The First Kiss

I got an invitation in the mail.  Heather Wickham was having her annual pool party.  My mom dropped me off a little after 4.  This was the first year I had been invited.

Other girls at school had talked about going last year.  I longed for an invite myself.

We splashed around in that pool until it started to rain.  Heather’s mom insisted that we all come inside until the weather cleared. 

They had a huge basement.  Pool table, ping pong, darts.  This girl was fucking lucky.  I had a basketball court at home, but it wasn’t regulation sized and my dad had taken the net out of it.

I had been “going out” with Mike for a month.  He was sweet and funny.  He had blonde hair and a dusting of freckles.  His cheeks were always pink. 

 

Heather suggested that we all play a game of Six Minutes in Heaven.  Oh. My. God.

Everyone seemed excited, but I was a nervous wreck.  I had let Mike hold my hand, but we had never kissed.  He never even seemed like he wanted to.

The game was rigged.  Everyone knew it.  Heather had wanted to kiss Billy Clarke since the 5^th grade.  Two years later and she still wasn’t giving up.  Heather picked first.

Her pick?  No surprise there.

Billy and Heather disappeared into the closet.  Six minutes later, they both came out.  He looked embarrassed.  She was grinning from ear to ear.

Mike was up next.  He picked me.  Thank God.  What if he would have picked someone else?

We entered the room and closed the door.  It was pitch black.  We sat across from each other Indian-style and held hands.

“Are we supposed to kiss?”  I leaned closer.

“Duh.  Everyone knows that.” 

Our eyes started to adjust to the light and I could make out his face.  He wasn’t looking at me.  He was looking at our hands.  He was nervous.

“Okay, well, let’s just get it over with.”  I didn’t know what to do with my lips, with my hands, with my tongue.  I had heard from my cousin that when you kissed a boy, other things happened.  They could stick their fingers inside of you.  Like inside of your body!

He didn’t know how it worked either, I guessed.  He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine.  He immediately stuck his tongue inside of my mouth.  It felt thick and rough and just… weird.

I broke away.  “You’re not supposed to stick your tongue in my mouth like that.”  I wasn’t sure of that, but I knew I didn’t like it.  “It’s supposed to be soft, I think.”

“Fine.  Let’s try again.”  He came in slower this time, slanting his lips against mine.  He pulled back.  “You’ve gotta open your mouth!”

I leaned in and parted my lips just a bit.  He stuck his tongue out a little, but it was much lighter this time.  I felt my chest rise…