The Vale Of Tears

Chapter 10: Serenity

"Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but finding peace deep within it."

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"I can't believe we're done with high school," Jane stated, looking at the certificate in her hand.

They all had gathered for their graduation and the ceremony had gone smoothly. It was a milestone that they had successfully overcome and each and every one of them had the opportunity to go to a college, with Flynn barely graduating. Meanwhile, Skye and Kyan had passed with honors. It was the fruit of their hard work and they were all incredibly glad of the effort they had put in.

"I can't wait to start college. It'd be such a great change to go from living with parents to living alone," Toby said with a sigh.

"That's what you think, but you'd know how easy it was to live with parents when you start living alone," Emma said.

"Whatever. I just can't wait to experience the college life. With all the college girls. It's gonna be epic." Toby had a dreamy expression on his face.

The group had gathered around after the graduation to briefly congratulate each other before the photoshoot.

"It's always girls when it comes to you. And it is always food when it comes to Mark," Jane said, rolling her eyes. "What is it with you guys? I need to find some new friends first thing when I start college."

"What's wrong with being crazy about food? It's life, baby. You can't survive without it," Mark laughed, wrapping an arm around Jane's shoulder.

They stood chatting until the parents started calling out to them for the photoshoot.

Skye was standing with her parents when her gaze was pulled to Kyan. He was laughing and talking to his parents. Seeing him brought a familiar pang of hurt to her. The past few days, Skye had been distant with everyone. She had put up her walls and mostly stayed holed up in her room, making up excuses whenever Kyan and his friends asked to meet up. Jane had gone over to her house one day to hang out and asked her about Kyan. Skye just told her that she didn't tell him and that she wasn't completely sure about her feelings for him. Her hopes had been crushed and she felt like her heart had been broken into a million pieces. It felt silly even to her, but it was just how she felt when she looked at him. It was too painful, too much to bear. It was so difficult to mask all her emotions she was feeling with a smile. She didn't have the strength. Yet she did her best to avoid all the questions. She smiled and talked to everyone normally and she was glad that no one realized how she was feeling inside.

Flynn glanced at Skye who was standing with her parents. Somehow, it seemed like they were strangers. They were standing further apart than what would be normal and Skye looked uncomfortable. Flynn remembered what she had said the day he told her about being adopted. What she had said gave him the impression that there were a lot of issues between Skye and her parents.

"Oh so that's the girl you like," Flynn's mom nudged his side and looked at Skye.

"What? What are you talking about?" Flynn exclaimed, his voice a bit higher than normal.

"You might be very observant of others' behavior but we're observant of yours. You're like an open book to us. We've known there was someone you liked for a while, we've just been waiting for you to tell us. But now it seems like we've found her without you telling us about it." His dad chuckled lightly.