I could just stay in this moment forever. The cool breeze hits my face perfectly, the way the orange sunset light hits her face makes her look more beautiful than ever, the way she has her feet on the dash of my truck without a care in the world. With her sunglasses on and the windows down, that Tim Mcgraw playing softly in the background. It’s perfect. I never wanna stop driving, I don't want it to end. As the song changes she quickly takes the volume dial and cranks it up “I love this song” she says quickly and begins to sing along. I swear this girl is so perfect, there ain’t any other way to describe her.

Buzz buzz, buzz. My phone is vibrating in the cupholder.

“Hey Braedyn, can you get that?”

“Yeah”

She sits up and puts her feet down and grabs the phone and answers.

“Hey mason’s phone, its Braedyn.”

“Oh hey, sweetie where are yall at?”

“Oh Mrs.Byers, just some back road Mason said was faster, haha. Have y’all already gotten there?”

“Well, actually I told Don not to take the back road because I wanted some dinner but looks like a car crash up ahead so we might be stuck in traffic a while… so why don’t you too just go ahead to the cabin and tell Mason there is a spare key in the flower pot. Maybe Y'all can go to that little dollar general and get some of the refrigerated stuff too”

“Oh alright, yeah I let him know! See Y'all later tonight!”

“Okay bye, tell Mason to drive safe!”

“Will do! Bye Mrs.B”

I know everything mom said, she talks too loud, but of course, Braedyn will tell me anyway just in case mom wasn’t loud enough. Braedyn informs me of the instructions given by my mom. Just sayin’ known that key was there since I was 7, it ain’t a very clever hidin’ spot. Braedyn sets my phone back in the cup holder and puts her feet back up on the dash right where her toe prints were left from the first time. Before I know it, she’s asleep, like always. I swear that girl can’t get into a moving vehicle without taking a nap.

The sunlight glistens so nicely over the lake during the sunset, I want to live here. I want to fall asleep to the crickets chirping and wake up to the sunrise over the lake, it’s so peaceful and calming. Soon after the sun goes down I turn into a rocky road leading to a small cabin that hasn’t changed one bit since 1990. It’s quite a bit overgrown and the grass needs cuttin’, maybe I’ll do that early in the morning before we get on the boat.

“Hey B, wake up we’re here”

“Wow, where’d the sun go? How long was I out this time?”

“Ain’t been too long… this time” I tease.

She jumps out of the truck and takes a fast dash down the hill on the side to the cliff in the backyard that hangs over the edge of the Lake, I look down the hill to see her laying in the grass connecting stars with her fingers.

“Mason, come on the stars are so pretty right now, there ain’t a cloud in the sky”

“One sec, let me bring the bags in!”

“Okay but hurry, it’s gorgeous!!”

“Haha I’ll try”

The rocks crunch under my heavy footsteps as I walk around to the truck bed, she left her door open, of course. The duffle bags are heavy on my shoulders, I walk up the old creaky, wooden porch steps to the front door.

“The key is in the flower pot” I whisper to myself as I walk over to the flower pot with incredibly dry soil and a dead flower of some type in it, mom outta get a new plant. The key is old and is in a plastic bag, I put it in the lock and turn it. click. The musty smell of the cabin overwhelms me, this place needs to be cleaned. I bring the bags in and set them on the living room floor. I open some windows to get a breeze in, it's really hot in here. I look out the window and there’s Braedyn singing and dancing in the moonlight to the Chris Stapleton that she’s playing from her phone. Wow, she’s perfect without even trying.

“Mason ya comin?” she yells from the cliff

“Yeah, I’m comin!” I say as I run out onto the porch and down the steps to the side yard. “When did mom say they would get here? It’s already pretty late.”

She sits up and looks right at me.

“I don’t think she knew what time, they were just stuck in some traffic”

“Ohh gotcha. Hey, tomorrow we should go rock jumping in the cove... Whatcha think bout that?”

“Ain’t that illegal?”

