Tyler

I stand to the side of the big auditorium, my baseball cap drawn as low as possible. My eyes are fixated on the stage in front of me, where student after student walks up onto the stage to accept their high school diploma with a big smile.

"There she is." Joanne's nails bite into my arm, jumping up and down next to me.

Yes, there she is indeed. Anna walks across the stage, looking as beautiful as ever. We've been dating for almost a year now, and I still can't get enough of her. It hasn't always been easy with my busy schedule and all of my traveling, but somehow we've managed.

I'm not sure if Anna or I have been looking forward more to this moment. Now we can finally spend as much time together during our summer break as possible. I already have plenty of things in mind I'd like to do with her. We both have the summer off before Anna starts college in fall, and I will start recording my next album. Anna wants to stay close to home for a bit longer, so I got an apartment closeby. I'm looking forward to some down time without a lot of major traveling before next year.

A female voice cuts through my daydreams. "Joanne, let go of poor Tyler's arm before you'll draw blood." Anna's mom Heather gives me an apologetic look. "You need to learn how to tell her no, Tyler."

I can only laugh at that. "Have you met your daughter? It's hard to say no to her. Even if I did, she probably wouldn't listen anyway. Isn't that how annoying little sisters are?" I playfully ruffle Joanne's hair and she glares at me with all her might.

After she got over the initial shock of me dating her sister, Joanne quickly became the sibling I've never had, being a little brat and all.

"Whatever, Jet." She says my name a little louder than necessary, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Joanne." I warn her, looking around to see if anyone has heard her.

"You two behave." The girls' dad James glares at us for a second before focusing on something behind us. "There's my girl." He exclaims happily.

I follow his gaze to see Anna pushing her way through the crowd, trying to get over to where we're standing.

She's still wearing her cap on top of her blond hair, and her robe over her dress. She looks happy, and I can't blame her. She's been working so hard for all of her final exams, so I can only imagine how relieved and excited she must feel to be done.

After being congratulated and half-suffocated by her family, she's finally standing in front of me. She gazes up at me with a big smile on her face. "Hi."

"Hey gorgeous. Congratulations. You did it." I pull her closer and give her a big hug. "I'm so proud of you." I whisper in her ear.

"Thanks." I can hear her mumble into my shoulder.

I want to stay like this forever, but I know we need to get going before the crowd discovers I'm here.

"Ready to go?" I ask her, taking her hand in mine.

"Please be punctual this time, you guys. I don't want to eat another cold meal." Heather calls after us.

"I promise it won't happen again, mom." Anna waves at her mom, before looking at me with an accusatory look.

"Hey." I laugh. "Last time wasn't my fault. If I remember correctly, I was all ready to leave the apartment, when you pulled me back in for another round of..."

Anna kisses me before I can say anything else, and I'm the last person to complain.

I won't ever complain when my girl wants to kiss me.

We walk out of the auditorium hand in hand, and I can't remember the last time I've been this happy. The only thing that will top this is when I can convince Anna to join me on my tours and to be by my side forever.

*****

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