The Annoying Sleepwalker novel · Chapter 24 of 24

Chapter 24: Let It Go

On graduation morning I wore my blazer under my gown and walked to the east gate alone.

Casper had offered to come.

I had told him no, and then I had told him to stand at the corner with his camera, where she could see him.

It was ten o'clock, and the quad behind the gate was full of caps and gowns and parents holding flowers.

Saskia stood just outside the iron bars.

She wore jeans and a gray sweatshirt, with her hair in a loose knot, and she held a small cardboard box in both hands.

She looked thinner.

When she saw me she straightened.

"Jess," she said. "You came."

"You said please."

Her mouth trembled.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry. I've been in my father's house for a week, and he doesn't say a word to me. He walks past my door."

"That's hard," I said.

"I lost everything. My degree. The internship. Everyone." Her eyes filled. "You were the last person who ever loved me, and I wrecked it."

I waited.

Behind me, graduates were streaming toward the stadium.

A few of them slowed down when they saw her.

They recognized her, and I watched them recognize me.

"I brought you something," she said, and held out the box. "It's the tea. The kind you like. I went to three stores."

"I don't want it."

"Please."

"I'm not taking it, Saskia."

Her face hardened for a moment.

Then it softened again, with an effort I could see.

"Jess," she said. "You're better than this. You're the kind of person who forgives. I've known you four years."

"You've known the person who nods when she's told to," I said.

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