The night air was cool & refreshing, giving us a pleasant break from the sun's constant burn. Everyone was having a great time. There was music & laughing & some of us were just running around chasing each other as if we were five again. I was playing tag on Dana's front lawn with LuLu, LuLu's boyfriend Rob, and of course Tony. Instead of tagging the person by simply touching their arm & saying "Tag! You're it!" we smacked each other on the butt. It was an odd way of playing tag, but a fun way. My bare feet skidded across the thick grass as I ran laughing all the way. After about an hour of this game, we collapsed on top of one another in the grass staring at the sky. We watched as the other boys played basketball & the girls danced. My head lay on Tony's muscular chest. I could hear the soft thumping of his heart , his calm & steady breathing. LuLu's legs were entangled with mine as she lay in an identical position as mine & Tony's. The world was quiet. The world was at peace. Above our heads, the sky was a radiant black. The stars had yet to come out of their day-time hiding place. I felt a sudden burst of unexpected confidence. I was ready to ask Tony. I nudged LuLu's foot breaking her & Rob's romantic trance. She immediately looked at me, her eyes losing that "I love my boyfriend" glow to them.
What? she mouthed to me
I took a deep breath I'm gonna do it.
What?! her lips formed back. It wasn't a confused "what?", we had gotten too good at our silent conversations for any confusion. No, it was LuLu's "I can't believe you just said that!" what.
I'm gonna ask Tony out. I repeated. The butterflies were going wild in my stomach.
You can do it. her smile seemed to respond back. I was going to do it, I could do this.
"Tony," I began trying to keep my voice calm. His intense blue eyes immediately locked onto mine as if to say Go on. I struggled to continue, "Well, I was um....what I mean is.....I wanted to ask...." I sound like an idiot I thought taking a deep breath to begin again. "Tony, do you-"
"Come on guys!" yelled Dana running onto the lawn, "We're going down to the lake, my dad said we can use his boats!" Everyone began to follow Dana & LuLu bit back her laughter.
"I'm still gonna do it." I whispered trying to convince myself more than anyone.

Dana's lake was a place we'd all grown up at. Tony & LuLu, with me & Sylvia riding on the back, would ride to Dana's every summer since Tony learned to ride. Sylvia learned to swim there, LuLu met Rob there last summer, and Tony had broken Dana's father's favorite row boat when he tried standing in it & jumping up & down. I hadn't really had my most memorable moment there yet, and I was hoping tonight would be it. The lake sparkled under the moon's soft glow, and the candles Dana had set up on the dock & shore perfected the romantic setting. Everyone got into couples & took off in the boats. Me & Tony had the one he'd broken 2 summers ago (Mr. Ramirez had repaired it) we set off into the water & went around in circles, not sure how we were supposed to row the boat. The butterflies were exploding out of my stomach, their wings beating furiously against my sides in a beat that sounded like ask! ask! ask! ask!!!!! I honestly wanted to, but at the same time I just wanted everything to stay this careless & easy forever. What if he said no? Nothing would ever be the same between us, we would never be able to lay across his bed playing video games, we'd never wrestle across my lawn, we might not even be best guy-and-girl friends anymore. But, at the same time, things were already different for us. I felt shy around him ever since I'd discovered he was a boy & a boy I was actually CRUSHING on. And maybe he'd say yes, I had to take a chance. I looked around for the others, they'd gone around further down the lake, me & Tony were alone. I took a deep slow breath & opened my mouth to take the most daring jump I'd ever taken in my life.
"The stars are finally out." Tony said just as I'd opened my mouth to ask him.
"What? Oh, yeah." I said my balloon of confidence deflating. The stars glittered against the black canvas of the sky, the glow of the candles matched with the large reflection of the moon on the water. It was all so perfect & magical.
Magical........That gave me an idea.
"Tony, let's make a wish." I said looking straight into his eyes, they were bluer then the lake, and shone & glittered in the dark. We closed our eyes, and everything was silent again. Then, I opened them ready to ask. Ready to make my wish come true.
"Tony-" I didn't get to finish, because Tony kissed me, right then & there. His soft, gentle lips just touched mine & I swore I had died & went to heaven right then & there. I was dreaming, I was positive. I woke up from that dream quickly when we flipped over into the water. The cold water awoke me from my first-kiss trance & Tony pulled me from underwater. He held me in his arms in the water, under the moon's glow, and I was back in the dream.
"Will you go out with me?" he asked his blonde hair dripping wet.
I thought about responding, but instead I kissed him & that said just about everything I needed to. After, we simply floated in each other's arms, under the stars that brought us there & we silently thanked god for our own piece of heaven.