Margaret Walks Across the High School Stage on a Warm June Morning
“Please, Margaret, sit down,” he said, using my first name for the very first time. He poured water into one of the glasses and handed it to me, his hand steady and dry. “I have some good news from the county superintendent.”
I took the glass but remained standing by the edge of his desk. “Did they approve the honorary diploma?”
“They did,” Vance said, leaning back against his desk and folding his arms. “The superintendent agreed that Olivia’s academic record was exemplary. We have the document signed and sealed in the safe right now.”
A sudden wave of relief made me lean slightly against the wooden back of the armchair. The legal pressure Arthur had applied had actually worked.
“We want to make this moment as comfortable and intimate as possible for your family,” Vance continued, his voice dropping to a warm, confidential register. “So we have scheduled a special presentation. It will be held right here in this office, at three o’clock on the fourteenth of June, the afternoon before the main graduation ceremony.”
I set the water glass down on his desk without drinking. “The afternoon before?”
