THREE.

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"Look at my dawg! My lil sister finna walk the stage y'all," Khy hyped Kash up as soon as she opened her eyes, camera all in her face.

"Khyren please!" she laughed, shielding herself from the flash.

Today—May 18th was a shining day in what seemed like three straight months of dark clouds for Sadé. She was officially graduated from Clark Atlanta University, with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Cybersecurity.

Sadé had always been interested by all things technology. She watched her brothers play video games and wondered how they were made, she took apart computers as a kid to try and see what was going on inside because she just found them so interesting.

What she aspired to be—and had always aspired towards was to be a developer. A software developer to be specific, she wanted to create things. She took coding classes in high school and college and she just fell more in love with the profession as she went along. She knew since she had a degree in computer science as well she could very easily end up as an IT girl, and she was perfectly okay with that as well. As long as she could put the degree to work.

Her family was all gathered at her father's house this morning to celebrate Sadé and her accomplishments, she was very happy to see everyone.

"Good morning," she smiled brightly, which everyone had been missing, as she came downstairs for breakfast. "Princess!" she gasped, seeing her eight month old niece.

"Aht! Hello to you too, Dae Dae," her big brother Prince spoke. She used to laugh at the fact that he was so pressed to name his daughter Princess, but she thought it was the cutest thing now.

"Hi, PJ," she hugged him tightly. "Thank you for coming, mr. famous producer," she joked, taking Princess from his arms, kissing her chubby cheeks. Prince had been making beats since she met him, he was always locked in his room, headphones on and sitting at his computer trying to make something that sounded great.

He got his big break when he was nineteen and he had been on the rise ever since, making beats for everyone's favorite rappers, singers and everything in between. That was why he worked so much, there was always something to do for Prince.

"I wasn't gon miss lil Brat brat walking across the stage," he teased her and she laughed. Her brothers were the only people who called her Brat—as well as Kasiah and Donny when they wanted to annoy her.

While she ate, she was glad she could push what she was going through to the side and live in this moment. She deserved that after four straight years of hard work and dedication—she deserved her moment in the sun.

"Good morning, family!" Aryn called as Anaya let her in. "Glad to see we're all up and alert!" she clapped her hands together. She was graduating today as well, getting her degree in Forensic Science.

She and Kash were set to ride together, since they had to be at the venue early, and Aryn was determined to help her get ready.

"Good morning," everyone replied back. She joined everyone at the table and kept up the small talk until Kash was done eating, and they headed back up to her room to get ready.

Kash was good with her makeup, but Aryn was great, so whenever there was a big event or something important going on, Kash let her best friend handle the makeup portion of it. Hair—Kash could do, sometimes.

"This is so exciting, I can't believe we're about to graduate, finally. We grown grown now," Aryn stuck her tongue out, dancing a bit as she applied some concealer under her eyes. "Time to start applying for a billion jobs, chile," she rolled her eyes.

"Girl...if I didn't love what I wanted to do I would be a bum in this house after all that damn schooling," she chuckled. She picked her phone up to go and post something on her instagram story, and Aryn tilted her head up quickly.

"I need you to look up for me," she smiled sweetly.

"Okay, you'on gotta give me whiplash, hoe," she giggled. "You look pretty, friend," Kash complimented and Aryn thanked her.

Throughout the rest of her makeup session, Kash had music playing and took some selfies while Aryn worked, even though she wasn't able to post yet, since Aryn acted like she needed her undivided attention the entire time.

So, once she was done, and went to the bathroom, Kash went to her ring light, rubbing her lipgloss together, ready to get a good picture for her story—finally. She went straight into the camera, flipping through her library of filters before settling on one and snapping something cute and captioning it, posting it to her story.

She went to scroll her timeline and watch some stories, knowing she followed some of her graduating class. She smiled seeing all the cap and gown photos, and of course laughed when she came across Khy's video of her on her way to shower.

Kash sat at the edge of her bed, next to her outfit, ready to change until she scrolled upon something that instantly dropped the smile off of her face.

"Okay! Let's get—Sadé what happened?" Aryn said, upon seeing her best friend staring at her phone blankly. She quickly walked over to the bed to see what she was looking at, and her heart dropped. "Dae...I—" she began to say, but she didn't really have the words to approach it.

There wasn't really a way to ask your best friend how she felt about her ex-boyfriend of approximately 2 and a half months getting engaged the day of her college graduation.

Aryn saw the tears brimming Kash's eyes and her heart broke for her friend. "Dae—"

"It's okay!" she exclaimed, forcing a smile on her face. "It's fine, let's get changed, we gotta go soon," she shot up from the bed, picking up her garment bag that held her red dress. She had decent to wear white, since her gown was black.

"Kash...slow down," Aryn grabbed her arm. "It's okay to be sad, baby," she said softly.

Immediately, Sadé shook her head back and forth, plastering the same smile back on her face. "I-I'm okay, let's go," she spoke, voice cracking slightly. In that momentary break, Aryn could hear the shakiness, the weakness and the hurt in her voice and as badly as she wanted to let Kash cry on her shoulder, she knew this wasn't the time for it.

For the entire ceremony, Kash couldn't focus. Her mind was clouded, her brain was not where her body was, no matter how hard she tried to drag it back to reality, it drifted repeatedly.

She could see now why Aryn was trying to keep her off of her phone, and while she appreciated the effort, whenever she found out that the man who told her not even a full three months ago that he 'wasn't ready for marriage or to be committed to one person' was engaged, she would feel the exact same way.

In all honesty, on top of the sadness and the emptiness she was already feeling, she felt confused. There were so many questions swirling around in her mind, she couldn't comprehend them all at once.

