Matt - A few months later...

Song of the chapter - Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds

The sun was beating down on me. I don't understand why they made us sit in the heat in those damn gowns. Why couldn't they put a fricking pop up tent over our seats. I mean, I guess they'd have to get a ton since there's so many of us. And then the parents wouldn't be able to see us in all of our graduation glory.

Whatever. It was boring as fuck. You'd think I'd be all excited to sit there during graduation, the last high school event of my life. I was done, out of there. Moving to a dorm in a few months and away from all of the bull shit.

But there's somewhere else I'd really rather be, someone else I'd rather be with. I took a deep breath, itching to run my fingers through my hair to calm myself down. But the damn cap was on my head. And people were watching me, so I didn't want to look like a nervous looser. Instead I rubbed both hands on my thighs, repeatedly. Even though it still made me look like a nervous looser.

Whatever, no one knew the real reason I was nervous. Shit, I needed to calm the eff down. But it was basically impossible considering what was about to go down. The speeches had started. It looked like there were about four of them, all saying the same thing.

The future is wide open

We can do whatever we set out to do

Don't let your spark burn out

Barf. I didn't need a damn pep talk, I was getting out of hell, finally, that was all the pep talk I needed. No more raging dad in my face. No more pressure to be what everyone expected all the time. No rep to keep up. I was starting over, new people who didn't have a clue who I had been. Well, except for the one person who really knew me now. The real me, the one I actually kind of liked.

Hannah.

Sitting there waiting for the speeches to end and our names to be called, I pulled out my phone. It always put me at ease, reading over our texts from the last few months. Ever since Jeff sent me her number, we'd been texting. Pretty much every day, sometimes for hours. We hadn't talked on the phone so I hadn't heard her voice since that morning I woke up in her bed. I thought about that morning all the time.

After graduation all of that would change. She would be at Jeff's house for his grad party. And I was going. I was nervous as fuck about it. I wanted to see her again. I needed to. She had been the only person who had really, truly, seen through all of my BS and still wanted to know more. God, that girl meant something to me now, so much. I hadn't seen it coming, but one day it fucking hit me. I was in deep and didn't even realize it until she mentioned Jeff's party. As soon as my heart sped up, and I felt the anticipation take over, I knew.

I was right that morning. I was so fucked.

What if I didn't mean the same to her? What if all of this was just a distraction for her? Maybe she was just bored. Maybe...

I told myself to shut the eff up and stop worrying. I just needed to see her again. It was messing with my confidence. But the texts seemed to show that there was something there between us.

I had actually taken screen shots of a few of her texts. I was that guy, the one who couldn't get his mind off of a girl. I had kind of been like that with Amber, but Hannah was a whole new level. She was so much more.

So are you still hung up on that girl that left you?-Hannah

Not really- Matt

That was a lie, but at the time I was ready to move on.

You couldn't shut up about her that night-H

Shit, I must have sounded pretty fucked up-M

LOL, you were a mess!!-H

Thanks-M

But you said some other stuff too-H

Oh no, don't tell me-M

You had me worried for a while-H

What do you mean?-M

I didn't know if you'd do something...-H

Like...???-M

You know, don't make me say it-H
You know what I mean?-H

That bad?- M

Yeah-H

Reading that back put a knot in my stomach. It did that every time. But she was the only one who knew how awful, and desperate and messed up I felt. I guess being as drunk as I was, I confessed every fear I had, every feeling of being worthless. And she still listened, she still worried about me. God, I don't know that anyone else ever had.

I looked up from my phone and saw that there was still one speech to go. My ass was sore, sitting on that plastic chair for forty-five minutes. I was sweating and felt generally disgusting. I had to go and wear a tie for this damn thing. I should have pulled a slacker move and worn shorts and flip flops. Those guys knew what was up.

The administrators sat us in alphabetical order, and McKinley was right in the middle of the party. And just my luck, Amber and her dude, I refused to say his name, had some how worked it out to sit next to each other. Somehow that guy got the grades to be seated with the AP crowd. How in the fuck had he managed that sitting behind the cafeteria all year? I wasn't holding a grudge, despite how it sounded. But what guy would be happy for someone dating the girl that got away. I mean, props to him, he was the better man, but that didn't mean I liked it. I just tried to leave it there and not think too hard on it.

I turned my focus back to my phone and pulled up another screen shot. Hannah knew how to get my mind on track.

U going to the lot tonight?-H

Maybe. Y, r u?- M

No, but Jeff said something. Do u think it's a good idea?-H

Probably not-M

Then don't go-H

The guys will give me a hard time if I don't-M

So. Tell them to F off. Do what's right for u-H

She wasn't afraid to just say what she thought. Which was another reason I was so nervous. If I made a move or said anything about how I felt, she might just tell me off. She might just want friendship.

Honestly, I had never been worried about a girl's reaction. But Hannah wasn't just any girl, that much was clear. She was a damn handful, but I wanted her anyway. I wanted her because of it.

I was so lost in my thoughts I almost missed that they had started calling names. My row was just about to stand up when I felt my phone buzz. I looked down quickly and got a huge smile.

