Read Coming Attractions for Free Online Page A

Bob had just said he was proud of her. He could come watch her accept her diploma
     and be proud of her on May 16 too, couldn’t he?
    Two weeks passed before Katie managed to find time to call Uncle Bob to check on the car project as well as to give him a
     heads-up on the graduation date. Katie knew Marti’s social calendar would require early notice on any event that required
     significant effort. And with Aunt Marti, pretty much everything involved more effort on her part than was perhaps necessary.
    During those two weeks, Katie felt like a hamster on an exercise wheel, running, running, but getting nowhere. She made it
     to all her classes, two staff meetings, and even fulfilled her scheduled RA duties. That was more than she had managed to
     pull off in the past month. On average she was sleeping less than five hours each night, but she couldn’t seem to catch up
     on all the work she had to do.
    After Katie’s last afternoon class on Friday, she headed to Crown Hall for her two-hour front-desk duty. The minute she was
     off, she planned to dash to the shower and change into whatever clean anything she could find in the compost pile of clothing
     in her room. She and Rick had finally managed to schedule a real date, and, if all went well, she would be ready at exactly
     6:30, when he was to pick her up.
    Julia, Katie’s resident director, was waiting for her when Katie entered the office space on the lobby level of Crown Hall.
     She took Katie aside and asked, “Do you have any time open tomorrow morning?”
    “Tomorrow?”
    “Around eight. Does that work for you? You still haven’t turned in your February summary forms. I know you were sick. We can
     work on it together. It should only take an hour.”
    Katie didn’t see how she could fit another hour into her schedule. She knew she had to. Maybe trying to go out to dinner tonight
     with Rick was a bad idea. She had way too much work to do this weekend.
    What am I thinking? I haven’t seen Rick in ages. Of course I have to see him tonight.
    “Would later in the week be all right with you?”
    “Sure. Email me your best open times and we’ll figure something out.”
    Settling into her chair at the desk, Katie pulled out her laptop and immediately went to work on some research she needed
     for her final project in her class on modern Asian culture. When she had switched to humanities as her major at the start
     of her senior year, she didn’t have a strong sense of what she would end up doing with that major. But it was a much better
     fit than botany had been. With humanities, she liked the variety of classes that connected with her interest in people, communication,
     and cultures.
    Yet Katie knew, if she were to be completely honest, she was more interested in actually graduating than in what degree she
     was graduating with. She wouldn’t admit that to anyone, but her goal had been simply to finish college. What she majored in
     was only icing on the cake. If she could manage to keep on track for this last sprint to the finish line, then anything could
     happen.
    Katie’s imagination gave way to the image of being draped in an elegant white wedding dress, holding a simple, single California
     poppy as her bouquet. She saw herself walking down the aisle, her face gleaming, her steps slow and sure. In her waking daydream
     she saw her wedding take place outside, on upper campus, just like Christy and Todd’s wedding last May. The weather was perfect.
     The guests were all beaming.
    She looked down and was delighted to see she was barefoot under that exquisite wedding gown. That explained her perfect balance
     and unhurried steps. She was happy. In her most natural habitat.
    Katie imagined music playing. Guitars. No, not guitars. Violins. Yes, violins. Many violins with one cello. And butterflies.
     Hundreds of dainty, flittering, golden butterflies circled her as she took tiny steps forward.
    She imagined lifting her eyes toward the altar where, under