there's just something about "summer"

I woke up at 6:30 to cars and trucks slowly beginning to make their way to whatever destination requires them to arrive at an earlier hour, and as I looked out my open window into the mountain that was gradually receiving light, I couldn't help but think. And when I REALLY woke up, about 15 minutes ago, I thought again.

The traditional ritual of the end of school ends when high school does. No more yearbooks to sign. No more lockers to clean out. No more teachers that you've spent an entire year with to say goodbye to. It's just not the same. You can avoid ever going to class in college, and theoretically no one would ever notice. The last week of school is full of parties and soda, celebratory signs and Risk (in AP History/Government, at least). And on that first day of freedom as everyone gathers in random orange couches, or just on the grass, split into their own circles, some groups silently demanding the others move in and out in order to get that signature from that one girl in that one group that's not your own--you all suddenly feel joined together for a few hours. This faux friendship you've created is born out of that innate desire we all feel. The desire to be a part of something, even if it's only for one last time. The nostalgia takes our minds for a ride and creates memories that in actuality were only mere passings in a hallway. But it doesn't matter, because school is ending, so who really notices anyway?

So when I walked out of the JSB last night at 8 p.m., finished for good, all I wanted was someone to celebrate with. All I wanted was to feel that relief that we made it through another "year". All I wanted was to get the giddy excitement at the pit of my stomach that would eventually manifest itself in dancing and screams with the rest of my foolishly giddy friends. I was sorely disappointed. While the gelato and random Neil Patrick Harris short movie were delicious in their own ways, I couldn't help feeling empty.

But then I woke up this morning. And never mind the fact that I'm going to be working two jobs. Never mind the fact that I'm going to be going to school both spring and summer terms. Never mind the fact that it's April and not the end of May, so it's still going to be raining.

The magic was pouring through my window with the cool morning air and my stomach was giddy and I could go back to bed and I'm meeting Erika for lunch and I have nothing to do all day and it feels like summer.

And I thought.

It's time to begin writing again.