My jaw locked so hard I thought my teeth would crack.
“Don’t cry,” I whispered to myself. “Not here. Not in front of them.”
I stepped down the stairs, gripping the rolled paper like it was the only thing holding me upright. The back exit was 20 feet away. I just needed 20 feet.
A classmate brushed past me with her mother.
“Mom, this is Emily, she sat next to me in chem—”
“Hi, sweetheart! Where are your parents? We’ll take a picture together!”
“Oh, um—” My voice cracked. “They couldn’t make it. It’s okay. You guys take yours.”
“Are you sure, honey?”
“I’m sure. Really. Congratulations.”
I kept walking.
“The door,” I thought. “Just the door.”
Behind me, someone called, “Emily! Emily, wait—”
I didn’t turn. I couldn’t. If one more person looked at me with that pity face, I was going to break in the middle of the gym floor.
Five more steps. Four. Three.
And then everything stopped.
Large, warm hands covered my eyes from behind.
They were familiar in a way my brain couldn’t place.
I froze.
“Guess who finally made it?”
The voice was deep and a little rough, like someone who hadn’t slept in two days.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Who—” I whispered. “Who is that?”
“Take a guess, kiddo.”
“I don’t—” My hands flew up to his wrists. They were solid and calloused. “I don’t know that voice. Please. Please, just—”
“You knew it when you were six. You used to fall asleep on my shoulder during fireworks.”
The diploma slipped out of my fingers and hit the floor.
“That’s not possible,” I breathed. “You’re overseas. Nana said you couldn’t be reached. She said—”
“Nana said a lot of things, sweetheart.”
