Lily and I arrived at school about thirty minutes before the start of the program. She pulled into the parking lot beside a white sedan. I hopped off her pickup truck, holding the skirt of my dress so I wouldn't trip over. I looked around the parking lot and there were several cars already, including an oxford blue 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle which stood out among all the cars.

"Bianca's already here manning the registration table with Claire," I mumbled, taking my eyes off the blue vintage car.

Lily pointed to the car and smirked. "And Supervino's here already."

"Supervino?"

"Ah-huh. He's still Supervino to me. That will never change."

I didn't know why I couldn't help but smile. She still liked to call him by that old nickname she came up with in high school.

We entered the main building and we couldn't help but gush how the school looked pretty much the same with its off-white walls and maroon accents.

"It's obviously repainted recently," I commented.

"But still the same color."

"Right."

"Oh look, there's a security camera," Lily said, pointing at the camera on the corner of the wall.

Well, that's new.

I slowed down when we reached the large bulletin board. Several announcements were still pinned even if the school year had already ended. I remembered the many times I had stood in front of this bulletin board like reading the list of class achievers and staring at the gazette's call for submission, contemplating whether or not I should try applying as a writer.

"Wow. I feel so old right now," Lily murmured, eyeing the photos of recent school events pinned on the board. "We used to be the ones in the pictures here."

"I know."

I took one last look at the graduation announcement before following Lily. We turned left down the hallway leading to the school's gymnasium.

"Oh my God. You did a good job finding the best caterer," Lily complimented as we stood right outside the gymnasium's double door.

I beamed, feeling satisfied and proud with the work Bianca and I had done. I was glad Lily liked the set-up for the night and hoped that everyone else would too.

The caterers indeed transformed Eastview's gym. There were black, white, and silver draping fabrics covering the bleachers around the gym. The round tables were covered in black linen with red table runners. The chairs were covered in white fabric accentuated with red fabrics tied into a bow. The tables had varying centerpieces. Some had multiple tiny candles while some had red and white roses in a glass vase.

"I'm totally okay even if we're not at The Mansion," Lily laughed as we entered the gym. "Are we in a gym? Are we in a function room?"

We stopped by the silver backdrop near the entrance, where Jeff's photographer friend was taking a picture of everyone who had just arrived. We both posed under the red and black balloon arch for our picture. Afterwards, we went straight to the registration table.

"Hi, girls!" Bianca greeted with much enthusiasm. She handed me and Lily a form and a pen. "Here you go."

"Wow, there are lots of questions in here," Lily commented as she scanned the registration form.

"I can't complain 'cause I helped in coming up with this," I replied and began answering the form.

It took us about five minutes to fill-up the form because of all the questions we had to answer and all the small talk with everyone lining up at the registration table.

"Elisa's waiting for you backstage," Bianca reminded me after giving her my form. "I'll catch you later."

Lily and I left the table and went backstage. I immediately spotted Elisa in her pink dress talking to a broad-shouldered man in a black suit. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and his back was turned to us.

"Supervino!" Lily screamed and ran towards him like she was seeing her favorite singer in person for the first time.

Vino turned around and cliché as it might sound, I felt like we were in one of those sappy and cheesy romance films. It was as if everything turned into a blur and all I could see was just him standing a few feet away from me looking as fine as ever. It had been more than two years since I last saw him and he looked so different.

I had seen him in different hairstyles through the years. He used to have a clean pompadour cut in high school and he once had a longer 'do, keeping his chestnut brown hair in a man bun, in college. But tonight, he was sporting messy brushed up hair—which still looked soft by the way—and he had a heavy stubble, making him look more manly.

"Hey, Lil!" he greeted and beamed as Lily approached him. "You're looking good tonight."

"Back at you, pretty boy." Lily laughed before pinching his right cheek.

Vino chuckled, touching his cheek.

"I'll talk to you later," Lily said before strutting towards Noah who was busy tuning his guitar.

"Sure," Vino replied.

I watched him as he turned to look at me.

"Kane," he murmured, finally acknowledging me.

I released the breath I didn't know I was holding. I tried to keep my composure despite my heart hammering against my ribcage and the butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

I stared at him a second too long before greeting him with a nod, "Vino."

"Uh..." he murmured before chuckling and scratching the back of his neck. He took a tentative step towards me. "You look different."

I looked down at my dress and touched my curled hair. "Different?"

"I mean—good different. You look stunning."

"Oh," I chuckled nervously. "Thanks. You too. You look nice."

He shook his head, grinning. Then he tilted his head to look behind him but no one else was there. "Elisa and I were just talking about my speech."

"Were you practicing it?"

"No... she just asked me if I prepared one or if I'll go impromptu."

I narrowed my eyes at him playfully before saying, "You won't go impromptu."

He grinned. "You know me."

"Vino, Coach Reyes is looking for you," Jeff interrupted, appearing behind Vino. His eyes bugged out when he noticed me. "Oh hey, Kane. I didn't see you earlier."

"I guess you were busy with your camera," I joked, pointing at the camera dangling from his neck.

"Oh," he muttered like he had forgotten about his camera. "Um, want me to take a picture of both of you?"

I peered up at Vino, wanting to know if he would like a picture with me. He looked at me, with his creased forehead.

"Uh...sure, why not," he responded.

Jeff held up his camera and instructed us to stand closer to each other. I stepped closer to Vino as he stood up straight and held his hands in front of him. I put my right foot forward and tried to look as tall as I could.

"A little closer, guys," Jeff requested, gesturing with his hand.

"Okay," Vino replied, taking a step closer to me.

I felt his suit jacket brushed against my bare arm and he put his hands behind him, leaving us with an inch of space between us.

"Great," Jeff said after taking a couple shots. He beamed at me and mumbled, "You look good, by the way."

"Thanks. You look good too."

"Some of the teachers are already here too. You might want to talk to them."

I swallowed, suddenly feeling a lump in my throat. I hadn't been in touch with my teachers since we graduated and it would be my first time seeing most of them in five years. I glanced up at Vino who raised an eyebrow at me.

"Shall we?"

I took a deep breath and exhaled. "Sure."