“Katie!” she heard someone call her name. She turned around and saw Emily facing her. Her dark skin seemed to glow from within, bright and giving off an aura of happiness.
“Emily!” she held her in a tight embrace. “What are you doing here?” Katie asked, her mouth open in a pleasant smile.
“Was I not invited?” Emily asked, tilting her head.
“Of course you were!” Katie said. “I just thought you had to be with your family or something.”
Emily made a small noise of annoyance. “I did, but I managed to slip away for a few hours so I could have breakfast with you and Tyson.”
“Well, I’m glad you came,” Katie replied sincerely. “But speaking of Tyson, where is he?”
Katie felt his breath on the back of her neck before he spoke. “Oh, sorry, he couldn’t make it.”
Katie let out a playful scream. “Don’t be so weird!” she laughed. She turned around and hugged Tyson before he led her and Emily to the booth he had secured.
“Today is going to be a great day,” he said as they all sat down. Tyson sat on one side while Emily and Katie sat across from him. A waiter came by and silently handed menus to them before walking away.
“Tell me about it,” said Katie. “And a whole new future to look forward to.” Something inside Katie winced.
“You have no idea,” Emily said. Katie chuckled silently, thinking the same.
After they ordered Katie started to play with a sugar packet while Tyson and Emily talked about what teachers they hated and liked the most over the years.
“But I had Mr. Green back in middle school,” Tyson said. “Remember him, Katie?” he looked over her and kept speaking. “He was the one who made me eat chalk because I threw it at his head one day?” Katie didn’t respond. “Katie?”
Katie jumped slightly. “Huh?” she said, almost groggily.
Tyson scanned her curiously. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she breathed. “I-I’m, uh, I’m fine.”
Emily seemed to not notice but Tyson didn’t believe Katie.
“When there’s something on your mind you always space out,” Tyson said. “Actually, it’s probably the only time you space out, so please just tell me?”
“You’re right,” Katie replied. “I’ll tell you guys later. Let’s just talk about, us, right now.”
Tyson raised an eyebrow. “Us? Like you and me? Together?”
“What? No! I didn’t mean—”
Katie stopped talking suddenly. A waitress and her customer caught her attention. The waitress took the customer’s order and walked away. Katie immediately recognized the customer. The dark hair, lightly tanned skin…
Katie quickly stood up, knocking over the waters on the table. Tyson got up before the water spilled onto his pants.
Sabrina smiled, waved her hand and disappeared around a corner.
“Katie, what’s happening?” Tyson asked. He attempted to clean the water from the table using the napkins that their utensils had been wrapped in. They were all sodden and sat in a pile on the table. A busboy came by and took the pile and gave the table a wipe before moving on.
Emily didn’t seem to mind or notice Katie’s increasingly frantic behavior.
“Sorry, I thought I saw something,” Katie said. She felt slightly embarrassed as many of her schoolmates were peering over the counters, trying to get a good look at where the ruckus had come from. “Just a trick of the light.”
Just then their food arrived, and they all silently agreed to eat. After they finished, they talked a bit, but Tyson kept an alert eye on Katie.
“Here’s your checks,” a waitress said. It wasn’t the one they had before. Her hair was almost as blonde as Katie’s. She eyed Tyson before saying, “Your tip doesn’t only have to be in cash.”
Katie and Emily both mouthed “wow” to each other.
“So, it looks like you found a new girl,” Katie said. “I mean, she’s okay looking, if you like women twice your age.”
“Shut up,” Tyson said.
Katie and Emily laughed. Katie went through her purse to look for her wallet. “Oh no,” she said.
“What’s wrong?” Tyson asked, looking around as if there was a sign that would tell him.
“I forgot my wallet back home,” she said.
Tyson smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it.”
“Thanks, I’ll pay you back.” She said.
“No,” Tyson said flatly. “You don’t have to, and I won’t accept it.”
Katie hated borrowing money from anyone, even her parents. She had a side job she did on some weekends which paid her decently. She always paid others back promptly because she knew it was the right thing to do. Plus, she hated the feeling of being in debt to someone.
“Thank you, but I—”
“Honestly, don’t,” Tyson said. “You would do the same for me.”
Emily finished paying and they all left. Emily gave Tyson a discreet look, making sure Katie didn’t see. The look was clear as a neon sign that read, “You and Katie should totally be a thing.”
After breakfast, Emily immediately rushed back to her family. For the rest of the day, Katie and Tyson hung out in the city, walking around, checking out stores and taking part in various activities.
The school’s graduation was to start at eight. Tyson and Katie arrived at the school at a quarter past seven, which was fifteen minutes late, according to one of their teachers. They met Emily by their lockers after they were reprimand by Mrs. Steinfalk. Emily’s locker was nearly empty.
“You guys are so late,” Emily laughed as Tyson and Katie hastily threw their locker’s contents into bags.
“We lost track of time,” Katie said, only glancing at Emily for a moment. When they finished, the three of them made their way towards the auditorium.
The hallways were decorated with the school’s colors; blue, green and purple. The high school graduates always wore blue gowns while the rest wore green ones.
“Finally!” Tyson said as
