Hazel's smile fell slowly. She looked so confused. Expecting me to be jumping up and down like the rest, she was shocked by this quiet and confused girl with a stupid hat on.
"What are you talking about?" She asked. I quickly grabbed her by the shoulder and dragged her out of the heavily crowded area. We snuck around back where it was quieter, but you could still hear the principle saying names in the microphone.
I pulled out the letter from my back pocket - ripping off my gown in the process, it was hot out! - and gave it to her. Hazel read it much quicker than I did, but then again this wasn't her dad. The words didn't have meaning to her like they did to me. When she finished reading, her eyes shot up to mine. She had that face...
"OH MY GOD-" And there it goes. "YOU'RE DAD INVITED YOU TO!-"
"Can you hush?!" I shrieked. The other side of the stage had gone silent for a second; they obviously heard her. She rolled her eyes at me.
"Annabelle, this is big! You haven't seen these guys since you were what, ten?-"
"Thirteen."
"-Right! Well, I think this will be good for you. Go and reconnect with the family, you know-"
"Who said I'm going?" I asked.
"...Um, you did. About five seconds ago."
Oh, damn, she was right. I shrugged and turned away, looking at the trees swaying in the light breeze. This was probably the last 'nice' day of the summer. Now it'll be scorching hot and miserable. Nothing but staying indoors in the A/C for me. If I go down to Tennessee, I'll have to be outside, unless I want to be locked in the house with brothers I haven't heard from in years and a dad that hasn't even tried to come and see me.
I would probably bake to death if I was outside all the time. My pores would be full of dust and all my shoes would have horse poop on the bottom of them. All around, this sounded like a terrible idea.
I shrugged, "I don't think I want to anymore."
"Why not?! Do you know how awesome this is? You're like one of those actresses you read about in those magazines. You have a dad you haven't seen or heard from in years! A crush back home you haven't even asked out yet-"
"How do you remember that? It was years ago. He's probably a buck toothed geek by now." I glared at her.
"Not Harry Lyttle, I remember his picture. He had the makings of a cute, cute, cute, cute, guy." She winked.
"You're such a pedophile."
Hazel rolled her eyes once again, "Will you listen to me! This is your chance to have a new beginning! Here, you're the quiet girl that never really went on a date...unless you count the time I sicked you on that jerk, but I don't."
I looked back at the tree. The leaves were emerald green, shining in the sunlight, standing out against a bright blue sky. "I don't know..."
"Just go, Belle! I'll go with you!" Hazel clapped her hand over her mouth after that. She knew she really didn't want to go. Horses, rednecks and banjos? That wasn't her scene. She accepts she's a city girl and always will be, she has no problem with it.
What she said already came out though, and it was too late for her. We have a rule; once you promise something, you have to do it, no matter what. I stick to that rule, 'no matter what', and she needs to as well.
"You're on." I nodded, turning and marching back to the celebration part of the stage. Hazel ran after me, yelling things like 'I'm not going to Hillbilly Town!' and 'Rule or no rule, you're going on your own!'. "What'd you say?!" I shouted. "I can't hear you over all of this excitement!"
"I'M NOT-"
"What?!"
"YOU'RE GOING ALO-"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
Just as she opened her mouth and began to yell, the band had stopped and silence fell over the graduation ceremony. "I'M NOT GOING WITH YOU TO TENNESSEE, ANNABELLE SAGE!!"
"Well, yeesh, you don't have to yell." I mumbled. After a wink, I fled. I knew she would want to kill me after that.
Of course, she chased after me, and everyone laughed at us. I ran over to my mom, who was yelling 'Where is your gown?!' but I used her as a human shield instead.
"I'm not going, Annabelle!" Hazel continued to yell as I faked right and left around my mom.
"She's not going where, Annabelle?" Mom asked.
I stopped running. Hazel had a smug grin on her face, knowing my mom wouldn't let me go anyway. She folded her arms and watched me as I tried to explain to my mom why I was running from Hazel.
"I, um, read the letter Dad sent me... He invited me to go down there for the summer. I was thinking about going." I shrugged.
"HA!" Hazel celebrated before my mom even got to react. "I knew your mom wouldn't let you-"
"Okay, you can go."
We both turned to my mom in shock. "Wait, what?!" We said in unison.
Mom nodded, "Go down there. You haven't seen them all in a long time, I think you should go."
My jaw dropped. "...Why aren't you making me stay? You're supposed to make me stay! Come on, be the bitter divorcee I know you want to be." I poked her stomach, as if it was a button to make her turn into a vicious ex wife. It didn't work. A cute little giggle escaped her.
"I'm not a Pillsbury Dough Boy, Annabelle." She laughed. "We can talk about this at home." She continued. "Right now, let's go to the after party Hazel's parents set up for you two."
