“Mrs. Miller,” Vance began, his face flushing red, flustered by the breach of protocol. “This is a formal academic ceremony. You need to return to your seat immediately—”
“And he is a graduating senior who has earned straight A’s while working two jobs,” I interrupted, taking another step up, backing Vance toward the podium. I positioned my body to completely block the Harringtons’ view of Ethan. “He has earned his place on that stage. He has paid for it in blood and sweat. If you want to stop him from walking with his child, you will have to call the police and have me physically arrested and dragged out of here in front of a thousand people.”
Vance looked at me, his mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish. He glanced nervously at Eleanor Harrington, who was now gripping the armrests of her chair, glaring daggers at my back.
But the optics of a physical altercation—of wrestling a premature baby from a student and arresting his mother on stage—were too terrible even for a man as bought-and-paid-for as Vance. He swallowed hard, slowly lowering his arm, and stepped aside with a look of profound, bitter distaste.
“Thank you, Mom,” Ethan whispered, his voice thick with unshed tears.
“Go,” I said fiercely, nodding toward the podium. “Show them.”
Ethan ascended the wooden steps. His boots made a heavy, definitive thud against the wood. The school board president, looking utterly bewildered, handed him his diploma cover without making eye contact.
Protocol dictated that Ethan was to take the cover, shake hands, and walk down the opposite side of the stage.
But Ethan didn’t do that.
Instead of walking across the stage, Ethan took a sharp left. He walked directly toward the center podium, where the microphone stood live, waiting for the closing remarks.
A frantic, terrified murmuring erupted from the faculty section sitting behind the podium. Principal Vance waved his arms wildly, signaling frantically to the A/V booth at the back of the room.
As Ethan leaned in, parting his lips to speak into the silver mesh, a loud, sharp POP echoed violently through the massive room, followed immediately by the dead, empty hiss of static.
