PART 1
Chapter 1
Saturday
I walked up to the stage, being careful not to trip. Falling in front of thousands of people was something I wanted to avoid at all costs. I took a deep breath and stared at the dean who was announcing everyone's names. I felt like I had come such a long way. My whole life I had focused on doing well in school. And now that I was about to graduate, I had no idea what I actually wanted to do. I wanted to be excited about this moment, but I was so nervous.
"Penny Taylor," Dean Mullins said.
I slowly walked across the stage, grabbed my diploma, and shook a bunch of people's hands that I didn't know. I smiled as I walked down the stairs on the opposite end of the stage. I did it. I graduated! It didn't matter that I had no idea what I wanted to do. Graduating was a huge accomplishment. I moved the tassel on my cap to the left and smiled for the cameraman that was waiting there to capture the moment. Now it was official.
My eyes scanned the crowd as I walked back to my seat. I didn't see any familiar faces. It was going to be almost impossible to find anyone after the ceremony with all these people. I sat down in my seat and listened to the rest of the graduates' names being called. I only recognized a few. The campus was so much bigger than the University of New Castle's. And coming in halfway through sophomore year hadn't made it any easier to meet people. I hadn't thought much about it until this moment, seeing all the people walk by that I had never met.
This chapter of my life was closing forever, and it suddenly felt like I hadn't really experienced it. I quickly shook away the thought. Just because I didn't recognize hundreds of the names that the dean announced, didn't mean I didn't have a fulfilling college experience. These past few years had been amazing. I wouldn't have changed a thing. I looked to the left and searched the crowd again. Where is he?
"Congratulations to the class of 2018!"
Everyone around me stood up. I followed their lead and clapped my hands together. As soon as people started moving around, I squeezed past everyone in the row I was in and made my way toward the entrance hall. I knew they were serving refreshments out there, and if I didn't get in there early, I would never be able to find anyone.
When I opened up the doors, there were already hundreds of people in the room. I made my way through the sea of people celebrating.
"Penny! Over here!"
I smiled and turned toward the familiar voice. "Tyler!" I ran over to him and threw my arms around his neck.
He laughed and lifted me off my feet, twirling me through the air for a second. "Congratulations, Penny," he said and kissed my cheek as he set me back down on my feet.
"Thanks, Tyler. I'm so glad that you could come."
"I wouldn't have missed it," he said and let go of my waist.
"I can't believe I'm actually done. I'm officially an adult."
He laughed. "I'm pretty sure you need a job in order to be considered an adult."
"I'm working on that. Not everyone can graduate with a full time gig lined up, Mr. Hotshot."
He laughed and put his hands in his pockets.
"Where is everyone else?"
"I had to go to the bathroom, so I cut out right after I saw you walk. They'll all be down in a minute."
"Did Melissa make it?"
"Yeah, she's here." Tyler scratched the back of his neck. "Actually, Penny, I wanted to talk to you about..."
Before he could finish his sentence I felt someone attack me with a huge hug.
"Penny!" Melissa yelled.
I laughed. "Welcome to New York!"
"Thank you." Melissa released me from her embrace.
"Did you move everything in okay? When I left and you still weren't there I was worried something happened to you."
She laughed. "No, no, I'm good. My stuff is all moved in...just not at your place."
"What do you mean?"
"I just decided that it would be easier to crash at Tyler's place until I find something. I dropped my stuff off there this morning."
"Oh." I felt my heart sink. "I was excited to be roommates with you again."
"I know." She smiled and gave me another hug. "But it was only going to be for a couple days anyway. I'm going to find my own place really fast."
"Are you sure Tyler doesn't mind?"
Melissa laughed. "No, he practically begged me. Isn't that right, Tyler?"
Tyler made a weird face and looked away from us.
Melissa laughed again. "I heard about your new job. It sounds really exciting."
"Geez, he's trying to convince you it's a good idea too? It's not. You know that I'm not taking that job."
"Why not?"
"Because Penny doesn't want to work with me," James said.
I smiled and turned around. "You know that's not it."
"Hmm." He put his hand on the side of my face. "We can talk about that more later. Congratulations, Penny." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss against my lips. I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck.
My dad cleared his throat. I could feel my face turning red.
"Hi, Dad!" I immediately stepped away from James, gave my dad a quick hug, and then gave one to my mom too. "Hi, Mom."
"Congratulations, sweetie," My mom said. "We're so proud of you. And we're so excited about meeting your parents, James. We've been looking forward to it."
"About that." James put his arm around my shoulders and looked down at me. "They had to cancel."
I pressed my lips together. God. I had let myself get my hopes up this time. Who was I kidding? I always got my hopes up. I thought maybe now that I had graduated, though, they might actually want to meet me. So it wasn't my age. It was starting to seem like they had no intention of ever meeting me. I swallowed hard.
James squeezed my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Penny."
"That's fine," my dad said. "Let's go out to lunch anyway. My treat."
I put on a smile. "That sounds perfect."
"We're going to head out," Melissa said.
"You're both welcome to lunch" my mom said.
"I still have a lot to unpack, so I should probably get started. Bye, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor." Melissa gave them each a quick hug.
"You're coming with us tomorrow, right, Melissa?" My mom asked.
"I wouldn't miss it." She winked at me.
It was hard to even think about shopping for a wedding dress right now. James' parents clearly didn't want me to be a part of their family. Every time they canceled plans to finally meet me, James told me not to worry about it. But how could I not worry about it? We were getting married at the end of the month. And at this rate it didn't even seem like his parents were going to come.
"Congrats again, Penny." Tyler smiled at me and then followed Melissa through the crowd.
***
I rested my head on James' shoulder. Lunch had been so much fun. I loved catching up with my parents and all the goings-on in Delaware. It helped me feel connected to the life I had left behind. At least, I thought I had left it behind. I wanted to fit into James' life. I didn't want to cause him unnecessary stress. But that's exactly what I was doing. I didn't know what to do in order for his parents to like me. Liking me was far off, though. James and I had been dating for two and a half years and they still hadn't even met me.