"Quit fussing with it, it looks fine!" Nami whispered harshly, playfully swatting away Summer's hand as she once again tried fixing the tassel on her graduation cap. It wouldn't stay exactly where she wanted it to be. The blonde huffed with annoyance, staring into the bathroom mirror with a grimace.
"It just doesn't look right!" She defended, leaning in and fiddling with it. Nami shook her head, pulling on Summer's arm to get her attention.
"Really, it looks alright. Now come on, we have to be in order in ten minutes!" Tugging a little harder just for good measure, the orange-haired accounting major started towards the door, dragging Summer with her. "Don't you want to graduate already?"
"Yes, ok, I'm coming! Just a second." Planting one foot on the tiles with her heel, Summer resisted Nami's pulling and started towards the mirror again. With a roll of her eyes, Nami gave up and left the restroom, disappearing behind the door and leaving the blonde by herself. Alone at last, she leaned on the counter, staring at herself in the mirror.
"This is it." She muttered, eyes inspecting her face and black gown. With little tugs here and there along the edges of the gown, Summer sighed deeply, knowing that it was all just to prolong the inevitable. She was terrified of going out there. Now that the moment was here, everything seemed to be going so fast, too fast.
"Get ahold of yourself, Summer. This is what you've been working towards for years now. Just wait for your turn and take your degree." She instructed into her reflection, a determined frown in place. The steps from here were pretty straightforward.
Everything was fine. All she had to do was wait in line for her name to be called, walk up to the Dean, shake his hand, grab her degree, and walk to her designated seat in front of the stage. Easy peasy. Nothing to it. All she had to watch out for was tripping and falling flat on her face in front of hundreds of people. Great. No pressure.
One reassuring thought was that at last she wasn't the valedictorian, so there was no extra worry of speaking in front of all of them. Thank God for that.
Releasing a pent up breath, she heard giggling students pass by the bathroom door outside. Summer straightened her shoulders, preparing herself for the big day ahead and trying to ignore the hard pounding of her heart in her chest as much as she could. It felt like a hammer chiseling away at her chest, as if working in overdrive.
"Summer, come on!" She heard Nami call a moment later, and smiling a wavering smile for herself, Summer nodded resolutely, turning away to leave the bathroom, her heels clicking with each step.
Hitomi entered the large stadium-style hall, taking in her surroundings with a cool gaze. It was a rounded building, with rows and rows of seats all facing the middle of the room, where a stage was set up. A podium took front and center, with a row of plush chairs behind it for the administrators. Tall plants decorated the sides of the stage, to add a more regal touch, perhaps? Hitomi wasn't sure. Though she admitted it looked rather nice. The atmosphere was alive with the quiet murmur of discussion, as the room slowly filled up with people.
"Where do we sit?" Soma asked from beside her. Glancing down at her brother, who was clad in his Sunday best, the silver-haired woman shrugged, looking down at the tickets in her hands.
"Well, we're in Section 2-B already. Our seats are in Row H, chair 18 through 21." She directed, looking down at the small metal plates indicating the rows of seats. Behind her, she heard Makino laugh at something Uncle Shanks said, and she turned back to them. "We're further down here."
"We're coming!" He replied with a wide smile, causing some of the people nearby to look his way at the noise. Of course, the they were both dressed in similarly fancy attire. Though, wearing a brightly colored sundress, Makino looked much more the part than her husband did, who's attire consisted of jeans and one of the only unwrinkled shirts from his closet.
The ceremony wasn't due to start for another half hour, but knowing the crowds at these types of events, Hitomi had insisted they arrive early. Thankfully Makino had a better sense of time than her uncle, otherwise they would have been lucky to arrive before Summer's name was even called.
Dodging people lingering in the aisle, Hitomi led them down the shallow stairs, finally finding their row, and they shuffled past a couple of people already seated in the way, making their way to the assigned seats on the tickets.
"This place looks great!" Makino complimented as she took her seat, examining the decorations and set up. "They really went all out, didn't they?"
"Well, the graduating class was bigger than usual this year, right? Had to up the stakes." Shanks grinned, leaning back in his chair with a sigh.
They sat and watched as people around them filtered to their seats, talking and laughing amongst themselves. Soma had brought his Nintendo to occupy his time with while they waited, and he was constantly showing whatever game he was playing to Shanks, who laughed and encouraged him to do different things.
