The First Day of Summer

The Earth is perfect now, but I wouldn’t know anything about that because I live on Mars.

Don’t get me wrong, Mars is lovely in the summer. Not only is school out, but a bunch of Earthlings come up for the annual Solar Festival, and everything feels much more lively. The rest of the time, it’s a bit quiet here. The community is still small, still growing, and everyone who’s anyone either lives on Earth, the moon, or one of the space stations, because the Mars Colony is currently mostly scientists and construction workers focused on terraforming. Well, them and their kids. Like me.

“I can’t wait to meet some hot Earth girls,” Zach sighs. “Now that I have a better haircut, I think I might actually have a shot.” He grins, running his hand through his short blond hair. “And I’ve been helping my dad dig and lay piping, so I’ve gotten pretty ripped.” He flexes his bicep at me and Tori, but it’s not much to look at. I don’t know why he bothers. His two best friends are girls; we aren’t going to side with him on this.

As if on cue, Tori says, “Ew, don’t be weird,” and makes a face at him. “It’s not like we can compete with the scientists’ kids anyway.” She pauses. “Plus, you still dress like a middle schooler.”

We’re splayed out in the grass of Centauri Park, looking up through the shimmering dome of Public Atmosphere 12 as the sun beats down on us, and Zach—ever the fashionista—is in cargo shorts, a video game t-shirt, and a baseball cap, which is practically all he wears in the summer these days. By contrast, Tori, of course, with her shiny red hair and flawless makeup, is dressed in a flowy yellow sundress and gold sandals, looking like an impressionist painting of a pretty girl come to life. Then there’s me: braided brown hair, plaid skirt, button down, Mary Janes. The two of them always joke that I look ready for school at all times, but honestly, I always found the uniform comforting. And this isn’t my school uniform anyway—the skirt is a different pattern of plaid.

“I do not dress like a middle schooler!” Zach groans.

“Then what’s with all the hats?”

“They’re cool!”

“Yeah, right.” Tori glances at me. “Are you also looking forward to ‘hot Earthlings’?” she teases. When I don’t answer immediately, she prods me. “Hello? Mars to Petra.”

I roll my eyes. She already knows the answer to that—they both do. “The only Earthlings I’m interested in are the ones who work in university admissions.”

“Nerd,” Zach says under a fake cough.

Tori shoves him, then turns to me again. “You still trying to leave us for an Earth college?”

I shrug. “You know it’s always been my dream to go back.”

Back. That’s certainly one way to put it. The last time I lived on Earth, I was one year old. Then my parents separated and, well, here I am. With my mom. On Mars.

“I’m working at the school’s booth for the Solar Festival,” I continue, “so I’m going to be too busy to chase after Earthling guys anyway.”

Tori sighs. “School? During the summer?”

“It’s just volunteering.”

“You don’t need more volunteer hours,” Zach says. He yawns and puts his hat over his face to block out the sun. “Don’t you have, like, a million already?”

“No,” I shoot back. “I only have a hundred. I had to retake my admissions exam, remember? So I couldn’t do VR choir for the old folks’ homes. I had to study.”

“Right, cause you were ten points off from a perfect score,” Zach mutters.

“And now I have a perfect score.”

Tori rests her cheek on her hand as she looks me over. “Don’t forget to enjoy life some too, Pet. You should get your own Adrien. Love makes life so much better.” Adrien is Tori’s stupid jock boyfriend. No, wait. That’s mean. He’s actually a really nice person (though he is still stupid, and that’s an objective fact).

“Please. I’ll find love when I get a job. I’ll be in my late twenties, and he’ll be a coworker who’s been my friend for years. Maybe we met in college, or maybe he went to another school all the way across the system. But it won’t matter, because in that moment, we’ll both be financially stable, have our next five years planned, and be in our prime. That will be the best time to fall in love.”

“Eugh,” Zach groans, pulling his hat off of his face so he can show me how grossed out that made him. “Why do I hang out with you two? I can’t decide if that was more corny or depressing.”

Before I can respond, my Linx alarm goes off by my ear, and a little flashing red light shines in my peripheral vision. “Meeting time. I’ll see you guys later.”

I tap my wrist in just the right spot to pull up Linx VR. The principal hasn’t set up a Linx virtual room for his office, so I’ll be calling in to the actual school. We’ll discuss the Solar Festival and the booth plans I’ve outlined, and I’ll be on my way to finishing my volunteer hours and putting Mars far, far behind me.

I watch as his office appears before my eyes. Linx has planted me right in front of him, across from his desk, and he looks up at me from above his glasses as I shimmer into existence.

“Ah, Ms. Maeno. Right on time. Per usual.” He gives me a weak, apologetic smile. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid we no longer need to meet—we’re canceling the booth.”

“What?” My stomach drops. No no no…

Principal Adams lets out a low sigh that feels very final, and my body tenses. The old man is on his last legs, and I’m about to take another year off of his dwindling life if he doesn’t explain himself right now.

