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“Right this way, Cora.” Dylan offers his arm and I roll my eyes when Mom takes it. It has been a couple of months since her surgery, and she can totally walk on her own and not get winded, but she likes to take advantage of Dylan’s chivalry.

I barely recognize her as my mother anymore. Her hair is growing back. It’s the same dark brown as mine, which I never knew because she has always dyed it dramatically different colors—platinum blond, raven black, or a red so deep it was almost purple. Her hair is just long enough to lie down, and because she is as small as a pixie, she can get away with such short hair. She’s lost a lot of weight, so she’s slight, too. She looks like my little sister instead of my mother. But the biggest physical difference is her eyes. I never knew how blue they were. I wondered if the surgery somehow changed the color, but when I asked Joel, he said it’s because they were always bloodshot before.

She recently returned to work, and the transition has been hard for her physically as well as with her drinking. Her support group suggested she get a new job altogether to avoid the drinking routines she used to have. She’s applied for a couple daytime positions. I hope she finds something soon. I think I like my sober mother and want her to stick around.

Dylan escorts her into the stadium, and I follow in their wake. We’re walking in front of the bleachers when I hear my name.

“There they are.” I point out Sam and Bek, about two rows up. “Can you make it that far, Mom?”

“With Dylan’s help, I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she says.

He glances over his shoulder and gives me his smirk, and I wrinkle my nose at him while wondering when I might steal my next kiss.

“We tried to get seats on the first row, Ms. Landry, but they were all reserved.” Sam picks up the blanket and sweater she used to save our seats.

“No problem, dear,” Mom says, taking the seat at the edge of the row, a little winded. “I got here and don’t have to move again until my son has graduated.”

I sit next to Sam and we’re waiting for Joel’s graduation ceremony to start when suddenly, Grandma climbs the bleachers. My mouth falls open and tears simmer behind my eyes. She’s barely spoken to us since Mom’s brain surgery. We asked her to come, but she never said one way or another if she would. Joel is going to be so happy.

“Can you scoot down a little, Bek?” I ask. We all do to make room for Grandma, but I tell Mom to stay put. “Grandma can sit next to Dylan.”

There is definite tension in the air, but not as bad as I would have expected. Maybe they recognize that today is about Joel. Or maybe they don’t know what to fight about anymore.

The graduates file into the stadium, and we wave to Joel when he comes into view. He waves back and I see the moment he notices that Grandma is here too. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the sun is glinting off some unshed tears. When he looks back at me, I blow him a kiss and he reaches up as if to catch it.

The ceremony is long and boring, and it’s a little hot in the sun, but finally they call Joel’s name. I snap a ton of pictures of him walking across the stage and accepting his diploma. We cheer loudly and he turns to wave before walking off the stage.

It’s hard to believe he’s done with school and that he’ll be moving out soon. Even though things are better at home, I still can’t imagine not seeing him every day. My heart aches as I watch him return to his seat with his diploma clutched in his left hand. I can feel my emotions building as the graduates are instructed to move their tassels from right to left. And I burst into tears when Joel tosses his cap into the air with his classmates.

Dylan wraps me in his arms immediately. “It’s okay. Shh. It’s alright.”

His empathy makes me cry harder. I rest my head on his shoulder as I watch Joel and his friends congratulate one another. The announcer invites the families onto the field. I pat Dylan’s arm and say, “I’m fine. You can go help Mom.”

“I don’t need to,” Dylan says.

Sure enough, Grandma grips Mom’s arm gently as she assists her down the steps. Dylan wraps an arm around me, and I hold a hand out to Sam, who holds a hand out to Bek as we follow.

Grandma helps Mom to settle on a chair vacated by a graduating student, and Dylan and I go to find Joel. I hear Grandma asking Sam and Bek what their summer plans are as we leave.

As soon as I see my brother, I launch myself at him and wrap him in the biggest hug. “I can’t believe you’re graduated.”

“I can’t either.”

Joel and Dylan do some fancy handshake thing .

“Congratulations, dude,” Dylan says.

“Thanks, man.”

Joel was the last person to come around to team Dylan. He did not want to believe that Dylan wasn’t the person his reputation painted him to be. He kept saying that stuff like that came from at least a kernel of truth and that he didn’t want me to get hurt. But Dylan spent a lot of time at the house. Eventually, Joel and Dylan started doing some home improvement projects together and Joel was finally convinced that he was actually a good guy.

“Mom had to sit down. They’re back that way.” I point over my shoulder and smile when Chris and David, Joel’s future roommates, come up.

Congratulations are again shared. Lots of fancy handshakes. And then Joel says something I never thought he would ever say to anyone in our lifetimes.

“Hey, come meet my mom and my grandma.”

I press my fingers to my lips to stop the little sob that wants to escape. So much has changed in such a short time.

We all traipse back to where my friends and family wait. Dylan grabs my hand and pulls me, so we fall back.

“Hey, are you okay?” His gaze scans my face. There’s so much worry in his expression, and in my heightened emotional state, it brings more tears to balance on the edge.

“Dylan, this day is so much better than I anticipated it being at the beginning of the school year. I don’t know if I even know how to handle it. I’ve never been so happy before. It’s sort of overwhelming.”

His sigh tells me he understands on some level. He wraps his arms around me and rests his forehead on mine. “You and your brother deserve this day. Soak in every bit of happiness you can get. Maybe every day forward will be this great, but most likely, you will only experience this kind of euphoria a handful of times in life.”

“Thank you for being a part of it.” I close my eyes and let my happy tears fall. “Thank you for teaching me to trust. Thank you for whatever magic you worked on my mom. Thank you for seeing me and liking what you see.”

He draws in a shuddering breath as he fights his own emotions. “That’s not quite accurate.”

I frown and pull away so I can see him more clearly. “What did I get wrong?”

“I don’t like what I see.”

I shake my head, confused. He seems so serious. Is he about to tell me he finds me ugly?

His eyes soften and he whispers, “I love what I see.”

I press a hand to my mouth and again suppress a sob. “Really?”

Dylan nods. “Really. Ava Landry, I’m head over heels in love with you.”

I throw myself at him to press my lips to his, but I was already too close, so instead, I send him tumbling backward, and because his arms are wrapped around me, he takes me with him. We end up in a heap on the grass, laughing. But I press kisses to his face in between giggles. All over his cheeks, on his nose, his forehead, his eyes.

Then I stop. My eyes find his, and the joy in his expression makes my heart sing. “Dylan Scott, I love you too.”

His mouth splits into a huge grin, and he shifts me closer so that I’m practically laying on him. Finally, we share a long kiss.

“You two,” an authoritative voice interrupts. It’s one of the school’s teachers. “There are no public displays of affection allowed on campus.”

Dylan shifts me off him, stands, and helps me up. “Sorry, she fell onto my lips. She’s really quite clumsy.”

The teacher gives him a dubious look .

“It’s true,” I say. “They say bad boys don’t fall for clumsy girls, but you just witnessed exactly that.”

Dylan clasps my hand, and we saunter forward to join my family and friends.