"Big day ahead of us," I tell JJ as I straighten his tie and double check the collar of his dress shirt.

"A long day," he says with a sigh.

"Get excited! We're graduating today! We'll officially be grown ups!" I exclaim.

"We're twenty-two, we've been grown ups for a while," he says.

"No... we were just college students. But after today, we're done with school—"

"Forever, thank god," JJ interjects.

"We're done with school, we'll have our degrees, and we can get real adult jobs," I finish after his interruption.

"I can't believe I made it," he says softly, almost to himself.

"I can. And I'm so proud of you," I say, my voice catching a bit. I take a deep breath to keep my emotions in check.

"Sunny, don't start crying on me, now. At least save it for when they say my name and I walk up to get my degree," he says, and I laugh.

"Okay, okay," I say as I fan my eyes, trying to dry the tears gathering in the corners. "Go get your graduation garb, we need to leave soon," I say, shooing him towards the bedroom.

"Is my Pike stole in here?" he shouts from the bedroom.

"Yes," I call back to him. "Shit," I mutter to myself. "Grab my Kappa stole from the hanger! It should be hanging with yours."

He reappears from the bedroom with our Greek organization stoles and hands me mine. "You got everything else?" he asks.

"Mortar board, gown, Kappa sash - I'm ready."

"Let's roll."

*****************************************
We head to the stadium where graduation is being held. The place is crawling with people. I'm silently thankful they made us arrive two hours before the ceremony, because parking is already scarce. I wonder idly if my parents, or the Pogues, will have trouble finding a spot, but the thought quickly leaves my mind as JJ shuts off my Jeep and climbs out.

I climb out of the passenger seat and move around back to open the trunk, where our robes hang. I carefully remove my gown from the hanger and pull it on. I wrap my sorority stole around my shoulders and look at JJ. "Is it crooked?" I ask as I try to even out the ends of the satin sash hanging over my chest.

"No it's fine," he says offhand, unceremoniously pulling his robe on like a jacket and haphazardly throwing his fraternity sash around his neck.

"You barely looked! Come here, I'll fix yours," I say, making sure it's turned the right way to show his letters. He does the same for me when I finish.

"You look ready to graduate," he says, leaning down to kiss me.

"Okay, lets go then," I say, handing him his mortarboard.

***************************************
While we are under the same umbrella in the College of Arts and Sciences, our different majors of social work and criminology put us in two separate waiting areas to line up for commencement. When it's finally time to go out on the floor to take our seats, I start to feel nervous. I feel my phone vibrate in my hand as I take my seat.

JJ🌊
Don't be nervous

I look around, trying to spot him, but I can't see him in the sea of people.

Easier said than done

JJ🌊
I love you. See you in a couple hours.

I love you too.

JJ🌊
☺️

The next little bit is a blur as the ceremony starts and they begin calling the names of graduates. When they get to my cohort, the Criminology majors, I get the jitters. I space out from nervousness until one of the coordinators motions for my row to stand to get ready to walk the stage. I look all around the packed stadium as I keep stepping forward, one person at a time.

"Graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Criminology, and a minor in Sociology, Sunflower Grace Blume."

My feet carry me across the stage as I shake hands with the faculty I've come to know over the years and accept my degree from the dean of the college. A wolf whistle pierces the air as the degree touches my hand, and I know without a doubt it's JJ. I shake my head and laugh to myself as I walk down the steps and follow behind Ashley, the girl in front me who I've grown close with over the last couple years, as I head back to my seat.

It takes a while to get to the social work majors, but when they finally do, my heart swells with pride when I finally spot JJ stand up in the crowd. He's antsy and nervous as he steps along waiting for his name to be called, made evident by the way I can see him fiddling with his rings.

"Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work, with a minor in Sociology, Jonathan James Maybank."

My eyes follow him as he walks across the stage as I've just done, shaking the hands of his professors and accepting his degree from the dean. A cow bell sounds in the distance, and I can't help but wonder if it's John B sitting up in the stands looking down on him.

Tears of pride blur my vision and spill down my cheeks as I watch him, the once-broken boy from the cut who held no hope for a real future, now a man with a college degree and his whole life in front of him. Pride and accomplishment radiate off of him as he makes his way back to his seat. Ashley offers up a tissue as I wipe the tears from my face.

"You okay?" she asks, giving me a smile.

I sniffle and let out a little laugh. "Yeah, I'm good," I say, dabbing at my eyes. "I'm just so proud of him, you know?"

She smiles again. "I know."

The ceremony drags on, but it finally ends and we all get to file out of the stadium to find our families. I get a text as I emerge from a gaggle of people hugging near the entrance.

JJ🌊
Meet me over by the trophy display

I look at my surroundings and head to the left, where the trophy wall is located. I keep looking around as I make my way to our meet up spot, but I don't see him yet. I'm about to text him back to ask where the hell he is when a hand grabs my wrist and yanks me around the corner to a nearly deserted side hallway.

JJ crushes me in a hug as soon as we're tucked away from the crowd. "I did it. We did it," he says into my hair. He releases his tight grip on me, and I see his eyes are wet with tears, which makes me tear up again.

"You did it," I say, my voice cracking slightly. "I'm so proud of you, JJ."

He quickly wipes his eyes and chuckles. "I'm proud of me, too," he says. "I mean, I'm proud of you, also, but I think we both knew you would graduate college someday."

I smile. "Don't ever doubt yourself. You can do anything you set your mind to."

"The next thing I'm setting my mind to is paying off all this fucking student loan debt," he says with a laugh.

"Don't worry about that now. Let's enjoy our day. We've got people to find and a graduation party to go to," I remind him.

He gives me another hug. "I love you, Sunny."

"I love you, too, JJ." I press a kiss to his lips. "Let's go find my parents and the Pogues."