ON THE DAY of her graduation, Lindy woke up late. The only thing that roused her from sleep was the pounding of Lee's fist against her door.
"Lindsey, get up. I'm not going to your graduation just to sit all the way in the back!"
Lindy sat upright, squinting around her room and barely registering that she would finally be awarded her freedom in a matter of hours. She didn't really care, considering that she had gotten barely any sleep from having stayed out late with Kurt.
She dressed quickly, hurriedly running a brush through her hair and smoothing it down with her hands. She didn't own any makeup, but as she stared in the mirror analyzing her reflection, she tried to tell herself that she didn't need it. It was a big day, though. Sort of.
Draping her cap and gown over her arm, Lindy bounded downstairs to greet her father, who was impatiently standing by the door and fiddling his car keys in his hand. He grumbled out a compliment, something that sounded like, "you look nice," under his breath before throwing open the door.
Lindy rolled her eyes. What generous flattery.
The ride to the school seemed to drag on for years. Lindy kept her body turned from Lee, savoring the silence between them. She had feared he would bring up college and hammer down the truth to her worst fears — she would have to stay in Aberdeen. With him.
"Are you nervous?" Lee asked conversationally, not glancing at his daughter as he kept his eyes on the road.
"Not really." Lindy examined her fingernails, despising the awkward wall between them both. While most dads would have been over the moon about their daughters graduating, hers was once again acting like she was a job that he had never asked for.
"Is your brother planning on being there?"
"Last I heard, yeah."
Lee said nothing at this and Lindy wondered if he felt guilty. They couldn't even enjoy her triumphant day as a family. It was pathetic.
When they pulled into the parking lot Lindy was eager to depart from her father, not even hesitating to scan the crowd in search of Kurt, her brother and their friends. A light mist of rain had began to fall, so she muttered a goodbye to Lee and ducked her head, speed-walking into the school gym.
Inside behind the bleachers was a swarm of Weatherwax seniors, all donning their caps and gowns and tittering with excitement. Lindy slipped into hers, zipping up the front and then adjusting her cap.
"Clayton!" a teacher barked. She flapped her fingers at Lindy, ordering her into line. She quietly took her place, resisting the urge to tap her foot with impatience.
"I think you're forgetting something, Clayton," the teacher remarked, producing a long gold stole emblazoned with the logo of Weatherwax. Lindy's eyes widened. The stole was only to be worn by the top ten percent of her class.
"Uh, are you sure?" Lindy asked uneasily, not wanting to draw any attention to herself. Knowing Kurt was somewhere out there made it harder. She didn't want him to see her like that, prancing around in some fancy getup as if she were better than him.
"Positive. Says so right here on my list." The teacher tapped her clipboard, and lightly placed the stole around Lindy's neck. She winced as if the material had physically burned her.
