“Alright, ya’ll thanks for coming but we are all tuckered out and ready to hit the hay. Alex, I know must be tired,” Melinda said finishing her fourth round of what had become a true Southern goodbye. The clock was rounding on ten and there were still two people sitting rather comfortably on the sectional in the living room.  

              It wasn’t long after Daniel and I had joined the guys outside that Brady received a call from his mother requesting that we all come inside and join them for dinner. Elijah had to practically be dragged from the cave and refused to leave before finishing a blunt that he had rolled and partially smoked earlier that day. Claiming that if he was going to have to put up with the lecturing and so-called advice from the adults in the house that he could at the very least not be sober for it.

              Around seven o’clock Melinda had tried her first attempt to start ushering people out. My father had just excused himself to go to bed after Melinda found him half asleep in the heaping plate of pie that he had made for himself, after all, he had had not one but two long consecutive days of driving. ‘If he’s tired enough to fall asleep on pie then he must be exhausted.’ Melinda had joked, explaining that my father would never pass up his nightly sweets. I suspected this nightly habit of his played a heavy hand into the type 2 diabetes he had been battling for the better part of his life.

              It wasn’t until her second attempt that a few people took the hint and excused themselves, while others simply shrugged it off stating that it was a Friday night and they had nothing better to do. Now Melinda and I both sat across from an older woman who I believe introduced herself as my Great Aunt Candice while encouraging me to drop the great aunt part of her title stating she was far too young to have a Great Neice my age. Her husband, whose name I was unsure of sat quietly beside her with his nose in his phone. I wasn’t sure I had heard him utter a word the entire night. Not that he had to. Candice did plenty of talking for them both.

              “Oh, sorry sweetie, we were just so excited to be able to catch up with Alex. It’s been so many years, you know?” Candice responded showing no intention of getting up from where she was seated. I still wasn’t sure I was even related to Candice, let alone having even met her before.

              “It’s no problem at all but there will be plenty of time to catch up later. She’s not going anywhere, and you don’t live far.” Melinda said.

              “Maybe we could just have another glass of your lovely lemonade before we go? I’m quite parched.” Candice cleared her throat bringing her hand to it as if she needed to prove that she could use a beverage before making what seemed to be the quick drive home.

              “I’ll tell you what Aunt Candice, I’ll do you one even better,” Melinda spoke sweetly with a smile on her face managing not to show any amount of frustration. “I’ll give you a whole pitcher of it to take home with you.” Before giving her the chance to respond Melinda was dashing off into the kitchen.

              Candice sat lips perched in disappointment that her ploy to stay longer had been so easily disregarded by Melinda. Her sparkly pink manicured nails drummed against her knee in annoyance. It was obvious that she wasn’t used to being told no.

              “Alex, you’ll have to come by the house sometime soon and I can help you fill out some college applications. Maybe you could convince Elijah to come along too. It’s about time that boy took his future seriously.”

              Earlier in the day Candice had very proudly explained to me that she worked in the admissions office at the local community college, stating that she would be the perfect person to help me fill out applications. It was made clear to me that she seemed to look down on anything other than higher education and this would be a topic that she wouldn’t be dropping.

              “Aunt Candice, that’s such a thoughtful offer but just as we have discussed Elijah, if and when Alex decides to fill out applications, I’m sure she is more than capable of doing them on her own,” Melinda said as she walked back into the living room holding a large pitcher of lemonade.

              “With her um,” Candice shot a look in my direction, “disadvantage, I just think it would be a good idea for a professional to overlook it.”

        “Disadvantage?” Melinda shot back quickly with a raised eyebrow, setting the pitcher of lemonade down on the coffee table that sat in the middle of the living room.

              The disadvantage they were referring to was the fact that I got my GED rather than my high school diploma. At the end of my sophomore year a few weeks before finals my mother had become more obsessed with the idea that she needed to be able to control every aspect of my life and pulled me out of school. I was on track to graduate halfway through my junior year and part of me believed that she was fearful of what that would mean. She never graduated high school herself and I had always suspected that a part of her never wanted me to surpass her in any way. It took me months to convince her to allow me to get my GED and even longer to allow me to get my first job. She never would allow me to get my license.

              “I didn’t mean to offend. I just know that when you choose to get your GED over graduating it can put quite a damper on your college applications. They need to see something impressive to look past it.” While the words coming out of her mouth seemed to be an apology of sorts, the tone in which she spoke and the way she held her head just a little higher said otherwise. She clearly thought she knew better.

              I could feel my cheeks growing warm with frustration. I hated that people assumed that I took the easy way out by getting my GED or that it was a choice that I had made for myself.

              “Alex is a capable young lady. If she needs your help, then I’m sure she will reach out.” Melinda’s normal sweet voice became curt with each word that she spoke. It was obvious she was becoming just as annoyed with the situation as I was.  

              “She will,” Candice spoke confidently, “colleges don’t look very highly on applicants when they have made that choi-”

              “It wasn’t a choice. “I spat out before she could finish her sentence. Who was she to think she could tell me what colleges looked for on an application? After all, she worked for a community college that’s acceptance was based more on the ability to pay rather than past education.

              My outburst was met with a look of shock from Melinda and Candice. Candice’s husband was still seated beside her, nose in his phone oblivious to the whole situation. Candice sat across from me her mouth agape as I imagined she search for what to say next. Melinda still stood between the two of us at the coffee table her shocked expression that she held moments before replaced with a smug smile.

              “If you’ll excuse me, I think I need some air,” I spoke curtly as I stood from the couch making my way over to the sliding glass door before anyone could object. As I rounded the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room, I saw Daniel leaning against the counter drink in hand. Our eyes met briefly, and he began to move in my direction looking like he had something he wanted to say but I didn’t give him the chance before walking outside and closing the door firmly behind me. He had undoubtedly heard the conversation that had just happened and the last thing I wanted to do was explain myself to him.