Like a Skyscraper

Paul pulled up in front of Sam’s house and parked. He hopped out of the car and walked over to Kaelyn’s side to open the door for her. She smiled and got out to walk with him up to the front door. She was excited to spend some time with the pack before graduation. They walked inside and got bombarded by everyone.

The guys all pulled Kaelyn in different directions, hugging her and asking what took so long. She laughed and tried to free herself, but it took Paul yelling to get her away from them. Kaelyn already felt better, light hearted even. That’s what the guys did for her.

“Have you eaten yet?” Sam asked once everyone had calmed down.

“Not yet.”

“Good. Emily was excited that you were coming over so she’s been cooking all afternoon—“

“Yeah, It’s gonna be a feast,” Seth exclaimed with a wide grin. Kaelyn smiled back. All the guys knew about her cancer, but they acted like she was still the same. It made her happy to not be treated any differently with them.

“Let the poor girl breathe!” Emily joked as she entered the room. She was drying her hands off on a kitchen towel and hugged Kaelyn.

“I’m so happy you’re here. Come help me in the kitchen,” Emily said not giving the blonde much of a choice. She flashed a wink towards Paul and followed Sam’s fiancée into the other room to help her where she left off.

“Here, help me peel these potatoes,” Emily said, handing Kaelyn a vegetable peeler. “Are you excited about tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I can’t believe I’m officially done with high school,” Kaelyn smiled and got to work peeling the skin off.

“I remember my high school graduation. I could hardly sit still. It felt like the speeches would never end,” Emily laughed and stirred something she was cooking in a pot. Kaelyn and Emily chatted away while they cooked. They were in the kitchen for so long that Paul felt the need to check in on them.

“We were just having some girl time,” Emily explained, knowing that Paul worried about his best friend.

“Well are y’all almost done? We’re starving,” He complained and sat at the table to watch them. His response made Kaelyn snort a little.

“You’ve never been patient,” She teased him.

“A virtue I still don’t seem to have,” He agreed in all seriousness.

“Go get the others and tell them it’s time to eat,” Emily ordered. Soon the small kitchen was filled with too many people trying to fill their plates, but Kaelyn loved it. She spent the rest of the day eating and joking around with the pack. It was better than she hoped. Her pain killers were taking most of her pain away and the joking and laughing took care of the rest. She didn’t want the day to end.

~*~

Kaelyn woke up the next morning bright and early. She felt better than she had in a long time. Her aches were almost nonexistent, and she felt full of energy which was weird. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Kaelyn began to get ready. She put on the dress she bought with Alice and loosely curled her shoulder length hair. It had grown a little since she moved to Forks.

“Kaelyn, are you up?” Her mom asked as she opened the door.

“Yeah, I’m just getting ready,” Kaelyn grinned and put on a little makeup.

“Okay, I have breakfast ready whenever you’re done up here.” Her mom went back down the stairs and gave Kaelyn a moment to look in the mirror. She felt… accomplished. She made it this far, and she was proud. Grabbing her cap and gown, she went down the stairs and joined her mom in the kitchen.

“Baby, you look beautiful,” Lila gushed and hugged her daughter.

“Thanks, Mom. I’m really excited; I don’t know if I can eat. I have all these butterflies.” Lila laughed and told her to eat what she could and that they could get lunch after the ceremony ended if she wanted.

The two finished their food and headed to the car. It was nearing eleven and Kaelyn needed to check in. Her mom drove them both to the school and waved her off to go get ready while Lila found her seat in the gymnasium.

The next hour felt like the longest in her life. Kaelyn checked in with her teachers and had to wait in a long line. Her last name put her towards the end of the alphabet so she couldn’t see Alice or anyone else. Finally it was near noon, and the line began to file into their seats set up in the gymnasium.

Just like Emily told her, the speeches droned on forever. Kaelyn was just ready to walk across the stage and be done. They began calling names shortly after, and good thing the school was small. It didn’t take too long to reach the last names with an s. Kaelyn stood when her name was called and heard multiple cheers and yells. She looked behind her and saw Paul and some of the other guys cheering for her. Kaelyn waved quietly and walked onto the makeshift stage to shake her principal’s hand and get her diploma.

And just like that it was over. Everyone threw their caps in the air, but Kaelyn held onto hers so she could keep it. All the graduates dispersed to find their friends and family. Kaelyn turned and saw her mom walking towards her with Paul in tow.

“You made it!” She yelled and hugged him.

“I wouldn’t miss your graduation,” He laughed. Lila made them pose for a picture. Paul wrapped an arm around Kaelyn and pulled her close to his side for the camera.

“I’m getting a copy of that one,” He informed Lila who just smiled and nodded. Alice ran over to Kaelyn and threw her arms around her.

“We’re high school graduates!” She exclaimed with a huge smile. It was infectious and had Kaelyn smiling back just as big.

“I know! Hey, is Emmett around? I wanted to talk to him before I left,” Kaelyn said. Alice noticed Paul stiffen but acted like she didn’t see anything. She nodded and pointed to the general area her family was at.

“I’ll take you over there,” Alice offered wanting to see what they were going to talk about. Kaelyn told her mom and Paul that she would be back in a minute and left with Alice to join the Cullens.

Edward read Alice’s mind and informed Emmett that Kaelyn was on her way to talk to him. To make things less awkward for her, he met the girls halfway. Alice left to give them privacy and make sure Rosalie didn’t try to interfere.

“Hey,” Kaelyn said softly.

“Hey,” Emmett said right back. Kaelyn wanted to laugh at the awkwardness but held it in.

“I just want to say congratulations. I’m not going to the party at your house tonight so this will probably be the last time we see each other,” Kaelyn said.

“When are you leaving for Florida?” Emmett whispered. Kaelyn swallowed her guilt quickly.

“Tomorrow morning.”

“That soon?” Emmett tried not to sound upset, but he didn’t think it worked. Kaelyn nodded.

“So this is really goodbye then…” Emmett mumbled, trying to let it sink in. Kaelyn would be gone from his life forever. Tomorrow.

“Yeah, I’m glad that we were able to make up. I would’ve felt bad for leaving with things still unresolved between us,” Kaelyn said. Emmett didn’t like the sound of her saying goodbye, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Impulsively, Emmett wrapped his arms around her; loving having her in his arms again.

“Goodbye, Kaelyn. I hope you’ll be happy in Florida.” Kaelyn closed her eyes and slowly returned the embrace.

“Thank you, Emmett. I hope you’ll be happy too.” They pulled away, and Kaelyn turned to leave, but Emmett stopped her.

“Before you leave, I want to give this back to you.” Emmett reached into his pocket and pulled out her dad’s dog tags. Tears formed in her eyes when she saw them.

“I wanted to give them back to you before, but we weren’t talking and then we were, but I…” He trailed off, but Kaelyn understood. She slowly took the necklace from Emmett and smiled at him.

“Goodbye, Emmett.” Then she was gone. For good. And he had nothing of hers to remember her by. It was over for good, and she was safe from him and his family. But why did he have to feel so horrible about it? Why did his heart still ache for her?