Chapter 52

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Love would never leave us alone
Ah in the darkness, there must come out to light ~ Bob Marley & The Wailers

A few months later

"And we stand here today honoring our students who graciously worked hard throughout the year. I couldn't be more proud of these kids, I remember the day..."

I moved to the side of my chair, angling my head so I could see the back of Victor's head. As if he could feel my eyes, he turned, eyes matching mine. A small smirk curled on the corner of his lips, he winked before turning back around. I covered my mouth, concealing my giggle.

We sat in our cap and gowns, with Quinn sitting by my side, and Lily a few seats down. I couldn't help but feel sadness consume me. I can't believe it's over, I was just a freshman spending my time with friends, crying over grades,  gossiping over lunch, and deathly avoiding Victor in the halls out of embarrassment. I couldn't help the lump that formed in my throat when a round of applause erupted from the crowd.

I stood up, clapping my hands and joining the rest of my class as we celebrated our hard work. We threw our caps in the air watching the red hats fall gracefully to the ground. I turned to Quinn squeezing her tightly and rubbing her back. Lily ran up to us joining the hug. I stepped back wiping away the tears that glistened on my cheeks.

No words had to be shared between us to understand what we were feeling. We smiled, eyes watery and lips quivering. We then split apart returning to our respective families. A silent promise to hang out later lingered in the air.

My mother hugged me with tears brimming in her eyes, "I'm so proud of you," she whispered in my ear. "Your dad would have been so proud." The dam broke at that, thoughts of my father clouding my mind. I miss him so much, I wish he were here with us. I his I could run into his arms and that he could congratulate me on coming this far.

Nico stared up at the two moms crying over their kids growing up. He tilted his head, confused as to why they were so sad. I squatted so I was down at his height, "they're not sad buddy, those are happy tears." I smiled warmly.

He grinned wrapping his tiny hands around my neck. I hugged him back, "congrats Niya," he chirped.

"Thank you, Nico."

Cora hugged her big brother, burying her face in his chest. "I can't believe you're leaving me alone for high school," she shook her head. Cora is going to be a freshman next year and often feared the thought of high school, a totally different world from middle school.

After forcing Victor and me to take a million pictures, our moms took us out to dinner. I scooted into the curve of the dark brown booth, besides Victor. I leaned into his body, his arm lazily circling my waist. The lights in the restaurant were dim and light music played from the speakers.

Kendall sat across from us her elbows propped up on the table and head in her hands. "So, how long?" She asked, looking between the two of us.

I raised an eyebrow, "how long what?"

"How long have you two been dating?" My mom answered raising an eyebrow of her own.

My eyes widened, what? I looked up at Victor who had a casual expression on his face. He looked down at me and shrugged his shoulders, "go on, answer them."

I gulped leaning back into my seat, "a few months now." I peeked an eye open at Kendall who was sitting with a shit-eating grin on her face. "Called it, you owe me sixty," she pointed in moms direction.

My jaw dropped, "you guys knew?"

Mom grumbled placing a couple of twenty's in Kendall's hand. "Honey, we've been under the same roof for almost a year now, and we're mothers. You don't think we don't know when our kids are canoodling," Kendall said.

Victor grimaced at his mother's choice of words, "what the hell is canoodling?"

"Oh my gosh this is great, we really can be sisters now." Cora turned to me grabbing onto my arm and shaking it.

I laughed, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her in, "I'd love to be your sister."

"Hey what about me, I want to be your sister," Nico whined, stomping his foot.

The table laughed at Nico's outburst, Victor's body leaning into mine, his chest vibrating with laughter. "Oh my gosh Nico I would love to be your sister too, you two are a package deal," I said crossing my fingers.

The waiter approached the table taking our orders. I sighed as I watched Kendall visibly irritate the waiter by taking forever to decide on what to eat. She kept going back on every request, after finding something new on the menu.

I turned my view to look at Victor who already had his eyes set on me. I raised an eyebrow in question, "what?"

He moved so his back was towards Nico. Cora sat beside me too focused on her phone and my mom was only adding to the maddens by studying the menu with Kendall and egging her on.

"Anyone ever tells you, you have beautiful eyes?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

I blinked, the thought never crossing my mind, "no, never." I always thought I had plain brown eyes as to why no one ever commented on them. I never considered them beauty-wise.

"You have really pretty eyes Aniya," he looked into my eyes, his voice a bit deeper and quieter, making it feel like it was only the two of us again. I could feel the heat rising in my body.

"And what would you like Ma'am," the waiter bounced the question in my direction. I pulled away from Victor's hypnotic gaze, suddenly feeling hot and flustered.

I picked up the menu, choosing the first thing I laid eyes on. "Oh um, I'll just have the ribeye steak with French fries." He scribbled the order down, moving on to the next. I blew out a breath of air, Victor ordered next as he kept his hand on my bare thigh rubbing the inside of it warmly.

When we got home, I was too exhausted to do anything so I just collapsed in my bed and fell asleep.

The next morning I got a text from Lily telling me about the graduation party some kid was hosting tonight. I wasn't exactly in the mood for partying but the girls wanted to go, so I go.

I spruced up my hair in the mirror, fluffing my curls and making sure everything was intact. I somehow convinced Victor to come with me again. This party wasn't going to be too wild, more like a chill hangout between a few friends.

