It was the Fourth of July, the day America celebrated its independence by lighting stuff on fire and watching it explode. Tyler had spent most of the day on the couch, looking at the screen while fireworks cracked outside the windows. The scent of barbecue was in the air, and he thought he'd heard the drums and sirens of a distant parade. Now, as the sun went down, he turned off the TV and picked up his phone. Hillcrest Park was a three-minute drive from his house, and he glanced at the clock as he went into the kitchen. 

His grandma sat at the table, and Tyler stepped around her to the bathroom door. He took a quick glance in the mirror, brushed his teeth and ran a comb through his hair. A few zits had popped up on his forehead, and he rubbed them with one finger before he left the room. 

"Guess I'm going to the park," he said, and his grandma looked away from her phone. "Okay. Do you have the keys?" 

"Uh-huh."

He went to the living room, and found the keys on a table near the lamp. He grabbed them and noticed a fluffy orange tail sticking out from under a chair. You couldn't explain to a cat what all the loud noises were, and that they weren't going to hurt her - well, you could try to explain, but she just wouldn't get it. Tyler laughed to himself as he opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. 

It was almost dark, and he switched on the headlights as he backed into the street. He drove a few blocks and came upon a long string of cars, idling on the road as they slowly entered a parking lot. Tyler followed a pickup truck across the pavement, and parked beside it. He grabbed his phone and left the car, walking with the crowd into the grass. 

Clicking on his screen, he tapped Rachel's name. I'm at the park, he typed. Where are you guys? A short concrete wall surrounded some structure - maybe a pool - and he leaned back against it to wait. Looking into the distance, he saw dozens of people carrying blankets and lawn chairs across the grass. Fireflies were everywhere, and most of the kids he saw wore those glow-in-the-dark plastic tube things around their necks or wrists. 

His phone rang, and he tapped his screen. We're close to the playground, Rachel had answered, and Tyler asked, "Well, where's that?" He kept his eyes on his phone as he walked across the lawn. Weaving between humans and around the park restrooms, he arrived at a giant play-structure. Near its set of swings, a blanket had been spread across the grass. Rachel sat on the blanket's edge, and her blonde hair hung to the ground. 

"Hey," he said, approaching from behind. She looked up, and five other people followed her gaze. 

"Oh, hi." There was an empty space beside her, and Tyler squeezed himself into it. Leaning to one side, he rested on his hand, so that Rachel was close but they didn't embrace. 

"I guess you know Bethany and Will," she said, and Tyler could barely hear her above the crowd. "And this is Hunter and Cody and Hannah." 

"Hey," he said. "I'm Tyler."

"He just moved here from Saint Louis," Bethany said, and Cody remarked, "Wow, Saint Louis." Tyler felt his sarcasm, and sensed that there might be some Poplar Bluffian backlash against Saint Louis-idolization. He leaned closer to Rachel and asked, "Is Christian here?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "He's... I think he stayed home tonight."

Tyler felt a pinch on his arm, and looked down to see a gargantuan mosquito sucking away. He brushed it off, and regretted not wearing long sleeves. He started to say something, but a sudden large boom attracted his attention. As the crowd settled, the show began, and red and blue flames shot into the sky.

The display continued, and Tyler looked around and noticed something. Almost everyone was sitting sort of casually, leaning back or whichever way was comfortable. Bethany had semi-reclined and draped herself over Will's lap. But Rachel sat with her legs crossed, as straight as a human possibly could, and her hands were neatly clasped. She didn't speak or look away from the fireworks until the display was over, as if there was some requirement to watch every second. 

When the show climaxed and came to an end, smoke filled the air, and a tremendous cheer rose from the crowd. Tyler wasn't really the cheering type, and he wondered why people felt the need to make those noises with their mouths. As everyone gathered their blankets and started to leave, Rachel looked at her friends. "What do you guys want to do now?"

"I don't know," Hunter said. "McDonald's?" 

"I just ate," said Cody.

