hello, summer.

It was the first day of summer and the last day of eighth grade.

We were awaiting the final few seconds of our final minutes of middle school, and it was almost strange to think that we'd all be freshmen in the high school this September. Beside me stood my best friend Elliot. He took his black sunglasses out of his drawstring bag and placed them on my face, grinning slightly as he pushed back his brown hair.

I took them off and playfully punched him. "We've still got a few seconds, Elliot," I giggled.

Everyone was ready to spring out of their seats and dash down the hallways. Some were even wearing their bathing suits beneath their clothes, planning to hit the beach once they left. This summer would have the greatest impact on everyone; people would come back different, some not even returning at all.

My other best friend, Kayla, stood beside me while rocking back and forth on her heels. She wore tan sandals with white shorts and a turquoise tank top, her dark brown hair flowing down her back. Her boyfriend, Bryan, was in another class, and the two planned to go on vacation together - after joining me and Elliot to watch annual Graduating Series.

The Senior Series was high school seniors against teachers in a baseball, and of course the teachers were undefeated. But this time, Elliot and Bryan made a bet for one hundred dollars - Elliot said the students would win this time, and Bryan believed the teachers would continue their streak.

I was wearing a pair of turquoise-and-tan flip flops with medium wash denim shorts and a teal tank top with a white tribal pattern. Elliot told me that it was "cute, but needed sunglasses to top it all off".

Finally, the bell rang. All the boys shoved past us and made their way for the stairwell, sliding down the banisters. Some even jumped down the stairs, nearly running over each other.

I decided to walk with Kayla and Elliot as we arrived at the meeting place. Bryan was already there, slicking his blond hair back and opening his arms. Kayla hugged him, glancing up at him. "School's out! We're finally going to go to California," she exclaimed.

Bryan grinned. "Yeah, I got us a place at Santa Monica hotel. Well, my mom actually did, and she said your mom's coming too."

Elliot put his arm around me in a friendly manner. "Well," he began, "Grace and I are going to a music festival. We're gonna see a bunch of bands that we like. Then, we're going to the city."

Kayla rolled her eyes jokingly. "Okay, lovebirds. Just let us know when you begin dating, alright?"

My eyes widened. "What? Hah, no. Elliot and I are just friends. Right, Elliot?"

Elliot's cheeks were red. "Yeah, friends." He cast a threatening glare at Kayla, who smirked.

"Alright, take it easy tiger," Bryan said to Elliot, making a 'calm down' motion with his hands. "We have to get to the baseball game; it starts at noon and it's currently 11:45. We don't want to be late, right?"

Together, we walked out of the front of the school. The half-circle lot was filled with cars as all the middle schoolers got in with their friends or by themselves. Some were walking to town, where the baseball game was taking place, but others desired to just walk around, shop, and eat the entire day.

Bryan waved at one of his friends, Aidan, as he got into his older brother's red convertible. A few friends promised they'd text me about going to the beach, and I hugged some of my closer friends that were leaving for the entire summer. Juliette told everyone she'd be going to Sweden to see her family until the end of August, and by September she'd probably speak the language fluently.

We headed down the sidewalk of the lot onto the main road leading into town. Elliot ran his fingers along the rusted chain-link fence, and Kayla played some music on her phone. The walk wouldn't be long, but I knew for sure that we needed to pick up the pace or we'd miss the first inning.

Eventually, we reached a large field. The baseball diamond was old and the edges were beginning to lose the paint, the sand disappearing and causing second base to be a patch of dead grass. Nevertheless, it was still an important part of our town and the grassy meadow extending for a few twenty acres were frequently used by the town country club for golf, lacrosse, soccer, and other pastimes.

The seniors wore bright blue "Class of 2015" shirts. There was an even number of boys and girls, with a total of twenty-four people on the students' team.

The teachers wore orange "Go Teachers!" shirts with hats that had the school emblem, a tiger's paw and claws on the front. They were first to bat since they had only half as many on the students' team.

