"Someone's at the door. I think it's Devlyn." Bruce said, while trying to get Lucy out of bed to talk to the late night visitor.
"OK, I'll go check." Lucy walked quietly out to the enclosed porch, peering quietly out of the screen door. She didn't see anyone on the deck. She began to walk back into the house to tell her brother what a dork he was. The sound of the screen door opening on its rusty hinges startled Lucy. She spun around, coming face to face with Devlyn.
"God, you startled me." Lucy said, as she released her pent up breath. "What are you doing here?"
"Was out. Thought I'd drop by. My friend Mitch is waiting in the truck." Devlyn pointed to the end of the driveway.
"You know, my mom will be home in less than 20 minutes. You're cutting it pretty close."
"Well, I just wanted to see you. What's with the hair?" Devlyn touched her braided mane.
"Just something I do before I go to bed. When I wake up, it's wavy and takes less styling time."
"Never saw your hair like that." It sounded like he was stifling an outburst of laughter. Of course, she'd been sleeping on her attempt at a French braid for at least an hour, so she was sure it was starting to come undone. She became even more self-conscious as she realized what she was wearing. Since it had been cold, she'd gone to bed in sweats.
"You gonna be at graduation?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm playing in the band. We're required to do it every year, even our own graduation. Guess you're ready to be out of the hell that some call high school?" She half-smiled at the thought of high school being equated to Hell. It was an awful experience and she couldn't wait to get out of it. Devlyn was by far the best thing to come of it so far.
"What are you doing after the ceremony?" He asked.
"Probably nothing. My mother's off that night, so I'll be stuck at home afterwards. What are your plans?"
"Party at Mitch's. Maybe stop at a few more parties before heading back." They had slowly walked to the edge of the deck. He had cornered her into the darkest part of the deck. She leaned against the mahogany-colored siding as he quickly lunged forward and kissed her.
"Well, I gotta go. Mitch is waiting. See you at graduation." Devlyn quickly walked away. Lucy stood on the deck and watched as he and Mitch drove away. She was thrilled that he took the time to visit her, but not that she'd now have to make excuses to her brother and try to convince him not to tell their mother.
Bruce was waiting in the living room. "Who was it? Devlyn?"
Lucy decided to try adjusting the truth a little. "No, nobody was there. Whoever it was must have run off."
"Then why were you out there so long?"
"Just sat on the deck, watching the stars and thinking."
"I don't believe you." Bruce went back to his room and fell asleep quickly. Lucy hoped he'd just forget about it. The following morning, the first thing he did was talk to mother about the late night visitor. Lucy was grounded for a week, not that she didn't feel grounded every day of her life.
* * *
Graduation was June 15 this year. Snow days had pushed the date further into the beginning of summer vacation. The other student classes would continue through late June this year, but the graduating class of 1993 was let out two weeks earlier. The days were already long and hot. It became harder and harder to concentrate on class work despite the upcoming finals. Lucy dreaded graduation day. It would be the last day that she'd ever see Devlyn in school between classes. She still had a year left in this prison.
Around six in the evening, her mother dropped her off in front of the Neal Simmons auditorium building, where graduation ceremonies were being held. The aluminum-sided building was structured like an old airplane hangar. Walking into the cold, dank, concrete-floored monstrosity made her think of how little the building looked like an auditorium. Thousands of chairs were arranged in sections of curved rows and columns, all facing to the front of the building. There were no partitions or walls in the interior. It was all open space. The room had been decorated as much as was possible for this hulking structure. Ribbons of blue and silver were strewn haphazardly across the high ceiling. The school's banner was attached crookedly to the wall behind the makeshift stage. Lucy found her way to the band section, to the right of the podium and placed her things under her chair.
Devlyn walked by, waving to her as he passed. He was with his friends, Mitch and Jason. They were all wearing white dress shirts with dark ties and dark dress pants. They carried their Navy colored robes over their shoulders. Lucy was happy that Devlyn hadn't made a big deal over her with his friends so nearby. She hoped to have a word with him about his upcoming departure. He'd be leaving soon, but how soon she had no idea. Her friend Victoria, who was also graduating, came up to her and said a few words as Lucy put her flute together and began warming up. Victoria then walked off in the direction the boys had gone.
