Yes! Summer has arrived!
Excitement raced through Elsa as she darted down the halls of the high school. The ring of the final bell signaled the close of her freshman year, and she felt ready to party. Although an introverted girl by nature, she smiled and even said cheerful farewells to various classmates as she headed for the side front door. All the nerves she felt when she walked down those halls for the first time ever last September were long gone.
And Anna gets off at the same time today! Ohhh she'll be so excited when she sees you and Mom pull up!
Elsa imagined all the fun things she would do that summer: How she had plans to take Anna out for her first birthday as a teenager next week, or the family vacation in July that her Dad hyped up all winter, or her freedom to ride her bike around Spring Lake whenever she wanted.
She burst through the side front door that all the other students avoided.
"Hey there kiddo!"
A familiar yet unexpected face beamed at her over the roof of the family car.
"Whoa, Dad?"
Elsa somehow managed to avoid a ride on the bus all year long, and she grew used to the pleasant drives to school in the morning with her Dad before he went off to work, but her Mom pretty much always picked her up. This time, Dad cut his work day short to pick up his eldest daughter.
"Here, think fast!" the man exclaimed as he flipped his wrist and tossed Elsa the car keys.
"Awww, thanks Dad, but you know I'm gonna show off now!"
"Not on my watch little girl."
Father and daughter both chuckled, and Elsa proceeded to the drivers seat. She received her drivers permit last December when she turned 15, and she relished every opportunity to get the mandatory number of hours under her belt, like on this, the final day of school.
"So nice to see you Dad!" Elsa said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. The man smiled in return.
"Yeah, I told Bill I needed to duck out early, and he understood. Now lets not be late for your sister!"
"Oh, hey, can I have one of those?" Elsa asked as her eyes wandered at the cup holder.
Elsa may have been 15, but like Anna, she still had the heart of a child.
"Of course! They're for you two, as a matter of fact. Let me get it for you. Which one, Sprite or Mountain Dew?"
"Hmm, that one."
The green soda pop can fizzed over onto her Dad's lap as he opened the can, which garnered a giggle from her.
"Pay attention to the road you brat," her Dad teased with a playful grin as he handed her the pop.
At least Anna just completed 7th grade. You should be a bit more mature than to get excited over a kids drink.
The girl didn't even have time to ponder over the stupid, negative thought before the man interjected.
"Oh, by the way, Elsa."
"Yeah Dad?"
"Um, well, you know...next week is Anna's birthday, and uh..."
Elsa felt puzzled over his unusual lack of confidence.
"...I thought that, maybe Friday afternoon, all four of us could take a walk through Spring Lake Park and have a family picnic. Your Mom can make those delicious sandwiches that you girls love so much, and we can have those coffee flavored chocolates we bought from the Mall."
Ohhh man, that sounds wonderful, but that Friday is the movie night you and Anna have planned.
Elsa tried to make a bargain.
"Can we do Wednesday afternoon instead? I mean, that's the actual day she turns 13 anyway, right?"
"Believe me honey, I wanted to do that too, but even to get Friday afternoon off, I promised Bill I'd cram stuff in from Monday through Thursday."
Dang, this has to be one of those sister-or-parent choices
"I'll think about, okay?" Elsa responded with an earnest smile.
The destination shifted her Dad's focus.
"Right there," he pointed. "Don't miss the street."
Elsa made a hard turn right and proceeded to pull into the junior high school, which buzzed with excited kids. Her mood shifted back to happiness.
"I see her!" Elsa said with excited angst.
"Whoa, HEY, easy!" her Dad barked as Elsa slammed on the breaks at the curb where Anna stood.
"Sorry," she said in a soft yet happy tone.
Her Dad shot her a smile back. They both motioned to Anna to sit behind him. Anna opened the door so hard she almost hit one of the kids as they ran by.
"Daddy! It's you! And Elsa, oh my gosh, you get to drive! This is so nice!"
"I know, right?! Dad knows how much this means to me," the older girl responded as she glanced at Anna with a big goofy smile. Whatever guilt she felt over her father's request had disappeared.
"Alright you two, lets get out of here!" the man said with joy.
See? He's fine. And he let you pick up Anna from school when him and Mom never let you do that because you might hit someone.
"Oh you stinker," Anna belted.
"What?" Elsa said with a laugh.
"You know 'what.' You took my Sprite!"
"I did not!"
"Did too! You've always liked the Dew better!"
"'The Dew?' Is that what the kids call it these days?"
"Enough, ladies," their Dad said with an amused shake of the head.
"Just take your drink," Elsa beamed as she tossed the can behind her.
"I'm gonna spray you with this," Anna said with a giggle.
"Oh yeah, well I'm gonna dunk you both in the lake when we get home!" their Dad belted.
All three of them laughed, and Elsa took a swig of her pop. She looked at the can. An idea entered her head.
You get motivated by the strangest things, don't you?
"Hey Dad, can you please grab my phone and hook the tape up to the headphone jack?"
You are such a bad tease. Anna will call you out on it.
"Got it. Which song?"
"The first one on that playlist...right there," she pointed.
"Hey hey, eyes on the road."
Elsa bobbed her head left and right in an even motion as the song began and let herself get lost in the steady build up.
"Ha, good practical pun Elsa!" the little girl barked from the back.
Elsa smiled through the windshield mirror back at Anna and gave a head bang at the sudden base buildup.
"Wait...you're...you're rubbing it in right now, aren't you!?" Anna said as she smacked her older sister on the shoulder.
Elsa mouthed the words of the song back to Anna as the base dropped,
"YES, OH MY GOD"
You know this would be an embarrassment in any social situation, right?
"I don't care. I'm with family," Elsa muttered to herself as she shut out her conscience. This is what she lived for, moments with her tender parents and her beloved sister where she could be herself, without shame or guilt. Her thoughts sided with her once more.
Just wait till you get your license next Christmas, then you can listen to your favorite music as loud as you want!
Elsa grinned at the thought, and she sighed with deep content at how her most feared year of high school was behind her. She then drove home for the summer with her favorite people in the world.