Silently Falling | √

•Epilogue•

N I C K

SIX WHOlE MONTHS, that was long how it had been since Alexis passed and each day hurt more than the last. I felt utterly lost without her.

"Nick hurry up, Kai and Jake are already here and you don't want to be late for your own graduation," mom shouted from the kitchen.

I sighed as I took one last look at myself in the bathroom mirror before I made my way to the kitchen.

"You look so handsome and grown up," mom cooed as I entered the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes and joined everyone at the kitchen table and sat down next to Leah. I poured myself some orange juice and placed a few chocolate chip pancakes on my plate.

"I'm wearing the same outfit I always wear each day except for this stupid cap and gown."

"Which I'm totally rocking by the way," Kai beamed as he stuffed mom's chocolate chip pancakes into his mouth and moaned. "I love your cooking Hailee, maybe I should think of moving in with you guys."

Jake and I rolled our eyes while Leah turned googly eyed at him.

"I totally agree with you," she said batting her eyelashes in the most creepiest of ways.

"Thank you Leah, glad to know that someone thinks I'm attractive," Kai said smiling at her and then turned to glare at me and Jake.

"Don't get your hopes up, she's only sixteen and extremely hormonal," I said and took a bite of my pancakes. "These are really good mom."

"Thanks honey," mom smiled.

"I'm almost seventeen," Leah whined.

"And by almost do you mean you just turned sixteen? Because that's what I recall," mom answered.

Jake and I snickered as Leah rolled her bottom lip into her mouth and huffed in frustration.

"Yes I'll be seventeen next year so what? Nick had a girlfriend by the time he was my age," she whined.

"Because I was responsible and you're not," I scoffed.

"I'm old enough to get a boyfriend if I want," she protested.

"If you live in your house and pay your own bills then you are free to have yourself one. But as long as you live under my roof, you will not have a boyfriend," mom stated matter-of-factly.

"We need to get going if we want to make it before the opening remarks from Principal Kingsley," Jake said as he checked his phone. "Asher is already waiting for us."

Everyone stood up and I sighed because not once did I sit down to write that damned graduation speech that principal Kinsely had been bugging me for for the last six months. And each time I always came up with an excuse or dodged her.

We all piled into Jake and Kai's cars and drove to the school. When we pulled up in the student parking lot, everyone was rushing to get into the auditorium on time.

"Are you coming or are you just going to stand there?" Leah asked with her hand on her hip.

"Yeah sorry I'm coming," I replied and jogged up to them.

We all walked through the main school doors for the last time. I looked around the hallways, the lockers and all the memories of everything I experienced all came rushing back to me.

I remember the first day I saw Alexis standing at her locker as everyone else was already in class. I never got to tell her this but I thought she was cute and that bothered me a lot because I wasn't supposed to find anyone cute-it was as if I was betraying Hayley and I hated her for that.