Chapter 19 - ALYSSA’S GRADUATION
Four years after the plane incident, Alyssa graduated high school.
The family sat in one row.
Melissa.
Daniel.
Rachel.
Ethan.
Jason.
Not because everyone had become friends.
Because Alyssa asked.
She walked across the stage, accepted her diploma, and looked toward them.
For one second, Rachel remembered the fourteen-year-old girl panicking over dead Wi-Fi.
Then Alyssa looked like a young woman who had survived being asked to choose and decided to refuse the assignment.
After the ceremony, Melissa and Rachel stood awkwardly beside each other for photographs.
Alyssa grabbed both.
“Closer.”
Melissa laughed nervously.
Rachel complied.
The photo looked normal.
It was not.
It was earned.
Later, Alyssa handed Rachel a small envelope.
Inside:
Thank you for never making me prove I loved you.
Rachel cried.
Alyssa rolled her eyes.
“Please don’t make this embarrassing.”
Too late.
Rachel hugged her.
Melissa watched.
Her face tightened for half a second.
Then softened.
May you like
She did not look away.
That too was progress.
