Gradchanted

Chapter 1

On the night that started everything—changed everything, really—I had no idea what was coming.

But that’s always the way it goes, isn’t it? We’re just tossed along in the slipstream of time, moving forward, reacting as best we can. We never know what the most consequential nights of our lives will be, and we only get one chance to do it right.

Usually.

But that night, hours before things would start to change, I didn’t know anything was out of the ordinary. I was just trying to get my dad to stop crying.

“Dad. Dad. Oscar?” I looked over his head at my other dad, Angelo, who shot me a look that clearly said I know. “Um. People are looking?”

We were at Otto, the fanciest restaurant in Harbor Cove, California.

It was really nice—wood paneling and white tablecloths and a piano player by the bar who’d been going through a repertoire of pop songs with classical arrangements.

Oscar had been trying to get a reservation for months, and when one cropped up two days after my graduation from Harbor Cove High, he’d jumped on it.

I would have been fine going to the Mermaid Café, my favorite restaurant, but I was overruled.

This meant that on the day of my actual graduation, we’d eaten pizza on the couch in front of a rom-com we all knew by heart—which, honestly, no notes.

My dad had been fine then, but now that we were all here, ostensibly celebrating, he’d been breaking down in tears every few bites.

“Oscar,” Angelo said firmly, putting a glass of water in front of him. “Come on. Get it together. You’re ruining Cass’s night.”

“You’re not,” I said quickly. “I’m just worried that your pasta is getting damp.”

Oscar nodded, blew his nose into his napkin, and took a deep breath, running a hand over his now totally bald head. For a while there had been a few last remnants of hair around the back of his head, but finally even these had given up.

“There you go,” Angelo said, rubbing his back. In contrast to Oscar, Angelo’s hair was long and luxurious, swooping up and across his forehead, a perfect mix of salt and pepper.

“I’m just—so proud of you, Cass,” Oscar said after drawing in a shaky breath. “Graduating with such high marks! Getting into Berkeley! And to do it with all our moves, so much disruption…it’s really impressive, sweetie.”

“It truly is,” Angelo said, raising his wine glass to me. “We’re both so proud.”

I smiled at them and raised my own glass—filled with sparkling water—to clink theirs. “Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Pop.”

Oscar wasn’t exaggerating about moving a lot.

My dads ran Issac just keep things light and easy, since I’d be going to college in the fall anyway.

But then—I hadn’t planned on Bryony.

The piano player finished her rendition of “Time After Time” to a light smattering of applause. She nodded before starting her take on “Blank Space.” I watched her play, my eyes following her hands on the keys.

When I was younger, I’d really wanted to learn piano.

My dads had gotten me a keyboard for Christmas the year I was twelve.

We’d try and find new teachers with every new move, and I attempted to keep up via YouTube tutorials and videos.

But I found it was hard to sustain any kind of momentum, to actually get better beyond learning the basics.

So after a while, I just stopped practicing, and Angelo and Oscar tacitly stopped asking me about finding more teachers.

I still had my keyboard, even though I hadn’t taken it out of its case in years.

I just slid it under my bed in every new place.

But whenever I saw a pianist, I liked to watch them play. I was always amazed at how they had such a limited number of notes and could still create such variations with them.

“So, are you excited about tonight?” Angelo asked, and I looked away from the piano player and back to my dads—relieved to see that Oscar seemed to be pulling himself together.

I nodded as I smiled at him across the table. “I really am.”

Oscar sighed. “When I had my grad night party, do you know what we did?”

Angelo raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing! We literally did nothing. We certainly didn’t go gallivanting off to Disneyland.”

“I promise,” I said, taking the last bite of my steak, “there will be no gallivanting.”

“It does sound fun, though,” Angelo said as he stole a piece of pasta off Oscar’s plate. “Think we could pass for recent high school graduates?”

Both Oscar and I burst into laughter at the same time. “Sorry, Pop,” I said, spearing a fry. “High school seniors only.”

Harbor Cove was in Orange County, and we were only about half an hour away from Anaheim. So, our grad night celebration was taking place…at Disneyland.

I hadn’t known this was a thing until we moved to Harbor Cove.

I’d been to Disneyland several times with Oscar and Angelo, but when Bryony had first mentioned Disney Grad Nite, I’d assumed she was joking.

A night to run around in a theme park after hours, with only other recent graduates?

And we would get to be there all night and go on the rides as many times as we wanted, without long wait times? It seemed too wonderful to be possible.

But Bryony explained to me, her face serious, not only was it possible, it was a school tradition.

Harbor Cove High had been doing Disney Grad Nite since it basically started in the 1960s.

And since the administration knew how much HCH students looked forward to it, it was the way they kept the senior class in line.

Too many participants in Senior Skip Day?

No Grad Nite. Senior pranks getting out of hand?

No Grad Nite. People misbehaved at prom?

You guessed it. But we’d stayed on our best behavior all spring, which meant Grad Nite was happening—tonight, in just a few hours.

I couldn’t stop myself from taking a peek at my phone to check the time. Even though I hadn’t been looking forward to this for years, like my classmates, I was still beyond excited. I quickly opened up my phone and took a selfie of me smiling, then sent it to Bryony with the message

SEE YOU SOON YAY

I kept the camera on me for just a moment longer, making sure that I didn’t have anything in my teeth.

There I was—Cassandra Elle Issac, eighteen years and three months old.

I was just a hair under 5'5", with green-brown eyes, freckles, and slightly crooked teeth, which seemed incredibly unfair, given how long I’d spent in braces in middle school. At various schools over the years, I’d tried out different versions of my name.

My dads had called me Cassie when I was little.

And for a while in elementary school, I changed it with every new move: Cassandra and Cassie and Casey and Sandra and Andra and Andie and Sandy and Sandie, then back to Cassandra again.

But during one fifth grade math class, I’d realized that if I went by Cass Issac, my name made a loop—a combined-name palindrome.

Since that day, I hadn’t gone by anything else.

I’d even gotten it monogrammed in a circle on the white purse that was currently resting at my feet.

It had taken a lot of emails back and forth with the Etsy seller, explaining what I wanted, but in the end it had been worth it.

I smoothed down my hair, which had a mind of its own.

It was light brown, long and curly, and it had taken me years, but I’d finally figured out how best to handle it so that it behaved at least half the time.

I’d tried to thread the line tonight between a cute outfit and one that I could run around an amusement park in.

So, I was in a short, flower-printed dress with three-quarter-length sleeves, my favorite embroidered sneakers, and a jean jacket in case it got cold.

“Cass?”

I set my phone down and glanced up. Both my dads were looking at me, our waitress hovering near the table. “Sorry,” I said quickly. “What?”

“Are you done?” Oscar asked.

“All set,” I said, laying my fork and knife across my plate. “Thanks so much.” The waitress cleared our plates, and Angelo leaned forward across the table.

“I hope you have a great time,” Angelo said, smiling at me. “Even if we can’t tag along.”

I laughed. “Thanks, Pop.”

“You’re just lucky, kid,” Oscar said, sighing wistfully. “It’s the kind of night that only comes around once. Make sure you take lots of pictures, okay?”

“And I’m happy you get to have this time with your friends,” Angelo said, exchanging a look with Oscar. His smile had started to dim a little. “Especially since…well…”