Reaching into her purse, Hitomi pulled out her phone and tapped the home button, illuminating the screen. She had several new texts from Summer, about ten minutes ago. With one quick tap the message opened, and the silver-haired woman chuckled.
These gowns are like 100 degrees. If I pass out, you'll know why.
Did you guys make it? Where are you at?
I just know I'm going to fall flat on my face! Please, God help me, don't let me embarrass myself!
Say hi to Soma for me!
Hitomi switched to her camera and held up her phone. "Everyone, get in for a picture. I'll send it to Summer." She said, gaining everyone's attention. Makino gave a smile, Shanks held up a piece sign, and Soma stuck out his tongue. Hitomi grinned, snapping the picture and sending it to the blonde, writing a quick message after it for encouragement.
"Are you sure it was smart to leave the new kid alone?" Law asked the blonde-haired man, weaving their way through the crowd of people growing in the entrances of the building. Corazon shrugged, a carefree grin in place as usual.
"He's got Zoro there, and don't sell him short. The kid's a quick learner." He replied. The halls outside the main atrium were full of people snapping pictures, but there didn't appear to be any of the graduates themselves anywhere. They were probably getting ready in a separate part of the building.
"Let's find our seats. It should start pretty soon here." He said, nodding his head towards the door to their section. Law followed, double checking the tickets to make sure it was correct. Inside the main hall was the stage, facing a few hundred seats reserved for the graduates as they were called.
"Now, what are our seats?" Corazon asked, glancing up at the bartender.
"Row F, number 11 and 12."
Stopping and waiting for some people to pass, they slowly made their way down the aisle, finding their seats. Immediately, the older man pulled out his pack of cigarettes and shook the box. Noticing this, Law placed his hand on his arm and grinned, shaking his head.
"Right…forgot we aren't at the bar…" He muttered with a scowl, reluctantly putting away the pack. Law chuckled, turning his attention to his phone, which was vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out, seeing the various text messages he'd ignored up to that point.
Two were from Shachi and Penguin; a picture of two women, and a follow-up line asking which one he thought was hotter. Shaking his head, Law opened the chain from Summer, reading the few texts he'd missed.
It still hasn't quite clicked in my head yet…I'm so nervous!
I forgot to say, thank you so much for coming! It really means a lot.
If I trip and fall, you promise not to laugh right?
Law chuckled, reading through her messages. She was always worrying about something or another. Quickly typing out a reply, he didn't miss the glances Corazon was making at his phone, not-so-sneakily trying to read what he was saying.
"If you want to know that badly, just ask." Law said, raising a brow and sending the text, finally turning to his boss. "If there's one thing I've learned through the years, it's that you really suck at sneaking around."
The blonde man crossed his arms, unconvinced of his conclusion. "I've snuck up on you plenty of times without you noticing!"
"Oh really?" He held up one hand, counting off examples on his fingers. "Like the time that high school student tried asking me on a date and you wanted to know what I said? Or when you thought I broke some of the glasses, so you watched me the whole day to see if I did it again? Or that time-"
"Ok, ok! Maybe I need to work on it a little." He muttered, the point having been put across. Law only chuckled, getting more comfortable in his chair.
"Trust me, you'll do fine! But I have to go and get in my position now, so good luck!" Nami squeezed Summer's hand, who stood in her spot in line already.
"Oh…ok." Summer said, watching Nami retreat into the crowd of students, disappearing from view and leaving the blonde alone with a bunch of strangers. A few she recognized from an odd class or two, but their names were lost upon her. She hadn't payed that much attention to her peers throughout the semesters.
A man's voice began speaking overhead, snapping most of the people out of their conversations and quieting them down. The reality of what was happening seemed to crash down on them. Smiles faded, voices hushed. Time seemed to go at hyper speed, just standing there in the hall. Summer's nerves felt like they'd gone haywire, tingling and ready to go out there once her name was called.
The first half hour or so was comprised of the Dean talking about the academic year, and the greatest all of the students had achieved. Of course, none of the graduates were really listening, too intent on not missing their cue to begin walking forwards.
Summer checked her phone, which was stuffed in her pants pocket underneath her gown. There were several messages she'd missed from Law and Hitomi. Smiling, she opened the picture of Hitomi and her family, smiling and just being dorks.
We're in Section H, try looking for us. We'll wave to you. Good luck, you'll do just fine!
The blonde chuckled, flipping over to Law's message.
Wouldn't have missed it. Corazon's here too, and sorry. I don't make promises I can't keep.
