David sighed as he leaned back against the tree, watching the crowded park in front of him. The sun was starting to sink beneath the low hills to the west, tinging the clouds blood-red. It was still hot, but at least the air didn’t feel like a blowtorch anymore.
Anytime you want to lay off, California summer, David thought, running his hand through his blond hair, already damp with sweat.
“Hottest Fourth of July I remember,” he muttered to himself. Hot enough that most of the people were just sitting around the picnic tables, waiting for the sun to go down and the fireworks to start.
And the last year I’ll be here. Sure, David had another year of school to go before graduation, but he already knew where he was going to go to college, and it wasn’t going to be this sleepy town’s community college. He’d already gotten his ducks in a row for UCLA or UCI. Next year, he’d be far away from Allendale.
Not that he hated his hometown, but honestly, David wanted to live in an actual city, not a mid-sized town in the middle of California.
Still, he was going to miss the Fourth of July—
“Hey!”
David started, then looked over to where a short girl was advancing on him. “Yeah, Mari?”
“Oh, don’t yeah me, you were getting that look,” Mari said. “Bemoaning not being here next year.” She crossed her arms and looked up at David. Mari was short, but it was sometimes hard to see that, what with the way she was always just bouncing with energy. “I’m going to be here next year, and let me tell you, if I could trade places with you, I’d do it in a second.”
“Really?” David asked. “I thought you were waiting for your senior year?” he reached out and put his hand on Mari’s head. “Just think, this coming year, you’ll be a junior, and then next year, little Mari will be a senior!”
Mari snorted and glared up at him, her long black hair gleaming in the sunlight. “It beats being a sophomore. Why are you always ahead of me?”
“Because I’m a year older than you are?” David asked.
“As if that’s a good reason. I belong in the big city! I was born in Tokyo!”
“And you moved here when you were six months old,” David pointed out. “I’m not certain if that counts as being a big-city girl.”
“Eugh!” Mari said. “I can feel it in my bones! I belong in the big city, with all the lights! All the theaters! You’ll be leaving me here, alone, with none to listen to my pleas!” She flung her arms out theatrically, spun around once, and fell back into David’s arms.
David laughed and kept her from falling on her ass. “Wow, are you going to take drama this year? That was worth an Oscar!”
“Nah, AP biology is going to be taking so much time,” Mari said as she turned around to face David, hands on her hips. “At least this year’s history is with Mr. Green.”
“I didn’t think you liked history that much.”
“Eh, it’ll be easy. Mr. Green teaches the same course and gives the same tests, so I sort of… picked up Janice’s homework and tests.”
“Really?” David asked. “What would your mother say?”
“I dunno, but I know what I’d say.” Mari coughed and then, in an imitation of her mother’s voice, spoke. “Work smarter, not harder, Mari! It doesn’t matter how much you study if you don’t study in the right way!” She crossed her arms over her pink overalls and looked up. "Remember, good grades are important!"
“I don’t think that’s what she meant.”
“Well, since she’ll never know, it probably won’t matter,” Mari replied. She glanced up at David. “Unless you’re going to rat me out?” Mari made a finger gun and jabbed him in the chest. “Don’t even think of it!”
David shook his friend. “Fine, I won’t.” He sighed. “It’s going to be strange, though not being here next year. Not being… well.”
“Yeah, I’ll miss you as well,” Mari said. She looked over the park, the families slowly gathering as the sun fell behind the distant mountain range. “I mean, even after I graduate, you’ll be a sophomore in college, I’ll be a freshman, and we might not even be going to the same college.”
“I thought you had your eyes on UCI?” David asked.
Mari shrugged. “Mom thinks I should go to a junior college for my first two years, then transfer in. You know, Allendale Junior College. Here, in Allendale. Not in a big city.” She folded her arms and fell back against the tree, huffing in annoyance. “Because she wants me to stay here!”
“Well, that’s…” David didn’t say anything else. Mari’s mom could be a bit clingy. “Your mom gets worried, like…” He winced at the memory.
“What?”
“Remember when you were in seventh grade and tagged along with me to the movies and forgot to call your mom?”
Mari didn’t say anything, but a dark blush spread over her face. “You heard? I thought she waited until you were in your mom’s car—”
“I think everyone heard. And then you were grounded for a week.”
“Yeah. I mean, I was just two hours late…” Mari shook her head. “I bet she’s going to be calling me every day when I’m in college…”
“Could be worse,” David said.
“How?”
“She could move into the dorm to keep—”
David fell silent as Mari put her finger to his lips.
“You. Will. Never. Suggest. That.”
David tried to keep from laughing, but the look on Mari's face, between determination and utter horror... He burst into laughter. “Fine, fine!” he raised his hands. “I’ll never suggest something that could make me rich when I make your story into a new web series.”
“Wait, if it did, would you shar—Oh, they’re starting the fireworks! C’mon!” Mari grabbed David’s hand and started pulling him to where everyone was rolling out the blankets as the first bright flowers of light flared against the dark sky.
