Letters by Her [Book 2]

Chapter 29

Dusty looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror in her bedroom. She didn't recognize the young woman looking back at her, wearing a cap and gown, who looked so grown up and full of promise. Sometimes she still felt like the scared four- teen-year-old who was powerless to save her father.

But time had passed and made her taller, stronger and helped her blossom from a girl into a woman, even if she sometimes still felt like an insecure teenager.

"Argh, you look amazing!" Ashley screamed excitedly as she entered the room.

"So do you."

"This thing itches like crazy," Ashley said, tugging at the fabric of her gown. "And don't even get me started on the cap!" Ashley was holding her cap, not yet daring to put it on her head and risk ruining her hair that she'd spent all morning curling for the occasion.

"You've got to put it on at some point," Dusty said, her own blonde hair already squashed tightly beneath the cap.

"I'm going to delay it until the very last second!"

"Fair enough."

"Quick, give me a hug, and let's get a picture of us in our sacred room before everything gets crazy."

The girls embraced, and Ashley held her digital camera away from them at arm's length and clicked, immortalizing the moment.

"I can't believe we're graduating," Dusty said, struggling to believe that it was all happening.

"I know." Ashley put an arm around her friend, and they looked at themselves in the mirror.

"I'm going to miss living in this room," Dusty said.

"No, none of that yet." Ashley raised a hand and put on her stern voice.

"We can get sad later. First, we've got a graduation to enjoy!"

Dusty nodded, though she already felt sad. The thought of no longer living with Ashley was unbearable. The two girls had become best friends over the past four years, and they would be living on separate sides of the country. Dusty hated leaving people. Her least favorite part of life was having to part ways with those she loved, and in her lifetime, she felt she'd already said far too many good-byes.

"Now, I need you to put on your biggest smile and head downstairs to where all the families are gathering for the Kappa Pi pre-graduation tea and cake," Ashley ordered.

"Yes, Madame President." Dusty curtseyed jokingly.

"Ah, I'm going to miss hearing that," Ashley said. "I need to get into the Whitehouse just to hear it again!"

"That's as good a reason as any to embark on a presidential campaign," Dusty quipped.

"Less talk, more walk," Ashley said, ushering Dusty out of the bedroom that soon they would no longer share.

**** 

As Dusty descended the staircase of the Kappa Pi house, she spotted her mother loitering nervously in the hallway. However, as soon as she spotted her daughter, she sprang to life, wrestling her disposable camera from her purse and frantically taking shots.

"Mom, come on, you can take pictures at the ceremony," Dusty moaned.

"But you look so amazing, I want to capture each moment," Kayla Black protested. She reached out and hugged her daughter as Dusty came over. She held her extra tight, as though scared to let go.

"Mom, I can't breathe." Dusty pulled away, slightly suffocated by her mother's overwhelming perfume. Kayla Black had made an extra special effort for her daughter's graduation. She'd bought a smart new dress from Macy's, thankfully on sale, and had her hair done by a friend in the trailer park. It made Dusty proud to see her mother fit in with the society mothers, who were clucking around their own graduating offspring.