“Just a brief mention during your introduction as class valedictorian. Nothing that would make you uncomfortable.”
I considered it for a moment, then nodded. “That would be fine.”
As I left his office, I received a text from Cassandra’s phone: Mom and Dad decided we can come to your graduation after all. See you Saturday.
I stared at the message, a complex emotion rising in my chest. After all this time, they had changed their minds.
But I knew it was not because they had suddenly realized the importance of my graduation. Something else had motivated this last-minute decision, though I could not imagine what.
Whatever the reason, I was about to find out.
Graduation day dawned clear and beautiful, the kind of perfect May morning that makes Cambridge look like a postcard.
I stood in front of my mirror, carefully adjusting my cap and smoothing the robe over my dress. Despite knowing my parents would now be attending, I kept my original plan to take the bus to campus.
It felt important somehow—a reminder of the journey I had made largely on my own.
The public bus was nearly empty that early on a Saturday. I sat by the window, watching the familiar streets pass by, reflecting on how far I had come since arriving as a freshman four years earlier.
My phone buzzed with messages from my team at Secure Pay, wishing me congratulations, along with one from Jessica saying she had saved seats near the front for herself and Professor Wilson.
