“Who are you sending it back to?” my dad asks, clicking off the TV. He stands and adjusts his waistband before walking to my side and giving me a quick hug.

“To the sender,” I say, keeping it vague. I lift and kiss his cheek, hoping to distract him from the gift. “Thanks for driving in for the ceremony.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” He walks to the door, holding it open. “You ready, Amanda?”

She grabs her purse and over her shoulder to me, she says, “See you soon, Doctor.”

“Yeah. Yeah,” I say with a soft laugh, my eyes drifting back to the box. “See you soon.”

My gaze dips back down to the card when I’m left alone with it. It’s not full of sweet nothings, but it packs a punch. Harbor always did.

When temptation grows, I warn myself, “Do not open it, Lark.” Nothing good will come of opening a present from him, just like nothing good came from a relationship with him. Though I’m not sure how anything in such a pretty box could sour a mood, I remind myself there’s a hell of a good chance it could affect me negatively, send my emotions spiraling, and ruin this graduation like he did the last one.

Throwing my hands up, I state, “Nope. I’m not doing it,” and walk away to grab my cap and gown. I leave, locking the door behind me. It’s the only way to keep me from tearing that box open.

I hurry across campus, filing in with the others flooding the auditorium. Once I find the other graduates, I take a deep breath to calm down. These heels are torture. Who thought rushing around a large campus would be a good idea? That would be me, guilty as charged. Too late to change my shoes now. Since the other graduates are milling around, I sneak into the bathroom to put on my cap and gown and fix my hair one last time.

The curls softened just as I hoped and the lighter strands that always appear with the warmer months have started to shine through my lighter brown hair. I smile, realizing I should have given Amanda more credit. My makeup is pretty in this lighting and makes the color of my green eyes pop.

From the dress to the makeup to the hair, and even to the stunning black shoes, I feel incredible, the best I’ve ever felt. Oddly, the most adult I’ve ever felt as well. Grown. I’ve grown so much over the past four years. I had to. The shock of Harbor exiting my life without notice gave me no room to back away from moving forward. I was already falling apart. I would continue to shatter until nothing remained of me, or I would follow through with my dreams.

It doesn’t matter that a part of me, a smaller part than I realized now when I’m looking back, went to medical school to spite him.

No. It only matters that I now have a prefix that I worked my butt off to earn. The M.D. at the end isn’t shabby either. Dr. Lark Summerlin, M.D. I feel good, like the clouds are finally starting to clear.