A Slave to Broken Hearts (A Slave to Love Sequel)

Chapter 2: Graduation Day

I thought graduation would be a lot more interesting, but honestly, it was a snore fest. Not to mention, sitting under a blazing hot sun in a black cloak and cap was making me uncomfortably warm and more than a tad sweaty. The only relief came from the few fresh breezes that came briefly. I was just glad that it was late afternoon so the sun wouldn't be as intense soon.  

We'd been sitting outside for almost two hours now, hundreds of chairs spread out across the grounds of school in front of the lake for graduates, staff, friends and family. We were nearly done and I was dying to get inside where it was fresher and where I could take my robe off. I felt like a wizard and that was cool, but it was too hot to really enjoy it.

"And now, presenting our 2015 graduates!" the principal, a tall slim woman, exclaimed into a microphone. All the graduates jumped to their feet and tossed their hats off and up into the air, cheering loudly while everyone else just clapped and whistled.

The hats fell back down to Earth, so I caught a random one and rushed down my row, which was the row for L's. There weren't too many of us in that section so I got to the end relatively quickly, and jogged up the center aisle. I spotted Landon up ahead and picked up speed. As soon as I was close enough I jumped on his back. He stumbled forward before catching himself and swinging his arms back to hold my legs.

"Congratulations on graduating, Mr. Dean!" I said excitedly.

"You too, Miss Lace. Now off my back, it's too hot for this," he quipped. I slid off his back and he turned around, giving me a big hug. When he pulled away he grinned hugely, as if he could barely contain his excitement. "Can you believe it? It's finally over!"

"I know, it's crazy," I said, shaking my head. "It's so weird to think that we'll never be back here again."

"Cutie!" someone shouted before I was abruptly picked up and spun around. Mick's infectious grin and happy face was suddenly in front of me and he finally put me back down on the ground. "Thank God that's over with. That has to have been the most boring thing I've ever been too. Let's get this party started already!"

I threw my fist up in the air with a loud whoop of agreement.

The microphone crackled back to life over the noise of everyone talking and laughing, and the volume lowered incredibly. We already graduated and we still shushed when a teacher was talking. Talk about rebellious. "Now if everyone would kindly move this indoors...it's a lot fresher inside and we have some food and refreshments," the principal said. That got everyone's attention. Most people started heading in the direction of the sports section since the gymnasiums were the biggest rooms on campus and perfect for a party.

"Did she say they had food? I could really go for some food right now," Mick said, looking even more excited by the prospect of having food than of graduating.

"I think Kiana can always go for some food," Landon joked.

"I definitely could, but right now my biggest want in life is to get inside where its air conditioned."

"Amen to that," Mick agreed, so we started heading in that direction. Half way there, Mick took off sprinting through the already sparse crowd, robes billowing out behind him like a black cloud. He practically tackled a familiar blonde boy and kissed him. I couldn't help but smile. Aidan had been gone for weeks, off with Mona again, and Mick had really missed him. He had been constantly worrying if Aidan was going to make it in time for graduation or not, and I'm pretty sure Aidan showing up just about made his day.

When Landon and I finally caught up to them they had pulled apart. Aidan grinned at me and Mick looked slightly flustered but happy.

"Hey Kiana, Landon," he said, nodding to each of us with a warm smile. "Glad it's over?"