I knocked on the door to the large house, and a familiar face opened it. "Olive?" I exclaimed. She stood in a set of casual clothes, her skin radiant and glowing more than usual. Seriously I need her whole skincare routine, now.

"Hi," she smiled, greeting me with a hug.

"Yo, who's at the door?" Nathan strolled by a bowl of popcorn in his hand, "oh hey Aniya." He said throwing a piece in his mouth. His eyes shifted to Victor who stood silently, "Victor," he nodded.

"Come on in," Olive opened the door wider to let us in. "I'm glad you guys could make it, everyone in the living room is  just playing a few games and watching a movie."

"ANIYA," I heard my name being screamed as I was jumped on by my two best friends.

"Ow, you guys have got to stop doing that," I rubbed my head but hugged them back.

Lily pulled on my hand, dragging me to the couch to take a seat. Regina was already there downing a cup of juice, "Hey," she smiled.

Lily sat herself down in her lap. Regina steadied themselves, keeping her hands taught around her. Quinn sat beside me babbling about her worries about college next year.

I spotted Victor catching up with a few friends earlier; those friends mostly being the whole soccer team. Bryant stood across from him nudging his shoulder. Vic glared back only making Bryant burst out in laughter. I wonder what they're talking about.

"Quinn, stop worrying, we just graduated. Take one night to relax, you deserve it." I hooked my arm around her neck.

She sighed, but reluctantly agreed, sinking into the couch. I got us some pizza and steered the conversation in a different direction.

By ten o'clock Lily, Quinn, and I was crying again. We may have been a little tipsy as we clung to each other. We deep-dived into every single memory we made spent together, avoiding anything with the D-word.

Sadly we were splitting apart, Quinn's smart-ass got into Harvard for law. Even though she has an immense love for the environment after recent events she wanted to work in the justice system. She wants to help make sure people who are wronged get the closure and ending they need in life.

Lily got into California State University and is working on becoming a pediatric nurse. She claimed kids are better and purer than adults and would rather tend to them. I couldn't argue with her argument about that one.

I was headed to James Madison University, the world of business calling my name. I want to continue the line of restaurants my dad and mom started.

"Alright I think it's time to go," Victor came over to the couch. He grabbed my hands pulling me to my feet. Quinn and Lilly stood to hug me like we weren't going to see each other for most of the summer.

I let Victor drag me outside the house, the cool air nipping at my skin when we stepped out. The drive home was unusually long. "Victor, where are you taking us?" I asked. It seemed to be a habit of his whisking us in a different direction than intended.

He shrugged, tapping his fingers on the wheel. "Don't feel like going home." I soon recognized the path we were on and relaxed in my seat.

We pulled up to the empty house, the place where we had our first date. I laughed, climbed out of the car, and ran up the hill where the petite house sat.

Victor followed after me, locking the car and jogging along aside me. He opened the door and let us in. The place looked like it was cleaned as the blankets and food left last time were gone.

"Do you guys have a housekeeper who comes by often?" I asked, opening the door to a stocked fridge. I grabbed some strawberries and grapes making myself a bowl.

"Yeah, her name is Glenda," he replied, sitting on a barstool across from me. I grinned, popping a slice of strawberry in my mouth. I gestured towards the bowl, offering him one.

I giggled when he opened his mouth to accept it. I leaned over the counter and dropped a slice in his mouth. "I have something for you," he swallowed, digging into the pocket of his sweats.

"Really? What is it?"

He pulled out a small square box, its silver covering glimmered under the kitchen lights. He handed it to me gently for me to open.

I looked back up at him, nervousness entering my system. "What is it?"

He smirked, nodding towards the box, "open it."

Carefully I opened the lid of the small container, I couldn't help but let a tear slip down my cheek. I wasn't prepared to see it again. How did he know?

"Your mom told me," he read my thoughts. The cute little penguin sat cheekily on the silver chain. It was almost identical to the one my dad gave me on my birthday. This one was just on a longer band. "I know it's not the same as the one he gave you, but I thought you'd like it," he shrugged. "Your mom showed me a picture and I tracked down the exact charm."

"Thank you," I gulped, wiping the tears off my face. I circled the counter and ran into his arms. They embraced me softly but firmly. "This means so much, you don't even know," I said more tears rolling down my face.

"You're welcome, let me see it on you." He murmured in my hair.

I pulled back, pecking him on the lips before turning around. The penguin charm sat happily on my chest, Victor's long fingers linked the chains together, securing it around my neck.

His hands grasped my hips, facing me towards him. "I love you Aniya," he said, keeping his soft grey eyes on mine. My heart warmed further, almost as if it was about to explode out of my chest.

"I love you too," my voice broke, a smile forming on my lips. I don't know how I got so lucky to be with this man but I'm glad whatever weird fate there was in the universe brought us together.

I guess rejection can be a good thing based on how you view the aftermath. You can either sulk about it or learn to move on and enjoy what the future has in store for you. Not everything is set in stone. But I'm glad mine is with him.

— Fin —

Thank you so much go reading and following the journey of this book. It was my readers who pushed me to finish writing when I had no motivation so thank you!

There will be an epilogue so stay tuned for the very last chapter!


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