Today is your high school graduation.
You are currently in the back with the rest of the seniors, getting ready. Everyone else is excited. You were nervous and ended up having a drink before coming so you’re not really in the same boat as them.
Everyone starts lining up in alphabetical order. You find your spot; it’s between an annoying boy who was in your math class this year and an old friend of yours.
They start walking and you follow them. They know where they’re going and what they’re doing, you don’t but going along with the crowd isn’t hard.
After he rambles for a couple minutes, the principal starts listing the graduates’ names. You sit in boredom as your classmates are rewarded with their flimsy pieces of paper waiting for your own.
…
“Max Borne.”
He’s the boy before you. Looks like it’s showtime.
“Olivia Byfeild.”
…
They skipped you!?
You look around as Olivia gets up and walks past you; as she does this she gives you a look of pity.
“What’s going on?” You grab her robe as you ask the question.
“You didn’t know?”
“What don’t I know?”
“You’re getting held back a year.”
“...What?” You remember now. That’s why you were nervous.
A couple weeks ago your counselor called you to her office and told you you wouldn’t be graduating. You got mad, told them to fix it and stormed out. They’ve tried to contact you since, but you were too scared to see what they had to say. They probably emailed your mom too, but she hasn’t blown up at you, so she must not know. You know you had a drink hoping to forget about it, but you can’t believe you actually forgot.
“I’m sorry for you, but I have to go.” Olivia walks past you to the podium.
You’re not graduating today. You fall back into your seat.
This… Wow. Just wow. How dare they hold you back?! You might have failed a couple of classes, but that wasn’t enough for this! Now you have to stay in this cruddy town with your cruddy parents for another year! This is so unfair!
The crowd erupts into cheers.
You look around.
People are beginning to file out.
Darn it! Now your parents are going to scream at you, and since Jackie’s here, she’ll look at you like you’re the saddest thing ever. That’s what she always does, but you love each other. She’s caring, but her worrying gets annoying. She treats you like you’ll break if she moves wrong.
Back before her mom died she was a lot more fun; she’d drink with you and get in trouble with you, but now she’s so fragile. At first it was cute, the way she’d call asking for cuddles in the middle of the night and say the sweetest things out of nowhere, but now it just feels clingy. You miss the Jackie who didn’t care what anyone else thought. The one who did whatever she felt like, whenever she felt like it.
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You make your way through the crowd, but stop when your eyes catch on a very distinct albino girl. Jackie is standing in front of your parents with her head down as they yell at her. You can practically see the tears she’s trying not to shed.
White hot anger fills you and you stomp over to them. “What are you doing?!”
“It’s fine,” Jackie says, in a voice filled with cracks.
You turn to her. “No it’s not! My parents are blaming you for some mix-up in the school system. I should have graduated; it’s not like it’s your fault I didn’t!”
“Avery,” Mom says in a gentle voice.
“Shut up!” you bark at her.
The other people leaving the ceremony move around your group.
“You do not speak to your mother like that!” Dad scolds.
“Then don’t attack my girlfriend!”
“That’s not what we were-”
You cut off your mother. “Bull! You think it’s her fault! Spoiler alert, it’s not. I’m not some little kid anymore, you can’t blame my friends for my actions!”
“If you would just let us explain-” Dad says.
“No! I-”
“Please stop.” This time you’re the one who gets cut off by Jackie’s soft voice. “They were just trying to help.”
“Help? How the heck would making my girlfriend cry help anyone!”
“Avery,” Mom says, “we know about your drinking.”
Your stomach falls. “I can explain! I-I was just… um… ” Your mind blanks, so you change the subject. “That has nothing to do with this! Why were you making my girlfriend cry?”
They ignore your question. “Why didn’t you ask us for help?” Dad asks, sounding hurt.
“I didn’t tell you because I don’t need help; I don’t have a problem.”
“You’ve been held back because of it!” Mom shouts.
“How did you even find out about it?”
“...” Your parents don’t say anything, but they do look at Jackie.
You turn to your girlfriend. “You told them!?”
“I’m sorry-”
“How dare you! I trusted you!” She knows about your drinking, how could she not when you’ve almost drunk everything in her wine cellar. She’s known, but she’s never done anything to stop you from stealing the drinks other than asking you to stop and now she just up and tells on you because the school’s requirements are crap!
“Avery.” Her voice is so quiet and soft, like the gentle way she hugs you, as if being too harsh would make you shatter.
“Stop it!” you bark at her. “I came over to protect you, only to find that you betrayed me! I have fun sometimes. So what? You ruined everything! I hate you…” As that last, foul sentence slips out of your lips, you can already tell it was a mistake.
Jackie looks so hurt.
In that moment, staring into her red eyes, you feel like you just kicked a puppy. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it!”
The tears in her eyes make their way down her cheeks, but she says nothing. She does nothing. She just stands there with that look on her face. It’s like she’s finally seeing that you aren’t the breakable one in this relationship.
You take a few steps forward to hug her, but when you do, she starts moving.
She takes a step back, that horrified look still frozen on her pale face. “You hate me…?”
“Jackie, I’m so sorry…” You want to approach her, but she looks so scared. That’s not what you want. You don’t want her to be afraid of you.
“You-you didn’t deny it,” she says in the same voice she used when she called you, police sirens in the background, and told you that her mom was dead.
You take a couple of steps forward and grab her hands. “I do deny it. Jackie, I love you, I just lost my temper. I’m so sorry.”
She doesn’t react to your words; instead, she glances back at your parents before looking at her feet.
“I have to go now,” she says in an almost whisper.
“Please don’t-”
She interrupts you with another quiet, but forceful whisper. “I hope things get better for you.”
She pulls her hands out of yours and turns away. You are too shocked to say anything as she walks off. You watch as her walk turns into a run before you can even process what just happened.
You reach for her.
Mom lovingly touches your shoulder. “She’ll forgive you, just give her time.”
You shrug her off. “This is all your fault!”
You run after Jackie.
