Chapter 3
GRADUATIONPALOOZA
GRYFF
Ialmost skipped my actual graduation ceremony. Watching six-hundred people I didn't know get their name called and handed a fake diploma that said we'd get the real deal in the mail once the school confirmed our fees were all paid up was not my idea of fun on a Saturday morning.
But Dad insisted everyone in the family go to my ceremony, then Flynn's. He was a stickler for tradition. He even insisted on going with me to Artie's ceremony too.
I think he secretly knew she was disappointed her dad couldn't make it over from Scotland for the day. This wasn't the first time he'd stepped into a dad role for a Kingman kid's friend.
And then we had to wait another two weeks before Jules's graduation ceremony.
How in the world my little sister, youngest of the Kingmans, was old enough to be graduating from high school was a mystery of the universe. I was pretty sure she was still eight years old. Not eighteen.
We were definitely the loudest, rowdiest cheer squad when she walked across the stage and got her diploma.
You'd have thought she'd just won the Big Bowl and Miss Universe while curing cancer, solving climate change, and declaring world peace by the time she turned and waved to us in the stands of the Thornminster High gymnasium.
Not that she couldn't do all of those things. Knowing the powerhouse that was the Kingman princess, she probably would.
I pulled into the driveway of the family house and immediately laughed my ass off.
Palm trees. Enormous fake palm trees lined the walkway to our front door, complete with tiny string lights and a banner reading “California Dreamin’” fluttering in the Colorado breeze.
The Beach Boys blasted from the backyard.
“What the hell?” Flynn muttered, shaking his head and laughing as he climbed out of his truck behind me and circled around to open the door for Tempest.
“Maybe she's just excited for you?” Artie asked as she jumped out of the passenger side of my truck. Jules was exactly the type to throw a themed party with an agenda. This had to be her campaign to come spend the summer with us in LA. All she had to do was ask. Little weirdo.
“Like really, really excited.” Tempest laughed as we walked up to the porch.
The front door burst open before we could knock, and Chris's wife, Trixie, practically bounced down the steps in a flowing sundress and oversized white sunglasses.
“The grads are here,” she announced, wrapping us in hugs that smelled like her vanilla perfume. Behind her, Willa appeared with a t-shirt in each hand clearly meant for each of us.
“I'm under strict orders not to let you in until you put these on.” Willa grinned a little too excitedly. Oh geez. I was afraid to see what was on the shirt now.
Flynn and I each held up the shirts, glanced at each other, and swapped without saying a word, while the girls saved their shirts to change into later.
Mine said “I hope this BS pays off”, while Flynn proudly wore “It’s official, I’m too cool for school”.
We made our way through the house, which had been transformed into some kind of beach paradise.
Tiki torches flanked the sliding glass doors to the backyard, and someone had hung fishing nets with plastic starfish from the ceiling.
The dining room table groaned under the weight of what appeared to be every California-themed food known to man including fish tacos, avocado toast, California rolls, and a fruit salad that looked suspiciously like it was arranged to spell out “LAX”.
I loved that Jules was excited for our move to California, but we were here to celebrate her graduation too. Where was the red and silver of THS, or perhaps the purple and gold of DSU where we were graduating from and where she was going in the fall?
“Boys.” My dad’s parents, Nana and Coach, were in the family room chatting with my Aunt Kik and her partner Pat. “Don't you look handsome? Ready for your big Hollywood adventure?”
“We're not going to Hollywood, Nana,” I said, accepting her kiss on the cheek. “We're going to play football.”
“In Los Angeles,” she said with a knowing wink. “Surely there can be some Hollywood adventures to be had. Movie stars to date.”
Flynn held up his hands. “Not for me, Nana. Tempest is the only star I see.”
“Of course,” she said smiling warmly at Tempest. “Jules and I read all your books last summer when she visited. I can’t wait to chat about them with you.” She took Flynn's arm but eyed me like she was waiting to say something about my relationship status.
“I promise to date someone famous just for you, Nan.” That was the right answer, because she gave me an eyebrow waggle and put her other arm through mine, escorting us to the backyard. Coach and Artie followed behind us discussing the eternal battle, rugby vs. football.
The backyard was packed with family and friends, all wearing various degrees of California-themed outfits. Dad had somehow been convinced to wear a Hawaiian shirt, while Grandpa De La Reine looked distinctly uncomfortable in sunglasses that said “California Dreamin’” across the frames.
