Free First and Last by Rachael Duncan

drops at a straight decline. From here, we’re overlooking the whole city that’s lit up in lights in the dark of the night. It’s pretty cool.
    “Wow,” she says, walking up to the railing that goes along the edge. She looks down before looking back out. From behind, her body is outlined by the lights coming from below and the moon above. Wisps of hair blow in the breeze and every now and then I catch a hint of her citrusy scent. “Check out this view, Blake.”
    “I am.” When she turns around, she sees me focused in on her. “You’re the most beautiful thing out here.” She bites her lower lip and looks down in embarrassment. “Come over here.” Holding my arm out, she snuggles under it and wraps her arms around my waist. We don’t have to fill the silence with mindless chatter. We enjoy the moment and it’s perfect. This is exactly how I imagined we’d be and I’m so damn glad Mia caved and gave us a chance. As perfect as this is, I know we shouldn’t push our luck and need to get out of here.
    “Wait, we need to take a picture first,” Mia says. She pulls out her little camera from her bag she wears across her body. I swear she never goes anywhere without that thing. She holds it out but I take it from her.
    “Here, let me.” I take the camera, spin us around so the city is to our backs before standing behind her and resting my chin on her shoulder. Holding the camera out, I press the button and take our picture. The closeness of the flash just about blinds me. “My eyes!” I joke.
    “Oh stop it.” Her elbow pokes me in the ribs. “Now can we go?” she asks.
    “Yeah, let’s get out of here before we get arrested.”

    I pull up to her house at ten fifty-five. “Look at that, five minutes to spare,” I say.
    “Yep, right on time.” She turns to face me. “Thank you for today. That was the most fun I’ve had in a while.”
    “I’m glad. I wanted our first real date to be memorable. Something neither of us has ever done.”
    “I’ve definitely never trespassed.” One side of her mouth turns up, and I can think of a million other things I’d rather be doing to it than listening to her give me a hard time.
    Leaning in, my lips ghost over hers. “Admit it; this was the best date you’ve ever been on.”
    “What if it’s not?” she sasses back.
    “Hmmm,” I say as my head moves down her neck. I hear her breath hitch as my lips hit the sensitive spot below her ear. “I find that hard to believe.”
    I see her neck move as she swallows. “I don’t care if we sat on my back porch. It’ll always be the best because it’s with you.”
    Pulling back, I look into her eyes and know without a doubt that I’ll love this girl for the rest of my life. My dying breath will be spent thinking of her.

August 2001
    I t’s been two months since we went to Lookout Mountain and it’s the perfect morning. The sun is up, there’s a cool breeze coming off the lake, and I have the best person in the world in my arms. I wanted to do something low-key with Mia before we go out with our friends tonight, so I planned a little quiet day by the lake with a picnic.
    “This is nice,” she says, a content sigh following her words. I squeeze her to me and plant a kiss on the top of her head.
    “Sure is,” I agree. My face tilts up toward the sun while I lie on my back with her on my chest.
    “Can you believe the summer is almost over?” she asks almost absentmindedly.
    “I know. It’s going by fast.”
    “You excited for our senior year?” She traces soft circles on my chest. It feels good and puts me at ease. If she keeps doing it, I might fall asleep.
    “Yeah, I can’t wait to be done with school.”
    “Well, almost done. We still have college after this,” she reminds me.
    I’ve been avoiding her or giving vague, half answers whenever Mia talks about plans after high school. Mainly because I don’t have any set in stone. But the closer I get to graduating, the more I think college