I stood immediately.
I smoothed my jacket and stepped toward the aisle.
Lily appeared from the line of graduates.
Our eyes met.
At least, I thought they did.
I lifted my hand.
She kept walking.
At first, I assumed she hadn’t seen me.
“Lily.”
She passed the entrance to my row.
I laughed nervously.
“Kiddo?”
She didn’t stop.
The smile disappeared from my face.
Whispers started behind me.
I turned.
Lily was walking toward the far end of the track.
Toward a man standing alone near the equipment gate.
An older man.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Hands folded nervously in front of him.
My stomach dropped.
It was the school custodian.
Walter.
Lily stopped in front of him.
Even from thirty feet away, I could see his eyes filling with tears.
She held out her arm.
“Would you walk with me?”
The old man covered his mouth.
Then he nodded.
She slipped her arm through his.
Around me, parents began murmuring.
“Isn’t that the janitor?”
“I thought that man was her father.”
