By Annie Tran:

Graphic by George Hwang:

Get ready for summer, boys and girls. The time for relaxation, freedom and hot weather is upon us, slowly beckoning us into its warm embrace. The prospect of finding the “love” of our oh-so-short summer is starting to fill us with excitement. Short, sweet and commitment-free. By golly, that just makes me feel giddy inside.

And why not? After all, school is almost out and we do happen to have eight weeks of freedom just laying around. I’m guessing a lot of us will be putting that time to use by going on humanity trips, internships or college summer courses, but that does not mean we can’t find a little bit of lovin’ along the way. The summer vacation is basically a license for us to run wild and carefree in the world. We can fill up these next few magical months with whatever we so desire; it is now our time to create our own agenda. I’ll take a gander and bet that many of us are starting the summer off single.

Now, I’m not advocating any of that silly monkey business we call hooking up. Rather, now is the time to go out and find that certain someone who will venture with you into the great Summerland of Fun. Yes, summer does happen to retain that lusty aura of freedom that seems to infect the majority of us hormonal teenagers, but some of us fail to realize that there is much more potential to a summer fling than a “frennies with bennies” deal.

Maybe I’m too much of an idealist, but during this short period of shimmery warm haze, I want to find someone who is more than an awkward hook-up. I am not expecting the tall blond hunk with shapely rippling muscles who can make all of the girls’ jaws drop. In fact, I’d be perfectly happy with the typical skinny hipster who’s reppin’ those tattered brown cords and a Jones Soda T-shirt. Really, I just want to find a guy that I can have fun with over the summer, and maybe even discover a connection with.

Maybe I’m being a little too wistful, but I can’t help but think of the potential of this promising summer. Perhaps we could write letters over the summer when we’re apart, run away to Foothill Park to watch the sunset or just sit around in sweatpants sleeping in the playground. Maybe we could even meet up during the occasional 11:11 to make a few wandering wishes on an elementary school rooftop. I’m probably dreaming too big, but that’s the fun of it, I guess—just pondering and hoping for the coming future.

However, if I were to engage in such a relationship, I would want both of us to perfectly understand the rules of how it would most likely play out. We may have fun and games, but one must always be aware of the impending deadline that is soon to come. Maybe a few lucky couples will make it out of the summer haze, but as many of us know, sometimes things just get lost in the transition. The point of the ideal summer fling is for it to be brief and noncommittal, so as fun as the fling will be, just prepare yourself for the end. Otherwise, I wish y’all luck on discovering those summer loves.

Remember to be safe and stay classy. Summer 2011—we are so out.