Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Joshua Almagaire,” Principal Mallory’s voice rang out crisp and clear over the crowd.

There was a moderate amount of clapping as the smiling young man walked across the stage to grab his diploma.

Jeff was sitting front and center at the Quintly Arena which was currently being used for Apollo High School’s class of 2018 graduation ceremony. Sitting on his right was Luke, who was nervously bouncing his legs, waiting for Cam’s name to be called. To his left was Katherine, who’d come down to witness the special occasion. Ever since Jeff had introduced them, she and Luke had become best friends, just as Jeff suspected they would. Next to Katherine, was the entire drama club in various states of dismay.

Jeff tried to hold back his tears as long as he could, but he lost it somewhere around the mid C’s.

“Tammy Cravelli.”

Jeff sniffled and clapped. He was going to miss Tammy, even with all of her mommy issues.

“Penny Culver.”

Jeff pulled out his handkerchief and dabbed at his leaking eyes.

“Annabeth Daniels.”

He reached over and squeezed Luke’s hand.

“Phil Damask.”

They both braced for what was about to come next.

“Cameron Davis.”

Their section erupted with cheers as Cam ducked his head and shook the principal’s hand. It was over in a matter of seconds, but the excitement lingered in them long after. When Jeff got his teary eyes under control, he glanced over to see Luke cradling his phone in his hands. On the screen was a picture he’d snapped of Cam walking away with his diploma in hand. Jeff nestled into his side and patted him on the shoulder. There was no more denying it now. Luke’s baby was all grown up.

The ceremony just kept soldiering on, and pretty soon Jeff was clapping for Danielle, Leanne, Enrique, and Adam too. Jeff looked over to see all the underclassmen huddled together for comfort. They’d all linked hands, even Sophia and Ruby. For them, and for Jefferson too, it really felt like the end of an era.

After Katherine had gotten him cleared to come back, Jeff actually had returned to his old position after all, but only temporarily. He didn’t want the kids to have to go through finals and AP tests without a proper English teacher to guide them. Plus, he wanted the chance to say goodbye.

He’d only announced to the drama club that he wouldn’t be returning next year a couple of days ago, and the group had taken it hard. Nevertheless, they were all supportive and understood what he was trying to do. They even banded together to throw him a massive going away party in the auditorium. It had been a very bittersweet goodbye, but at the end of the day, he knew the kids would be in good hands. He’d used some of that new ad revenue from his social media posts to make a huge donation to the school in exchange for letting him pick out his successor. Also, thanks to his donation, the new drama teacher was actually going to get to teach an elective course as a part of the school's new fine arts curriculum. Still, Jeff was experiencing some pretty rough growing pains.

After the ceremony was over and all of the brand new alums had thrown their caps in the air, Jeff and his crew met up with their graduates outside in the parking lot. The next several minutes were a frenzy of hugging, crying, and picture taking. There were just so many words to say and so many congratulations to give. Through it all, Jeff managed to notice Danielle and Cam holding hands. He didn’t know if Luke caught that or not. He was too busy doting on Cam, dusting off his jacket and making him pose for pictures.

“Your mother would have been so proud of you,” Jeff heard at one point.

At that, Jeff took a few steps away to allow the father and son to have their moment. Jeff looked out at all the people around him. Danielle, Leanne, and even antisocial Adam were smiling and talking animatedly with their friends as their parents looked on proudly. A little further off were Enrique and his grandma. Jeff walked over to them and said hello.

Upon seeing him approach, Enrique whispered something at his grandmother that made her shuffle away.

“Hey kiddo,” Jeff said, giving him a hug. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “Sad, empty, maybe a little bit nostalgic?”

Jeff nodded. There were always a few of these people in every group he taught. He hadn’t really expected Enrique to be one of them though.

“Hey,” Jeff assured him. “It only goes uphill from here.”

Enrique cracked a smile.

“Yeah, yeah, it gets better. I’ve heard that one before. Isn’t that like, the motto of our people?”

“Our people?” Jeff asked, even though he knew exactly what Enrique meant.

“I’m gay,” Enrique said, probably for the first time.

“I know.” Jeff nodded in the direction of Enrique’s grandma. “You might want to tell her that someday though.”

“Maybe,” Enrique said, which was basically code for never gonna happen.

Jeff held up his hands in front of his face.

“Hey, no rush. Take your time man, but for the record, the motto is true. Things really do get better.”

“Thanks, Mr. Martin.”

Enrique was starting to get choked up now, so Jeff put his hand on his shoulder and said, “You have my number. Call anytime you need someone to talk to, okay?”

Enrique nodded, and Jeff left him alone to regain his composure. When he rejoined with Cam, Katherine, and Luke, they were already making plans on who was driving whom to Cam’s backyard graduation party. Jeff ended up with his sister and Enrique inside of the cab of his truck, and about half a dozen underclassmen in the bed.

The party itself was a strange mishmash of jocks and theater people, all gathered together on Luke’s homemade outdoor dance floor. The pairing sounded like the makings of a terrible teen movie, but the two groups seemed to be getting along surprisingly well.

Once everyone was accounted for, Jeff started manning the grill, Katherine took care of the music, and Luke disappeared to retrieve Cam’s graduation present. He and Jeff had gone halves on it, and Jeff couldn’t wait to see the look on the kid’s face.

After a few minutes, Luke returned, looking even more eager than Jeff felt. They both did their best to play it cool though, handing out burgers and sodas and providing very laid-back supervision until the time felt right.

“All right. Listen up everyone,” Katherine said into a megaphone that she had gotten from God knows where. “I’m gonna need you to head out front for a second and keep your damn mouths shut.”

Everyone did as she asked with very little fuss. There was a nervous sort of excitement in the air. Luke held Cam back with one hand and waited for all of the guests to file out of the backyard before affixing his son with a blindfold. Cam was obviously confused, but he was playing along.

Jeff and Luke led the graduate out front where all of his friends were circled around a brand new white sedan with a giant red ribbon stuck to the top. This was another great thing that Jeff’s newfound internet fame had allowed him to do. He only wished he could have bought every single one of his students a car.

Luke positioned Cam carefully in front of the vehicle and then told him to take off the blindfold. Cam did so with shaking fingers. As soon as he laid eyes on the vehicle, his mouth dropped.

“Surprise,” Jeff and Luke said in unison.

The party guests were cheering in the background.

“This is...for me?” Cam asked, speechless.

Luke nodded.

“It’s from Jeff and me. We got it for you on the condition that you have to use it to come down here and visit us at least a few times a month.”

It took Cam a second to put together what they were saying.

“You mean, visit you both here, together. Like at the same time?”

Jeff nodded.

“The lease on my apartment is up next month and then I’m going on a motivational speaking tour, but after that…” Jeff glanced up at Luke who nodded for him to continue. “After that, your father has invited me to move in with him. That is, if it’s okay with you.”

Cam looked at Jeff as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Jeff wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

Then Cam let out a hysterical belt of laughter and said, “Of course it’s okay with me. I can’t believe you bought me a freaking car!”

Jeff smiled and leaned back against Luke who immediately wrapped his arms around him. The two of them stood back and watched as the various kids—and Katherine—vied for who got to be in the first group of people to ride in the car.

Later, after everyone but Cam and theirselves had gone, Jeff spent the night with Luke in their new digs for the very first time. Jeff, who was usually so prone to bouts of insomnia, could barely keep his eyes open now that his head was resting on his boyfriend’s bare chest.

It was true, today had signified the end of a lot of different things, but snuggling here with the man that he loved, with a kid that he also loved right down the hall? This felt more like a new beginning.