No Alternative: Day 2

Word Count: 12,008

Summary of Events:

Drake got ready for his graduation, not that he was glad to be wearing the suit he was because he hadn't gotten the final say on it. Following the processional part all the students and their families went outside to a nearby park to snap pictures . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

Standing off in the corner of the park, Drake watched as photos were snapped all over the place, not only by the photographers the school had hired for the event, but by parents, siblings, grandparents, and the like.

Drake had discreetly separated himself from the rest of his family so as to avoid as many pictures as possible, and he had to admit to a twinge of jealousy as he watched his friends participate in photos with their families.

Hayden’s family were all in a matching colour scheme that paired expertly with the school’s colours — his mom was an interior decorator, so the family always turned out in complimentary outfits.

Calder was wearing one of his many suits that he wore to games as was the expectation of all hockey players — especially in Canada — and was not only getting photos with his billet family with whom he’d lived since he’d first made the Blazers, but with his actual family, who’d come to town from Nanaimo for the occasion.

Drake had noticed that Calder’s sister — whom he knew from conversation was younger than Calder — was prettier in real life than in the Instagram pictures. 

Her hair was a lovely milk chocolate colour, and the slender-but-airy turquoise dress she was wearing made her blue eyes stand out brightly.

The dress had a halter top and a high waist before falling away into a long, fairly narrow skirt that only just hovered over the tops of the grass blades, exposing her feet to be clad in matching turquoise high-heeled sandals.

She looked pretty fit — which made sense, because Calder said his whole family was athletic; his dad had played baseball professionally, his mom had done skiing, his older brother was following his dad into baseball, and his sister, if Drake recalled correctly, was pursuing bobsledding in the winter and doing sprint-distance footraces in the summertime.

Rhys’ family stood out, as always, as he, his dad, and his brothers were all in cowboy hats that matched the western shirts, ties, and suit coats, plus the cowboy boots — complete with spurs — they were all wearing.

Drake’s family was — gratefully — lost in the crowd from Drake’s vantage, so he couldn’t see the rather mismatched group that they were with Dad in his dusty brown suit and red bowtie, Mom in black and white, Oriann in a grey maxi dress, Yolanda in a teal and white floral maxi dress, Urbane in black dress pants with a red plaid short-sleeved dress shirt and blue bowtie, and Quest in tan dress pants with a blue plaid short-sleeved dress shirt and yellow bowtie — the latter two both with the remnants of their pen drawings on their forearms.

“There you are!” Drake startled, ready to panic, at the exclamation until he realised to his relief that it was coming from Hayden. “Come on, let’s get some pictures together.”