Page 108 of Loved By The Bad Boy

I shudder in front of the mirror and force my breathing under control. My makeup is not as loud as that of prom night, but I look beautiful. I pat the graduation gown over my dress and tug the cap on my head.

Everything high school ends today.

My phone beeps with a text from my boyfriend. He’s already on his way to school with Josef, Asher, and Maddie. My parents are driving me to school. They insisted, and I couldn’t say no. He will stop by later to get my belongings. I am officially moving into our new house today.

The words sit comfortably on the tip of my tongue, and I whisper to my reflection, “Our house.”

Our house. Benny and Gracie’s house. I’m moving today. Today, the day of our graduation.

I shoot Ben a reply with a promise to see him soon and hurry downstairs to join Mom. We will pick Dad up from work and continue to school. Mom’s gaze sweeps over me, and she nods in approval. Pushing the tassel out of my face, I pose by the wall to take pictures. Mom, the ever-willing camera lady, wastes no time capturing all my poses.

The ceremony starts at 10 am, and it’s a few minutes past nine. It’s ten minutes to Dad’s current hospital, but none of us worry about being late. We don’t check the pictures as we head to Mom’s car. I ransack my handbag to see if everything, including the velvety box, is intact.

A grin appears on Mom’s lips when her gaze lowers to my left hand. Wiggling her brows, she opens my door and curtseys. At least I know who gave me my dramatic genes. I hide my hand behind me as I slide in. She won’t stop teasing me about my ring. Sometimes, she acts like she’s the teen. I play with the ring on my middle finger, and a myriad of emotions explodes inside me.

Ben doesn’t need to do anything to make me happy, but he always goes the extra mile. Some days, it feels like I don’t do enough for him. And I can only hope that the little things I do are enough for him. Ben says they are enough. My presence is enough.

“Are you ready?” Mom calls out from the front.

I am. I am ready to get over this day and be with Ben.

The car starts, and I roll down the window. A gust of wind sweeps into the car. Cars drive past us in a blur of colors. My head falls back, and I shut my eyes. The car stops moving. I open my eyes to Dad’s face. I stick my head out of the window for a kiss on my forehead. He bops my nose, and we grin at each other. I am going to miss them. Dad offers me a cup of melting ice-cream and Mom scowls. I’ll be gone soon, and she can get all the ice-cream and his undivided attention.

“Congratulations, honey.” Opening the door for a hug, Dad whispers into my ear, “I’m proud of you, Tessa.” His cologne tickles my nose. I inhale the comforting scent and smoothen his black suit. Mom is wearing a dress. They are the proud parents of the latest graduate. “Your dress is pretty.”

“Thank you, Dad. Your suit is pretty, too.”

They laugh, and I pout. Dad joins Mom in the front. He looks back once with a smile, and Mom resumes driving. From a distance, I see the structure of Crescent High. I love the school. I can’t say I hated Broadway Heights since it’s the reason I got to move here and meet better people.

The car stops at the lot. Dad throws me a kind look. “Are you ready, hon?” Butterflies flutter in my belly. I give the building a onceover and offer a confident nod. “Alright. Let’s take a selfie.”

9: 35 am.

The red digits of the dashboard clock glow like a reminder. I am all smiles in every picture we take. I lose count of the number of photos, but it doesn’t seem to satisfy my parents. My eyes dart everywhere in search of Ben. He texted me minutes ago to let me know he was in school.

“Can we go now?” I ask.

My parents share a glance, and Mom holds up a finger. “Just one more.” I facepalm. She said the same thing five minutes ago. She leans a shoulder on the car and pinches my cheeks into a smile. “Come on, Tessa, you’ll leave today, and we won’t be able to take more of thesesillypictures.”

At the reminder, tears well up in my eyes. Nodding, I bite my lips to keep the tears from falling. She’s right. I won’t be around anymore. I adjust my cap with a camera-worthy smile on my lips.

Someone taps me. My head turns to the intruder, my lips part, and a soundless scream escapes.

Hayden. My big brother.

He came.

I’m in his arms in a blink. My parents’ laughter echoes behind me, but I don’t spare them a look. Hayden spins for a few seconds, and the tears I fought to keep at bay drop to his neck. This silly, annoying boy. I love him. After laying out foolish reasons that revolved around his schedule, he told me he couldn’t make it here. Hayden lowers me to my feet, and I pinch his cheeks. He grins.

“You came.” He catches the new batch of tears about to fall. I hit him. “You idiot, you came.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” he replies.

I take it back. Hayden is not the world’s worst big brother. He’s just annoying sometimes. I tousle his hair to annoy him. He’s about to retaliate when Mom glares at him. In case he forgot, I’m still the baby of the house. Sticking out my tongue, I poke his cheek and wiggle out of his embrace.

Hayden throws an arm around my shoulders to keep me from running. I raise the hand with my ring to my face, and he snickers. Whatever. He has already seen it, but the pictures differ from real life.

“It looks good,” he says.

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