“I’m going to live in Mexico for a while,” she said. “In a little town in the mountains, San Miguel de Allende, a few hours’ drive north of the capital. A friend of mine teaches at the Instituto Allende. He got me a gig teaching summer classes to retirees. I’m hoping I can turn it into something full-time. San Miguel is a good place to sell paintings. Lots of rich tourists, you know?”

“Do you speak Spanish?”

“A little. You don’t need much. All of the students are gringos anyway.”

“When are you leaving?”

“My lease is up at the end of May.”

“You’re not staying for graduation?”

“Don’t take it personally, Charlie, but I’m not exactly keen on hanging around for all the pomp and circumstance.”

I thought I saw the beginnings of tears forming in Miss Whitten’s eyes. I looked back at my canvas.

“Maybe I shouldn’t finish this.”

“Once you’re done, I think you should hang it in the main lobby,” she said. “Right outside the door of Dodd’s office.”

“I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“What are they going to do?” she said. “They’re not going to withhold your diploma over a painting.”

“If they do, maybe I’ll join you in Mexico.”

“You’d be very welcome,” she said.

“We could set up shop,” I said. “Sell paintings to the tourists.”

“We’d make a killing,” she said. “Just don’t forget me.”

“I could never forget you.”

“You’d be surprised, Charlie, how easy it can be to forget.”

Vanessa skipped Yeatman prom, but she took Arch to Steptoe’s. I went with Alice Hudson. Jamie was asked by Melissa McDaniel, at Alice’s behest. We all rode together in the Haltoms’ Suburban, usually driven by Scott. There was a dinner at Payne Curry’s house and an overnight after-party out at Christine Brennan’s farm in Franklin. The house had a hot tub and a pool, though it was still a bit cool for swimming at night. At some point, I ended up in a basement room with Jamie and a bunch of juniors I didn’t know very well, taking something they called bandanna shots, with vodka and Coke. Jamie and I had lost track of our dates. Couples disappeared to the bedrooms. Everyone else kept drinking.