There was applause. There was cheering. There was smiling. There were whispers. "Great job kids, give 'em another round of applause", said the principle, stepping on the stage. There was more clapping and cheeringand smilingand whispers, it felt incredible. "Wow", is all Mel could say, "Wow".

3 MONTHS LATER
"Don't worry, I'm almost done", screamed Mel at the door. She quickly put her white basketball shoes on and opened the brown door in front of her. "What do you think", she asked Kathy who was standing right at the door frame. "Perfect", she looked at her friend's outfit. A Rolling Stones shirt and some jeans. Kathy said to dress casually, so that's what she did.

Kathy's mom had picked up Mel and her daughter when school was over, the last day of school. She had taken them home and told them to get ready so they could help her prepare the party. Mel brought her clothes for the party in a bag to school, not wanting to get it dirty before the party, she came prepared.

After Mel and Kathy were both ready, they helped Mrs. and Mr. Willows set up the tables, set up the snacks, karaoke and gift bags, this felt more like a birthday party than a going away party. They had finished at 6:02 exactly. The party didn't start 'til 6:30, so they all just sat on the couch and watched TV together. The bell suddenly rang.

"Hi Jo", greeted Mrs. Willows. "Um... hi", he said nervously. Mel and Kathy got up and walked up to the door, where they saw Jo standing with a gift box in his hand, and his mom waving back at them. "So, wanna do some karaoke", asked Kathy. "Sure, whatever".

They sang more songs than they thought they would, a mix of Queen, the Beatles, P!nk, Sia and Elton John. More people started to walk in, some family members of Kathy's and a whole lot of kids from school, like a lot. Everyone was having fun, except Mel , she hated the fact that she was going to lose her best friend.

She told Kathy that she needed some fresh air and went out into the warm, dark night. It was somehow already nine! She sat on the sidewalk and stared at the darkness, took deep breaths, trying not to cry. Then she heard someone behind her. "You okay", it was Jo. "Yeah, I'm just tired", she answered and rubbed her eyes. "It's literally eight p.m", he smirked.

Jo sat next to her, then turned to her, only to see her crying. "I hate this", she cried, "Life has been such a piece of sh*t". Jo smiled, "Language", he joked. Mel giggled. "Life has sucked for all of us at some point or another, especially now that Kathy's moving", he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her. "And we shouldn't let that bring us down, cuz no matter what we do, life will never stop for us, any of us. We should just live our lives, and yeah there will be heartbreak, but it' what makes life, the beautiful thing that it is", he pulled her away and stared at her gleaming eyes. "Thanks Sir. Jo", she smiled. "No problem Rolling Stone".

The party was over, tears, laughs and smiles were shared, food was eaten, songs were sung, it was a pretty great night in general. By 11:00, everyone but Jo and Mel had left. Their best friend was leaving in two weeks. Most of her things were already packed. She had already said goodbye to most of her family, all that was left was waving goodbye to those two friends. Six days, just six more days left together.




Deep Jo 😶

© Azul Morales