The next day, we had a party in all the Global classes. After finishing all our work, we gathered in Mr. Marvin's room with hot chocolate and lots and lots of chestnuts.

    "Can you believe it's the last day of ninth grade?" I asked Jessica and Clary. "It feels like just yesterday we were going to Justin's Ferry."

    Clary laughed. "Probably because Assateague was just a few days ago."

    "More like a few weeks," Jessica corrected with an amused smile. "But, you're right. Time really does fly."

    Clutching a steaming cup of hot chocolate, Lina walked over to us. She was holding a fist full of some kind of nut. "Want one?" she offered. "They're really sweet."

    Clary crinkled her nose at the chestnuts, but I took one, plopping it into my mouth. Wait a second... What was that furry thing?

    Lina gasped and stifled a laugh. "You're supposed to peel it!"

    Pursing my lips, I spit out the chestnut and wiped my mouth on my shirt. "Ewww," I exclaimed. "That was..."

    "Gross?" Nicole offered. "Furry? Hard? Disgusting?"

    I wiped the last few bits of the shell on my shirt and chewed the chestnut thoughtfully. "Yeah those work," I agreed. "Hey this isn't that bad... besides the fur!"

    Everyone burst into laughter once again clutching their stomachs as Jason walked by. "Aw did you eat the shell, Anasika?" he asked, giving my pursed lips a pointed look.

    I gave him a sheepish smile as I heard a whoop from behind me. I turned to the fence I had attempted to jump over when we were filming to movie to see Randolph running towards it. With a high jump in the air, his finger reaching to touch his toes, he landed on the other side of the fence with the precision of a gymnast.

    "Oh that's not fair," I complained. "When I tried to do that, I nearly died."

    Clary gave me a throaty laugh. "You didn't die. But, you seriously hurt your leg."

    "Yeah, I didn't even know that much blood could come from that small of a cut," Jessica agreed. "And we did the Circulatory system project!"

    Lina and Jason laughed. "I wish I'd been there to see that epic fail," Lina teased.

    I rolled my eyes. "I didn't fail that bad," I protested. I looked down to my exposed leg that still had puckering skin and scratches. "On second thought..."

    Nicole laughed. "Exactly."

    I smiled, leaning back onto the building's wall when my foot knocked against a hard book that fell to the ground with a loud thud. "Sorry," I murmured as I leaned to pick up the book, when I realized it was my yearbook.

    I smacked my forehead. "I completely forgot!" I chided, taking a sip of the sweet hot chocolate. "You guys want to sign my yearbook?"

    They nodded pulling colored pens out of their backpacks and offering me their yearbooks to sign too. Soon, everyone was signing yearbook after yearbook. I took the heavy book out of Clary's outstretched hand. Smiling I began to write.

    Memories flooded back to me of us meeting for the first time in the Spanish class and of going to Justin's Ferry together. Of Sinetic Falls. Of the National Aerodynamics Museum. Of the movie. And, most recently, of Assateague. Clary had been my best friend all the way through the good times and bad.

    Hey Clary,

    So you're probably reading this over the summer and being all nostalgic or whatever. Don't worry, I do that too. Unless, I'm the only one who does it... Ah that's beside the point! Global 9th Grade has been one of the best years of my life and big thanks to you for that. You hung out with me all the way through and it's been awesome. All the way from Justin's Ferry to Mr. Rickman's head injury to Assateague just a few weeks ago, I've gone through a lot with you. And now, it's been a year. So thanks for being the best friend ever and I'll see you next year in the big and mighty tenth grade!

-Anasika

PS- Why are we drinking hot chocolate in the summer?

    I reread the note to make sure it wasn't too cheesy, or whatever, and handed it back to Clary with a smile. A few signings later, I had my yearbook back, filled with notes from everyone. Promising myself to read it over the summer, I closed it with a loud clap.

    Moments later, we heard Mr. Marvin's commanding voice calling us inside to meet in the biology classroom. Taking the last few sips of my warm, sweet hot chocolate, I walked to the room like I had countless times before.

    "Okay everyone," Mr. Marvin announced, flanked by Mr. Rickman and Mr. Gandalf. "It's been a whole year."

    Whoops and cheers and congratulations filled the classroom, but quickly quieted down when Mr. Marvin held his hand up.

