He and I were the best of friends.
Summer days were spent by the lake
And he would come back to my family’s cabin from fishing
And I would be cleaning my bedroom
And we would point out how domestic we were and giggle
And I would smile behind my curtain of hair and feel so pretty because I knew he was staring at me
And the boy said marry me.
It was the happiest night of my life.

We ran around the house skipping and teasing,
Tickling each other and being gleeful.
He picked me up and swung me around
And then gently kissed my lips.
His lips were really soft and a little wet,
And I ran my hand down his cheek in what I hoped was an intimate manner.
I'd never loved anyone so much.

The next day I told anyone who would listen.
I told my mother and she smiled proudly that her little girl had grown up.
I told my father and he laughed and joked with the boy.
I told my brother and he was disapproving at first but knew that love is the strongest bond and was happy for us.
I told my sister and she celebrated.
Everything was perfect.

I chose my wedding dress.
I wanted something simple, something thin.
Eventually my mother and I chose the light eggshell white dress and a pair of sandals.
It was simple and casual.
We wanted to get married on the edge of the lake where we'd first met.
It was just our families and a few close friends.
Walking down the makeshift aisle we'd made by laying branches out I could see his greenish-blue eyes and felt so perfectly happy.
I swore right then and there that I would spend the rest of my life with this boy.

We had been married for three days when I caught him fooling around with Daphne.
It was at the edge of the lake.
The very lake where we met, fell in love, and married.
And there he was with another girl.
I yelled and screamed and cried and threw dirt at him.
And he yelled back that it wasn't fair.
How dare he lecture me on what was fair?
I ran to my mother and I curled up into a ball and cried and she stroked my hair and held me and comforted me on the worst night of my life.

That fall I would enter first grade.
It's funny how looking back that summer is only known as the time the boy said marry me.