Monday morning was here. My final day as a student at Maxwell High School. I woke up for the predawn prayer, placing the rug to point eastward. When I had finished, I remained seated rather than get up and put everything away immediately.

I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of my breathing, using the creases of my fingers to count the times I said the phrase "Alhamdullilah" in my head. I asked God to forgive me for doing wrong by Valentino, Clara, my parents, and myself as a Muslim. I remained like this until the cream-colored, gauzy curtain that hung over the windows of my room began to glow with the touch of sunrise.

I stood and retrieved my Polaroid camera. I took my final senior year picture with a click toward the prayer rug and windows. I then peeled the rug off the floor, placed it and my prayer hijab on the back of the computer chair, and went to bed.

The graduation ceremony would start at four in the afternoon, so I had a few hours to sleep in.

Mama woke me up later, and we spent the rest of the morning ironing my cap and gown. The black color contrasted nicely with the red sash I'd been given to signify my summa cum laude honor, and I thought it would pair well with a red hijab. I put my hair up in a bun and retrieved a pair of black slacks with a matching blouse to wear underneath my graduation robe. Once done, I adjusted the look of my cap over my hijab. I smiled in the mirror and felt my mood go up considerably.

Mama and Baba were already waiting in the living room when I finally made my way out.

"Just look at you," Mama breathed, outstretching her arms to hug me. I could see that my mom's brown eyes were glistening.

"Don't start crying now, Mama. I haven't even gotten on stage yet!" I teased.

"Kiddo, remember what I said. Don't grow up too fast, okay?" Baba said as he fixed the graduation cap that was a little loopy on my head with one hand. In his other hand, he held a bouquet of fresh flowers.

"How could I drive you fishing if I don't grow up?" I replied, grinning at my dad.

Baba grinned back.

It was chaos when we pulled up into the stadium parking lot where the ceremony was being held. The graduating class was about two hundred, but that number tripled because everyone was allowed two guests. I could see crowds of people with balloons and flowers flooding the perimeter of the stadium. Biting my bottom lip, I quickly scanned the place to find my friends.

Baba noticed my creased brow and said, "Let me drop you guys near the entrance, and I'll rejoin you as soon as I get a place to park."

As soon as I got out of the car with my mom, I was grateful the school had thought to host the graduation later in the day when there were clouds overhead. The heat would've been unbearable otherwise.

"Inaya-a-a-a! Over here!"

Recognizing the voice to be Salah's, I grinned from ear to ear as I jogged over, whisking Mama by my hand to meet my friend.

"Mama, come! It's my friend Salah!"

Salah looked pretty with a multicolored hijab underneath her graduation cap, sparkling eyeshadow to match, and nude lipstick.

"Hey, Salah! Oh, assalamualaikum," I said politely as I gathered that Salah's parents were the two older people standing behind her.

Salah's father wore a professional-looking navy suit, and her mother wore a matching salwar kameez with a scarf around her head.

"Assalamualaikum," Salah greeted my mom with a smile.

"Waalaikum salaam," Mama smiled in return and then turned to speak to Salah's parents in Bengali. The three adults began a conversation, but we ignored them.

"Now, where's that girl, Ameena," Salah mumbled, turning her head left and right to find the girl in question among the sea of faces.

"I hope she gets here fast. The ceremony is going to start in ten minutes," I said as I craned my neck around. "Oh, there! I see her! Ameena!" I waved her hand to get the other girl's attention, and it worked.

Ameena, who wore a golden, glittery hijab underneath her cap, waved back and dodged through the bustling crowd to join us. Salah's parents and my mom stopped speaking to turn their attention to the newcomers.

The two adults walking behind Ameena quickly introduced themselves to the group as her parents. While her father was dressed in a faded black suit, her mother wore a sparkling flower-print salwar kameez suit. Her hair was carefully pinned beneath a headscarf to show off her brown highlights.

"My baba is still looking for parking," I informed the group.

"Such a big crowd today," Salah's mother agreed in her accented English. She then fixed her gaze on Ameena intently and turned to Ameena's parents. "Where's Amir?"

"He should be here soon," Ameena's mother said with a smile, and her husband nodded beside her.

"Who's Amir?" Salah frowned. "And how do you and Ameena know him, Amma?"

"He's your cousin."

"Amma, we have like three Amirs in the family. Two Amirahs, also. We're not a creative family."

Meanwhile, Ameena had begun to blush furiously as Salah's mother kept talking. I pieced together why Salah said the guy looked familiar.

"Don't you remember? His parents lived in the apartment next door when you were kids."

Salah's eyes widened when the realization hit her. "No way! Ameena's marrying that Amir!?" Salah turned on Ameena. "Oh em gee, Ameena! Do you know what this means?! We're going to be related!"

I smirked at Ameena's beaming face, which was a mixture of delight and shyness. I remembered how confident Ameena was at prom with Amir in her grasp. That boy was all she needed to be bold.

