It's finally done! Next chapter is the car wreck
Anyway, if you see any typos please let me know
Sorry for the delay!
Chapter four - Summer Break/My Dream
Finally it was the last day of school. I had been waiting for this day for months! I was a bit tired of doing the same thing at school every day, like doing math work for three hours, P.E. (Physical Education) for an hour, Choir for an hour, etc
I wanted to do something different. I hoped next year would be different.
When I got home, I ran to my bed and laid down for a whilethinking about what I was going to do for my upcoming two month summer break. I liked how cold my room was. It made me happy and I felt more relaxed.
My sister was about to turn fifteen, and in some parts of Latin America, when a girl turns fifteen they have a big party to celebrate her fifteenth birthday. Almost like a sweet sixteen. Its called a quinceañera. In a quinceañera, the celebration begins with the arrival of the teenager, wearing a special dress, and generally accompanied by her father. The location, if indoors, commonly has its entrance specially adorned for the occasion. The father and daughter duo make their entry through this front-door entrance at the sound of music, while friends and relatives customarily give the father flowers (usually roses). After this, the ceremony of the waltz begins, in which the girl dances with all her friends and relatives.
In Mexico, the birthday girl is fixed up with fancy makeup. Traditionally, this was the first time she would wear makeup, but more recently this was no longer the case. She also had her nails and hair done especially for this occasion and dressed up with a fancy dress that she had chosen in advance.
In the Mexican tradition - and if the teenager is Catholic - the quinceañera festival begins with a Thanksgiving mass. For this mass, the teenager comes dressed with a formal dress, usually quite creative in fashion and reminiscent of what a western bride or princess would wear. Traditionally, the quinceañera would wear a pink dress to symbolize her purity; however, in recent decades, white has become the color of choice to symbolize this treasured quality. If the quinceañera choses, she may wear a white dress with colorful touches, including embroidery, that would best reflect her sense of fashion. She arrives at the celebration accompanied by her parents, godparents, and chamberlains. At this mass, a rosary, but sometimes a necklace with a locket or pendant with the image of Mexico's Virgin of Guadalupe, is awarded to the teenager by her godparents, such as a necklace having been previously blessed by the church clergy. She is also awarded a tiara as a reminder that to her loved ones, especially her immediate family, she will always be a princess. After this, the girl may leave her bouquet of flowers on the altar to the Virgin Mary.
After the Thanksgiving mass, the family and friends of the teenager gather for a celebration party where they give her gifts. The party may take place at an events room, such as a dining hall, banquet hall, or casino. At the party, the birthday girl usually dances a waltz with her chambelanes. Parts of this section of the celebration are usually previously practiced, oftentimes for weeks in advance, sometimes even months.
One of my dreams that I most wanted to achieve was being a chambelan at a quinceñera and it was finally my chance to be at one, at my sisters quinceañera. Since she was kind of mean to me back then, she said that I wasnt going to be at her quinceañera because she didnt want me in it. I acted like I didnt care, but I really did on the inside. Later on she said that I could be in it because she needed more people to be in it.
It was May already and we had to start practicing the choreography for the waltz since the quinceañera was going to take place 7 days after my birthday, July 15th. My mom didnt have enough money to hire someone to teach us the choreography since she had already spent most of her money on decorations, food, music, and everything else for the party so instead she asked my aunt if she could teach us and she gladly said yes.
When we got to my aunts house, only a few damas* and chambelanes had showed up, but fortunately we were even so everyone had a partner. We practiced for an hour and we barely got like the first two minutes of the choreography memorized, but I was pretty sure everyone was going to forget the steps since we were going to practice the choreography only two days a week.
As we got closer to the day of the party, a lot of drama began. My sister was full of drama back then since she wanted everything to be perfect, and I mean everything. I remember one day when almost no one showed up for practice, she got mad and started crying. So everyone then started to get mad for no reason. I got mad because my cousin said that I wasnt doing anything right. That day was pure drama, and I hated drama.
Two weeks before the quinceañera, my sister had to go take pictures at this photo booth so that the invitation cards could be complete. She went with her friends and she never came back. It was 2am already. I kept texting her, but I got no reply in return. I was scared to death because I was so close to my sister and I would die if anything bad had happened to her. I grabbed the cross of Christ that was on my bedroom wall and hugged it like never before and started praying until I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I went to check if my sister was back and unfortunately she wasnt. The police were there and they were ready to start searching for her. As soon as they started to leave, the phone rang. My mom answered and it was the mother of my sisters best friend, she said that Paty (My sisters middle name) was okay and that she was at her house. My mom hung up the phone and called my dad. She told him to come for my sister because she was tired of dealing with her. A few minutes after my dad came, my sister also arrived . He started yelling at her and told her to grab all her clothes because she was coming with him.
When all this was over, I sat wondering if the quinceañera was canceled. If it was, then I had just wasted a month of practice for nothing and my dream wouldnt be accomplished. My mom said that it couldn't be canceled because everything was already set. I was happy to hear that the party wasnt canceled, but I couldn't help to feel sad because my sister was gone.
Damas* - The female partners of the chambelanes.