10. Dylan
TEN
DYLAN
EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD
I have every intention of skipping my graduation. The ceremony promises to be an ordeal rather than a celebration, and I’d be happy to never show my face anywhere near Parkside Academy ever again.
I’m pretty sure Nina and Preston won’t put up too much of a fight, so I’m operating on the assumption that I’m in the clear already.
“What do you mean you’re not going to your graduation?” Lynn asks in her most scandalized tone.
“I’m… I mean, I’m… not?” I say. I didn’t expect this level of fierce intensity about that off-handed remark.
“Dylan.” She slaps her hands onto her hips. “Dylan, Dylan, Dylan.” Each “Dylan” is accompanied by a headshake that’s filled with disbelief. “This is one the most important days of your life.” She seems to consider that for a moment and then adds, “So far. You get my point.”
“It’s really not.”
I’m pretty sure she looked less severe when Adrian and I got caught trying to sneak a beer from a cooler when we were fourteen.
“You’ve earned this. You’ve worked so hard,” she says.
“And I consider not having to go my reward.”
She puts her hands on her hips again and sends me a stern look. “It’s already in the calendar.”
I glance at the large calendar on the wall that the Olsens use to organize everything about their family life, and sure enough, Dylan’s graduation is marked there in capital letters, underlined three times in red. The red is only ever used to highlight the most important occasions.
“What’s already in the calendar?” Harriet asks as she walks in with Adrian. She sits down, grabs an apple from the basket on the counter, and takes a bite.
“Dylan’s graduation,” Lynn says. “He thinks he’s not going.”
“Aww. That’s cute,” Harriet says, and they all laugh and look at me with identical expressions that just scream “You poor, naive bastard.”
I open my mouth to argue.
“We’re your family.” Lynn cuts me off before I can say anything. “You’re going to walk that stage, we’re going to all be in the audience, and we’re going to cheer so loudly it’ll be embarrassing for everybody. Do you understand?”
I look down and smile, despite myself. “Yes, I understand.”
“Good.” Lynn stops next to me and pats my cheek before she walks out of the room.
“That went well,” I say once she’s out of earshot.
“Depends how you define well,” Harriet says thoughtfully.
“Not this.”
“It’s a few hours, Dyl. You’ll survive,” she says with very little sympathy before she jumps up out of her seat. “I’ll go see if Hunter and Jax are ready, and then we can head out.”
A moment later, it’s just me and Adrian.
“If you don’t want to go to your graduation, I’ll talk to them,” he says.
“It’s fine.”
And it is.
Because… I’m family.
I can’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.
The graduation is needlessly pompous, but of course it has to be.
There are expensive flower arrangements and at least fifty percent of the graduating class will receive brand-new cars as graduation presents.
Everybody’s dressed to the nines, waving around handbags that cost more than a year’s tuition and displaying watches and jewelry that cost even more.
And still, when it comes down to the basics, it’s a pretty standard affair. Graduates walk across the stage. People clap politely. You shake hands, take your diploma, and you’re done.
As I said, standard affair.
But the moment they call out my name and I get up from my seat, it’s like an eruption of sound. I jerk in surprise and whip my head toward the crowd. The Olsens are all on their feet, clapping, whistling, and yelling my name like a bunch of maniacs.
My heart starts to hammer in my chest, and I feel both hot and cold all over. My lips stretch into an impossibly wide grin, and my feet are lighter than ever as I skip up the stairs and make my way across the stage.
I grab my diploma, and you know what, fuck it, I lift it up over my head victoriously and whoop. The Olsens get even louder, and now they’re stomping their feet.
Aunt Nina looks scandalized, because no, this is not proper at all, but I don’t care right now. I make my way off the stage, and instead of going back to my seat, I head for Adrian and his family.
My family.