An announcement blared out from the speakers overhead, breaking the conversation. Graduates were to enter the stadium and take their designated spots, and parents would enter fifteen minutes later.

With our arms linked, we gleefully entered the crowded stadium, making sure not to get pushed in as the other students did the same. On our way in, my gaze fell on a loud, giggling group of girls. I gave Elsa, Clara, and Jamie a small but sincere smile. I would probably never see them again.

Only Clara acknowledged me, smiling a little, while her two friends avoided my eye contact and kept walking forward. I told myself not to be too bothered by their reaction. Most importantly, I didn't have a grudge against them anymore. Everything was over.

I continued with Salah and Ameena flanked at my sides.

The graduation theater had all the look and glamour of an opera hall with a vast stage, a rounded-off balcony, and red plush seats. Just as I was about to settle into my chair, I caught sight of a boy with a lean, muscular frame sitting among the soccer team. His dark golden hair bobbed along as he spoke with his mates lively.

Valentino.

I squirmed in my seat uncomfortably but smiled in his direction when he turned his head. Valentino deliberately looked the other way when he caught sight of me.

My heart dropped to my stomach, and I sat frozen in my chair for a moment. I had chosen to wear a red hijab today to match my honor sash, forgetting that Valentino remembered Tireya had red hair. Seeing his reaction just now brought the memory up, and the thought made me cringe.

"Inaya? You okay?" Ameena's voice startled me.

"Yeah...just emotional, I guess." I avoided my friend's gaze and fixated my eyes forward, forcing myself not to look in Valentino's direction again.

Today was the last time we would ever see each other, and seeing him avoiding my gaze like this was too much. But I had to be strong.

The ceremony started with the usual fanfare, and soon enough, one of the school faculties called my name to deliver the salutatory speech.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds to hold onto the peace inside me before standing and walking towards the stage and to the podium. In front of me, my friends were clapping and clamoring, and I was positive that I could hear Baba and Mama's loud voices piercing through the air to cheer me on. All I could do was focus on the ramp leading up the stage and pray that I wouldn't trip or do something else embarrassing on the way there.

Baba was sure to have told the neighboring parents, "That's my daughter!" but I was too nervous to hear any of it, knowing Valentino was watching me—or deliberately not watching me.

I arrived at the podium and wrestled the neck of the microphone to get it to settle in front of my lips. I focused on the auditorium's back wall and took a deep breath.

"Uhm." The mic emitted piercing feedback at the sound of my voice, and my body recoiled at the shrill sound. After it settled, I looked at the paper containing the speech on the podium and began to recite from it.

"Some of you might not know me. My name is Inaya Muhammad, but to my family, I'm Inaya Ofrazita Stonewell, the product of a brown girl and a white guy who are nerds still crazy in love. I'm so honored that I've been given this chance to stand in front of all of you who have worked so hard to finish this chapter in our life."

I shifted my feet, trying to get the jitters out of my body.

"What kind of advice could I give all of you as we enter the next uncertain part of our lives? Uncertain for us, and thrilling for the parents who've been dying for us to empty that room to create their home office..."

The audience chuckled lightly at this, and I felt my confidence grow.

"I think us graduates can agree that the one thing we all have in common is that our high school experience was filled with ups and downs. My own experience made me realize that real life is so much more different than life in online or in a video game." I took the chance to sneak a peek in Valentino's direction. I could tell he was frozen in his seat, eyes not looking at me, but I forged on. "Online, you can edit, hide, or delete things. In a game, you can restart wherever you left off and have unlimited chances to fix what's wrong. But in real life, one unfortunate misunderstanding, one wrong misstep, one bad decision, and life would never be the same. There's no going back to fix it."

I flitted my eyes to the back of the crowd again before continuing.

"But that's okay. We all make mistakes. I know I have on so many occasions. Forgetting to wear sunscreen on a trip to Niagara Falls was a mistake, but it's one that I could edit out. Forgetting to study for that one math test was a mistake, but that one stays on my record. But my biggest mistake was when I tried to deny who I was and tried to be someone I wasn't. I thought if I lied, I could simplify my problems. But I was wrong. It only made things worse."

I took a deep breath to steady myself before I started again.

"By lying, I hurt other people. And not only that, I also hurt myself because I was hiding instead of being proud of who I am. My baba once said, 'We can't please everyone. At the end of the day, that's okay.' We can be amazing people without lying or trying to be someone we're not. Be who you are without being afraid of what other people will say."

From the corner of my eyes, I thought Valentino's gaze finally fell on me.

"Right now, I can confidently say that I probably won't stop making mistakes, even more so now that college is looming on the horizon. Maybe I'll choose the wrong major and have to live on Ramen for years to offset the cost of taking a few useless classes. Or maybe I'll learn that juggling eighteen credits a semester is a mistake while trying to have a bit of social life. But a wise poet and a philosopher, YankE—"

Bubbles of laughter erupted in the audience. I gave them a bittersweet smile that started to form on my lips. I glanced at Valentino and saw a hint of a smirk on his face. My heart warmed at the sight, and I quickly returned to my speech.

