thing for Amy, though. It opened her eyes, and instead of being someone she wasn’t, she finally let that go. She stopped dressing slutty, stopped hooking up with guys, and that was partly because of Ethan being so caring with her. It just made her a lot stronger than before.
A minute later the dean of the school stood up and welcomed everyone over the microphone. Almost like we rehearsed it, everyone took their seats instantly and became quiet.
While the dean spoke, I tried to listen, I really did. I wanted to hear what he was talking about, but my mind was elsewhere. It wasn’t until I felt a nudge on my arm did I tune back in. The kid beside me motioned with his head to the stage. I noticed they were starting to call people’s names. Because my last name started with an “M” it was going to take a while. I would hate to be Macey because hers started with a “T”.
And a while it did. It took a good hour if not more before my row could finally stand up and make its way toward the stage. The closer I got to my name being called, the more nervous I became. In just a matter of minutes I was going to be done with college. I was going to officially be an adult. It was crazy to think that.
When they called “Amy Manson,” I made sure to yell and clap. Around me I could hear people yelling her for as well. Amy was definitely liked and known in our class, especially from being head of the cheerleading team and dating one of the star players of the football team.
Before I knew it, I was one person away from being called up. I stood at the edge of the stage as the girl in front of me walked out, shaking everyone’s hand and grabbing her diploma. I took a deep breath.
I could do this. It wasn’t that scary. I was ready to be done, and I was ready to start doing what I wanted, and I was ready to start living. Ready to face the world.
Finally, my name was called. As I walked out onto the stage, I could instantly hear yelling and blowing horns. My head instantly snapped toward the section to the right, which actually was not that far from me. I could make out my entire family standing there. I could see them all standing and clapping, bullhorns in everyone’s hands. I even noticed members of the football team in the crowd standing and cheering for me. I guess it pays to be the sister of the star quarterback that led the team to win for four years straight.
Grinning like an idiot, I shook the hands of the people I needed to and finally reached the dean, who held my diploma. I shook his hand as we posed for a picture.
“Congratulations, Ms. Miller.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at him before I headed off stage.
The moment my foot hit the ground, I could feel my hands shaking. I stared down at my empty diploma in my hand and I felt like I was going to explode. I did it. I just graduated!
I took my seat alongside the other ecstatic students and waited for my best friend’s name to be called. The exact same thing happened when her name was called. My family blew their horns and I stood up yelling at the top of my lungs. People around me thought I was crazy, but I didn’t care. We were finally graduates.
About two hours later, we were finally done. The last name was called, and we were finally told to throw our caps. The whole thing flew by and before I knew it, I was pushing through the crowds of people to try and reach my family.
It was like a stampede trying to get through everyone. People around me were yelling and hugging each other, while others were like me and pushing their way through to find friends or family.
After what felt like a century, I was able to get through the main crowd and walk along the edges toward the part of the stands where I knew my family was waiting for me. I tightly gripped my diploma and cap in one hand as I speed-walked. When I did finally get to the part where my family was sitting, I couldn’t see over everyone.
I stood on my toes and glanced around, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone. There was a b
rief break in the crowd, letting me finally see one person I knew. The person I saw standing there, trying to see around everyone, made me grin. Gage stood there looking over everyone and even pushing some people aside to try and find me. I noticed that the people he pushed would look at him, about to say something, but when they saw who it was, they hurried past. My boyfriend was still a feared badass on campus.
Knowing where he was, I started to push people out of my way. I didn’t care anymore and was tired of the crowds. When I was a few people away from Gage, I yelled his name.
“Gage! Gage!” His head snapped in my direction and I watched as a grin spread across his face. Like two magnets, we started for one another.
Shoving past one last person, I ran toward him. I launched into his arms as soon as I reached him. Even in the little space we had, he spun me around, his arms tight around my waist, my arms tight around his neck. When he stopped spinning me, he held me still, my toes not even touching the ground.
I wasted no time in pressing my lips to his. Just like the first time we kissed, I felt tingles all the way through my body.
What felt like an hour later, we pulled apart, breathing heavily. I opened my eyes and smiled at him. His brown eyes were bright and sparkling. There was a light in them that wasn’t there three years ago. A light that made me giddy.
“Congratulations, Princess.” His smile was almost blinding. I had no words, so instead I kissed him again. Pulling away a minute later, I slowly slid down the front of his body until my feet touched the ground.
“How about we ditch this and go somewhere else?” Gage suddenly suggested. The thought was once again tempting, but I knew we couldn’t do that.
“Let’s go find my family, you horndog.” I grabbed his hand and tugged him after me. Behind me I heard him grumbling, which just made me smile even more.
A few minutes later we finally reached my family. They all stood on the stands. Everyone around them had gone to greet their own kids, leaving us on our own. Looking at them all, I noticed we took up two rows. Literally everyone was here. My nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. It was incredible.
Silent Love Part Four_Forbidden Series Page 14