A Girl Like You // D. Swing [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 19

Journey Hayes.

I finally did it!

After four, long, hard years of stressing, staying up and sacrificing my sleep, and preventing myself from banging my head on a wall or stepping into oncoming traffic, I was finally done with high school and I graduated with honors.

I earned my bragging rights.

"Congratulations baby girl! I am so proud of you!" Dad says with a bouquet of flowers in his hand while his arms were extended, waiting for me to hug him. "Thank you, Daddy." He pulled me into his embrace and he held me for a few seconds before pulling away and handing me a bouquet of flowers. "Thank you."

"Congratulations, Sis." Wesley gives me a hug and I accept his affection since it was so rare. "Thanks, Wes. It'll be your turn pretty soon." I tease and he waves me off. "Alright, I want to get a few pictures before we head out." Dad says, holding up his Polaroid camera.

Both Wesley and I did a few poses together before I took some pictures individually and Wesley had taken some pictures of both me and Dad. "Congrats, superstar!" Denise walks up to me with her Diploma in hand. "Same to you, honey dip." We hug each other and she greets Dad and Wesley when she pulls away.

"Thank you, guys! Uh, Jay, you're still going to the party tonight, right?" She asks and I nod my head. "What party?" Dad asks and I turn and face him with a smile on my face. "A fellow graduate is throwing a party tonight and all graduates from different schools in the city will be there tonight. You don't mind if I go, right?"

He puts his hands up in defense, "Hey! It's officially summer for you and you're a free woman so I'm not gonna stop you from having fun, especially not the night of graduation. I'm not a regular Dad, I'm a cool dad," He says and I chuckle.

"Thanks, Dad. But, I will be there. What time are you picking me up?" I ask her and she looks at my Dad with a smirk and I look back and forth between the two in confusion.

Okay...weird.

"Um, I'm not sure. Let me see-" She glances down at her watch. "It's 7:30 now and the party doesn't start for another two hours but I have a few errands to run and I have to get ready, still. I'll call you and let you know." I nod my head and she hugs and congratulates me once more before exchanging her goodbyes and going back over to where her family was.

"You ready to go, champ?" Dad asks and I nod my head and with that, the three of us exited the school. I had only been at Parker for three and a half months but within these three months, I'd learned more about myself and I've grown more as a person. I was grateful for this experience because I made some amazing friends and established friendships that would last a lifetime.

"Wanna stop to get some ice cream?" I nodded my head and he made his way to Baskin Robbins. Thankfully, it wasn't so crowded so we'd be able to eat our ice cream in peace.

"Welcome to Baskin Robbins! Would you be interested in our cookie dough ice cream special?" The overly excited cashier asked and we kindly declined. "Okay, What can I get for you?" She asks and Dad looks at both me and Wesley, awaiting our answers.

"I'll take a double scoop of macadamia nut," I say and she nods and looks over at Wesley. "I'll take a birthday cake shake with your number on the side." He winks at her.