“It’s only illegal if ya get caught”I tease. “Nah but it’s totally safe”

“Sure I’m cool with that”

“Alright we will go in the mornin”

She lays back down and starts humming to some random country song. I look up at the sky and think about life, we just graduated high school and I'm going to college on a football scholarship, it's crazy. It’s insane, I don’t really wanna grow up. I would never tell anyone but Braedyn, but I’m scared of being an adult, I’m scared of going to school alone, I’m scared of commitment with Braedyn, but I’m also scared of losing her, I’m scared of marriage and becoming a dad someday. The fact that B and I are going to different colleges doesn’t calm my nerves. I wonder if she’s scared too.

“Hey B?”

¨yeah Mason?¨

¨what are we gonna do next year? I mean you’re going to a whole other state and I’m staying in Kentucky, how’s that gonna work?”

¨I don’t kno--”

¨I mean heck we ain’t ever gonna see each other, what if you find a new guy or somethin. I just really don’t wanna lose you”

¨UGH MASON JUST STOP, I don’t wanna talk about it okay? Can we please just enjoy our dang summer without talking about it? Geez, it’s all anyone talks about anymore…. ‘so how are you and   gonna work?’ ‘Aren’t you gonna be in different states?’. Ugh, I just wanna enjoy my summer. Just leave it alone mason.¨

¨I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you I just… I love you and I don't… I can’t lose you, B.”

she gave a fake-looking smile and whispered with almost tears in her eyes ¨I love you too, Mason”, and kissed me on the cheek.

She laid back down in the grass and turned the music up, wiped her eyes, and shivered a bit. I lay my light jacket over her and lay back down.

What did I do? Was it something I said? Did I offend her? The conversation played over and over again in my head. Maybe she’s just tired and she’s just as scared as I am. I look down at my phone and see a text from my mom ‘won’t be there tonight, staying at a hotel off the interstate, love ya!’. It’s 10:45, we outta go inside for the night. I look over to tell Braedyn we should probably head inside and she’s curled up asleep in the grass. She’s so pretty, the moonlight hit her face perfectly and she just looks so peaceful. I grab her phone and put it in my pocket. I put one arm under her legs and her other arm around her neck and pick her up, she kinda wakes up a little and locks her arms around my neck to make sure she doesn’t fall and then lays her head on my chest. I begin to walk up the side yard and to the steps.

I will always want to protect her, I don’t wanna be without her. I love this girl so much, I hope she knows that. I finally get to the front door and go in, set her on the couch and put a blanket over her, turn off the light and go to one o the bedrooms and get in bed. As I stare up at the ceiling I can’t help but wonder why she was so upset by my questions, why tears filled her eyes. Is she keeping something from me? Whatever I can’t think about this now.

Dang, that sun is bright, I wake up to the smell of bacon and biscuits. I walk out of the bedroom and through the living room to the kitchen.

¨good mornin babe, how’d you sleep?¨

¨Hey B, good. You know you didn’t have to make breakfast” I say as I walk over to her and give her a kiss on the forehead.

She looks at me with her big blue eyes and her long brown hair was straightened but messy from sleep. She had changed from the shorts and t-shirt she was wearing yesterday into a colorful bikini with a loose orange tank top and blue jean short shorts. The sizzle of bacon rings in my ears.

“I see you’re ready to go rock jumping B”

“Mason, you fixing to get ready soon? I’m so excited. It’s gonna be so fun”

“yeah I’ll get ready after I eat, my parents are gonna be here around 12 to take us out on the boat, we better get goin if we wanna be back by then”

“alright eat up” She sets two plates down on the table and smiles.

After I eat and help clean up I go and change in the bedroom. I walk back in the kitchen to find Braedyn putting sunscreen, towels, and two life jackets in a beach bag she found in the attic.

“you know we can both swim right?” I chuckle

“yes Mason I know” she replies sarcastically “but if we wanna swim a little it would be nice to sit on the life jackets so we don’t have to stay afloat”

“oh okay, you’re right”

She walks over to the fridge & grabs two waters. I grab the keys, turn off the lights, and we walk down the old steps and to the truck. She immediately rolls the windows down and turns the radio all the way up. I look over at her while I’m driving to the rocks, her hair is blowing in the wind. It brings me right back to the memory of her on the way to the cabin. She is so beautiful. I’ve decided... I’m gonna end up marrying this woman some day.

After about a 10 minute ride we are to the jumping spot, there’s already a truck parked by the cliff.

