I arrive at the dollar store in town and quickly find the party supply section.
There's a whole section all on its own for graduation supplies.
I grab napkins, plates, table covers, fake diplomas, and other various items that what would look good with the theme. As I scan the shelves for a some plastic spoons, I receive an incoming call from my mother.
"Hello?" I answer as I continue to search the shelves.
"Hey hon, do mind picking up the cake from the bakery on your way home?" She asks.
"Why couldn't you have gotten it yesterday?" I groan. I find the cheapest box of plastic spoons and place it in my basket.
"Jennifer, you are hosting this party too. Take some responsibility and help us out here," She speaks into the phone.
"Okay, I'm on it," I say and hang up.
I grab a box of plastic forks and make my way to the front of the store.
After paying for everything, I head back out to my car. I turn the radio up and head to the small bakery downtown. A few minutes later, I arrive at the bakery and park my car in front. I walk in and the sweet smell of warm pies and other goods fill my nose. I walk to the counter to talk to the small lady standing behind it.
"Hi Mrs. Ferris, I'm here to pick up a cake," I smile down to the small woman.
"Hi Jennifer, good to see you," She says smiling and standing up from her stool.
"You too," I reply. She moves past the back door to the kitchen. A few minutes later she returns with a big cake that spells "Congratulations" across the top of it.
"Thanks. How much do I owe?" I ask taking my wallet out from my purse.
"Total, it's thirty dollars," she smiles.
"Thirty? I thought the cakes here only cost twenty," I question her.
"They do. But you ordered a large, which is an extra three. And we added custom content which is an additional seven dollars," She says and I hear the ring of the bell that sits on top of the door from behind me.
"But I only brought twenty-dollars with me. Can't you just make an exception for me, I mean, you know my parents," I try to bargain, but she shakes her head.
"Sorry dear. Come back when you have the right amount," She says picking the box back up.
"I can pay the rest," I hear a voice say from behind me. I turn around to find Foster smiling and holding up a ten dollar bill.
"That's very kind of you, young man," says Mrs. Ferris. He gives her the ten and I hand her my twenty.
"Are you following me?" I ask him as I pick the cake up from the counter.
"Actually, my mom sent me over here to buy you a pie for you graduation," He smiles. "Do you need help carrying that?" He asks taking his hands out of his hoodie.
"Actually you can just open the car door for me," I say as he follows me out of the bakery. He follows me to my car and opens the passenger door for me. I set the cake on the seat and close the door.
"Thanks," I say to him. "So you drove here?" I ask him.
"Yeah, I just took my brothers car," He says pointing the sleek black car sitting a space away from mine.
"Your brother drives a 1967 Impala?" I ask admiring the car.
"Yeah, Will bought it for a real low price too. Still runs perfectly," He nods.
"You gotta show my dad. He loves old cars," I say smiling up to Foster.
"Well I'm going to go get you a pie and claim that I baked it. So when we give it to you, act surprised," He says walking to the bakery door.
"Okay. Thanks for helping me pay for the cake," I reply.He smiles back and returns into the small building.
I open my car door and start up the engine. I pull out of the parking lot and make my way back to my house. I arrive 5 minutes later and carry the bags and cake inside. I walk inside and everyone is gone. There's a note sitting on the small table by the front door.
Your father and I went to get some food for tonight. Don't burn down the house while we're gone. -Mom
I put the note in my back pocket and I make my way to the kitchen to put the cake in the fridge and set up the party decorations. I hang a banner across the mantle of the fire place. Streamers weave in and out of the railings on the staircase and mini diplomat hats hang from the hanging lights above the kitchen island. I spread the table cloths on our dining table and the deck table outside. I leave the plates, napkins, and utensils on the counter to be set up later.
I walk up the stairs to the loft to take a shower. I grab a t-shirt and my pajama shorts from the previous night. I take a shower, washing my hair and my body. Graduation doesn't commence until six and it's about two o'clock.
I step out of the shower and quickly dry myself off. I dress myself in the t-shirt and pajama shorts. I blow dry my hair and pull it up into a bun until I decide to fix it up later. I walk downstairs to find my mom opening the packs of paper plates and napkins. There are bags of food sitting on the counter.
"Hey, could you pour those chips in these bowls," She asks as she pulls four bowls from the shelf under the island.
"Yeah," I reply taking out the first bag of chips. "Why don't we just do them later? They'll be sitting here forever until tonight," I say before I open the first bag.
"I want everything to be ready when we get here from your ceremony. We'll cover them up with plastic wrap, just pour them," She says throwing me the plastic film.
I pour all the bags of chips into different bowls and cover them all with plastic wrap.
"Okay, and your father will be making burgers later. So do you want anything to eat now?" She asks.
"I can just make myself a sandwich or something," I shrug walking towards the fridge to see its contents.
