Graduation week arrived fast the days sliding together in a blur of uniforms and signatures and goodbyes The smell of markers and summer filled the halls Teachers smiled a little softer students spoke a little louder Everyone was pretending not to count the hours left I told myself it was just another ending but the thought felt heavier than it should

Liam found me by the lockers holding two ice coffees again said figured you’d need one I said you keep bribing me He said I like patterns They looked the same as the ones from exam week but everything else was different The air lighter the world wider He said you still go to that hill sometimes I said yeah when I need quiet He said can I come this time I said you already know the way He said maybe I just need an excuse

We walked through the back gate down the same narrow street to the park The grass had grown taller the air smelled green The oak tree stood the same but somehow smaller like it was listening We sat under it the ground warm from the afternoon sun He leaned back hands behind his head said so what now I said college I guess He said same city I said maybe He said maybe’s not an answer I said it’s the only one I’ve got

He pulled something from his bag a folded piece of paper said open it Inside was his exam paper the one with my handwriting all over it small arrows and notes I said you kept this He said yeah couldn’t throw it away reminds me that someone believed in me I said you didn’t need me for that He said maybe I did at first

The air went still for a moment The sound of kids playing in the distance the faint ring of a bicycle bell He said you know that deal we made I said which one He said all of them I said you’re gonna have to be more specific He said the one where I keep owing you forever I said yeah what about it He said still stands

I didn’t answer right away I watched the clouds drift past the tree branches said maybe I’m okay with that He smiled that small real smile said I thought so

We stayed there until the sky turned pink shadows stretching across the field He said I used to hate endings they felt like losing something Now I think they’re just places where new things start I said that sounds like something I’d say He said maybe you’re rubbing off on me I said maybe you needed it He said maybe we both did

When the streetlights flickered on he stood brushed off his jeans said guess that’s it I said guess so He said we’ll see each other right I said deals are deals He said good I don’t break those

He started walking backward down the path like always his grin wide in the fading light I watched until he disappeared behind the hill then looked up at the tree the branches cutting into the orange sky The wind moved through the leaves soft and steady like breathing

Later at home I unfolded that exam paper again the pencil marks faint but still there I traced one of the arrows I’d written weeks ago it pointed to a line that said find what makes sense and hold on I smiled wrote one more word beside it progress

Maybe that was what the promise really meant not to never fail not to always know what came next but to keep showing up to keep believing that something good was waiting even after the bell stopped ringing