Chapter 4		Interlude 2		Chapter 5		Epilogue

Interlude I

Graduation, 1992.

Shawna is watching the seniors graduate, entertained by the procession with which it is carried out. She smiles as the Master of Ceremonies pronounces them graduated, and the school year at a close.

As one, the graduates take their caps, and toss them high into the air, and they let out a loud cheer as they do.

Other students in the audience, perhaps brothers and sisters of some of the graduees, perhaps friends, or maybe just relatives, also let out a loud hoorah. Summer has come, and they are free for three glorious months before they have to gear up for summer again.

For them, summer means endless days of video games, lounging around, seeing movies, perhaps freedom to go on dates anytime they want, and since there would be no school the next day, their curfews are extended. Summer is always good to them.

To some of the students though, summer is not as good. Summer means that they need to get a summer job, and work does not apeal to them. These students let out a cheer sas the year comes to a close also though, since it is ingrained into them.

Shawna takes all this in in an instant, and in the next is considering where she should go for a job. She has applied to several grocery stores, and is confident she could be a cashier at any of them. She has applied to several other department stores, hoping that one of them needs a stocker perhaps.

No one has as yet gotten back to her, but she is patient.

A tap at her shoulder draws her out of her reverie. She turns and comes face to face with Jonny Levere, the head of the SkyWriters.

"Hi," he says simply.

"Hello," she replies coolly.

"I... I know we haven't been on the best terms lately, and I just wanted to apologize, and patch things up before we part for the summer. I don't want you to think of me like you thought of Gutter. So, I'm sorry for everything I've done. I honestly did not beat up Micah, and I don't know who did. I'm sorry for the way I've treated you, if I've treated you wrongly at any point during the year."

"Your apology is accepted," she replies evenly, not really caring about his apology.

"Thank you," he returns, handing her an envelope. "I would like you to take this, please."

She eyes it suspiciously, as if by taking it, it will come to life and bite her. Several long seconds pass, in which he is afraid she will not take it, but she does.

She begins to open it, but he stops her.

"No, please. Don't open it until you get home," he asks her.

She looks at him, but decides to accede to his request.

Later that night, she opens it. There is a card, and inside the card, no handwritten note, as there is usually, but a single slip of glossy paper.

She lifts it up, and sees it is a picture. A picture of Jonny, as it turns out. She stares at it for a moment, and then closes the card up, with him inside, and tosses it aside.

Tomorrow, she tells herself, she will throw it out, and never look at it again. She doesn't want it. If he was here, she would force him to take it back. If he had sent it after graduation, she could have sent it back to the return address on the envelope. He has covered his tracks well. there is no way to give the picture back to him.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow she will get rid of it.

But she doesn't.

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