My gut pushes me onto my feet. “I gotta go.”
“What?” Mack, who has been on his phone the entire time we’ve been sitting here, finally adds to the conversation. “Everything is gonna start in a few minutes. Where are you going?”
I let out a breath. “I need to talk to Charlie.”
Mack still looks confused, but Greyson has a shit-eating-grin on his face as he holds his coffee cup to his mouth. He nods once, then turns and starts talking to Mack as I push my way through the bleachers in the auditorium.
I fly down the steps and rush through the double doors where greeters are passing out programs. I look left and right and don’t see a huge line of people in all black, so I return to the greeters and ask where the graduates are lining up. Then I jog around to the other side. Where I see a massive crowd of students in hats and robes.
“Charlie Davenport?” I’m not screaming or shouting, just speaking loudly as I worm my way through the line trying to find her.
I spend a few minutes scanning the swarm of graduates and weaving through clusters of friends giggling and taking selfies, coming up empty as I hit the front of the line. I take a breath. I had hoped to talk to her before the ceremony, before she walks across the stage, but I can just wait talk to her after.
“Jeremy?”
I look up and there she is, looking both ridiculous and gorgeous in a massive black robe and a stupid hat on her head. I’ve never felt more right about something than I do in this moment. This isn’t about me wanting her to love me. This isn’t even about trying to convince her that I’m in love withher. This is about making sure she understands, beyond anything, that she isn’t alone today.
“I just wanted to talk to you for a second.” I push my hand through my hair.
“Okay, yeah. But it looks like we are walking in soon, so…”
I turn and see a woman in a headset looking at the graduates and talking into her microphone, shuffling the first few people around to her liking.
“Okay well… shit, now that I’m here, I feel like a jackass. But I just had to tell you, I just want to make sure you know… you are an amazing person.”
Her face softens, dropping from confused to a mixture of sweet and slightly unsure.
“You’ve lived a life with too many people backing out on you and letting you down. And I just, I wanted… no, Ineededto tell you this before you walk on that stage. I want to make sure you know, without a doubt, that you have people in this crowd who are proud of you. And who love you, no matter what. You’re this kind, caring, thoughtful person who does everything you can to love those around you. You’ve worked so hard for today. And I just… I hated the thought that you felt alone today. That you felt like no one was here for you. And I just wanted you to know. We’re here for you. I’m… I’m here for you. No matter what.”
There’s dead silence from her as I finish what I have to say. I’m not sure how she’s taken it. I know I didn’t get the words entirely right, but I just had to get it off my chest. I had to make sure she knew.
“Alright lets go!”
There’s a cheer from the students around us, and the line starts moving through the double doors.
I take a step back.
“Have fun out there, okay? Youdeserveit.”
Her eyes just watch me as I turn and walk the way I came, weaving in and out of the mass of undergrads so I can get out of this hallway and back to my seat.
“Jeremy!”
I turn when I hear my name, and get nearly knocked to the ground when Charlie slams into me, her arms wrapping around me tightly.
“You need to get back in line,” I say with a laugh.
She giggles and I squeeze her tighter, loving the sound.
“I just,” she leans back, her hands resting on my arms, mine holding her around the waist, “I just wanted to say thank you. For what you said. And what it means to me.”
I smile at her, play with a strand of her hair that’s escaped and fallen in front of her cap.
“And I wanted to ask if I can take you on a date.”
My eyes fly to hers.
“What?”
