Lexi's Final Year

Epilogue

"You ready, Lexi?"

Lexi glanced over at her parents and nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Both she and her parents filed into the massive New York University gymnasium, where the October graduation ceremony would be taking place. Once told where she had to go, she bid her parents goodbye before going into another smaller room to get ready.

Lexi threw on a bright purple graduation robe and matching graduation cap. Her white strapless cocktail dress and white kitten heels complemented her added attire perfectly. She placed the cap on top of her head while tossing her long, chestnut blonde hair behind her hair. She had curled her hair for the occasion, which flowed down her back like a waterfall.

"Lexi!"

She spun around to find one of her professors, Professor Paul Hawkins, approaching her. He had a warm smile on his face.

"Hey, how's it going?" she greeted.

"I'm good!" Paul replied. "Just wanted to congratulate you on the release of Deadly Lolita. It was an amazing read, Lexi."

"Oh, thank you," Lexi said with a surprised grin. It still felt weird to hear such high praise about her book, especially from both classmates and professors alike. Others had already done so over the past couple of weeks through social media.

After making some more small talk with some of her classmates for several minutes, the graduation ceremony was about to begin. Lexi promptly followed her classmates and soon found her seat amongst the crowd. There had to have been several thousand students piled into the gymnasium. That number didn't even include the many parents and extended family members sitting behind the graduating students.

The whole ceremony was long and tedious, but Lexi took it all in stride. She sat through the entire thing with a small smile on her face. She even shed a few tears, though she tried to not ruin her makeup when wiping them away. It was a little overwhelming just realizing that she was officially a New York University graduate.

A few hours later, the graduation ceremony was finally over. Lexi snuck outside in her cap and gown to hug her parents.

"We're so proud of you, sweetheart," her mother beamed, tears brimmed in her eyes.

"We love you, and we're so very proud of you," her father added in a booming voice.

Lexi inhaled sharply to keep her tears at bay. "I love you two so much. Thank you for having my back."

"We'll always have your back, Miss Lexi Cole," her father said with a hearty chuckle.

"Dad, you don't have to keep calling me that," Lexi replied while rolling her eyes. But she quickly began to laugh, knowing that the teasing wasn't about to go anywhere.

"No, I insist."

Lexi's mother laughed. "I want to get some photos of you in your cap and gown before you have to return them."

"Good idea," Lexi remarked.

She and her parents stood outside to take pictures of their only daughter in her graduation attire. Lexi's smile was wide as the late summer sun shined brightly upon her. The sky was blue and free of any clouds, making the weather perfect for her photo op. A passing stranger even helped take a couple of photos of Lexi with her parents.

"So," her mother piped up once the photo session ended, "what are the rest of your plans for today?"

"I wanna spend the day with you two," Lexi replied. "Everyone else is gonna be with their families, so there's no point in bugging them."