But what she did know was that she had to keep up this façade until she got home from graduation and her dinner, because the last thing she needed was to burst into tears on stage.

Once the speeches were over, it was time to call names, so she did her best to breathe deeply as her row lined up to be called. She painted on her brightest smile over and over, although she knew her eyes looked dead. She was trying her hardest to shake the feeling but it followed her like a dark cloud, raining on her constantly.

"Sadé Kashmere Bryant—Computer Science and Cybersecurity!" the announcer called and Sadé snapped out of her trance, crossing the stage as her family screamed for her. She looked up and waved at them, her dimples appearing in her round cheeks while she smiled for the photograph, shaking hands all a across the stage.

Once she was finally down, she took yet another deep breath, walking carefully back to her seat. She tried to remain alert for the rest of the ceremony, since Aryn still had to cross, and she refused to miss that.

"Aryn Sincere LeBlanc—Forensic Science and Criminal Justices!" she heard, and she immediately was on her feet, cheering and screaming for Aryn as she quite literally danced off of the stage, diploma in hand.

After that, there were more words spoken, and the graduates were asked to turn their tassels, making them official graduates of the Clark Atlanta University.

While this should have been one of the happiest days of Sadé's life, the dull heartache that she continued to push back became harder and harder to ignore.

"Dae Dae!" she heard, and immediately recognized as her cousin Nevaeh, who was one of her best friends. She wasn't able to make it to the house, but she promised to make it to the ceremony and she did not disappoint. "Hey nugget! I'm so proud of you baby!" she squealed, hugging her tightly.

She wasn't sure how many tight hugs she'd survive today.

"Thank you, baby," she grinned, holding her hand so Vaeh could lead her back to where the family was. "I'm so glad it's over, chile," she breathed a sigh of relief.

Once she made it back to her family, she was immediately bombarded by affection and love—also being forced to take a thousand pictures. Her grandparents from both sides were there, her parents and step parents obviously and her brothers, as well as Nevaeh, Adonis and Kasiah.

"We're so proud of you, Mommy," Bianca pouted, holding one of her daughters hands while Donovan held the other.

"You made us so happy, sweetheart," her dad pushed a curly strand of hair from her face. "And you look beautiful," he complimented, genuinely making Kash smile.

"Thank you guys. I couldn't have done it without y'all," she squeezed both of their hands. "I love y'all," she pouted.

"Fat fat!" Khy called her and her bottom lip poked out immediately. If anyone was going to make her cry, it was Khyren. "I'm proud of you, mamas. You looked so pretty up there, I damn near cried," he chuckled, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"T-thank you so much," she sniffed. "I love you, Khyren," she spoke in a trembling voice.

"I love you too, Sadé," he smiled, hugging her to him.

That was all she needed for the waterworks to start. Everything she felt from when she saw the instagram post earlier that day, all the tears she forced back let themselves go now, while her shoulders shook, confusing Khy.

He thought she was happy, he thought the tears she was about to shed were going to be happy ones, but by the way she refused to let him pull away and look at her, and the way her entire body shook told a completely different story.

He took her cap off and simply held her head, letting her cry. He didn't know what happened, but he knew she needed this right now.

"Congratulations, ugly," Siah smirked, giving her a hug.

"Thank you, Kasiah," she chuckled. "Did you get me a gift?" she raised her eyebrow.

"Why would I do that?" he mimicked her face and laughed when she sucked her teeth. "Nah I bought you sum'. I'a give it to you on Saturday, not now" he said.

"Um...I want it now, please," she held her hand out, and he just looked at it. "Please? I said please, Siah,"

"And I said no ," he said in a duh tone, making her eyebrows raise high. "Man, Sadé please chill—"

"No! It's fine," she smirked snarkily.

They were currently at her favorite restaurant to celebrate and way more family had turned up for her that couldn't come to the ceremony, so she was making her rounds, and almost everyone had a gift for her. Kasiah had to be difficult, though. He was always difficult.

"Donny!" she cheesed. She was getting so much better at faking her happiness as the day went on. She couldn't tell Khy what happened yet, but after her cry, she felt a small bit of relief, and prayerfully, she could get through the rest of the day smoothly.

"Wassup, Kash money! Congratulations, big dawg!" he immediately stood up amd grabbed her up in a hug.

"Thank you!" she laughed as he shook her back and forth.

"I got yo' gift, you want it now?" he asked.

"Yesss!" she grinned and Siah rolled his eyes with a chuckle. He thought she was probably the most spoiled girl he'd known. She was a sweet girl—but immensely spoiled.

As dinner went on, Kash felt her social battery dying and quickly, and she was happy everyone was just about finished eating, so she could go home and let herself feel her emotions. She gave more hugs, and said more goodbyes as she got ready to go, and she decided she'd ride back with Khy and the guys.

They kept her laughing and smiling on the short drive back, although Khy was still extremely confused as to why she bursted into tears earlier. She fully intended to tell him, just not right now.

Once back home, Kash wasted absolutely no time rushing to her room, closing the door behind her, and sliding down the opposite side, hitting the hardwood floor with a soft thud, staring ahead into space blankly.

So many questions swirled around in her mind, they were on a never ending loop in her brain, one she couldn't stop even if she tried. She'd know since she'd been trying for two months. And out of all of those questions, one stood out above all.

From the moment she saw the pictures and read the caption, that same questions stayed at the forefront of her mind and plagued her, she didn't know of if she'd ever have the answer to it—or any others. But now, all she could do was wonder.

"W-what was so wrong with me?" she muttered aloud, and before she knew it, the tears were back, running rapidly down her cheeks as she held her head in her hands, biting back the loud cries she so desperately wanted to release.