Lucy was surprised to see Devlyn walking toward her again a few minutes before the ceremony was to begin. A bleached-blonde girl ran up to him and hugged him. He picked herup and twirled her around. Lucy recognized her as Samantha, a band mate in the saxophone section. Lucy had heard many rumors about this girl, most of them sexual in nature. Lucy felt an urge to separate the two and rip off all of Sam's brittle hair, shoving each clump down her throat as soon as it was ripped out of her damaged head. Lucy began to question her role in the relationship with Devlyn. Was he a total liar, or what?
It almost seemed that Devlyn hadn't seen Lucy at all during that display with Sam. Had he forgotten about Lucy so quickly? Thoughts flowed through Lucy's turbulent mind throughout the cermonies. She'd never experienced such difficulty playing her flute as she did that evening. Throughout the ceremony, her anger grew. Her doubts blossomed into full-fledged trains of thought that rushed through her darkening mind, heedless of the possible dangers ahead. She was quickly falling further into depression, with nothing to grab onto.
The ceremony was over, the band had played the recessional countless times as the 500 member class of '93 streamed out of the building, into the first day of their lives as high school graduates. Would Lucy or any of her friends ever see these spectral figures again? Lucy doubted it. They would soon become mere ghosts of memories to most of their classmates and former friends. Old friends would be tossed like dirty socks into a hamper. New friends would quickly replace the shadow left by the unwanted.
Lucy walked outside, surprised to see Devlyn waiting for her. Lucy was suspicious. "This is the end, the end of us, the end of me," she thought. He hugged her, seeming to not want to let go of her. Lucy didn't mention Sam. She was just happy to be held in his warm and strong arms.
"Got a ride home?" He asked.
"Yeah, my mom's coming to pick me up soon."
"Want to get together later? Go to some parties?"
"No, I'm still grounded."
Before anything else could be said, Lucy's mother pulled up beside her in the family car. Her mother was quickly out of the car and heading toward her. "I have to go. I'll miss you." She waved as she walked to her mother, who quickly motioned her into the car. Lucy honestly believed that she'd never hear from Devlyn again. But that's not how fate works. Fate is cruel.
The drive home was long and quiet. Neither Lucy nor her mother said anything. Lucy began to notice that she was having difficulty breathing. She said nothing. When they pulled into their driveway, Lucy's mother asked if the boy she'd been talking to was Devlyn. Lucy had simply nodded and walked back to her bedroom. She closed the door and collapsed to the ground as the world began to go black, fading in on her field of vision. Her ears felt pressurized and numb, she couldn't hear any noises. All was silent and dark, peaceful.
She returned to the land of the living under the bright fluorescent lights of the emergency room. It seemed that stress combined with an acute asthma attack brought on by allergic reaction to the mold in the auditorium had caused her to pass out from a lack of oxygen. She was also dehydrated and hooked up to an IV to bring her fluids back to a more normal level. The doctor had also given her a shot of adrenaline to open up her lungs. The side effect was that she was so shaky she couldn't even hold onto the pen that the doctor kept forcing into her hand. Lucy was scared, which did not help her condition. They held her several more hours for observation before releasing her with a prescription for Prednisone, an enhanced steroid that would prevent inflammation in her lungs. Lucy wanted to die. Instead, she went home with her mother and slept for 20 hours.
* * *
Devlyn called about two weeks later. "Where've you been? I tried calling after graduation and nobody answered the phone."
"I was in the ER most of the night."
"Why? Are you OK?"
"Asthma attack, bad one. Blacked out. Dehydrated. Doc's got me on oral steroids and I'm still really tired."
"What are you doing this summer?"
"Nothing much, working a bit at Wednesday's and maybe some hiking and reading."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Not a good one."
"Hey, you know I'm leaving soon. Look, I don't want you seeing anybody while I'm gone. I'll contact you as soon as I can after basic training and when I get leave."
"Of course I won't. You're all I want."
"Promise me."
"I promise."
Devlyn sounded slightly strained, upset. Lucy heard the click of another phone being picked up. "Devlyn, Judy needs to use the phone now. Get off."
"Sorry, I have to go. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye." Lucy hung up the phone, realizing a few minutes later that she was still sitting on the floor, holding the telephone on her lap. She then realized she'd once again forgotten to ask exactly when he was leaving. He'd sounded strange.