The Cinder File Chapter 2

Chap. 2

6 days later...

I couldn't believe it! It was the night before graduation and I still hadn't told my mom and dad about the envelope. I did, however, tell them about the career. They were thrilled! Che however, was not.
"You need to tell them eventually," she nagged over the phone.
I sighed a deep sigh and replied, "I know, I know! Being a lawyer sounds really cool, but how am I ever going to tell them?"
"Angela, get off the phone!"
I sighed and said, "I gotta go, Che. Mom alert again."
"Okay. See you tomorrow. Don't forgot your gown," replied Che.
"You too!" I said as I hung up.
As I crawled into bed I thought about the envelope, graduation, and my parents.
The next morning was all a blur. As I looked in the mirror I thought again about the envelope; and thought, and thought for what seemed hours, then finally just slipped it in my back pocket. I grabbed my gown, kissed my parents, and headed off to school. It would be the last time my parents recognized me.
As Che and I walked to school we talked and talked about everything, except the envelope. Although we both wanted to, we just couldn't. It seemed like it had been hours since I had left home.
1st period was insane. Everyone was buzzing about who was coming to graduation and how the girls were going to do their hair to impress their boyfriends. Well, everyone except me. I was livin' the single life.
Che was the exact opposite. Speaking of which, they were liplocking just as the teacher walked in.
"Good morning class," Mrs. Green uttered.
No one paid attention.
"Good morning class," she exclaimed a bit louder.
Still no reaction.
"I said, 'GOOD MORNING!'"
Everyone stared. Even the kids walking by in the hall.
"Thank you," she uttered quietly.
As Che and I sped through the day niether of us said anything about the envelope, but I knew we would eventually. 7th period would be "eventually."
While we worked on our assignments, Che passed me a note.
'Did you bring the envelope?'
I glanced at the teacher and answered back. A few seconds later she returned it.
'Are you going to tell your parents at graduation?'
I looked at that sentence, then looked at her and shrugged. I refused to look at her the rest of the period.
Once it came time for graduation everyone was psyched, even the underclassmen.
As the speaker droned on about us, even though he hardly knew us, I tried to find my parents in the crowd. They were nowhere in sight, which was weird because no way they would miss this.
When they got through with giving everyone their diploma I still couldn't find my parents. By that time I was panicking with worry.
"Relax, they'll be here," Che whispered during pictures.
However, I still wasn't sure. After pictures I wandered around looking for them. Then a woman in a tan suit approached me. Figuring it was a newspaper reporter, I smiled my best smile at her, trying not to look worried. She was frowning.
"Are you Angela Rathman?" she questioned in a flat monotone.
"Yes," I replied, feeling the dread wash over me like a tsunami.
She hesitated, then finally said, "Your parents have been in a car crash and are in the hospital."
It was the last thing I heard before I slipped into darkness.