Short Story: Summer Fun

It seemed the first snowfall of the year had just fallen, leaving us with a blanket of white. It seemed the April showers had just rained us out, leaving us with muddy puddles. It seemed the May flowers had just bloomed, leaving us with tiny pieces of hope. At that moment it seemed that the year had happened all too fast, no matter how much it seemed to drag on during the rest of the year. No matter how it felt, summer had come and jumped on us with surprise. The ninety degree weather, the final study sessions before exams, and the busy weekends with crazy friends, they came at us quickly. With them, came the sudden end of the school year.


How did freshman year leave us so fast? Just yesterday we were middle school children coming into the big, bad, scary world of high school. Today, it felt like nothing. High school wasn’t all that scary anymore; not that it had ever been that frightening. There was nothing left for me to learn. If I had made it this far, I would be able to survive anything. There was just one worry in all of our minds: Surviving summer. No, not just surviving, enjoying summer.

We all had so many hopes and anticipations of summer time fun, but we all knew that half the stuff we hoped to do would never happen. After all there’s only so much time in a summer. Three months. Only three months to create something worth living for. Before you know it that times up and it’s time to start another school year.

I was stepping out of class, clutching a small folded-up piece of paper tightly in my hand. Finally, I was ready to execute my all too thought out plan.

“Hey Noah,” I shouted quietly, down the hallway. He turned around at the sound of his name, “Wait up!”

He looked confused as I made my way up to him, but I forced myself to keep my composure. I focused on his hair; deep chestnut brown, a little messy at the top but cut in a short, clean way. Then I looked down at his eyes, also dark brown, but the clear confusion in them made me look away. I gestured for him to walk beside me, and with some hesitation he obeyed.

“So, what are you doing this summer?” I asked. It was a simple enough question, but felt awkward coming out of my mouth. It was obvious that the whole conversation was irregular, and out of place. Noah wasn’t accustom to these sorts of questions, especially from me.

“Stuff.” He gave me a look as to say ‘what are you up to’.

I took a deep, yet hardly noticeable breath, “Well, some of my friends and I are planning a party this summer. So, I was wondering if there was any way to contact you.”

That look spread across his face again, this time mixed with disbelief. I’m not so sure what had him more surprised; the fact that I was throwing a party, or the fact that I wanted him to come. After thinking about it for a minute he stated, “You could email me—“

“’Cause that worked out so well last time.” I scolded, hoping he remembered what I was referring to. By the sudden silence, and the way his footsteps fell in step with mine I could tell that he remembered. I clutched the piece of paper in my palm tighter.

“Here,” I handed him the paper, “how ‘bout you email me.”

I watched as he unfolded the paper, examined the letters written in a sparkly purple gel pen, then placed the paper in his pocket.

“Okay…”

The warning bell ranging, giving us one minute to get to class, “Don’t forget, and have a good summer!”

“Okay….” He repeated himself, as I walked away.

During my next exam I couldn’t think clearly, but I still managed to get an A- on it. My first step to summer had begun, and although he didn’t know it at the time, Noah was the key.