ON THE DAY of her graduation, Lindy woke up late. The only thing that roused her from sleep was the pounding of Lee's fist against her door.

"Lindsey, get up. I'm not going to your graduation just to sit all the way in the back!"

Lindy sat upright, squinting around her room and barely registering that she would finally be awarded her freedom in a matter of hours. She didn't really care, considering that she had gotten barely any sleep from having stayed out late with Kurt.

She dressed quickly, hurriedly running a brush through her hair and smoothing it down with her hands. She didn't own any makeup, but as she stared in the mirror analyzing her reflection, she tried to tell herself that she didn't need it. It was a big day, though. Sort of.

Draping her cap and gown over her arm, Lindy bounded downstairs to greet her father, who was impatiently standing by the door and fiddling his car keys in his hand. He grumbled out a compliment, something that sounded like, "you look nice," under his breath before throwing open the door.

Lindy rolled her eyes. What generous flattery.

The ride to the school seemed to drag on for years. Lindy kept her body turned from Lee, savoring the silence between them. She had feared he would bring up college and hammer down the truth to her worst fears — she would have to stay in Aberdeen. With him.

"Are you nervous?" Lee asked conversationally, not glancing at his daughter as he kept his eyes on the road. 

"Not really." Lindy examined her fingernails, despising the awkward wall between them both. While most dads would have been over the moon about their daughters graduating, hers was once again acting like she was a job that he had never asked for.

"Is your brother planning on being there?"

"Last I heard, yeah."

Lee said nothing at this and Lindy wondered if he felt guilty. They couldn't even enjoy her triumphant day as a family. It was pathetic.

When they pulled into the parking lot Lindy was eager to depart from her father, not even hesitating to scan the crowd in search of Kurt, her brother and their friends. A light mist of rain had began to fall, so she muttered a goodbye to Lee and ducked her head, speed-walking into the school gym.

Inside behind the bleachers was a swarm of Weatherwax seniors, all donning their caps and gowns and tittering with excitement. Lindy slipped into hers, zipping up the front and then adjusting her cap.

"Clayton!" a teacher barked. She flapped her fingers at Lindy, ordering her into line. She quietly took her place, resisting the urge to tap her foot with impatience.

"I think you're forgetting something, Clayton," the teacher remarked, producing a long gold stole emblazoned with the logo of Weatherwax. Lindy's eyes widened. The stole was only to be worn by the top ten percent of her class.

"Uh, are you sure?" Lindy asked uneasily, not wanting to draw any attention to herself. Knowing Kurt was somewhere out there made it harder. She didn't want him to see her like that, prancing around in some fancy getup as if she were better than him.

"Positive. Says so right here on my list." The teacher tapped her clipboard, and lightly placed the stole around Lindy's neck. She winced as if the material had physically burned her.

The music started up and she barely had time to think of a way to stash the stole. Because of her C lettered last name, she would be one of the first out. The line in front of her trailed to the center of the gym and as she followed, she looked up in the stands.

Lee was easy to spot. Somehow, he'd wrangled himself into getting a front row seat. His expression was passive, but somewhere beneath his hard exterior Lindy had the feeling that he was proud. It didn't matter. He was still god-awful.

On the opposite side of the gym, a gaggle of waving hands caught her attention. Trae, Krist, Shelli and Kurt were all at the very top of the stands, flailing their arms around as if they were trying to land a plane. Lindy giggled and fluttered her fingers in their direction, feeling her heart swell.

Her real family had shown up for her. That was enough.

She found her seat amongst the many organized rows, and waited as her principal droned through opening statements and the valedictorian made their speech. Once the names began to be called, she felt relief. Her feet had started to fall asleep from all the waiting.

Lindy's assigned line marched forward up the ramp leading to the makeshift stage, and she could feel the rapid thud of her heartbeat as the suspense of her name being called hung in the air.

"Clayton, Lindsey!"

A roar of excitement filled the gym, echoing off the walls. Lindy grinned as she strode forward, shaking the principal's hand and accepting her diploma. In the corner of her eye, she could see them all, standing and jumping as if they were at a football game. From the left, Lee had stopped mid-applause for his daughter, his attention captured by the commotion being made for her.

As Lindy walked off stage, she passed the side where they all stood. She flashed them a thumbs up and Krist whistled, making her face go red with embarrassment.

Throughout her exhilaration, the most memorable moment was when she saw Kurt's face. His expression was one of such pride and love, she thought he might burst from the sheer feeling of watching her soar with the success he knew she dreamed of.

_________

After the alma mater had been sung and caps had been thrown up into the air, (against the wishes of the school — anyone who dared to throw their cap had been threatened with a confiscated diploma, but everyone did it anyway) Lindy was allowed to mingle into the crowd.

She tucked her diploma book under her arm and entered the mayhem of families congregating outside, all of them attempting to find their graduates.

It was critical that she locate Kurt before Lee got a hold of her. She wanted to see him, to kiss him and thank him for coming even though he'd sworn he would never go back to Weatherwax after his stint as a janitor there. She wanted to do it all before Lee could trap her.

