Her Dog Days

✲ chapter eleven ✲

"Tilt your head more to the left. No, no, your other left. Yes, perfect. Say queso! No, don't blink while the flash goes off, do it again and keep your eyes open, amor." I internally roll my eyes and keep my lids open, trying not to blink at the bright light of my dad's camera.

The sun was starting to set on my parent's backyard as the Spanish music is blasting through my speaker that I always keep in my bathroom. I was currently on round four of pictures, this one being with my cousins.

"Come on Charlie!" My cousin says poking at my sides. "Keep your eyes open so I can get a cerveza before Tio Julio drinks his fifth one." I pinch his sides back and scoff. "You're just trying to get drunk like Tio Julio."

"You know me too well, prima."

I can feel my cheeks tremble from holding so many smiles today and it's been hard to not blink once the camera shutters, all my photos have been of me looking like a possessed demon.

Once the picture was taken, my cousins groan and cheer and spread out in the backyard. I take in my surroundings as I walked to the table with food and drinks. My parents rented out a huge white tent and tables and chairs and catered the food. I, my girl cousins, and my aunts were in charge of getting cute graduation decorations and props for the booth, and the boys were in charge of the most important part.

Alcohol.

Is it underage drinking? Yes.

Do Hispanics care? Absolutely fucking not.

I grab a Heineken from the cooler and pop the cap off. As I took my first swig, the memories of the bar I went with Aston and trying a beer for the first time came into my mind.

Shit, I promised myself to make this night about me and my accomplishments, not have Aston invade my mind like he's been doing for the past three days. My thoughts are interrupted when my dad stands on the table, yelling for everyone's attention.

"Thank you to everyone who came tonight." He starts. "We're here to celebrate the graduation of my beautiful hija, Charlie." A merry and bubbly feeling overflows my body as my dad talks about the journey he had from diapers to this moment. Just as my dad was talking about the first time I got my period and he had to pick me up from school, my phone vibrates in my pocket.

Oh, no.

I turn myself around, quickly pulling out my phone and checking the notification.

Ass-ton:
I'm outside.

OH, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOO, I think with a panic.

I stare at my phone for a few seconds, wondering if this is a real message or just the beer already kicking in.

"...And now I'd like to pass off the attention to Charlie, let her give a few words." I look up and everyone is looking at me with pleasant expressions, curious to hear what I'm going to say. Nevertheless, the words I had planned to say are completely wiped away from my memory and I feel like a deer in headlights.

"I-uhh-eh-thank you, for-uh coming today." I start off. I slide my phone into my pocket and look around my surroundings, trying to come up with the words. "I'm happy that you're here to celebrate my graduation. So yeah, I'm happy." I end it with a nervous chuckle and scratch the back of my head. My older relatives are staring at me in confusion and distaste, whereas my clown cousins are trying to hold in their laughter.

"Uh well," My dad says, "That was very ... special Charlie." He averts the attention back to him and I release a breath I didn't know I was holding in. I turn back around and slip my phone out of my pocket, responding to Aston.