"Rude…" She muttered, laughing under her breath. Of course he'd tease her now of all times. He wouldn't be Law if he didn't. She texted out a reply and quickly put her phone away, realizing that the graduates in front of her were starting to walk forwards.
The sound of applause could be heard all around, and people's names were being called. Summer's nerves jumped in apprehension yet again. This was it. It was really it!
"Sarah Joyce Jennings." The dean called, and the hall erupted into applause, with people catcalling and shouting out in enthusiasm. Hitomi and the others responded in kind out of courtesy, watching passively as the graduate stepped out with a bright smile, waving at the crowd and looking out for her relatives in the crowd.
As all of the others had done before her, she stepped up to the stage and shook hands with the Dean, pausing to take a picture with her degree in her hands. Shaking the hands of the other administrators behind him, she was led to the opposite side of the stage, heading down the small set of stairs there before being ushered to the many rows of seat for the graduates. About half of them were already full.
"How much longer until Summer comes out?" Soma asked, peering closely at the faces of all of the people being called. "I don't see her."
"She hasn't been called yet, but since they're going in alphabetical order, she'll be one of the next ones." Makino explained, peering around her husband to smile patiently at the boy. He nodded, hoping to see Summer before too long. He wasn't very interested in the rest of the people there anyways.
"Nathan Lee Jones."
"Annabeth Mary Judge."
"Carson James Kay."
"William Hayden Kemp."
One after another, the Dean called out, smiling and happy graduates taking their places in the seats available. Hitomi recognized his name in particular from her law firm, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly how. Maybe she'd dealt with a criminal case to have him prosecuted. Shrugging away the thoughts, she focused on the Dean once again, continuing to call out names.
"Cara Alaine Ketley."
"April Mae Kibble."
"Summer Ann King."
Everyone's ears perked up, hearing the blonde's name called out, and she emerged from the tunnel where they had been kept waiting, smiling as she quickly, if not cautiously, stepped out into the open. Shanks, Makino, Hitomi, and Soma all clapped louder, hollering and whooping their congratulations from their seats.
They all waved wildly, trying to gain her attention. On her way to the stage, her eyes were looking around the room in an attempt to find them, finally settling on their section, and she gave a tiny wave back, her smile widening.
She reached the stage, careful not to trip on the hem of her gown, before approaching the Dean. They said a few words, and she nodded emphatically, the smile never wavering, and she was handed her degree. They both posed for a picture, before he directed her to shake hands with the rest of the administrators. The blonde did so, and stepped down at the opposite end of the stage, going to find her seat.
"Summer Ann King."
"Woo! That'a girl!" Corazon called, clapping ecstatically. Law was much less vocal about his enthusiasm than the blonde man, watching her scan the crowd as she walked. She must have seen someone she knew on the other side of the room, because she smiled wider and waved before stepping up to the stage.
Law smiled, seeing her so happy as she accepted her degree. His eyes never left her as she walked across the stage shaking various peoples' hands, before finally stepping down and taking her seat. She'd been wanting this for so long, now she had it in her grasp, and she would go far with her talents, he just knew.
Even from this distance, he could see that she just kept staring at the black leather-bound degree in her hands, fingers trailing the edges delicately, as if she couldn't quite be sure it was real. He chuckled, wondering when it would actually start to hit her that she'd graduated.
Well, it was a little difficult for him to process as well. To him, she'd always been a college student, visiting the bar to take her mind off of her studies or just to sit and chat with someone. All those years, all those visits…she'd always been studying, learning her craft, not quite matured all the way. In a way, it made him see her as younger than she was. The title of 'student' had that effect.
And now…there was nothing holding her back from exploring the world around her now. The thought humbled him, made him realize that she wasn't some childish girl seeing the world through doe-eyes, but a woman, through and through, ready and waiting to tackle all the obstacles in her way. And he had no doubt she would overcome everything that got in her way.
He only hoped that he'd be able to keep up with her as she found her happiness. Perhaps he would too.
A quick nudge in the side made him look up to see Corazon eyeing him strangely, as if he knew exactly what he'd been thinking."Summer's all grown up now, huh? Quite the lady she turned out to be. Looks happy as can be."
Law had always wondered how the man just seemed to just know things. He may be the least sneaky person on the planet, unable to not cause a ruckus everywhere he went, but what he lacked in coordination, he more than made up for in intelligence. Uncanny powers of perception and observation were good terms to put it. Unsettling, at times, was another.
