i agree, but the desert heat is intense. andrew used to live in texas and he used to have a pet scorpion,i think they are pretty cool. the funny coincidence is that andrew’s zodiac sign is a scorpio. i like the idea of being near a forest where there are animals and trees and i can hear the soft trickle of stream water. last day of school was june 18, but i only had to come in june 13 (full day) and june 15 (half-day, get out at 11:25 for physics honors final). i was exempt from all my finals except physics honors, juniors can exempt all if they have ap classes and since i took the ap test in may, i didn’t have to take the ap english or ap world history final and i was exempt from pre-calc final (94 and above for exemption, i had a 99). i feel like the physics honors final was hard this year b/c i received a 75, but my overall grade was an 88. dave and andrew still keep in contact and dave told this funny story about this guy who tried to walk on water after reading the bible story about jesus walking on water and he drowned (i feel bad for the guy, but i still think he was a bit too idealistic). andrew has gotten me to really appreciate science and i find that i enjoy learning how gears and electronics work as well. dave is more into the biological sciences and is quite easy to talk to, while andrew is very technical minded and likes to compete, yet i have learned lots from them. b/c i was so busy worrying about the ap tests and college things throughout february-may, i felt bad b/c i didn’t really pay much attention to my special friend. he was still around looking out for me and there were times when he told me i needed to be more laid-back, but i rarely talked with him. his friends would often question me about him and he would often feel sad at times and when he saw me, he would always smile and ask if i was okay, i would just nod and then think about a school work or application i had to complete. towards the end of may and into june, i was more relaxed and anticipating the summer months, though i still had summer work. anyway, toward the last few weeks of school, my special friend met up with me and he told me that he missed those months when i was busy and he told me that he still cared about me and if i needed him, he would always be there. i cried and i hugged him and told him that i felt bad that i was so busy those past months, but he said it was okay, he said no matter what happens i’ll always stand by you and it will all be right in the end. he also told me that during those few months, he missed the me that was laid-back, but he still cared about me even then, it was just the fact that i was always tense that he was worried about me. anyway his friends were also happy that we were starting to hang out more again. i went out for a run with him today and we talked about our dreams, laughing as the sun caressed both our faces. while we were sitting under a shady tree, he said “i love you most when you are laid-back, but i admire your hard work as well. you are always good enough.”