I grab mayonnaise, turkey, a tomato, and cheese to make a turkey sandwich.
"So do you like our new neighbors?" She asks as I prepare my sandwich.
"Yeah they seem really nice. I invited them over later for the party," I reply.
"Oh good, they can get to know some of your friends," She says with a smile. "Did you meet the rest of the boys?" she asks.
"I met the twins Connor and Foster, but not Josh. I guess he was out doing something or whatever. I'm sure his brothers are bringing him tonight though," I say applying the turkey and cheese to the slices of bread.
"Oh that's good. They sure are handsome, aren't they," She says nodding.
"Mom, stop," I say giving her disgusted look.
"What? They're young men, Jennifer. It's perfectly okay if I think they're handsome," She says and I shake my head at her.
"It's still creepy, Mom," I say putting my sandwich on a plate and walking out of the kitchen. I skip a few steps as I walk back up to the loft. As soon as I'm upstairs, I walk out to the balcony and climb up on the roof.
The sun beams down and hits my already tanned skin. The warmth it gives creates goosebumps on my legs and arms. I enjoy my sandwich as I look out to the people walking up and down the beach. Sam steps out onto his balcony and I call for him.
"Sam," I say from my roof.
"Hi," he smiles. He climbs up on his roof and sits cross legged, facing me.
"I like your hair cut," I say taking a bite of my sandwich.
"I think it looks the same as it did before," he says running his fingers over it. "What kind of sandwich you got?" he asks.
"Turkey with cheese and tomato," I smile.
"Tomatoes and turkey together are gross," Sam says squinting from the sunlight shining above us.
"They're delicious," I say and take the last bite of my sandwich before throwing off the roof to feed the birds.
"I'm kind of sad high school is over. I don't really want to leave," Sam says with a small frown.
"Why? All throughout high school you were picked on. If anything, I'd want to forget high school," I say sitting cross legged like him.
I never really understood why Sam was picked on. He got really tall in our freshman year and now he's really broad. And I mean, he's pretty handsome to say the least. He joined the track team and was on prom court junior year. He's even our valedictorian. Maybe if he would've taken a break from studying so much and got out more, he would've been more popular.
"It wasn't so bad. I mean aside from my only friend becoming super popular and making new friends without me, high school was pretty okay," He shrugs and I laugh.
"And even with all those friends, she still hung out with you," I say and he laughs. "Sam, high school is nothing but four years we spend trying impress people we're never going to see again. Learning things that won't even help us in our regular lives," I shrug.
"Oh we do to use some subjects in our regular lives," Sam counters.
"Like what? Tell me how many times you've used honors calculus outside of school," I say. He opens his mouth to speak, but it soon closes when he learns that I'm right.
"Exactly," I smile at him.
"Whatever, you're just mad because you're not valedictorian," He says smiling and looking out to the beach.
"Yeah, that's totally why," I shake my head at him. He gives a small laugh before he begins to speak again.
"So how about those new neighbors," He says squinting again.
"I like them," I shrug. "Do you?" I ask.
"Yeah, I guess so. I don't think Will likes me," He says with a small shrug.
"What? You just met him," I reply.
"I know. I don't know, I just feel like he was just being nice when he invited me over too," He says shielding the sun with his hand.
"I'm sure he likes you," I say blocking the sun as well. "You actually look like him. Minus the blonde hair," I laugh.
"Do not compare me to that god," Sam says shaking his head with a smile.
"Sam, you are just as attractive," I say trying to reassure him.
"They're all going to be the talk of your party, you know," Ge says shifting and resting him his arms behind him.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Five young, attractive guys showing up at your party. I think the majority of the females in our class will find some joy in that," Sam says.
"So what, my parents invited like half the neighborhood. I doubt anyone would really care about them," I shrug trying brushing it off.
"I don't know. I think they'll attract some attention," Sam shrugs again.
"Maybe," I squint. But I know he's right. People will definitely be talking about them. It's not everyday you have five new neighbor boys move in for the summer.
"Well, we'll see how it goes," He says standing up from his spot and hopping down to the balcony.
"Where you going?" I ask him.
"Back inside. I gotta start getting ready," He says pointing to the door.
"It's only like two thirty. I'm bored, don't leave," I pout.
He groans, but climbs back on the roof and we talk for another hour. We talk about some of the highlights of our years of high school. Sam talks about his academics and I talk about my athletic goals. Then we talk about small things. Somehow we end up talking about his vicious cat, Rocky.
"Jen?" I hear my mom call from inside.
"What time is it?" I ask Sam.
"Three thirty-seven," He says looking at his watch.
"Gotta go. I'll see you at six," I say standing up.
"See yah," He says standing up as well.
I jump down to the balcony and see my mom standing in my room waiting for me. "Were you talking to Sam?" She ask as I step inside.
"Yeah, just for a little while," I say nodding.
