Carolina [h.s]

forty six

south carolina
august 1990
***

Vada
//

After a night of rock and roll, brawling, and street racing, the day after chaos rang with serenity.

Juliet's giant backyard clicked with even laughter, swift music and a crowd of unrecognizable relatives.

Our conjoined graduation party was planned months ago and while I loved the thought of sharing a great success with my best friend, it wasn't something I was exactly looking forward to.

See, Juliet had a large family, and both sides from her mom and dad showed up. She had her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents come from all over and while she didn't get along with half of them they could at least be here to show their support for her.

Meanwhile, I didn't know any of my family from my fathers side and both my grandparents were only children leaving my grandmother and I left out of everyone.

This wasn't something I was ashamed of
though. There was something peaceful about not having to play apart in front of people who barely knew who I was.

Before the party began at noon, Juliet and I snuck some liquid courage to prepare for the afternoon of playing host. The party would be held in the backyard where tables and chairs scattered the lawns, and banners and balloons hung on every surface possible.

The decorations were something Juliet's mother had prepared. We didn't really get a say in the red and black theme, which were honoring our old high school colors. Or the embarrassing childhood photos that surprised me when I saw they equally had the both of us in most of them.

Appreciating Clara Parker's commitment, my eyes scanned the pictures of Juliet in her knee pads and helmets while I twirled around next to her in my ballerina tutu. School honor roll certificates, skate competition medals and embarrassing moments from our school talent shows were posted on bulletin boards and posed in several picture frames.

And as much as I hated being the center of attention, I realized as I looked back at the small moments in my life, that I was entirely grateful for all that had happened from now up until this point. That the good and the bad made me who I was.

As the afternoon went on, I lingered by grams most of the time, the two of us enjoying each other's company while Juliet had to force herself to converse with the rest of her family.

Smiles and laughter were held under the big buffet of food, and trendy music swayed from the bass of the speakers. The crowd was mostly adults, and a few friends came from our class, but Juliet and I had mostly kept our eyes open for our specific group of misfits.

"Can you believe I went to hell and back trying to convince my dad to let Zayn come, only for him not to even show?" I hear Li's scoff when she approaches me at the dessert table as I try not to spill frosting on the skirt of my dress.