The summer after I graduated high school was one of the best periods of my life. I had an incredibly close group of friends. We were all good kids – we were in band together, took all the same AP and honors courses together, and hung out together pretty much every night. We didn’t do drugs or drink, so parents were cool with us hanging out in the basement of whoever wanted to host that night. We ended up at my house more often than not, just because my basement had a pool table and my parents kept the refrigerator full of snacks and sodas.
Something changed in the group after we graduated. We’d all been close for years, but after graduation people started hooking up. It was common to go to one of these hangouts and make out with someone new. It wasn’t a big deal – it was just something that happened, and no one seemed to think too much of it.