“There are my baby brothers,” Chris called out from a colorful lawn chair where he was sitting with my cousin Levi and his girlfriend Olive. “Ready to follow in the family footsteps?”
“Ready to make our own footsteps,” Flynn corrected.
Before I could add anything, a blur of motion tackled me from behind. I spun around to find Jules hanging off my back like a koala, her graduation cap somehow still perfectly positioned despite the acrobatic greeting.
“My fellow graduates are finally here,” she announced. “Look at them, all grown up and ready to start a whole new life in California.”
Something twisted in my chest, and I didn't like it. I was looking forward to playing football for the Bandits, and moving to LA was going to be a blast. Probably.
I gave Jules a boost up and spun around. “Nah, you'll be too busy with your freshman year at DSU to miss us.”
More like we were the ones who were going to miss her.
Jules's grin turned positively wicked. “Oh, I don't know about that.”
Dad appeared beside us, and I caught something in his expression, pride mixed with what looked like anticipation. Like he was waiting for something. Very suspicious.
“Jules Jacob Jingleheimer Kingman.” Dad was amused by making up crazy middle names for her since she'd forbidden anyone in the family from letting her real name slip in front of mixed company. “Are you ready?”
Ready for what? Flynn and I exchanged confused glances.
“Yeppers,” Jules said, sliding down from my back and straightening her cap. She looked around the backyard, taking in all the expectant faces, and I realized half the family was watching her like they were waiting for a show.
“Okay, what is everyone not telling us?” Flynn demanded
“Let’s go girls,” Jules called and she clasped her hands behind her back, suddenly looking every inch like she was about to deliver a valedictorian speech.
But she'd already done that earlier today.
Trixie, Kelsey, Pen, and Willa gathered around her like queens in court.
When had this family gotten so many ladies?
“You're about to tell us you're ditching college and going backpacking across Europe or Australia or something, aren't you?” It would be just like the Julinator to buck the system and do something crazy like that. College was the expected path for all of us. Jules was eternally the unexpected.
I glanced at Flynn and our twin telepathy was zinging.
“You are going to college, aren't you? You got into DSU,” Flynn said carefully. “Academic scholarship and all. We celebrated.”
“DSU is a great school,” Jules agreed. “For football players. But I'm not a football player.”
The words hung in the air, electrified. Around us, I noticed that Dad, Nana, and the aunts were all wearing identical expressions of barely contained excitement.
“Jules,” I said slowly, “what are you trying to tell us?”
She threw her arms wide like she was presenting a game show prize.
“Haven't you guessed? I threw a whole-ass themed party to celebrate.
I'm going to UCLA, boys. I'm headed to Cali with you weirdos.” Blue and gold confetti rained down upon her courtesy of two confetti poppers that Kelsey and Willa had seemingly pulled out of thin air.
The explosion of voices from every brother was immediate.
“What?”
“Since when?”
“How long have you known?”
“UCLA? In Los Angeles?”
But underneath the chaos, I caught Dad's voice, “That's my girl.”
Jules stood in the center of the commotion, grinning like she'd just scored the winning touchdown. Finally, she raised her hands for quiet.
“I applied to UCLA back in the fall. It's where Mom went to school.”
Oh. My sweet baby sister.
“But why didn't you tell us?” Isak asked, looking a little butt hurt.
Jules slugged him in the arm, but with a gentle smile. Being the two youngest, they were pretty close. “Because you never asked, numbnuts.”
Isak pouted but pulled her into a big hug. “Didn't think I had to. You know all my secrets.”
“You all just assumed DSU,” Jules said, but gently. “When's the last time anyone asked me what I wanted to do instead of telling me what I should do?”
Umm... never. No one told Jules what to do.
“I'm proud of you,” I said, meaning it. “Really proud.”
“Even if it means I'm cramping your bachelor-pad style?” she asked.
“Especially then,” Flynn grinned. “Someone has to keep us in line.”
The conversation shifted to logistics and congratulations, but I took a step back from the celebration for just a minute.
Jules in Los Angeles. My baby sister, following her dreams just like the rest of us.
Having another Kingman around was going to be great.
Now if I could talk the rest of the family into moving to California too, everything would be perfect.