I wanted to fall down and sleep. The harsh summer weather always made me feel that way. The one consolation to this was a cold popsicle. My one and only savior from the evil sun.

Sweat pouring down my body, crickets chirping, trees waving, sunny skies, it was summer all right. I was supposed to get something at a friend’s house, but now that I think about it, I don’t remember if he’s still at his house or on vacation. While I was pondering whether or not to continue my walk, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked over, and there was Lucy, my neighbor.

“What are you doing over here? Aren’t you always in your room playing games?” she said.

I laughed, “scuse’ you, I go outside. It just happens that we go out at different times.”

“Yeah right” she laughed. “You wouldn’t go out even if a meteor came crashing down on your head.”

We continued to talk and laugh as the sun slowly crept down the horizon. Another thing I hated about summer was how even at night, it could still be hot. I took a sip of water and looked over at Lucy, and that’s when it hit me.

She was cute.

I had never really thought about it, but she was. She was always just my neighbor that I talked to a lot, and now that changed. This new realization made me get a little nervous, and a little red.

“Hey look, fireflies,” she said.

She was right. Without me noticing, the night summer sky wasn’t just filled with stars. Hundreds of fireflies now painted the fields like Van Gogh, making every direction I faced look like Starry Night. The fireflies were beautiful, but they weren’t the only thing that was pretty.

Lucy chased after the fireflies, making the whole scene seem like a glowing ballet. Every single thing she did now seemed like a work of art, and for some reason I just couldn’t contain myself anymore. My body unconsciously walked over to her, like I was possessed by something.

“What’s up? Something wrong?” She said.

A thousand of things were buzzing through my head. Sweat still coming down my head, heart beating a thousand beats a second. All of this was happening in a single moment, but all I could hear was crickets. The chirping making me say one thing to break the pause between us.

“I like you” I said on a whisper. She didn’t hear me as the sound was masked by the crickets chirping. 

Now, I had to build up my courage to say it again. I had all summer to do so.