and confined my own world has been.
On a makeshift stage at the front of the building, the school band begins to warm up and the black flock quiets as they migrate to the back of the room and line up. A couple minutes later, the music pauses, and then the band starts playing, “We Are the Champions.”
In the bleachers, we all stand and watch the students file in and take their seats.
The next half hour is filled with speeches about working hard and following dreams and facing the future with courage and hope. I can’t help wondering what surprises my own future holds. I hope I’m brave enough to handle them.
Finally, the students’ names are called out alphabetically, and one by one, Silver Lake High’s graduating seniors cross the stage to receive their diplomas. It seems like forever before they reach the letter P and “Wyatt Reid Pierson.”
I look through the binoculars again. The black tassel on Wyatt’s cap swings back and forth as he climbs the stairs to the stage and walks toward the waiting principal. I smile so wide my cheeks hurt. Beside me, Addie sticks two fingers into her mouth and whistles loud enough to pop an eardrum. I hand her the binoculars so she can get a closer look while Mom and I clap and cheer.
Wyatt takes the diploma from the principal’s outstretched hand, then descends the stairs on the opposite side of the stage. Making his way back to his seat, he scans the faces in the bleachers, and when he spots us, he grins ear to ear. In that instant, I’m so proud of him. And it hits me like a brick that I’ve been afraid of losing him—that’s what this change between us has been all about. We’re graduating and the future is such a big, scary unknown. I think we’ve both been afraid that we’ll grow apart now that high school’s behind us. Maybe we thought we had to change in order to keep moving on together. But I can’t mislead Wyatt anymore, even if it hurts us both. I do love him, but only as a friend.
“You should be with them, darling,” Mom says, interrupting my train of thought. She nods toward the graduates on the floor of the gym.
“It’s okay, Mom.”
“No, it’s not. You missed out by not going to school here. I’m sorry about that, but your father and I did what we thought was best.” She surprises me by reaching for my hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you how proud of you we’ve always been.”
The compliment is so unexpected, I don’t know what to say. I can only look at her and try not to burst into tears.
Mom’s smile falls away. “I know there’s been tension between us lately, and that there’s a lot about my decisions you don’t understand.” She glances toward Addie, and when she sees that her attention is firmly fixed on Wyatt, Mom says more quietly, “There’s a lot I don’t understand, either, Lily. For one thing, how you play the violin as beautifully as your sister did.” She sighs. “Maybe it’s time we both just accept what is and put the past behind us. More than anything, I want us to move on with our lives.”
I get her message. She’s telling me to stop asking questions. I love my mother, and I hate causing her so much distress. But I’m not moving on from the past until I find out the truth. For myself and for Iris.
After the ceremony ends, Addie and Mom say they’re going to dinner in Silver Lake, then to a movie. I’m glad for two reasons: Mom hasn’t had an outing like that in forever, and in case Ty’s delayed for some reason, it will give him more time to drive to the cabin and get Iris’s violin. I didn’t know how to bring it with me tonight, so I left the cabin door unlocked for Ty to grab it. He can take the violin from my bedroom and be gone before she gets back from the movie, with no problem.
Wyatt finds us, and we all take turns hugging and congratulating him. After pictures are taken with Addie’s camera, Mom and Addie leave in her Jeep, and Wyatt and I head for the community college activity center for the party. The center is sort of like a gym for students, with basketball and racquetball courts, a small bowling alley, a swimming pool, workout equipment, and empty rooms