Hey, ur up, dude. Better keep that serious look on ur face-H

She was there. I hadn't expected her to be at the graduation, but knowing she was somewhere watching me worked me up. I was even more anxious for it to end after that text. I sent a quick reply, wanting to get my diploma and sit back in my seat so I could chat with her until the end.

Hey, didn't think you'd be here-M

I pocketed my phone, not wanting to be a complete ass during graduation, then stood up with my row to have our names called and our diplomas handed to us. It was a freaking photo op with the principal, and the parents went nuts over it.

"Mathew McKinley"

I dutifully smiled when my name was called, and I wasn't surprised to hear the cheers and cat calls of mostly my crew. They were a bunch of dicks, but they had been good buddies for the past four years. Most of the shit I went through was my own damn fault so I really needed to cut them some slack.

My feet continued forward, thank whoever had forced us to have graduation practice, cause I had basically zoned out looking for signs of Hannah in the stands. Somehow I managed to pull my attention back to the principal and do the whole handshake-smile-grab-the-diploma maneuver. I had to say, I kicked ass at graduating. That was sarcasm.

After walking in a circle, I was back at my seat and the row sat down on the plastic chairs while we waited for the second half of the class to have their names called. No one tried to streak, or say anything outrageous when they had their moment of glory. A bunch of people had decorated their cap with quotes or some shit like that. I didn't bother. There was nothing important enough to put on my cap.

Once I was sitting, I pulled the phone back out and saw that Hannah had texted back.

I wouldn't have missed it-H

Right. Of course her family would be there to see Jeff graduate. He had said the two families were really close. I wondered what it was like to actually want to be around your family?

Yeah, I know Jeff is probably happy to have you all here-M

She replied instantly.

Yeah, maybe. But I didn't come to see Jeff-H

Shit! My breathing just got messed up. What the hell did that mean? I didn't want to assume anything, but I hoped like hell she meant me.

Oh yeah? -M
You just like sitting in the heat watching people parade in blue and yellow gowns?-M
Or the awesome choir try to sing whatever that song was? -M

I didn't give her time to reply before sending all of my sarcastic answers. I was nervous to know what she had to say.

No-H

The girl wasn't giving me an inch, was she? Eff it, I was going for it.

So who did you come for? I'm hoping it was to see me-M

What the hell. You only live once. Shit, now I sounded like a fucking YOLO cheerleader.

Hmmmm-H

She really liked playing hard to get. After all this time texting the way we had, she knew how to work me up.

Hannah, srsly, is that why?-M

I'll tell u as soon as it's over. Just stay on the field.-H

That made it so much harder to wait for it to end. Damn! I looked up searching everywhere for her, but nothing. Where was she?

After what felt like forever, we were finally introduced as the graduating class and stood to throw our caps in the air. That was probably why so many of them put quotes in their caps. It must have made it a hell of a lot easier to find the right one. Once I finally did find mine, I stood up to see a fricken beautiful girl walking up to me, a look on her face that set my heart racing and made me sweat.

"Wow" I heard myself say without even trying. "You look...unbelievable."

Hannah walked right up to where I was standing, a small smile on her lips. Lips that I found myself staring at.

"Congratulations." She said, barely loud enough for me to hear.

"Thanks." I looked back up at her eyes and found that she was staring at my lips. Damn. That turned things up another level.

"So, wanna get out of here?" I asked her.

She shrugged, "yeah I guess. Don't you need to see your family?"

Shit. Yeah, I did. My fucking dad showed up and they were all somewhere out there. "I guess." I really just wanted to grab her by the hand and get the hell away from everyone. And not to make any moves on her, well maybe a few, but mostly just to be with her, in person. Texting had been awesome, but seeing her standing there in front of me was something else altogether. I didn't want her to leave yet.

"I can hang with you, if you want." She said casually while shrugging her shoulders.

"You'd willingly hang with my family? After everything I told you?" I couldn't believe I was hearing that.

"Sure. Why not?. I know what to expect, your dad's kind of a jerk, so what?"

And that was all it took. I stepped forward, putting on hand gently on the back of her neck and the other around her waist. Then I leaned in and kissed her. The old Matt would have made it as passionate as I could, just to make sure whoever I was kissing felt it all the way to their knees. But this Matt, Hannah's Matt, kept it more low key. I felt her lips, their warmth and just enjoyed the closeness for a second. Or two, but damn, stopping was harder than I thought it would be.

I did, however, and pulled back slightly to look right at her. "Thanks."

"Shouldn't I be saying that to you?" She smirked.

"If you want." I gave her a smolder in return. "But I was thanking you for being willing to stay with me. Hannah, you just don't have any idea what it's meant to me, what it means to me now."

She hooked her arms around my neck and kissed me. And Hannah gave me a little bit more than I had given her. Then she leaned back and said in a whisper, "For me too, Matt."

She was the best part of graduation, hands down. And I planned to do much more then just text her after that day.

^^^^^

Boo hiss? Or cheers!!

I mean, he was the villain, right? And now, he's more. The dude still needs a lot of work, but then Hannah showed up and kept him from going back, so who knows what the future holds.

I just want to thank you all again for this amazing journey. Honestly it hits me all the time that you all have held me up during this story and given me the courage to keep it going. THANK YOU!!!

See you next week for Epilogue 2! 😉

Let's keep the John Hughes hits going with the closing song from The Breakfast Club.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]