All characters are over 18.
Graduation Day is here. For James and Kellie, it's time for an amazing adventure. James is back at the narrative helm here, and I've switched the category from "First Time" to "Romance," because, well, it's more appropriate now. As always, feedback is requested, and I hope you enjoy!
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June 2, 1990
1.
I finished the last bit of Mrs. Lincoln's lawn and turned off the mower. It was 85 and humid already, and I was glad this was the last lawn I had to mow today. In fact, it was the last lawn I had to mow for almost two weeks. Later this morning I'd be graduating high school and this afternoon...well, if I spent too much time thinking about this afternoon, I'd never get around to my graduation.
I put the mower away and let Mrs. Lincoln know I was done, then hopped on my bike to head home. Well, "home." Home was a crappy city in Michigan where I'd lived for 19 years. "Home" is an apartment my parents rented when we moved in the middle of my senior year. I'd lived here just a few months, and in a couple more, I'd be moving into the dorms. For some people, everything started changing when they graduated high school. For me, my whole senior year was a study in change.
Thankfully, I'd been smart enough (and anxious enough) to set my graduation clothes out before I started on the lawns this morning. They were sitting on my bed, right next to my backpack and duffel bag. Those were for later today.
My mom gave me the requisite "oh my boy, you're so grown up" when she saw me, and my dad had that goofy "that's my boy!" grin on his face. I didn't take either for granted, though. A few months ago, not only was I a loser outcast in a dingy city with no future, but my relationship with my parents was relentlessly negative, too. We'd all changed a lot in that time, and I gave so much of the credit to one person.
The sixth time I asked when she'd be there, my mom made a joke about them not giving me my diploma because all my brains had fallen out.
"She'll be here when she gets here, Jimmy," Dad added. "Jenny called when she and Kellie left their house, and they should make the ceremony. But if there was a big slowdown or something, we won't know until they get here. Besides, as long as she makes it by this afternoon, that's what really matters, right?"
He grinned at me, and I grinned right back.
When we got to the school, they shuttled the grads one way and the families another. I had no idea if I'd be able to see them or Kellie until after the ceremony, so I tried to put it out of my mind as best I could.
I didn't have any close friends in my graduating class, not after only a few months, but they generally treated me better than those assholes I'd gone to school with since kindergarten ever had. And it was the kind of day for joking around and happiness, hugs and well-wishes. The bright sun was going to be an issue for some of my more-hungover classmates, but they took the good-natured teasing well.
I couldn't see my parents from where I was sitting, so I listened to the boring speeches and waited my turn to walk across the stage. I heard my name - "James Armstrong McKinley" - and got my handshakes and my diploma. As I rounded the corner to where they took photos, I saw her and almost ran past everyone else.
Kellie had grown her hair out some and gotten highlights and curls that caught the sun perfectly. She was wearing a white sundress that ended a few inches above her knee, covered with little pink roses and showing just a hint of cleavage. And she looked absolutely gorgeous to me. I knew that anyone getting a picture of me right then would be getting an enormous goofy grin, but I did not care. I waved to her and then moved along, ushered by one of the teachers. Kellie knew the drill - she'd done this the weekend before, although I hadn't been able to be there - and waved back. I followed her with my eyes the best I could and saw that she'd found my parents. Perfect.
Thankfully, the rest of the ceremony passed more quickly (once they get to the reading of the names, everyone is ready to get out of there). We did the recessional and then everything exploded into chaos as all the graduates tried to find their families or whoever was there for them. I saw classmates hugging each other with tears in their eyes, but there were no tears in mine - I just wanted to find Kellie and my parents.
As it turned out, Kellie found me first, running full-speed into my arms and giving me a big kiss. Well, the kind of big kiss you give someone you love who you haven't seen for two months but are also in public and in front of their parents. Her body felt so good in my arms, and I kept my arm around her even after we'd kissed.
My parents were standing with their arms around each other just like we were, smiling at us and talking to Kellie's Aunt Jenny, who'd driven her here from Michigan.
"Congratulations, Jimmy," my dad said. "If I'd been at all curious about what to get you for graduating, I think I'd know the answer."
I hugged Kellie against my side and laughed. "What you got for us, is, well, amazing."
"I know," Mom smirked. "But you've both more than earned it. Straight A's this semester. A full-ride scholarship for Kellie and a partial one for Jimmy, when we weren't even sure you'd want to go not that long ago."
"The thing that impressed me the most is how hard you worked for it all, James," Aunt Jenny said. "Every time Kellie talked about you, she was telling me about your job at the library and the promotion you got there and the jobs like yardwork and lawnmowing around the neighborhood. Did you sleep this spring?"
"I'm not entirely sure. But it was worth it. I'll be able to live on-campus, avoiding a long commute every day, and no one will have to borrow a penny, at least for this year."
Those things were true, but they weren't the only motivator. Living with my parents, getting back and forth to see Kellie would be a multi-hour affair without a car (and sometimes with). Now it'll be an L ride up the lakefront. We are both going to be quite busy, so when we can spend time together, we really don't want to waste it commuting.
2.