Saved by the Whistle

eleven || absquatulate

absquatulate : to leave somewhere abruptly

Her alarm blared in her ear early that Saturday morning, and she quickly turned it off with a groan. Georgia's eyes opened and she sat up in her bed, knowing she had to do some last minute adjustments for her graduation party that afternoon. Antonio was leaving for Fort Jackson in South Carolina right after the party was scheduled to end, the party ending at eight and his flight at nine. She would be riding along with his family to take him to the airport. Georgia was scheduled to leave the following morning at ten, so she would not see him when he came back home before he was called to go overseas. Her bags were already packed with most of her clothes and other things she might need when she moved into the apartment complex she was staying at with many of the other players from Manchester City. Her parents had taken the weekend off from work for once, for ever since they missed her graduation ceremony, they had been extremely careful about what they did or said around her.

Eventually around ten thirty, she got out of bed and got into the shower, still having a few hours before the party started at two. She got in and out in twenty minutes, then let her hair air dry as she plugged in her phone to her speaker and played music to get ready to. She applied her usual makeup, and by the time she was done her hair was dried. She left it as it was and changed from a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to a navy floral romper she had bought a few weeks ago with a dusty pink bralette, then slipped on a pair of tan sandals before heading upstairs.

Her parents were already getting the food prepared, most of it from their Brazilian culture. Some of her family were flying in for the party, but she barely knew them and things were going to be awkward. The backyard was already set up, lights stringing the end of the driveway as a makeshift dance floor, the patio decorated with her school colors. There was a slideshow with pictures from recent years, and memory boards filled with older pictures. There were even a few that were with both Allison and Antonio from when they all were in the same class in third grade. She had laughed when she had put the memory boards together with the two of them, all of them going through nostalgia as they glued the copied pictures to the boards. 

When two o'clock rolled around, a lot of her family was already there along with Antonio and Allison, who had come over early to help out with setting out the food on the patio. Music played mellowly as she greeted her guests, and after an hour, she was finally able to sit down with Hannah, Allison, Trevor, Parker, and Antonio and eat something. 

"So, this is it, huh?" Allison asked, looking to everyone that was around her.

"I'll still be stuck here." Trevor responded enthusiastically, but they all knew what she meant.

"I'm leaving for basic training tonight." Antonio said, taking Georgia's hand in his and giving it a small squeeze.

"I'm heading to Manchester in the morning." She added on, looking to her friends with heartbreak in her eyes. 

"Why are we all moping about this? This is our last day all together, we should be celebrating and having fun! GJ, it's your graduation party not a going away party." Hannah piped in, and they all allowed smiled to find their place on their lips.

"It sort of feels like it, but I guess you're right." Georgia said, finishing her small plate of food and standing up. "Come on, I know it's a little early, but we've all got a dance floor to ourselves, and I've got say over the music." She added on, grabbing her empty plate and heading to throw it away. They all slowly but surely followed her, and she turned on a music that was not familiar to their ears, but it caught the attention of all her relatives.

"What the hell is this?" Hannah asked, and Georgia laughed.

"I'm going to teach you all how to samba, and you're going to like it." She said confidently, and they all lightened up. Georgia never revealed much about her culture, so they were excited to see what was going on and what they would be doing.