It's been really hard lately. 2 days ago, I turned 18. It was the happiest I ever felt. My °parents° made everything from scratch. All of my favorite food. It was amazing. I'm not fond of having many people around so, I declined the celebration of a debut.

The day after I became legal, I walked with confidence on the stage. I graduated college. I left home in a hurry. I didn't want to be late. Not for this proud moment for my °parents° and myself. But they never came. Their seats were empty.

I heard the last name before me. "Pacheco". I Knew something was up. I ran out of the stadium, unseen. Two feet away, was a parked white limousine. A woman in a beautiful kimono came out with a Man looking like the son of "The GodFather" I knew in my gut that they were coming for me. I prayed with all my heart that nothing bad happened to my family.

They greeted me with a smile. If I could describe my first impression of them, it would be "sustained". Like they wanted to be closer but had a limit to do so. Just then, they showed me an iPad. My °parents° were connected through a video call. "Darling" called my °Mom°. "Congratulations", smiled my °Dad°. They looked okay. "Thanks God" as I smiled and took the iPad from them.

Just then, my smile faded away as they explained why they weren't around for my graduation. I wasn't their daughter. That's all I understood from that conversation. I cried. They cried. It was painful on both sides. Mr. Rosales decided to hang up since all we were doing was crying. "Mr. Rosales". It feels strange, since I was so used to calling him "Dad"