"How about ice cream?" Hannah asked. "We could go to Sherman's," and Rachel said, "Whatever you guys want to do." 

They got up from the ground in a collective heap, and Bethany pulled the blanket into her arms. Tyler flicked at another mosquito and asked, "Where are you guys parked?"

"Near the flagpole," said Hunter, and Bethany said, "It might be easier just to walk."

"Okay," everyone said, and started across the parking lot. 

Bethany stopped at her car to throw the blanket into the back seat, and then led the way to the sidewalk. Street lights lit the dark, and traffic filled the road. They arrived at a brightly-colored window, and Hunter pulled open a glass door. The inside was cold and cheerful and pink, and Tyler followed everyone to the counter. 

A girl in a baby-blue uniform appeared from a back room and stationed herself at the cash register. Tyler glanced up at the menu board, and they each ordered what they wanted. While the girl made the sundaes, the machines whirled, and he noticed Rachel's long locks. "Is your hair less wavy than it was?" 

She seemed a little shocked that he'd noticed, and then said, "Well, sometimes I braid it overnight. That makes it wavy."

"So it's naturally straight, then?"

"Mm-hmm." 

The sundaes were finished, and after they paid, the girl handed Rachel her cup. "Are you Paul Matthews' daughter?" she asked. 

"Yes," Rachel said, and nodded. Guess being a minister's daughter makes you a mini-celebrity in Poplar Bluff. 

A large table sat in the middle of the floor, and they each pulled out a chair. Tyler sat between Rachel and Will, and dug into his choco-cherry sundae. He wiped his mouth, and asked across the table, "Did you guys all go to school together?" 

"Some of us did," Rachel said, "Bethany and Hannah and me," and Hunter told him, "The rest of us went to Poplar Bluff High."

"Oh," Tyler said, and looked at Rachel. "So you went to a private school?"

"Mm-hmm. Christ Academy." 

"So you're not a Mule, then?" 

"A what?"

"The Mules. They're Poplar Bluff's mascot."

"Oh, yeah."

Hunter laughed. "Yeah, the other schools would make fun of us because of that. They had this weird dance they did at games," and Tyler said, "It's just that school mascots are usually more swiftly-moving animals. Like Hawks or Mustangs or something."

There was a pause, and then Rachel said, "Well, I kind of missed all that. Football games and cheerleading and stuff."

"Oh, why?" 

"Because our school didn't have sports teams or anything. And we didn't have things like drama or art or whatever."

"Did you have to wear uniforms?" 

"No," she said, and shook her head. "We just wore whatever we wanted."

"I guess you learned how to sing though, right?"

"Yeah," she said. "At least we had music."

Bethany and Will seemed to be having a really hard time keeping their hands off each other, like the ice cream parlor was the perfect place to cuddle, so Tyler asked, "How long have you guys been going out?"

"Six months," Will said. "But we're not just going out," said Bethany. "We're engaged." 

"Oh."

"So when are you getting married?" Hannah asked. 

"As soon as we can find an apartment. Then we'll think about the wedding." 

Tyler laughed. "I'm just thinking about when I can stop driving my grandma's car." 

"Yeah," Rachel said. "My brother still drops me off at work."

"How long have you worked there?" he asked. 

"About a month."

"So is that what you want to do, like, forever?" 

"I don't know," she said, and looked at the windows. "Maybe."

When everyone finished eating, they rose from the table, and each dropped their cups into the trash. They stepped out the doors, and saw an empty street. Rachel kind of lingered behind, so Tyler lingered with her, and took her hand. They entwined their fingers, and followed her friends back to the park. 

The pavement was empty and silent, and four cars sat near the flagpole. Tyler's car was on the other side of the park, so he said, "Well, I guess I'll see you."

"Okay," whispered Rachel. He felt like he needed to do something else, so he brought her hand to his mouth and quickly kissed her fingers. She flashed that cute little smile again, and he walked into the dark.