We sat down on the bleachers and Elliot gave me his sunglasses again. This time, I wore them so he wouldn't keep nudging me as I watched. A good two-hundred students, teachers, and parents had come to watch the third annual summer-starting baseball game.

The first teacher that came up to bat was Mr. Rivas. He was the advanced placement calculus teacher. Someone shouted, "He's going to use some mathematical equations to determine the timing of the ball!" and everyone laughed.

He ended up being walked while having two strikes hanging over his back. He tried to steal second base as Mrs. McCarthy was given a strike, but was tagged out. Things were looking up for Elliot so far.

By the bottom of the ninth inning, the teachers and students were tied 5-5. Clark Rogan, the only senior accepted into Harvard, was up at bat. There were two outs. Everyone knew he'd strike out and that the game would end with a teacher victory. But the bases were loaded.

"C'mon, nerd!" Tommy Smith howled from the bleachers. He wore a Florida Gators snapback. He'd been given a scholarship there for football, but of course he knew how to play just about every other sport. "I'll make sure you don't get into Harvard if you miss this one!"

Clark gulped and nodded, grasping the wooden bat in his fingers. He squinted his eyes and peered at Mr. Worthington, the social studies teacher. He was a phenomenal pitcher and had gone to Ohio State for his skill.

The ball was hurled at Clark at top speed, and everything seemed to slow down. I grasped Elliot's hand and held my breath, closing my eyes.

Smack!

I couldn't believe it.

Clark Rogan had hit the ball, but it went flying into the air. The outfielders held up their mitts while peering up at the sky. The ball then began to make its descent, heading straight toward Mr. Parssons. He caught it and everyone sighed.

"He didn't catch it! It fell from his mitt!"

The baseball lay on the ground, rolling in the grass before coming to a complete stop. Mr. Parssons fell to his knees.

"What kind of gym teacher are you?" Mr. Worthington bellowed, throwing his mitt to the ground in frustration.

The seniors at the bases all ran around before hitting home, Clark following close behind. The team waited for him at home plate before raising him into the air.

Bryan scowled at Elliot, who held his hand out. "Where's my money?" Elliot asked with a smirk.

I cheered for Clark Rogan as Tommy Smith paraded him around with the others. People began to fold up their beach chairs and towels before putting them in the trunk, heading out toward the beach. We lingered there for a bit as Elliot talked to Tommy and Clark.

Tommy glanced at me. "So, is this your girlfriend, Elliot?"

"W-What? No, haha, she's just a friend," Elliot answered quickly.

"Psh, no. You guys should get together."

"Nah. I don't think Grace wants that."

I blushed. I'd always had something for Elliot, but if it were only up to me for us to begin dating, I felt the need to tell him how I felt now.

"Well," I interjected.

Elliot's eyes widened. "Well what?"

"If you want to date, we could," I replied.

Tommy grinned. "There you go. Have a great summer, guys," he said before giving a wave and retrieving the keys to his car.

"Good luck in college!" Elliot shouted as the car door shut.

I turned to Elliot. "So . . ." I trailed off, rubbing my arm.

"Did you really mean what you just said?" Elliot asked with a faint smile.

"I guess so," I responded. "I mean, we're still young, so if you don't want to until high schoool, or at all, it's fine."

"No . . . I really like you, Grace. Will you be my girlfriend?"

I couldn't speak for a few moments. This day had taken so many unexpected twists and turns, only to end up like this? I couldn't believe it. I hugged him. "Of course, Elliot."

He put his arm around me and we said goodbye to Kayla and Bryan, who was still indignant about his loss. We began to walk to the beach, deciding to spend the rest of the day there before heading home during sunset.

We snuck onto the property of a nearby beach club, knowing we were disobeying the rules but giggling as we did so. We headed down to the broken pier, using the jetties to get to the untouched edge of the broken walkway. We sat down.

After spending the entire day sitting at the edge of the water, we decided to wait for the sunset before leaving. It began to get cold, so Elliot huddled close to me to keep me warm.

The sunlight began to ebb away as the sun slipped beneath the sea. Just as the last sliver of it disappeared beyond the horizon, I could hear Elliot whisper,

"Hello, summer."