"Congratulations, Graduates!"
Together with the crowd's roaring, the newly graduates threw their graduation hats into the air, and their exulted faces spread the entire ringside of the school gym.
Lizeth Francisco was one of them. Right after she caught her graduation hat back from flying, she waved it to the one corner of the gym's lower ring. A man and two teenagers, younger than her that mostly looked like each other, if they were only in the same gender, waved back at her.
Those were Lizeth's family, his father, and her siblings.
"Happy Birthday, best!" Gaye, her best friend, exclaimed with a hug. She almost forgot at the moment that that day wasn't only her graduation day but also her eighteenth birthday.
She wondered what surprises her father prepared for her. Lizeth didn't notice him being busy preparing food when they were still at home. Well, it had been a long time since she didn't see her dad cook. He was always busy at work.
After her mom died, cooking and most of the household chores had been her duty.
"Thank you best!" She hugged back and made sure to louden her voice so her best friend could hear her over the clamor.
"It's a double celebration. We must celebrate tonight. Let's have a party!" Gaye giggled.
"You got a party at home? Because I don't have any," Lizeth asked. She had anticipated that she wouldn't be having a party in her own home, and she didn't want her friend to expect.
"Well, you say that to your dad, as an alibi, and tell him too that you will be sleeping at my home tonight, and I will pick you up at 8," Gaye winked at her before she went her way as her parents were waiting for her too.
"Gaye, come here already, so we won't be late for the restaurant reservation!" Gaye's elder sister called.
'So we really ain't gonna party at her house.' Lizeth had realized, and she could also guess that maybe Gaye could probably mean they would be going to a bar. But as Gaye said, it must be what she should tell her dad 'the party would be at her home.'
"Honey, let's just have a quick dine at the restaurant, and I need to head back to the factory right after. One machine is broken and needs troubleshooting." Her father apologized to her.
"It's okay, dad. But Gaye had a party, and she invited me. Can I stay at her house tonight?" Lizeth smiled coyly. It was a blessing in disguise for her that her dad was busy with work tonight.
"Sure, if you promised that you'll just stay at Gaye's house, and you won't go somewhere else."
Lizeth hid her hand while she crossed her finger, then smiled at her dad and nodded.
"Oh, c'mon, you're gonna leave us alone at home again?" One of the twin Lander groaned.
"Yeah, and that means I'll be stuck with you again. Ugh!" reacted the other Leslie.
The twins were always like cats and dogs. They mostly looked the same, but they didn't match each other in almost everything. They always found themselves disagreeing with one another.
Since Lizeth had imagined that they would be going to some disco bar or something, and while her dad wasn't there, she made sure to take advantage of that moment to dress up with a little more liberated girl look.
She pulled over the tube blouse she had been hiding long enough from her dad and paired it with a leather mini skirt that her best friend Gaye gave to her last Christmas. However, she made sure to pair it with a midrib denim jacket, just in case she got lost in a place with unbearable coldness.
Although since she wasn't that cold yet, she only tied it on her waist. She put a little makeup on and wore the high-heeled booties she once bought in the surplus shop.
Lizeth turned around the mirror and mumbled, "Perfect," with a wink.
Lizeth was pretty in her simple ways. Even though she never had a boyfriend since birth, it was only because she promised to herself to never get into a relationship until she graduated college and even at least she reached twenty.
She was about to get out of her room when Leslie got in.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't think dad wouldn't agree to that attire. Are you sure you are going to a house party and not to a disco bar?" Leslie was just thirteen, but she usually acted older than her age, a total opposite to her twin Zander.
"Leslie, dad won't know if you just zip your mouth." Lizeth pressed her fingers on her sister's mouth, and she pushed it away with an annoyed look.
"Well, my silence is worth something," Leslie squinted her eyes and a sly smile behind it.
"I know it." Lizeth rolled her eyes and continued, "So, what is it?"
"Your bed tonight? And free use of everything in there? Like your lappy and…." Lizeth had cut off Leslie's words as she opened her palm right on her face and signaled her to stop.
"Just my lappy and not my drawing tablet, okay? I had unfinished work there, and I don't want you to make a mess with it like the last time."
"Okay fine," Leslie shrugged, slightly disappointed, but she too knew she couldn't use all her sister's gadgets even if she planned to be awake the whole night.
The loud sounds of horns from a car outside halted their conversation, and together they peeked over the window. It was indeed Gaye's car.
The car was her dad's early graduation gift for her, and she had been driving on it for two months now. The moment she reached eighteen. However, Leslie believed on her friend's driving capabilities. The car may be new, but she had been driving long enough before.
"She's here. I must go now. Make sure to lock all the doors and windows."
"Sure, sis, enjooy!" Leslie waved at her then ran excitedly towards her sister's room.