I woke up, ready to start the first day of Summer in New York. I sat up, and immediately was met with a splitting headache.

I was hung over. My cousin, sister, and I had more than a bit to drink last night.

I stood up and got into my clothes for the day. Blue jeans, a gray t-shirt and a blue short-sleeve button up shirt with a diagonal plaid pattern that resembled the main color of the shirt so much it seemed like a reflection of something.

I walked out of my room to see Josh sitting on the couch playing on his phone.

“Good morning, Josh.” I said. “Oh hey, Anthony; good morning.”

I sat on the other side of the couch, and looked south at Wall Street. “No matter how many times I look at this view, I never get tired of it. There’s just so much to look at. How long have you been up?”

“Three hours.”

“Three hours? I usually wake up at six A.M, summer doesn’t change that.”

I looked at the clock above the television, it read 9:17. “Oh right, I’m still jet-lagged.”

“Why do you always forget about time zone changes?”

“I don’t know. I guess its because I don’t travel a lot.”

“Your sister woke up a bit before you, she’s doing something in her room.”

Like she was queued in, she walked out of her room. “Hey, Josh; good morning, Anthony.”

“Good morning. You hung over too?”

“Yeah.”

We have the whole apartment to ourselves for a few weeks; Josh’s parents are working in the Bronx, and mine are still in LA.

“Should we leave for the annual start-of-summer breakfast soon?” I asked.

“Yeah, we’re both ready, go get your stuff.”

I jumped back into my room, put my laptop in my backpack, grabbed my phone, and went back into the family room. Both Jessica and Josh had their shoes on already. I quickly slipped on mine and walked over to the door where they were both waiting.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

The restaurant was only five blocks away, and the short five blocks - north and south; not the longer east to west ones. “Three lox bagels and three watermelon juices.” I ordered to the woman behind the counter.

“Watermelon juice is a thing?” Josh asked.

“Oh yeah, I discovered it last year, and I wanted you to try it; so I looked to see if this place had it, and they did. It’s really good.”

“Better be.”

The woman finished ringing the items up. “That’ll be $47.38.” I handed her my credit card, she swiped it, and gave me my card, receipt and number. We went and sat down at a high top table, and waited for our food.

I pulled out my phone and opened Reddit. A gif about a dog and a person in a box; a license plate that said, “8DX 247” which I laughed at, and then got jealous at, for some reason; someone twerking at a gorilla; an image of trump’s hand after shaking Macron’s hand… the usual. I scrolled down a little more. “Pope tells top oil executives world must convert to clean fuel” I read out loud. Jessica and Josh look up from their phones. “Seriously?” Jessica says in her “Angry AF” voice, “Why the fuck does the pope have to so this shit?” “I don’t know.” I said, scrolling down more, “Money is more important than the future I guess.”

A waitress came and set down our bagels and watermelon juices, told us what they were, and left. “Alright, Anthony, time to see if watermelon juice is as good as you say it is.” Josh said. He grabbed one of the glasses and drank a bit, paused, and then drank more. “Holey fuck where has this been all my life?”

“It’s also really good with Gin and lemon.”

Jessica drank some of hers, and then looked at her glass as if she was surprised there was something in it.

“Do you guys like it?” I ask. “YES!” they yell in unison, causing almost all of the other customers to look our way, then promptly look back. “Oh man, I am so looking forward to summer.” Josh said, “How about you?” Jessica and I nodded, then all three of us dug into out bagels.