Seventeen
The fire burns all night…
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The fire blazed as it roared to the sky, a cacophony of pops and whistles that leaked black smoke to cling to their clothes and choke unwary dancers. Aaron darted near the flames, feeling the heat press back hungrily against his skin and hearing his clothes hissing as condensation evaporated.
"Come back from there!" Haley laughed. He didn't. Instead, he smiled and stepped that little bit closer as he lobbed a log into the white-hot heart, watching as embers and ash whirled into the sky to eddy down slowly around them. In the ring of light the bonfire left, their peers sang drunkenly. The boys did the same dance as Aaron. The look at me dance. The I'm alive dance.
He stepped away.
"Idiot," Haley said, kissing him once. Twice, and her breath tasted like marshmallow and smoke. "Why'd you get so close?" She patted at a scorch mark on his shirt.
So many answers. Because I'm seventeen and alive, in love, uncaring. All options. All true.
"I love you," he said, and planned their forever.