- june-21: the summer solstice brought the hottest day of the year so far and grace, priyanka, anne, and i hit the beach to watch the sun set. anne packed a picnic and the sun made everything gleam gold before it sailed below the horizon. graduation had happened, and we were still friends. still watching sunsets, still listening to mixed tapes, still talking all grand theoretical theories, not making much happen
- june 29: sophie with a popsicle. making things happen, sleeping over at tia’s house in the city, gossiping, texting that sweet brown-headed boy, watching chick flicks and snuggling with my unexpected best friends from the previous summer
- july-3: river-rafting sunburn and hot pink sports bra. in the car on the way to kansas
- july-31: skip and max eating lobster at a restaurant in puerto nuevo, tijuana. practicing my spanish and restraint from tripping over the distraction of this one beautiful boy
- aug-5: dafne and sofia. we had just finished pouring cement, eating homemade tacos, and dancing in the dusty driveway. tijuana turned my skin tan and my heart into that of a romantic realist. when i think of how much i want to go back, i get this ache in my chest. i want to go back
- aug-6: driving back across the border and spending the day in san diego. max slept on my lap. i leaped like a dolphin through the waves, max touched my hips and tuyen tied my bikini when i came undone and sunburnt. we got yogurtland, marco and i drew conor’s profile, and we all flew home with heavy and full hearts
- aug-17: i turned eighteen some-days before this and we were all starting to scramble in our haste to say goodbyes. taylor’s house, mckenna’s marshmallow, summer-time stories and farewells
- aug-29: the girl who lives next door in my college dorm and me, post bridge-jumping at our first week of college. this is me, smiling because summer suits me and because i’m still learning how to be brave
- oct-1: pierce, victoria and i at the sketchy park. it was still warm enough to wear shorts and pierce’s snap-back and it was a saturday night that fit us just right with alcohol in all of our veins
- dec-13: the group before departing for christmas. it’s been a real semester man, and all of these people are people that i didn’t even know were missing in my life before september. kind-hearted and goofy reece, genuinely good pierce, affectionate kara, silly and sweet kevin, myself, i-can-tell-you-anything nic, so so nice kate, always-out-for-a-laugh sean, gorgeous shaina, best-friend real-girl victoria, outgoing britania, and genius tucker. like i said, it’s been real