“looks like we’ve got company”

“ahh yeah, it’ll be fun”

           She opens the truck door, grabs the beach bag & runs to the cliff.

“Hey, Mason!! it’s so pretty, hurry up”

           I swear she’s always waiting on me.

“coming!” I say as I begin to jog to the rocks.

           As I get to the rocks, 2 guys walk up the side of the rock from the lakeside. They look about our age, maybe a year older.

“what up Y'all?” says one of the guys, he’s blonde.

“what up, uh I’m Mason and this is my girlfriend Braedyn”

“ah, I’m Cody,” he says

“and I’m Matthew” the other guy chimes in.

“do y’all  live around here?” braedyn says

“yeah back over the bridge about 3 miles” Cody answers  

           They are tan, you can tell they come here often, they know their way around the cliffs and the lake.

“so how old you guys? just graduated?”

“uhh yeah, actually we did,” Matthew replies

Braedyn chimes in “hey we did too”

Cody looks at us “what school   planning on goin to?”

“actually I’m leaving the state for college and   is playing football for UK,” braedyn says as her voice weakens

“ah that sucks dude,” Matthew remarks

“yeah actually I was asking B last night how that’s gonna work” I chuckle

“Mason, I said I don’t wanna talk about it okay?”

             matthew and Cody walk over to the other side of the rock, noticing that Braedyn and I are talking about a personal matter.

“what is your deal B, people are just asking. Can’t you be freakin polite and answer their questions without getting defensive”

“you don’t get it mason do you?”

“get what?”

“I can't do long distance, Mason, we are going to be so far away from each other. There’s no point”

“no point? no point? B, I love you. There’s always a point, the point is I wanna be with you.”

“Mason you’re gonna move on with your life, you’re not gonna even think about me”

“how could I not think about you? you don’t get how much I love you do you? do you not understand that I notice everything you do? you are my everything. we can make it work, I know we can”

“Mason I ain’t doin this right now,” she says as she starts walking toward the cliff.

“B, DON’T WALK AWAY”

“WATCH ME” she screams.

        At that moment she wiped the tears from her eyes and ran to the edge of the cliff and jumped off into the water.

“WAIT BRAEDYN DON’T JUMP THER--” Matthew yelled

As she jumped, her hair flew upward as it was defying gravity, she put one arm up and the other over by her head to cover her nose so water didn’t get it. As soon as she left the edge she let out a little scream. Before I knew it, a splash.

“Shoot, Mason go see if she’s okay,” He said

I ran over to the cliff to wait for her head to pop out of the water. I waited. but instead of her head popping up, I looked down to see her body lying face down in the water. Holy crap. What do I do?

“Matthew, Cody, she’s hurt call an ambulance... NOW!”

       I jump in after her, grab her, & pull her to the lakeside. By this time Cody is down here with me. I immediately start sobbing.

“God please don’t take her. Cody, what do I do?”

“man, she ain’t breathing”

“B, please. I love you”

       I can’t hear anything. I’m in a daze. Paramedics come and put her in an ambulance. I get in the back and give one of the guys the keys to my truck to follow us to the hospital. I watch as the guy puts oxygen on her and starts CPR as her heartbeat drops. She looks so lifeless, so empty, so hurt. The last thing we ever did was fight. The last thing she said to me was “watch me” as she jumped off the cliff in anger. The paramedic won’t even let me hold her hand.

“Son?” the other paramedic said

“uh, yeah?”

“How exactly did this happen?”

“Well we were going cliff jumping”

“Did you guys check the water before jumping?”

“Well the guys that we met were jumping beforehand” I reply frantically

“Oh I see”

“Man please tell me she’s gonna be alright”

“I can’t tell yet son, I’m sorry. Is she your wife?”

Do we look that old?

“No, she's my girlfriend of 2 years”

“Oh”

Throughout the whole conversation, the paramedic that I wasn’t talkin to was trying to get Braedyn to wake up, to move, to do something. Her neck was in a brace, they think she may have a spinal injury, maybe a concussion, and possibly a broken leg. My guess is that she jumped from a different place Matthew and Cody were jumping from and hit her head on a rock. Maybe she landed on her back wrong. I don’t even know how she would’ve broken her leg.

