Things get awkward between Hunter and I. Why wouldn't it? I probably broke the boy's heart. We stop texting and hanging out with each for two weeks. It's not that hard to avoid him anyways. He's busy with his college stuff and having fun with his senior friends. I'm busy with my junior year stuff, so we just spend time being busy. 

Still, we run into each other. We stare into each other's eyes awkwardly before nodding. Then, we move on. 

Time seems to pass in a blur as I go through my daily routine. Before I know it, it's senior graduation and we've finished our exams. Seniors get out a week earlier than all of us so they have a week to relax and practice for graduation. 

"Dee! Did you see my grad cords?" Allen shouts from downstairs 

"No! Shouldn't you have them ready by now? The ceremony is in a few hours! Aren't you supposed to be at school already?" I glance at the clock. We have two hours until the ceremony begins. I peer down the stairs and observe his frantic behavior.

"It's fine! The guys have me covered, but where the hell are my cords?" He has on a red one that the entire graduating class wears, a gold graduation stole for his National Honor Society membership, black for taking a second language, and navy blue cord for his Varsity Football. The cords stand out against his white gown. I almost snicker from the huge grad gown which makes him look like a ghost. 

"Which one are you looking for?" I haven't really paid attention to the number of cords he has. 

"The Physics one! It's Red and Black." He rummages through the drawers in a rush.

"Dude, it's just a cord. You have plenty other ones anyways." Finn yawns as he also watches Allen moving around frantically. 

"It's not just a cord," he snaps a little angrily. "I'm using the same one that Dad had." Finn and me soften a little and feel bad at taking this lightly. I forget that Allen was in the physics society since it seemed so unlike him to join since he's going to be going to culinary school. I think the only reason he joined was because of Dad. Dad used to be the president of the society way back when he was in high school. I remember seeing trophies collecting dust in the attic besides my mom's high school stuff. 

"Why didn't you say so?" Finn frowns and disappears upstairs. A few minutes pass by before he skips down the stairs with the cord in his hand. "Now, let's go!" 

"I'll drive." I grab the keys and drag Allen with me. I need to give the twins and my uncles some time to prepare our gifts. Every single one of us have an obnoxious, enlarged picture of Allen's face printed out. We printed it thick cardboard cutouts and will hold it up like every embarrassing family does at graduation. It was the twins' idea. My uncles bought candy and flower leis for Allen too. 

I drop him off at the entrance and see some senior stragglers running to join the rest of their class. I laugh as some kid trips on his oversized gown and falls. That must hurt. 

Making my way to the front bleachers, I find a seat for seven. Luckily, there are still some seats left even though so many families have saved seats. I see large families of twelve to twenty. I am awed at the huge families. Sometimes, I wish my family was super large, but I do love my tight-knit family.

I get bored as time passes. I don't want to lose the seats so I know I have to stay here for the next hour and a half. Looking around, a lot of the nearby seats are filled. All the seats around me are also filled up too. I feel a little claustrophobic as more people come to fight for a seat. The loud, rowdy crowd makes me feel dizzy. There's way too much going on. 

"Hey! Dela right?" I glance to my left and see a familiar afro. 

"Adel from the time Hunter, me, and your friend played soccer?" I greet him. 

"How are you?" Adel grins.

"I'm good enough." I nod, "You?"

"Been busy, but finally on summer break! I'll be at a soccer camp in Barcelona this summer so I'm pretty excited for it. I leave next week." His eyes sparkle in excitement. "How about you?"

"Oh, I might attend a summer soccer camp at one of the universities who has contacted me. And that's really cool! Congrats!" I am happy for him. We continue talking about our summer camps and plan.

"Well, it was nice seeing you!" He waves as he heads back to his seat. 

"Likewise." I agree.

Before long, my brothers and uncles text me upon their arrival. I turn around and stand on the bars in front of me so they might able to see me. 

"I can't find you." Finn calls me. 

"I can barely hear you." I try to raise my voice and stick a finger in my ear to dampen the noises. I scan the crowds and eventually see my Uncle Chris. Then, Uncle Mark and the twins follow.

"I see you!" I yell at Finn. "Your three o' clock, first row!" It takes a few more instructions before Finn finally sees me. The four of them eventually make their way through the crowd towards me. 

"Who's these seats for?" Uncle Mark points to the two empty seats next to me. 

"Fran and her boyfriend. They're going to be a little late." I explain. My attention goes to the family of women behind us who keep eyeing my uncles, in particular, the aunt who is giggling with her married sister. She seems to be of mixed asian ethnicity as her sister talks rapidly in Korean. I think she might be a little younger than my uncles but I can't tell since asians always appear younger than they actually are. 

 A smile slips onto my face. Huh.

"So," I squeeze between my uncles. "We've got an attractive lady behind us. I know the last matchmaking thing didn't work, but maybe one of you might be interested?" Both of my uncles did go on multiple dates but things didn't quite work out. Chris still wasn't ready to open up, and Mark became too busy. 

"You remember what we said?" Mark warns me lightly.

"Fine, I'll back off." I move away and wink. They noticeably relax, but I can see Chris take a quick peek behind him before facing forward. I saw that. 