“What do you mean?” I sputter. “I need these volunteer hours. They’re the last thing required for my college applications.” I interlace my fingers to steady their shaking as I try to stay calm. Not like this. I’m not about to lose out on my dream because of volunteer hours. No way. “I’m applying Early Decision to Nova University. I… I can’t afford to mess up.” Tears sting the corners of my eyes, but I don’t let them fall. “Please… I… I have all these plans.” I shakily run my fingers along the keyboard embedded in my wrist and pull up a holo of the documents I’ve written. Pages and pages, with charts, budgeting, tables, even a works cited.

He glances at the display with obvious disinterest. “I’m sorry, Ms. Maeno, but it’s out of my hands. You’ll have to find another way to get your volunteer hours.” Then his face brightens. “Actually, I might have something for you.”

“You do?” I try not to look as disappointed as I feel. So I did all that work for nothing?

He smiles. “Nicolas Silva.”

Nico? “No,” I say immediately without thinking. “No way. That kid is trouble.”

And then I hear someone clear their throat behind me. I start and turn my head slowly to see none other than Nico Silva, in the flesh, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. Has he been there the whole time?! I feel my face turn red.

Nico looks the same as always. His scruffy black hair falls into his dark blue eyes, forever marked with tired bags that give him an extra shady look. He’s wearing his usual all-black outfit, despite it being a good eighty degrees outside, and when he taps his fingers against his forearm, I can see that they’re painted black too.

As a scientist kid, he should be well behaved, but he doesn’t seem to care about anything, least of all school. He doesn’t talk to anyone either—not other scientist kids, not construction kids, not even the food service kids. This might be the closest I’ve ever stood to him, and I’m not even really in the room.

“Nico here needs a tutor,” Principal Adams continues, undeterred. “He’s fallen behind in all of his classes due to… participation.” Or lack thereof. “You can get your volunteer hours helping him pass his summer school exams.”

Nico’s eyes travel up my body, clearly taking in my outfit, and scowls. “I’m not a charity case,” he says.

“No,” Principal Adams agrees. “But you will be the first and only student to fail at Mars Colony Academy if you don’t pass these exams.”

At that, Nico stiffens slightly.

“How many volunteer hours do you need, Ms. Maeno?”

I turn back to Principal Adams and square my shoulders. “Fifty.” Fifty hours with Nico Silva? My summer is ruined. Though I hadn’t exactly had other plans, minus piano practice and recording some tapes for my personal website.

“Perfect,” Principal Adams says, even though nothing about this is perfect. “Why don’t you two Linx?”

Nico steps up behind me before I can even react, and I feel my hair stand on end as he gets close to my virtual form, holding his wrist right up to mine. Our Linx ping in recognition, and I can feel the hairs on his arm tickling mine. His username flashes before my eyes: Anonymous495823. Really? I should’ve known he’d come up with something weird.

I hear Nico’s voice by my ear. “I guess I’ll see you later, tutor.” He says it like it’s a bad word. “Good talk,” he adds to the principal dryly, then he steps back, and I can hear his footsteps receding as he leaves the room.

“Thank you, Ms. Mae—” I close out the session before I can say anything I’ll regret, and the sunny park flashes before my eyes again. I can’t believe this.

“Hey,” Tori says, as she notices me come to. “How was the meeting?”

“I’m going to take a walk.” I jump up, ignoring Tori and Zach’s confused protests, and stomp off through the park, my mind spinning. This is so not my plan! Nico Silva? Really? Innocent wildflowers wilt under my feet, pressed into the grass like crushed bugs. I sniffle and wipe my eyes. I’m not crying. It’s because of all the stupid pollen from the flowers they planted. That’s what I tell myself. I’m not crying… I tilt my head toward the sky, trying to keep my tears in, and the faint shape of the Earth in the far distance blinks back at me. I can still do this. I can still…

A group of cyber-bees bump their little metal heads against my arm, and I squeak, stumbling away. Stupid flowers! Stupid Mars! What next?! Muttering to myself, I back up from the swarm, which returns to its set path once I’m out of the way, and bump right into another person with a loud oof.

“Sorry!” he exclaims. His hands reach out to steady me as I begin to topple into him, and I find myself grabbing him back for balance before I realize what I’m doing and jump away.

“No, no. It’s completely my fault. I…” I look up at him, and freeze. Who are you?

Golden brown curls frame his face, and his soft hazel eyes meet mine with a warmth that makes my heart flutter. He’s tan, fit, out of my league, beautiful like the sun. I’ve never seen him before; I would recognize a face like that. His tall frame looms over me, and I find my eyes tracing over his broad shoulders before I catch myself ogling. He just smiles. But then the leaves rustle in the breeze, a few stray petals from a nearby tree floating by his handsome face, and I almost feel like I’m dreaming.

Oh. Maybe this summer won’t be so bad after all.