Oh my goodness why is this happening? I’m supposed to protect her, I’m not supposed to argue with her. I don’t know why I was so mad. Why did I yell? Why did I bring college up? I mean she told me she didn’t want to talk about it. If I had stopped talking about it would she be in an ambulance? I can’t believe I even took her there. I knew it wasn’t very safe. I start breathing heavy, what if she doesn’t wake up? What if she broke her back? What have I done? What am I gonna do without her?  Before I knew it I could hardly breathe thinking about losing her. As I gasp for air the paramedic starts tapping my shoulder.

“Son? Son? Are you okay? Mason, breathe”

“I.. I… can--t”

I start shaking and panicking.

“Mason, you are having a panic attack, look at me. You have to calm down or you're gonna pass out from lack of oxygen” he says as he grabs my head & points it towards his

I take in a deep breath. I can’t freak out right now I can’t be selfish. I continue to breathe still freaking out on the inside. But if B wakes up and I’m freaking out she’ll freak out.

The ambulance comes to a stop. We are finally at the hospital. Some doctors (maybe I don’t know who they were) open the door from the outside and quickly make me leave so they can get to Braedyn. I overheard them talking…

“female, 18. cliff jumping accident. possible broken bones or fractures, possible head injury. unresponsive.” The paramedic who put an IV in her said as he pushed the stretcher into the ER.

I followed them in and some nurse told me I couldn’t go in there with her. oh man, I gotta call mom and dad. or will they call? why can’t I go with her? is it that bad? I don’t know what to do. There is a bench right outside of the room they brought her too. Matthew and Cody bring me the keys to my truck and tell me they are goin to sit in the waiting room just to make sure Braedyn is okay. That’s pretty dang nice if you ask me. I pull out my phone and call my mom.

“mom?” I say holding back tears

“what is it, honey? we are almost to the cabin”

“I’m in the hospital with braedyn, we are goin cliff jumpin and and mom she ain’t wakin up”

“Woah what? slow down what’s goin on” she has a panic tone to her voice

I hear her tell my dad to pull over.

“mom I thought it was safe there were these college students there jumping too. we got in an argument about our future together and she got frustrated and she jumped but she jumped in the wrong place and mom she ain’t waking up I think it’s bad”

“what hospital are you at? honey don’t worry about calling Braedyn’s parents I’ll do it. we are on our way. keep me updated.”

beep beep beep. She hung up.

after around 20 minutes but what seemed like forever a nurse walks out of the room and over to me.

“Are you waiting for information on Braedyn?”

I stand up and take a deep breath in.

“yes. yes. is she awake? is she okay? can I see her? ma’am, please let me see my girlfriend”

“she’s awake. she has a pretty bad concussion, her back is broken but her leg is just a fracture. She’s on a lot of pain killers so she may not be awake for long but she’s awake if you want to see her”

A sigh of relief overcomes me. she’s okay. I nod my head & follow the nurse into the room. Braedyn is laying in the hospital bed, her leg wrapped up & she has some type of brace on her back. She looks so helpless, not like the strong girl I see her as every day. I let out a quick smile.

“babe, I’m so sorry that w—“

“Mason it ain’t your fault,” she said as she let out a smile.

I run over and hug her carefully. I love her so much. In fact, I love her so much I don’t care if we can’t make it work. We have the summer, & I’ll take her as long as I can get her.

Someone knocks on the door, I walk over & answer it to see my parents standing there lookin like they are gonna puke from worry.

“Is she okay?”

“Mason you never texted us with any updates” they talk over each other.

“I’m sorry she just woke up a couple minutes ago & I was just so happy to talk to her that I forgot to tell Y'all”

“it’s okay honey” she hugs me “Braedyn’s parents are on their way now”

“Mason why don’t you let her rest and come talk to us about what happened.. we will find the doctor so we know the extent of her injuries.” my dad suggests

“Alright, one sec”

I walk back over to braedyn and kiss her on the forehead, she looks like she’s gonna fall asleep. Probably the pain killers.

“I love you, Braedyn Rae, get some rest” I whisper

She closes her eyes and I begin to walk away. She grabs my arm and pulls me close.

“Mason, we will make it work,” she says breathily. She closes her eyes and falls asleep.