The ceremony begins and we all lean forward against the railings to look for Allen. The names are called one after another as we wait in anticipation. 

"Sorry we are late," Fran joins us with Jonathan, who greets my uncles and brothers firmly. I think this is the first time they've met. Shortly, the announcer pronounces Allen's name strongly.

"Allen Greene." The twins immediately start pressing their air horns obnoxiously and shouting off the top of their lungs. My Uncles and I do the same but with less excitement. We wave the print out head of Allen and cheer. Of course, Allen has no trouble seeing or hearing us as he poses for Mark's camera. He sticks out his tongue and gives a 'rock on' sign, making the crowd around us laugh lightheartedly. 

As Allen sits down, we get a little bored at nobody else to cheer. My heart stops just a little as I hear Hunter's name called. A bunch of his soccer friends and high school friends cheer super loud for him too. 

We all sit down and listen to the speeches. Finny, Ollie, and I almost fall asleep due to some of the boring speeches. When the ceremony ends and the graduating class throws their caps in the air, the three of charge towards Allen.

"Allen!" Finny is the first one to get there as he basically tackles Allen to the ground.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Uncle Mark gets there a few seconds left. "Careful."

"It's okay." Allen's voice is a little muffled under Finny's body.

"Ah, fuck you." Allen groans as Ollie jumps in and hugs him. 

Mark mumbles something under his breath before snapping a photograph of the scene. I step in front of the boys and grin cheekily for a pose. 

The three of them stand up and dust themselves up. "Here you go. Congrats." All of us lei him. When we finish, there's at least seven lei's around his neck. We pose for a picture as he barely holds the printouts of his head. "Really? These photos are so ugly." He looks at the pictures.

"Yeah, you're one ugly motherfucker." Finny grins widely. "I got all the good looks, huh."

"Shut up." Ollie and Allen bonk him on his head.

After a lot of photos, we separate as Allen looks for his senior friends. Finn and Oliver do the same. I stand next to Mark and Chris as we wait for them. 

"Dela!" I turn around to see Hunter walking towards me. His arms and neck is covered with lots of leis. He just looks like a huge monster of leis. I laugh at the sight.

"Hey." I wave awkwardly. We haven't really talked since last time. It feels like a long time ago.

"How are you?" He asks.

"I'm good. You?" 

"Glad high school is over." He sighs in relief. "I'm going to be attending Cal Poly SLO for soccer."

"Congrats. I'm really happy for you." I pat his arm. I really am.

"Thanks." 

"Hunter, do you want a picture with her?" We turn to see a older-looking version of Hunter waiting for our response. I can only assume that this handsome man is his father.

"You mind?" Hunter asks me, a little bit awkward. 

"Of course." I get next to him and pose with him.

"I'll see you around." Hunter nods and gives me a small smile.

"Yeah." I nod. I watch as we walks away. It wasn't so bad.

"Who was that?" Chris watches Hunter as walks away.

"Just a friend." I shrug. 

"Mhm." My uncles say, unconvinced. They narrow their eyes at Hunter's back.

"Really." I laugh. Luckily, the twins come and save me from my uncles' gazes. 

"Where'd you get those?" My uncles look at the leis around my brothers' necks. 

"Our charm and handsome looks." Finn and Ollie smirk proudly.

"Forget we asked." My uncle Mark sighs. 

"Ready to go? I'm craving some good sashimi and udon." Allen comes back cheerfully. I can barely see his face under all the flower, ribbon, and candy leis piled all over him. We take some of the load off by distributing the leis around the family. 

"Oh, before I forget, I want to tell you guys something. This might even be the worst time actually but I really want to say it." Allen stops us as we leave. He takes a deep breath. "This past year I've been working under a master chef at a restaurant, and he's really renowned in the culinary world. I've been working overtime a lot so that's why I come home so late. I've stop taking most of my classes that aren't required to graduate so I can work more hours at the restaurant. He's going to be traveling abroad this year, and he has asked me to join him. He will be judging cooking competitions and instructing culinary classes throughout really amazing culinary schools and programs." I can tell from the fire in his eyes and excitement in his voice that he truly wants to go. 

"It's going to be super expensive, so I'm planning on selling my car and using my savings to cover it. I'll..." Allen starts to explain.

"Just go." Uncle Mark says.

"What?" Allen stops. 

"Your parents left you enough money for college so money won't be that much of an issue. We want you to follow your passions." Uncle Chris says kindly.

"We're proud of you kiddo." Uncle Mark messes his hair and gives him a side hug. 

"Hell ya." The twins both give Allen a knuckle sandwich before Allen throws them to the ground in a protest. 

"Oh, I got reservations to your favorite sushi restaurant already Allen." Uncle Mark grins happily. 

"Hell yes!" Allen grins. 

"BEST DAY EVER!" Allen shouts loudly. People around him laugh and holler with him too. Finn and Oliver join in with the happy shouts.

Mom and dad would be proud of you. I look up to the sky and then at Allen. It's nice to see the smiling faces of everyone. I hope this moment lasts forever. 

_______

A/N

Allen graduated and is going to culinary school! Fun!

Making a happier chapter due to a lot of sad chapters. Enjoy :)

Please let me know what you thought about this.

Love,

Lystra