"So, what are you going to do now?" He continued, and Law cocked his head in confusion, prompting him to reiterate. "Summer's moving on to bigger and better things. You gonna let her leave you behind? Are you gonna make yourself happy for once?"
"Hmm." The young man responded, neither confirming nor denying anything. The blonde man chuckled, knowing he wasn't going to get much more in terms of an answer. Law was not one to confess his feelings so willingly, however obvious they may be. Sighing, Corazon settled back in his chair.
"All I can say is, I've never been happier to be $100 richer." He added with a grin, turning back to the graduates that continued to have their names called out, one by one taking their seats.
It was several hours later of almost sweating to death in her gown, surrounded by a hundred other people who were in a similar situation, listening to speeches no one was honestly paying attention to, before the ceremony finally ended. Of course, the grads all wanted to toss their caps into the air, but Summer refrained, not wanting to lose it in the sea of hats that had fallen to the floor afterwards. She clutched her degree to her chest, waiting until the grads around her filing out of the seats and into the hallway outside where they could meet those who had come to watch the ceremony. Summer shuffled out, looking up but not seeing Hitomi and her family in the seats above anymore. They must have already left.
Summer made her way through the throng of students-no-longer, politely weaving her way towards the exit, which was crowded with many more people. She sighed, thinking that she'd never get out of there. The sea of graduates and friends and family never seemed to end.
After several minutes of agonizingly slow people trying to get out, surrendering to the ebb and flow of the crowd, the blonde finally pushed through and into the main hallway, looking left and right for Hitomi or anyone else she recognized in the ever-moving throng of capped-heads.
"Summer!" Someone called, and she turned, seeing Nami heading towards her, holding her own degree. "I can't believe we're graduated!"
"I know! It still hasn't hit me yet." She admitted, accepting the tight hug from her orange-haired friend. They released one another, faces hurting from smiling so much. "Where's your mom?"
"I'm still looking for her. Let's go outside and wait. I think it'll be easier for them to find us." And with that, Nami grabbed her hand and pulled her outside into the much cooler air. The inside of the hall had been stifling from so many people. The wind felt great against their heated skin.
They stood beneath an unoccupied tree they could use as a waypoint, and Nami pulled out her phone to call her mom. Summer took out her own and called Hitomi.
"Hey, we're looking for you in the halls. Where are you?" Hitomi answered, the sound of people talking in the background.
"I'm outside standing under a tree. It was too crowded in there. Just come outside and look for me." She said, saying her goodbye and hanging up. Immediately afterwards, she called Law, but it was Corazon who answered, much to her surprise.
"Summer, congrats, first of all." He said, and she smiled again.
"Thank you! Where are you guys at? I'm outside under one of the trees."
"Oh, I'll let Law know then. Listen, I'd love to stay and chat with you for awhile, but I've got to get back to the bar and make sure everything's ready for you later. I hope you don't mind."
"That's fine! I'll see you later then." She expected Corazon to hand the phone over to Law, but he just hung up instead, so she put her phone away, turning to Nami who was still on her phone with her mom.
"Yeah, by the east entrance. No, the other one." With a sigh, she rubbed at her forehead. "It's not that hard, mom, just turn right and go to the opposite side of the building." She kept explaining, peering under her hand to try to see her somewhere.
Once, Nami turned to her friend and rolled her eyes with an exasperated expression, and she snickered. Apparently, Bellemere was having some trouble navigating the helped her look, but perked up when she saw Shanks above the crowd.
"Over here!" She called, waving her arms around. It seemed her heard her call, since he turned her way and started heading over, the rest of the family in tow.
"Summer!" Soma called, running past people to give her a hug. She stooped down and accepted it, squeezing him in affection.
"Hey, I'm glad you guys could come." She smiled, straightening as the rest of Hitomi's family arrived. Her silver-haired friend in particular came up next, enclosing her arms around the blonde.
"See? Didn't I say you'd do fine?" They laughed, cherishing the moment. Summer was so glad to have her there. Without Hitomi's calm personality and level-headedness, honestly she wasn't sure how in the world she would have made it through her years of college. Many a time she'd eased her fears of failure, always pushing her to be better, to do better.
There was so much she wanted to say in that moment, but the ability to do so seemed lost with all of the excitement.
Summer made sure to give hugs all around, not missing a single person, before they all wanted to see her degree. In that time, Bellemere was able to find them and congratulated the two girls, promising to bring Nami to The Heart Seat for the party that night before whisking her away to get ready.
