class of 2013 ✓

21.5 | attachment theory two

Together, we open the screen door, revealing the backyard area, where there are some people dipping their toes in the shallow side of the pool, others balancing on floaties in the deep end. Weirdly enough, Sazuri's house is located at the very edge of town, so there's no fence to block off the park area behind her house. Technically, it's not a part of her property, but that doesn't stop her family from stringing old-fashioned lanterns from the robust trees and sticking small color-changing LED lights on the stone pathway. Like I suspected, outside is a lot more chilly and occasionally rowdier. 

Her still holding my left hand, I climb onto a stone ledge, carefully balancing as I put one foot in front of the other. All the while, Nea jokes by pretending to let go, and I scold her in response. Thank God I didn't listen to her and wear heels or else I would've plummeted to my death for sure, considering the stone is bumpy and not wide enough for me to walk normally.

"You're not funny," I tell her, jumping off as the slope of the stone comes to an end where a sidewalk starts. "If I fell to my death, I hope you know I'd haunt you forever."

"Aww," she coos, "what I'm hearing is that you want to stay with me forever. How sweet."

It was meant to be a joke, yet I'd have to admit there is some truth to it. In a way, I'm glad neither of us are leaving Warrington anytime soon. She plans on continuing to work for the diner, and I plan to attend community college as all of the colleges have rejected me already. I saw it coming, so I'm not bummed out by it anymore. Education truly is what you make of it, and I know I'm capable of taking advantage of every opportunity I come by. And, on the bright side, I'll have Nea here beside me every step of the way. One of my concerns coming into the senior year was us parting ways eventually. If that was the case, she wouldn't be able to pull up in my driveway immediately after I call her when I'm having a shitty day, nor would I have someone to leave pictures of memes under their pillow.

I push her softly, but she pretends to almost trip for comedic effect. I laugh so hard that I almost forget that there are still so many people around us. The rest of the world faded to black in white; only we remained in color. "Careful there. Next time I'll push you into the pool."

By the time the path dwindles into the depths of spookier trees, we turn around, grinning as we continue to mess around on our way back to the pool. Eventually, one of our classmates called us to stay in one place so they could distribute the cake. Through the window facing the kitchen, I watch as a few of Sazuri's friends help her remove the layers of the cake, revealing three sticks puncturing the middle to keep them stacked. One by one, they start cutting the tiers into skinny slices, and a few people help pass them out. In the corner, Sazuri tears apart the wrapping of all her presents, marveling at every item she was given. Nea and I tried to get a better look as she went through all the gifts, but there were too many people surrounding her, so we figured we'd just check up with her later.

Nea got a slice of red velvet, while I got a vanilla one with buttercream frosting. As we eat, the both of us engage in conversations with our fellow recent graduates, complaining about certain teachers, reminiscing on embarrassing moments, and making stupid jokes about how much we've changed. I hate to admit it, but I am finally beginning to enjoy myself once I finally shed my shell. Honestly, there are some pretty cool people from high school I didn't even bother to get to know better because I was too busy cooped in my own world, unwilling to branch out. Unfortunately, I'm only starting to realize this while our time is limited, and most of them will be getting the hell out of here by fall.

Gradually, the party attendees start to funnel out, leaving the latecomers (like us) to stay. Granted, there still were a lot of people, but a breathable amount compared to before.