"I still think it's dangerous, you two sitting up on that roof," She shakes her head.
"We've been doing that for years, you know we're safe about it," I say moving to my closet.
"Well I just came up to tell you to start getting ready. We gotta be there at five fifteen," She says exiting my room. I connect my phone to my doc and hit shuffle in my music library.
I open my closet and take out a white sundress. It's sleeveless with thick, sheer straps. The neckline falls an inch below my collarbone and the hem of the dress is decorated with flower pattern and it rests mid-thigh.
I change out of my shorts and t-shirt and pull the dress on. I zip the zipper up on the side of the dress. I walk to the bathroom and take my hair out of the bun it's been sitting in for hours. I take an hour to do my hair and makeup, making sure it's absolutely perfect for graduation. I straighten my hair, making the long length of it visible. It rests at my mid-back. I apply light make up with eyeliner, mascara, and eye shadow. I take one more glance at myself before grabbing a beige sweater and a pair of black heels.
I walk downstairs, and my parents are already waiting for me. My dad is dressed in a button down shirt and dress pants and my mother is wearing a yellow sundress.
"I can't believe you're graduating," My mom says fanning herself with her hand.
"No tears please," I say hugging her.
"Sam is going to be here to take pictures, and then we'll leave soon," My dad says holding up camera. There's a knock on the door, and my mom rushes to the front to answer it.
"Jennifer, Sam is here!" she yells. I walk to the foyer and see Sam with his parents. He's wearing a royal blue button down shirt with a striped tie and black dress pants.
"Classy," I say giving him a thumbs up.
"Thank you," he nods with a smile.
"Okay, hurry up so we can get you two to the high school!" Mrs. Claflin says eagerly.
We take pictures inside and outside the house, before driving to the high school. There's already plenty of cars in the parking lot. Sam and I rush inside and we are immediately given our robes and hats.
Forty-five minutes later, the ceremony begins. Our class president makes a speech and so does Sam, our valedictorian. He talks about the ups and downs of his high school years. How track team helped him open up more. It was honestly a really moving speech. Then our high school choir sang a song and our high school band played a piece. They listed the scholarships everyone received. I received a full scholarship to the University of North Carolina. After that is when they began handing out diplomas. I received mine with honors. The whole ceremony took at least three and a half hours. After it was over everyone piled out and greeted one another.
My parents approach me and my mother has tear stained eyes.
We talk to teachers and other graduates before we head back home to get ready for the party. Sam rides back with me and my parents to our house as his parents follow behind. Once we arrive, my mom hurries us inside the house to help her make finishing touches.
"Mom, everything looks fine," I say to her as she rushes to the other side of the kitchen. Sam and I watch as she scrambles.
"Does this vegetable plate look okay to you?" She asks Mrs. Claflin.
"Karen, you're worrying for nothing," she shakes her head.
"Mom people aren't going to show up for another ten minutes," I remind her.
"I know, I know," she says smoothening out her dress.
"I just need some water!" She hurries past us and to the fridge.
I walk outside to the deck with my shoes in my hand and Sam follows behind me.
"Now what?" he asks as we sit in a pair of deck chairs.
"We just wait," I say.
"Alright," he replies fixing his tie and I laugh at him.
"What?" he questions.
"Just loosen up a bit. Take off the tie and roll up your sleeves," I say to him.
"But I like my tie," He says patting it down on his chest.
"Well then at least loosen it and roll up your sleeves," I tell him as I lean over to loosen his tie and unbutton the top button.
"There. Now you don't look so official," I say nodding.
"I didn't look official to begin with," He laughs as Michelle and her boys approach our deck stairs.
"Hey you two!" She says as she walks up the stairs. Sam and I both stand up and right away, she takes us into a hug. She's wearing an orange dress that compliments her skin tone.
"Thanks for coming," I smile down at her.
"Thanks for the invite," She smiles and makes her way inside. Foster comes out from behind his brothers with a pan of pie.
"We baked you a pie!" He says with a fake smile and I laugh.
"Thanks Foster," I smile.
Talking to Dayne in the sand is the jogger I saw from this morning. I hand Sam the pie before stomping down the steps to talk to him. Why is he even here?
"Hey," I say capturing his attention.
"You?" He says to me with a confused look on his face. "What are you doing back here?" He asks.
"This is my house. What are you doing here?" I retort.
"Um I was invited to this party," He says raising an eyebrow.
"Oh you most definitely were not," I spit back at him.
"So I'm guessing you've already met Josh?" Foster says from behind me.
"Josh?" I ask as Foster steps next to me.
"Wait, you mean-" I stop. I can't find the words to continue.
"Yeah," Foster begins. "This is our brother Josh."
•Sorry if the end sucks haha. Thanks for already getting this story over 100 reads! Leave some more comments and let me know what you think of it