His / l.h ✔️

1

~Asteria's POV~

"I can't believe we've graduated!" My best friend, Cecilia, cheered at me as she and I walked out of the high school gym, her hand in mine. I looked up at her, as she was a few inches taller than I am, and grinned. "I know!" I giggled, squeezing her hand as she tugged me down the hallway that was busy with people in caps and gowns, family members hugging and some people just standing around doing seemingly nothing.

Cecilia rushed us down the hall, my parents and hers lagging behind us while they chatted with each other. My parents and hers had always been pretty good friends, so she and I had grown up together. We'd been friends since I was about nine, and I was now eighteen, graduating from high school. Cece's dirty blonde hair escaped in slightly messy wisps from underneath her purple cap as we rushed down the hall together, the strands framing her pale face and falling down onto the graduation gown, right below her shoulders. Her blue eyes were bright and full of life as she met the gazes of several people who were passing us, bidding them goodbye with a big smile and a wave. Cecilia had always been pretty popular with people, especially with how pretty she was. She was tall, like her brothers, and her strong jawline, dark blue eyes, full lips, and long blonde hair made it clear to see how beautiful she was. Along with her outer beauty, she had a great personality to match it.

Cece and I left the school, heading towards the big, red Porsche that belonged to her. "So," She grinned at me and unlocked her car, letting me get in the passenger's side. "What are you going to do now?" She wondered, climbing into the driver's seat beside me. I could've gone home with my parents, but they said that it was fine if I went in Cece's car when I asked. We lived next door to each other, anyways. "Well, mom said I could have the summer off to just chill out, but then I have to get a job." I answered, pulling my seatbelt on. "Really?" She asked, perking up.

I nodded my head and watched as she pulled her seatbelt on and then stuck the key in the engine, starting up the car. While she began to back out of the parking lot, I took off my graduation cap and tossed it into the backseat. It was a good thing my brother had kept his when he graduated, so I just used his and didn't have to buy a new one. Of course, though, it was a little bit baggy on me. Fortunately, though, my curves made it so that it wasn't too baggy. It was just really long, which I honestly couldn't have cared less about. "Yeah. Why?" I asked, looking over at her as I began to attempt to get out of this stupid graduation gown.

She grinned over at me and ran a hand through her dirty blonde hair, thankfully keeping her eyes on the road. "My mom said the same thing." She chuckled, causing me to smile. Our moms must have talked to one another about it, then.

To be honest, I always thought that Cece would have gone off to some really good college, either one in state or out of state. She always had perfect grades, but she also had always talked about what she'd major in in college, which she had said many times was nursing. However, I was pretty sure she was having doubts lately. I, on the other hand, still wasn't sure if I even wanted to go to college, or what I'd major in, and I'd just graduated from high school. So I'd decided to not go until I was completely sure. I mean, it's better to go when I know what I want than to go to college unsure, where I end up switching my major a bunch of times and waste time and money on a degree I'm not sure I even want.

"Looks like we'll be hanging out, then." I grinned, shimmying as I tugged the gown up from underneath my ass. Now that I had the hard part done, I simply ripped it off over my head and shoved the gown into the backseat with the cap. "Well..." She trailed off for a second and looked over at me, a look on her face that I instantly knew the meaning of. Something was definitely up. She'd not told me something. "What did you do?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her in suspicion. A laugh left her lips and she shook her head. "No, I didn't do anything. I promise." She assured when she saw the look on my face.

"Then what is it?" I pressed, raising my brows at her expectantly. She turned down the street that our houses were on and grabbed the steering wheel tighter. "Um, well, you remember my older brother, Luke, right?" She wondered, causing me to slowly nod.

There was no way I could forget him. He'd been a douche to me when I was younger, always picking on me and stuff. However, when I was twelve and he was nineteen, he disappeared and went off to college. It'd been six years and, now that I really thought about it, I hadn't seen him even once. Not even on holidays or anything. He must've been about twenty-five now. I wondered where he went, and why she was bringing him up now. What did he have to do with any of this?

"Yeah, I remember him." I affirmed, nodding my head as I hid my confusion. She pursed her lips and turned into her driveway, parking her car. Somehow, both her parents and mine had gotten back home before us, which made no sense since we left first. "Okay, good." She smiled, but there was a little bit of a glimmer of nerves in her eyes. She was definitely taking her sweet time in telling me what she wanted to tell me. "Cece!" I groaned, hitting my head back against the headrest on my seat. "Will you just spit it out already?" I huffed.

She huffed and nodded her head, like she was talking to herself in her head. "Okay, okay, sorry." She huffed, taking off her cap and tossing it back with mine.

After a second of her just looking at me and me looking at her, she finally spoke. "Well, he's coming home for about a week to see me. You know, because I graduated." She said. I looked at her for a second. "That's it?" I asked, raising a brow. With how she'd been acting, I expected something a lot more dramatic than just hearing that Luke was coming home. She smiled a little and nodded. "I was just telling you because I know you two used to not get along too well." She defended herself, a small smile growing on my lips as I shook my head and unbuckled my seatbelt. "Well, thanks for the warning." I teased, grinning at her.

A smile grew on her face, but I could feel how surprised she was by my reaction. "You're not upset?" She wondered, cocking her head to the side. I snorted and shook my head, grabbing the diploma I'd been given off of the floor of her car. "Of course not. That was six years ago. I mean, I'm gonna try to steer clear because I honestly have no desire to talk to him, but I'm not upset." I assured, opening the car door and stepping out.

Cecilia scrambled out of the car and we both shut the doors, the car chirping as she locked it. "That's great!" She grinned, hustling around the car to give me a hug. I hugged her back and then she pulled away, holding me at arms length. "I should go inside. I have to get ready because my mom and dad got the whole family to agree to go out to dinner tonight." She said, causing me to snort. Sometimes I forgot how very over the top her parents could be, but I didn't think it was a bad thing. At least she knew they were proud of her for graduating. "Yeah, you should." I agreed, bidding her goodbye before she turned around and ran up the driveway.

I turned and walked over to my house, quickly heading inside.