"Once, a wise poet and philosopher, YankE, said in his song, 'I ain't neva lost cuz I always win/ even when the other one's got gold/ my peace is within.' So that's what I'm going to take away from my high school years and what I want every graduate here to remember as we embark on our journey to officially becoming an adult. I will hold my head high even if my mistakes once held me down because I'm learning from those mistakes. And I will keep working on myself and being true to who I am because the only way to win is to find my peace."

I paused as I felt the atmosphere in the stadium get jumpy. The room was about to erupt.

"Dr. Seuss once said, 'Your mountain is waiting!' and I would like to add, don't forget to wear sunscreen if you need to when climbing that mountain. So, congratulations, graduates of Maxwell High!"

The room roared with applause. I smiled at the crowd, their faces muddling with unshed tears of relief before I turned away and walked off the stage. I glanced at the faculty on stage and searched for Mrs. Asaka. She nodded in approval.

Down the steps, I could faintly hear Salah, Ameena, and some other classmates who sat at my perimeter, congratulating me for the speech. However, the thudding of my heart was much too loud, so I just smiled back at the smiling faces around me as I settled in my chair.

"What were you referring to?"

I turned to look at Ameena. Salah turned to listen in, too.

"I guess I forgot to tell you guys." My head was still spinning. "But I'll explain it all later, okay? It's sort of a long story."

"Girl, you better," Salah replied, making both me and Ameena smile. "Especially if it involves a certain boy whose name starts with a V."

"Maybe I'll write a book about it," I joked.

The rest of the ceremony went by in a blur, including when my name was called to go up on stage and accept my diploma. I returned to my seat, and it wasn't long before it was my turn to watch Valentino cross the stage. His teammates whooped and hollered, and the Fan Club squealed. I clapped quietly, my gaze lingering on him until he disappeared off-stage.

After the principal's final speech, the ceremony was over. Students poured out of the stadium first, followed by the guests. I snapped a few pictures with my Polaroid but was pulled by my hand to be in several different people's pictures—a group picture, one with the teachers, another with the floral display in front of the stadium, a portrait shot holding balloons and flowers—my friends took pictures everywhere it was possible to do so. I kept my face partially hidden where I could.

I caught Valentino looking in my direction from the corner of my eye. I turned to face him, and we locked gazes for a few fleeting seconds before his dad walked into view. He put his arm around Valentino's shoulders, beaming as the proud father he was, and Valentino broke eye contact to smile at his dad. The two went off to stand with his soccer teammates for pictures.

I looked away and smiled, feeling warmth blossoming inside my heart. I was able to hold my head high throughout the ceremony and enjoy it.

"I'm starving!" Mama exclaimed. A few clouds watched over us. "Let's go get some celebratory food. How about it?"

I said my goodbyes to my friends with the fervent promise of keeping in touch with each other despite our different college options. But seeing Salah and Ameena's backs, my shoulders fell. I wished I could capture the scene—the scene of growing up.

I inhaled deeply and slowly released it as we made our way to the car. I was interrupted when someone shouted my name. I froze. My parents glanced back at me but kept walking. With a shaking heart, I turned around.

Valentino stood a few yards away, his cap off and held tightly in his right hand. He was breathing loudly like he'd run to catch up with me.

"What college did you get accepted into?"

I felt my heart catch in my throat. If he was talking to me so openly and with so much affection, it could only mean....

"Cornell!" I replied, grasping the edge of my gown to stop myself from swaying. I was grateful my parents had given me the privacy to have this conversation. "I'm waiting on a couple more, but I think I'm going to Cornell."

"I got accepted there as well. Soccer scholarship. You know!" His voice changed from its usual tone to serious, and I braced myself. "I shouldn't have been so mad at you at the hospital. You were just telling the truth." He paused. "And since you said sorry, so will I. I'm sorry, Inaya, for being rude to you. At the hospital, and when I started being obsessed with Tireya."

I hid a muffled cry behind the palm of my hand, so overcome with relief. It took all my strength not to break down then and there.

"Will you forgive me, too?"

I lowered my hand and blinked the wetness that formed in my eyes. My heart trembled.

"Yeah, of course, I forgive you!"

"Honestly," Valentino grinned. "I was going crazy thinking I had feelings for two people at the same time. So, I'm glad that it was you. Let's meet each other again, InshaAllah!"

InshaAllah. Mama said to add that word when you intended to do something.

The clouds blushed above, and beneath this perfect, impossible sky, Valentino and I turned away from each other. So, what if I didn't get to text the boy I liked whenever I wanted to? I had accepted myself, the limitations of abiding by my religion, and the peace from doing both.

My future looked bright, and there was a chance of mine intertwining with Valentino's again—halal and without any catfishing this time.

The end.

For now.