Summer made sure she got a picture of all of them together on her phone, vowing to save it as her screensaver later, filing it away with the rest of the ones she'd secretly been taking all day. She wanted to have lots of pictures of that day to remember it by.
They chatted excitedly about the ceremony, with Shanks predictably teasing her, and Makino scolding her husband when she blushed a deep red. Soma thought her cap was really cool and wanted to wear it, and Hitomi promised to organize a girl's day out where the two of them could enjoy each other's company, away from responsibility and work.
Hitomi glance at something over Summer's shoulder, before a small grin settled itself on her face. Reaching forward, she grabbed the blonde's shoulders and spun her around to face whoever was behind her. A tall, dark-haired man.
"Law!" She cried, jumping forward and wrapping her arms around him. He tensed in surprise, and still unused to such displays in public, but after a second of hesitation, he responded in kind, though with a little less enthusiasm.
"Congratulations." He said, grinning. "Though I was a little disappointed you didn't fall. I was looking forward to it." Her cheeks puffed out at that admission, and she pulled away.
"Oh, come on. Don't be mean!" Her arm swung out to punch him in the arm, but he stepped back with a smirk and she missed. Not that she was really trying in the first place but still.
Hitomi touched her shoulder, and Summer looked back to her friend. "Summer, we'll be waiting by the car to take you home. We're parked at the far end of the South parking lot. Take all the time you want."
"Oh, ok, thank you so much!"
The silver-haired woman gave one more mischievous glance at the bartender, who raised a brow at the not-so-subtle move to get them both alone, and then she was gone, ushering her family towards the car through the endless mass of people. The woman was craftier than he gave her credit for.
Summer turned back to Law, beaming up at him. "It really means a lot that you came. Thank you."
He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's nothing." Obviously, she wasn't impressed with that answer, because she poked him in the stomach.
"No, it's not nothing! Having all of you guys here was what made today great." She smiled, rocking back and forth on her heels, somehow not falling over in the high-heeled shoes. "I wanted to say hi to Corazon before he left, but that's ok. I'll see him later at the bar. Any idea what he's setting up anyways?"
Law smirked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "No idea, actually."
Summer's eyes narrowed, unconvinced. Leaning in close, she peered into his face critically. "I feel like you're lying to me." But Law only shrugged nonchalantly. She sighed, crossing her arms. "You're impossible."
"I honestly don't know. He wouldn't say." He chuckled, watching her fidget with her degree yet again. "Can I see?" He gestured to it, and she nodded, offering the small leather-bound cover to him.
He opened it, revealing the important-looking scrawl of the printed letters, and the fancy handwriting of the Dean himself at the bottom, recognizing Summer for her academic achievement. "I thought it would be a lot bigger." He mentioned, and she laughed.
"They send the bigger size through the mail, or you can pick it up at the college this weekend. Those are the ones you can hang on the wall." She accepted the degree back from him, tucking it under her arm carefully, just to be sure she didn't lose it. "This is more of a placeholder until you get the real thing."
Her expression changed to one of surprise, and she reached into her pants pocket under her gown for her phone. "Oh, I want to get a picture! So I can remember everyone who came to see me."
"Uh…" Law started, but couldn't say much more before she turned and settled in close to him, holding up her phone to take the picture. He took hold of her hips, though not quite sure whether to keep her at a distance or pull her closer. The blonde didn't seem to notice, however, and Law wasn't feeling too inclined to let go either.
"Smile!" She encouraged, flashing a bright one of her own. Resigning himself to her wishes, he complied, his usual easy smirk in place as she pressed the button and snapped the photo. He wasn't one to take many pictures, it wasn't his thing. In fact, he hated them. But he'd do so for her sake. If only to make her happy.
"I think it turned out good, yeah?" She showed him the picture, and he had to agree. But he was more focused on the expression of happiness on Summer's face. He'd never seen her so ecstatic.
"I'd better go find Hitomi before they decide to leave me behind." She reasoned, stuffing her phone back into her pocket. Turning to look at him once more, she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "I'll see you later, ok?"
"Yeah…" He muttered, watching her smile before turning to jog towards the parking lot, her gown billowing in the wind. For several moments he simply stood and watched her disappear into the crowd, staring off into the distance once she was out of sight.
Instinctively, he reached up and rubbed at his cheek where her soft lips had rested. It still felt as if they were there, the lingering feeling of her kiss. Then, realizing he was starting to drift away with his thoughts, shook his head and turned back to another parking lot where his motorcycle was parked.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