Elbowing her way through the crowd, Lindy dished out rushed apologies, at one point catching her cap before it could slide off of her head.

"LINDY!"

In front of her, Krist had picked up Kurt, and was half-holding him in the air as they both tried to flag her down. She laughed, waving back and darting through the mass of people to reach them.

"You guys!" she shouted happily, throwing herself into their embrace. They all wrapped their arms around her, forming one giant, conjoined group hug.

"You did it!" Shelli squealed, grabbing Lindy's face between her hands and kissing her cheek.

"Fancy getup you got there, kid," Trae said, tugging on Lindy's gold stole.

She quickly yanked it from his hands. "I didn't want to wear it. Not in front of everyone."

A look passed over Kurt's face. It was so quick that one might have not been able to notice it, but Lindy did. Her words seemed to have physically wounded him for the briefest moment. It was almost like it had hurt his feelings that she was willing to hide her accomplishment -- as if she were trying to spare him.

"If you're not going to wear it, I will!" Krist pulled the stole off of Lindy and threw it around his neck like a fashionable scarf. She didn't protest, only laughing and trying to erase the face Kurt had made out of her head.

"Congratulations," Kurt said gently, placing his hand on the small of her back. She turned into him, hoping that whatever had crossed his mind so suddenly had completely dissipated. It appeared that it had, because his smile was radiant.

"Thank you," she said shyly. Kurt made a move in attempt to steal a kiss, but Krist pulled him back by the collar of his flannel.

"Absolutely not, not in front of all the kids!"

"And not before Linds gets her gift," Trae announced.

Lindy glowered at her brother. "Do you not listen to a word I say? I specifically said no gifts!"

"And I told you that wasn't happening. Besides, my gift isn't really all that physical."

"What is it then? A monologue about how I'm the much more attractive sibling?"

Trae playfully flicked his sister's nose. "No, smart-ass. It's this."

Her pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket, placing it into Lindy's hand. She hesitated, wondering if it would be a gag gift of some sorts that had a crude drawing on the inside or some insult written in her brother's hand.

She unfolded it slowly. Her eyebrows wrinkled. It was a check. Filled out by Trae. Made out for five thousand dollars.

"What the hell is this?" Lindy demanded, looking up at her brother.

He was smiling lovingly at her, his hands in his pockets and his stance casual.

"It's almost all of my money saved up from the past three years of working and a very decent sized amount that Mom left me when she died. I know Dad pretty much took most of it and locked it away from us, but I managed to get my hands on some of my portion. It only made sense that it go to the kid who was doing something huge with her life."

Lindy felt her jaw lock, shock cascading through her body in a warm flow. It was taking her awhile to piece Trae's words together.

"What . . . what do you want me to do with this?" she whispered, fingering the check in her hands. 

"I want you to use it to get started at UW, Linds. I know it's only a little but it will get you there. After that we can figure the rest out."

Lindy's eyes filled with the wetness of tears and her fingers began to tremble, the check quivering as she held tight to it. 

"I can't accept this."

"Yes you can, and you will. You're going to that damn school Lindy."

Lindy bit her lip, holding back the sobs that were overflowing in her chest. She slammed into her brother, holding him to her and thanking her lucky stars that she had him. It had not quite hit her what all of it meant for her future, but all she knew was that she loved Trae, and that she had never been so grateful in her life.

"Lindsey! There you are!"

Lee pushed his way through the crowd, holding a small bouquet of flowers that he must have purchased from the stand outside of the school. Lindy pulled away from her brother and quickly folded the check into the palm of her hand.

Lee would not be allowed to know of his son's gift to her. Not yet, anyways. 

"Dad," she said stiffly. A perfect moment had suddenly ceased to exist, because once again, her father had made an entrance.

Lee stood in front of the group, his eyes flickering back and forth between Trae, and Kurt, Shelli and Krist. Their was a taut silence that ensued.

"Trae," Lee said coldly, finally acknowledging his son. He stepped forward, putting an arm around Lindy and guiding her away. He did this with difficulty, as Lindy practically dragged her feet across the pavement.

"Hey Dad," Trae replied coolly.

"Dad, I haven't even told them thanks for coming yet," Lindy argued, wiggling out from beneath her father's arm.

"I'm taking you to lunch, Lindsey," Lee said sternly. She knew that was merely code for, I'm taking you away from these unknown strangers that I am irrationally judging as soon as possible.

"Go Linds, I'll see you later," Trae insisted. His eyes urged his sister to comply, and she did, backing away. Kurt, Krist and Shelli said nothing, knowing intuitively not to speak in front of a man like Lee.

Lindy met Kurt's eyes desperately before her father completely pulled her into the crowd and towards their car. Neither of them spoke as they got in, buckling their seatbelts.

"Who were those kids, Lindsey?" Lee asked calmly.

"Trae's friends. Why?" Lindy clenched her fists as they rested on her thighs. She knew what was coming. Lee was more predictable than he gave himself credit for.

"If I ever catch you hanging around them, you are going to be sorry. Do you understand?"

Lindy said nothing. She nodded her head and then pressed her forehead against the glass window.

All too predictable, she thought.