Our Last Summer

Chapter One

It all began with him, Luke James, the cutest boy on the block. I was head over heels in love with him, everyone was, but he only had eyes for me. I felt so lucky. I was nothing special, or so I thought. I was the smallest girl in our class, long brunette hair and pale skin. I felt like I was the typical little girl like every other little girl around here. Everyone referred to me as a "little doll". I hated that term. I wasn't a doll, I was a person. I was Lilly, Lilly McAllister. I was top of the class in Math, English and Biology, danced into first place at regionals for ballet and dawned the most hideous freckles you've ever seen in your life. I wasn't even that feminine. Actually, I was quite the tomboy. I wore comfortable clothes like jeans, t-shirts and hoodies, climbed trees with the boys and jumped in the lake at least twice a week. It was bliss.

A favourite pass time of Luke's and I was to climb to the top of the tree outside old Mrs McCluskey's house and wait for her to come out to feed the birds and scare her. It was our daily habit. Every day at noon she would come outside, bag of bread crumbs in her hand and scatter it on the lawn for the little finches that would wait on her rooftop chirping. I swear those birds could tell the time. We would wait until she nearly had the whole bag emptied and we would shout 'BOO' as loud as we could. Even though it was routine she would still get the same fright day in and day out and shake her fists at us like a crazy person. You could hear us laugh for miles around. It felt like a routine that would never end. I never wanted it to end.

On a warm summers day in 2007, Luke came over to my house to call for me. We had this agreement that whoever was awake, dressed and had eaten breakfast first would have to call for the other. He knocked on the door and asked my mother if I was home. "Lilly, it's Luke," she called and I came bouncing along the hallway to greet him. "Lill's I have a surprise for you, but you can't know yet! Meet me later, 5 o'clock at the park. I'll be waiting for you. Oh, and dress like a girl!" He could be quite demanding when he wanted to, but it was only because he knew I couldn't ever say no to him. I loved him.

What was the surprise? I couldn't wait I was too excited. I ran to my wardrobe and pulled everything out. Hoodie? No. Jeans? No. Dress? Perfect. It was a lilac dress fastened with a pink satin bow, little pink and white flowers below the belt and frills, lots of frills. Doesn't get more girly than that. He'll love it. I got my mom to braid my hair for me, I always had trouble with that and I set off to find Luke.

The park was only a block away from our house so I jogged a little. Not so fast that I would be out of breath when I got there but fast enough to get there before anyone would see me in a dress. None of the other boys ever seen me dressed like a girl. That was a Luke special. He wouldn't make fun of me like everyone else would. He was always so nice and understanding. I trusted him with my darkest secrets.

At first glance it looked empty, like no one was there. I was confused, he said 5 o'clock and it was then 5:05. A girl needs to be fashionably late, even if she's excited. I looked over to the grass and in the middle of the football pitch was Luke. He was sat on what appeared to be his mothers throw for the sofa. She was going to go mad. I giggled to myself, thinking of Mrs James shouting at him, it was something she did multiple times a day. On the blanket beside him was this old wicker basket. My Surprise was a picnic. He packed me a picnic, how romantic.

As I got nearer and nearer I noticed he was wearing his Sunday best. Shirt, tie, the works. He really went all out. I began noticing this weird feeling in my chest. My heart was racing, my palms sweaty and butterflies dancing a jig in my belly. I was nervous, really nervous. He looked so grown up.

He patted a spot beside him and I plopped down. "Want a drink?" he wondered, handing me a can of soda before I could even reply. He seems nervous too. What was going on?

"Lills," he started, like he was going to make some sort of speech. "We've been friends since we were four years old. I want us to be friends forever and when we grow up I want us to marry each other so we can always be together. I never want to be without you." He handed me this delicate gold ring with a beautiful white diamond. It was too big for my tiny fingers. On closer inspection I realised it was his moms ring but I was too caught in the moment to think about it. "Yes!" I shrieked. He put his hand on my cheek and we had our very first kiss. My very first kiss. It was one of the happiest days of my life.