"Come on Lina!" Catalina's brother tugged her out of her room.
The young American fought off her brother, gesturing to wait a minute. The next sixty seconds saw no movement except for Catalina typing furiously away on her dying laptop.
"Thank you for your consideration, and all the best in the future." She mumbled while typing her last sentence before hitting "send".
"Done!" She cheered triumphantly.
Suddenly, Catalina was reminded of her brother's presence once again. He stood, leaning against the doorway, pissed off look on his face.
"What do you want Carlos?" Catalina sighed, finally addressing her elder brother.
"To go out." Carlos stated simply.
"Who? What? Where? When? Why?" She rambled off from memory.
"With me and my friends, and Emme and whoever's she invited. We're going to that club on Wall Street to celebrate the fact that you got through your first year of college, and I graduated. As for the time, well uh, right about now." Carlos smirked.
"If I go, you have to keep away from Emme." Catalina stated, a deadpan expression on her face.
Emme was Catalina's best friend. The girls had been roommates their first year, and she came and stayed with Catalina for a week or so after the school year ended. Unfortunately, Carlos had taken a liking to Emme, and Catalina wasn't so fond of that. Especially since the attraction went both ways.
"I suppose, sure." Carlos lied, Catalina wasn't buying it.
"Seriously, find someone else for the night, it's not like you don't have options." Catalina groaned.
"Okay whatever, so will you go?" Carlos repeated his initial question.
"Yeah okay. Any dress code?" Catalina mumbled.
"Something summery apparently." Carlos replied before sauntering off to his room in the small apartment.
Catalina rolled her eyes once again before going over to her limited closet. Two months after the school year had ended, she'd yet to unpack her suitcases from university. Her eyes were caught by a short, yellow, flowy summer dress with spaghetti straps. It was short, but not too short.
Catalina examined the dress very carefully. It had been approximately 40 hours since she'd gotten any sleep, about two days. She had been submitting paper work for her second year of university, and had been applying to some programs abroad for the next year. The last of which, she'd just submitted when Carlos began annoying her.
Perhaps it was her lack of sleep that prompted her to accept the yellow dress as her outfit choice, but she couldn't bear the thought of pondering a minute longer. She just wanted to get through this night so she could go home and sleep in the end.
Begrudgingly, Catalina got out of her Northeastern sweatshirt and into the dress. She grabbed some slides for footwear, (because what the hell), a bag and she was ready to go. Catalina stuffed her purse with all the necessities and went to the kitchen to wait for her brother. There, she frowned upon seeing her parents hunched over the counter, looking at the bills. Her guilt immediately increased tenfold when she saw the paper were bills from Northeastern, the university she was attending in Boston.
Catalina's family, the Alonso's, weren't poor, not in the slightest. She grew up comfortably, never had to worry about food, clothing, or toys. Her family took yearly vacations. To many, especially living in New York City, they seemed quite well off. They were. Up until the university bills came rolling in.
Catalina's brother Carlos, was about three years older than her. He was smart, quite intelligent actually. He had good grades, sports, extra curriculars, he was a well rounded student. Nonetheless, his family was surprised when he got into Princeton. He had to go. There was no doubt about it. Every immigrant parent's dream was to see their kid move on to bigger and better things than they ever could. And to the Alonso's, Princeton was the way. So, Carlos attended Princeton, and graduated.
The only twist was however, Carlos got no financial aid. The family paid about $70K out of pocket, per year with all of Carlos's expenses. When her turn rolled around, Catalina was also accepted to some great schools. Cornell University, another Ivy League institution was included in these acceptances. But with no aid, Catalina was forced to choose a different school.
It broke her heart, and her parents truly. Carlos couldn't help but feel he was at fault that his sister was unable to attend her dream school. They were going to be among the first Colombian-American students from their high school to be accepted into such prestigious schools.
The Alonso's just did not have the money, so Catalina opted for Northeastern, who provided her with A LOT of financial age.
"Reputable but affordable." Her parents tried to comfort her.
No matter how affordable, Catalina still grew glum whenever she saw her parents struggling to pay her and her brother's university expenses. She stood stationary, frowning at her parents' state. Hunched over paying the bills while her and brother went out to some club. Catalina felt Carlos's presence as he was held at a standstill at the sight of their parents.
Feeling eyes on them, Mama Alonso looked up.
"Aye, a donde van?" She questioned with a small smile.
"Un club mama. Para celebraciones." Carlos spoke.
"Bueno, ustedes tienen una buena noche." Papa Alonso interjected.
"Hm, just don't spend too much niños." Their mom added.
Catalina and Carlos thanked them before going out the door.
"I feel bad." Catalina confessed.
"It's just the sleep deprivation, don't worry." He reassured his sister, handing her an energy drink.
"No I mean, we shouldn't be spending more money on reckless nights out." Catalina explained.
Carlos scoffed, "Who says we're spending money? Remember this is celebrating my graduation. The others are paying, not us."
Catalina eyed her brother suspiciously before shrugging her shoulders, "Okay. Let's go."
Carlos gestured to the end of the sidewalk where they need to cross to get to the subway.
"Race you."
Catalina usually was not a runner but the energy drink pumped her up, even when she was in slides.
"You're on."
And with that, the siblings dashed, weaving in and out of people. One last night of fun. Like the good old days.
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