Morning arrived earlier than Jake expected.
Not because the alarm rang too soon, but because sleep had been shallow in the quiet way that comes when the mind keeps circling the same thoughts without fully admitting it. When he opened his eyes, the light filtering through the curtains already carried that particular brightness of a day that had decided to be important whether anyone was ready for it or not.
For a few seconds he stayed in bed, staring at the ceiling.
Graduation.
It was a strange word when you actually reached it. For years it had existed as something distant—an endpoint other people talked about, a milestone older students approached with a mixture of pride and exhaustion. It had never quite felt real while lectures and assignments kept arriving week after week.
Now it had arrived quietly overnight.
