I took another sip of my drink. It was cold, and tasted of strawberry, the dill leaves inside added a bit of its flavor too. I set the drink down on the small circular table made of light colored wooden planks in a rustic metal frame to my right, and looked at my drink as the sunlight poured through it. The drink was a vibrant pink, with the color fading off at the top half of the short glass where the few ice cubes were.

The passive sound of chatter and casual conversation filled the air around me. I felt extremely relaxed, and cheerful too. The summer weather was hot, but the shades hung up above the yard helped with bots the sunlight and temperature.

Oh yeah, and this event was to celebrate the new alliance between my family and the Lorenzos.

I looked around the yard. The aesthetics followed a consistent modern feel, with the plants mixing in beautifully with the very skeletal structures made of the same wood as the table around the yard. Vines climbed up the walls around the edges, accompanied with carefully trimmed floral plants.

“Hey can I sit here” Someone asked. I looked over to see a boy pointing toward the chair on the other side of the table. He was wearing dark black denim pants, a silky short sleeve blue button down shirt with small white dots in a grid pattern, and squarish glasses with a fully aluminum frame. “Sure.” I responded in a cheerful tone. The boy sat down and set his drink on the table. “My name is Tyler.” He ,said in a casual tone. “I’m Anthony.” I responded.

Tyler drank some of his drink. It looked carbonated, and yellow - orange, and it had a slice of citrus in it. “What is that drink?” I asked. Tyler moved the wine glass around in front of him, “Its carbonated lemonade and grapefruit juice. What’s yours?”

“strawberry juice with dill. Want some?”

“Sure.” I handed the glass to Tyler. He took a small sip and then set it back down on my side of the table. “That’s really good.” Tyler said. “Want some of mine?” Tyler handed me his glass, I took it and drank some. The taste, sweetness, and carbonation perfectly complemented each other. I set the glass back down on his side of the table, “That’s better than mine.” I said. We laughed a bit, and looked into each others eyes. Tyler pushed his glasses up his nose

“So, you’re going to be a freshman?” Tyler asked. “Yeah.” I responded, “We’re going to the same school too, right?”

“Yeah, It’s downtown though, but at least we won’t be driving for another year.”

I drank a bit more. “How old are you?” I asked out of curiosity.

“I just turned fifteen a month ago.”

“I turned fifteen four months ago. March 27th”

“June 18th.”

We almost sanctimoniously drank a bit more from our respective glasses.

“Well, Anthony,” Tyler said while standing up, “I hope our new alliance will work out. See you later” He grabbed his drink and left.