I growled and walked back to behind the stage, getting my gown. Hazel followed me - well, I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her behind me - asking what was wrong with me. "Why don't you want to go see your dad?"
"Listen!" I snapped. "If your dad let you go live with your grandparents or something, and all of a sudden stopped talking to you and never came to see you, how would you feel? Years later he sends you a freaking letter - as if that justifies why he hasn't talked to me - asking you to come down for the summer."
Hazel bit her bottom lip, "I see what you mean... Just think about it."
I nodded, getting my gown. I only agreed to think about it so she would leave me alone, but really, I think I might burn this stupid thing tonight. I just need to find a lighter... Maybe I'll put it in the oven.
Congratulations Hazel & Annabelle! Was written in emerald green across a white cake - they tried to do our school colors - with a couple of little graduation caps in the upper corner. My mom, Hazel's parents, her grandparents, and a couple of aunts and cousins were all there, celebrating with us. It was a small gathering, but whatever, it was something. I didn't really need a bunch of people congratulating me anyway, I was too busy thinking about the letter.
Though I didn't want to, I was thinking about going down there, just as Hazel asked me to do. I wanted to throw the stupid thing away when we walked past a trash can on our way to the car, but something stopped me. Looking down at that handwriting I had wanted to see for so long was haunting. At times I'd want to burn it to ashes, then I'd want to hang it on my wall. I wanted to rip it apart, then I wanted to put it in my pillow case at night...
It's just a letter, but there was something more about it. Something so emotional I must not have the right emotion. Maybe there's a shortage on 'furious, happy, sad, hopeful, excited, dreading'.
"You girls did great." Hazel's parents lured me out of my thoughts, walking up to me with a plate of cake.
I didn't really want it, I wasn't very hungry, but I took it anyway. "Thanks, I tried." Taking a big bite of icing, I smiled a big cheesy grin to Hazel afterwards. I made sure the dark green icing smeared all over my teeth, staining them. "Cheeeeeeese!"
"Gross. Are you sure you're nineteen, I think you're twelve." She frowned.
I shook my head, "No, but close, I'm ten." My voice was muffled from the large bite of cake I just took. Again, I didn't want it, but I wanted to mess with Hazel. To her, this was 'we're adults' day. To me, this was 'last day to be a moroooooooon!' day.
She snapped her fingers sarcastically, "Awe, two numbers off."
"I know right, you're crappy at guessing." Another big bite. "Hey, do mrou have mrilk?"
Hazel rolled her eyes, "Come on."
She led me to the kitchen, where she got me a tall glass of milk. They drink skim milk - for some stupid reason - while I drink 2%. They always have a jug of it around for me, knowing how much I love it.
"You're such a kid." She sighed.
"THANK YOOOOOOU!" I grabbed the cup of milk with two hands and chugged it in about three seconds flat. When I sat it down, I shot her a milk-mustache grin.
"Exactly my point." She walked away.
"You love meeeee!" I called after her.
I wiped my mouth of my upper arm then took the cup I was using to the sink. When I turned to walk back to the party, my phone buzzed in my pocket. After fishing two dollars - I'm rich, be jealous - chapstick and a music player out of my front pockets, I finally managed to catch it before it stopped ringing. I didn't waste time looking at the number.
"Helllooo?" I sang.
"Annabelle?" Some dude's voice said.
"Yes, this is she."
"Hey, uh, it's Dad."
I frowned.
What did he have to say to me? Wasn't the letter enough for one day? I shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly, waiting for something to say. Nothing came to mind though; I didn't really have anything ot say. I read the letter, and I'm considering coming down to Tennessee, but I'm not sure.
"Have you read my letter yet?" He asked after a moment.
"Yeah."
"Have you thought about it?"
I looked up at the ceiling, "Yeah, I'm thinking about it."
"I don't want to pressure you to come down here. I understand if you don't want to go. If you're just used to the city by now, I understand that too. Dusty ol' Tennessee probably isn't very 'glamourous'-"
"Hey now!" I cut him off. "Who said I'm a city girl? I'm not a baby, I can handle Tennessee." Actually, my plans were to stay indoors all summer, cowering from the heat, wishing a job would fall into my lap and I could just laze through life... Wishful thinking, really. I couldn't stand for people to call me a baby, or to tease me. I'm very competitive, and it gets the best of me most times. This is one of those times.
"I never said you were a baby." He said.
"You might as well! I can take the heat, I can lead a friggin' horse, I can swim in a lake!" I was probably getting a little ahead of myself, but I continued. "I bet I can ride a horse across town the second I get there! Just you wait and see!"
"...So you're coming?" He sounded so confused.
"Yes! Have a horse ready when I get there." I pouted. When I finished, I closed my phone without saying goodbye. I knew he would call Mom for the details and set up a bus down there.
Wait...
What did I just get myself into?