    "So, some of you may recognize this from Assateague," he told us, giving me and Clary a wink. "But, we feel that it would be appropriate for the whole Global 9th Class this year to do it again. What do you say?"

    More foot stomping and cheers followed.

    Mr. Marvin smiled and handed the floor to Mr. Gandalf. He clapped his hands and smiled at us widely. "Everyone can split up into a group of, say, four or five people," he instructed. "And create a short skit on something this year. It can be a moment or..."

    I tuned him out as he re-explained what we had done at Assateague and began brainstorming for the play. The most prominent idea seemed to be imitating the teacher.

    "Ready?" Mr. Gandalf asked. "And... Go!"

    We decided to have me, Clary, Jessica, and Lina in our group. Huddling closely together, I explained my idea to them.

    "Okay, so what I'm thinking is that we imitate the teachers," I suggested. "Mr. Marvin, Mr. Gandalf, Mr. Rickman, and..."

    "Mrs. Bendich!" Clary suggested. "We can make her all evil and stuff."

    I laughed. "Awesome," I agreed. "So, who wants to be who?"

    Lina held up her hand. "I can be Mr. Gandalf!"

    "And I'll be Mr. Marvin," Clary answered. "After all, I do love History."

    I nodded. "Who should I be?" I wondered. Deepening my voice and cracking it slightly, scrunching my eyebrows, I imitated. "Go do your classwork!"

    Lina clutched her stomach laughing as Clary raised her eyebrows, "That's an amazing Mrs. Bendich imitation."

    I gave a mock bow. "Why thank you. I suppose I'll be Mrs. Bendich then."

    That left Jessica to be Mr. Rickman. We began acting in the play, with Clary "distributing" pop quizzes and calling them Celebrations of Knowledge. Lina showed us a fake Water Buffalo video and Jessica pretended to faint. Then I walked in, my gait slow and limping. I fake-scolded the students and gave out "50 page packets." Finally, Jessica came back and sat in the same position Mr. Rickman always sat in... with her hands in her lap and her legs crossed, sitting on the lab desk. I laughed and clapped my hands.

    The skits began, filled with inside jokes and things that just couldn't let me stop laughing. Memories resurfaced from the beginning of the year and my stomach began hurting with how much I was laughing. But, it was worth it.

    We acted out our play, laughing at the teachers' amused faces as we imitated them. But soon, it was all over. The bell rang, signaling the end of the school year and conflicting feelings of elation and sadness rose up in me at the shrill sound.

    "See you all next year!" I called, running out of the classroom after hugging my friends and all the teachers... even Mr. Rickman. Lina and I ran through the halls, singing at the top of our voices.

    "All for one! Our real summer has just begun!" I sang, quoting the famous lines from High School Musical.

    Lina grinned. "Let's rock and roll and just let go to the rhythm of the drums!"

    "We're gonna have fun in the sun," I pointed at her.

    "Now that our work, work is done!"

    "Everybody one for all, and all for one," we chorused together, finishing the famous song. I walked through the arching doors and spotted my bus.

    "See you next year," I parted, hugging her.

    She smiled and hugged me back, walking to her house in the neighborhood nearby. "Make sure to Snapchat me!"

    I laughed. "Definitely," I called, waving to her one final time.

    The bus ride was slow, but the smile never left my face as I chatted with Jason for one last time before summer. Finally, it pulled up at my stop and I jumped down the stairs.

    "See you next year!" I waved to the bus one last time. Crossing the road as I did every year, I spotted someone with long blond hair walking past my neighborhood.

    "Vanessa!" I yelled, running up to her.

    She held her arms out. "Anasika! How have you been?

    I smiled. "Great. Can you believe the school year is already over?"

    She shook her head. "It seems to have gone by so fast."

    "Definitely," I agreed. "Hey, you want to hang out until your mom comes home? No school tomorrow!"

    She laughed. "Sure."

    We began walking down the concrete path which I had walked on almost every day for the past year when a gust of wind blew by, blowing my hair in front of me. To avoid it getting in my face, I turned back to the bus stop and gazed into the distance. Memories filled my vision of the past year, of all the amazing people I'd met and the person I had become. Global truly was a family. I could almost see it right in front of me, the person I used to be and the person I had become. I turned to Vanessa.

    "Do you see it?" I asked.

    She shook her head, confusion evident on her face. "See what?"

    I smiled. "How far we've come."