h o u s t o n
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When my best friend, Hartley, moved, I barely functioned for the next two months. It's been six months, but I miss him everyday; we talk everyday.
His dad got his dream job offer, and of course he had to take it. But since Hartley moved so suddenly, he switched to online school, so we don't get to graduate together— I'm not sure if he'll even walk. My graduation is this weekend, but Hartley just texted me and said he won't be able to make it on Thursday evening; Graduation is Friday.
I'm not mad— I mean, yeah, I'm sad he won't be able to come, but I understand that it's a lot to drive six hours away and book a hotel.
Mom is freaking out downstairs, although I'm not really sure why because we still have two days until graduation (It's Wednesday). She yells for me to come downstairs.
On the way into the kitchen, I look at my older sister, London, who shrugs; she's two years older than me but still lives with us, commuting twenty minutes to college everyday.
"Oh! Hi! Go clean your room!" Mom tells me.
"You— you called me down from my room to tell me to clean my room?" I ask.
She waves a hand through the air. "Just do it. We're going to dinner tonight, remember."
"Why are Grandma and Gramps taking us out for dinner tonight?" I ask again, because I already forgot.
"Because it's Grandpa's birthday tomorrow, and it's just an early graduation celebration."
"Why are you freaking out so much? We're having dinner at Olive Garden, not here!"
She turns around, and I jump. "Got it." I say, turning around immediately and going upstairs to clean my room— which is already pretty clean.
Houston
Mom is freaking out lol
I don't know why
Hart ❤️
Lol
Maybe she's pre-cleaning for your grad party
Houston
She probably is
You know her
Hart ❤️
Lol
I wish I was gonna be able to be there 😕
Houston
It's okay
We can do something next time you come in 😊
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Mom is standing at the front door, tapping her foot and looking at her watch; we're waiting on Madison and Brooklyn, 16 year old twins.
"Madison! Brooklyn! Let's go! We need to leave NOW!"
I glance at Mom, then Dad and London; they both shrug. Brooklyn comes barreling down the stairs, hopping on one foot when she reaches the landing to pull her shoe on. Madison follows seconds after, with both shoes already on, but trying to put in her earrings.
Mom sighs, but opens the door and rushes all of us out the door. The twins get stuck in the very backs
seats, London and I getting the middle seats.
"We're late. We're late." Mom repeats.
"Mom, what are we even late for?! We're just meeting Grandma and Grandpa!" I say.
"I don't like making people wait for us!" She says. Then she glances at my dad and they do the weird thing where they communicate without saying a single word.
I can hear Brooklyn tapping away on her phone in the backseat, and Madison is dancing to the song in her earbuds.
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When we finally make it to Olive Garden in one piece (and on TIME!) we meet up with Grandma and Grandpa at the entrance. We all give hugs and then, because someone had the bright idea to call ahead, go to our table, in the very back, sort of closed off from the rest of the restaurant.
"Looking, Grandma! I'm wearing the earrings you gave me!" Madison says, smiling brightly. Grandma smiles at that, pulling her into a hug.
Mom steers me to the side of the table that faces the wall.
"Sit here! So Grandma and Grandpa can see you!" She says, pushing me into a chair. The table is set for ten people, but they probably didn't have one for just eight people, so I don't think too much of it.
"Oh, I think I left my phone in the car..." Dad says.
"I can go get it," I say, starting to get up.
"No!" Mom shouts, and I'm pretty sure she kicks Madison because Madison looks up quickly.
"I'll go!" Madison says, getting up and walking quickly. Gosh, my family is weird.
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h a r t l e y
Madison comes out of the restaurant on the pretense that she had to get Shaun's phone. She quickly tells me where the table is and to wait a minute or two before coming in.
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h o u s t o n
Madison comes back without incident carrying Dad's phone. She hands it to him, and looks at Mom, giving her a smile. I pull my phone out of my pocket, opening my Snapchat and seeing a snap from Hartley from five minutes ago that's captioned "what are you doing?".
I snap a picture of the wall, sending it back with the caption "finally at dinner with my family. mom was literally running around like a chicken with her head cut off. now my entire family is acting weird. 🙃"
I press send, closing out of the app, putting my phone down, and putting it aside.
My parents and grandparents are sitting against the wall across the table from me, London is at the end of the table, and the twins are on my left, Brooklyn at the end and Madison beside me. The two seats to the right of me are empty, and now I'm just confused, because they could've put two chairs on the end and still comfortably fit eight if they didn't want four chairs on either side of the table.
Madison looks up from her phone and over at me.
"Whatcha doin'?" I ask her.
She shrugs and looks back down. Brooklyn stands up, going to show Mom and Dad something on her phone. I hear plastic rustling behind me and then Mom points over my shoulder.
"Look, sweetie," she tells me.
I turn around and stand up, my heart beating quickly.
"Surprise?" Hartley says, handing me the flowers.
I wrap my arms around him, squeezing him tightly.
"I thought—" I begin when we sit back down, putting the flowers at the end of the table.
"I said I wasn't going to be able to make it on Thursday." He says, grinning. "Although forgive my lie of me not being able to be at graduation."
I look at my family and the realization sinks in.
"That's why you're all acting so weird!" I say, and everyone just starts laughing.
✮
After we eat, I look over at Hartley.
"Wait, where are you staying?" I ask him.
He looks at me, and then Mom says, "That's why I told you to clean your room."
I ride back to my house in Hartley's car.
"You are sneaky." I say.
"Well, I actually wasn't going to be able to make it, but I called your Mom, she pulled a few strings with my parents and they let me drive down." He says. "I wasn't about to not see my best friend graduate!"
Hartley pulls in the driveway, getting his stuff out of the car. Mom takes the flowers from me as soon as I step one toe in the door, saying they need a vase.
We all hang out in the living room together for a while, but I figure Hartley's tired so I tell my parents we're going upstairs.
I close my bedroom door behind us and Hartley puts his bag by my desk.
"I do have another surprise for you," Hartley says, looking at me. "I figured you wouldn't want your family to see..."
He pulls me close, cupping my face in his hand and kissing me. He stumbles backward, sitting on the edge of my bed, pulling me onto his lap.
He pulls away slowly, pressing his lips to my neck, across my jawline, and then back on mine. He slips his tongue in my mouth, licking my bottom lip.
When he pulls away, he looks at me, a small smile on his face. I'm literally speechless, so I lean down, wrapping my arms around him.
"I love you," I tell him, pulling back from the hug.
He smiles at me, caressing my cheek. "I love you too, bub," he says softly.
2/11/21
If you noticed, all of Houston's siblings are named after cities :)
