Sunday, February 13, 2011

Kiss and Tell

by Jeffe Kennedy
There's kisses, and then there's kisses.

I snagged this picture from jaymzangel's tumblr. Definitely NSFW, but she's got terrific taste.

My first kiss occurred technically when I was about five. No, I don't really remember it. What I do remember is that this was a daily game at Little Lerner's Daycare and I won on most days. The game combined hide 'n seek with tag. And kissing. The losers had to all chip in and buy the King and Queen Hostess Fruit Pies from the little commissary closet. I thought being Queen of Kissing was pretty grand.

Then came a long, dry spell.

A very long, dry spell.

To my chagrin, I made Sweet 16 and Never Been Kissed.

Well, technically there were some kisses the spring before I turned 16, because I worked the Thespian kissing booth at the spring carnival. They weren't lining up for a chance at me, though, and most of my support came in the form of forking over some of my dollars to solicit kisses from the theater boys. Forgettable pecks in the towering fluorescent light of the big gymnasium. I'm pretty sure it was snowing.

They weren't real kisses, either.

I wasn't shy so much as a girl who kept to herself. Even if I got invited to a party, I preferred staying home to read. I liked the idea of boys, but most made me feel uncomfortable, with their loud, obnoxious ways.

A week after my 16th birthday, though, Kevin Colligan walked me out to my car after a bit of a party. More of a hanging-out of some of the theater people. He leaned back against my car and pulled me gently to him, hands cradling my hips. A thrill ran through me. At last, at last. He brushed my lips with his, so soft, so sweet. He deepened the kiss, touching my tongue, running the tip of his lightly inside my upper lip.

I nearly melted.

All that pent-up energy flared into life. A real kiss. It was fabulous. Better than I imagined. Better than a Spencer's malted-milk-ball chocolate-fudge sundae. The same high, only hot.

I told my mom I'd been kissed and she asked me if I had to pay for it.

Yeah. She was being a smart-ass and wasn't trying to be mean. Still, it was a splash of cold water. Probably a good thing when you're 16 and on fire.

That first, real kiss turned me loose. I loved kissing boys. I learned some were much better than others. Then I settled on the one I liked the best and ended up losing my virginity that same year, just before my 17th birthday.

I liked that, too.

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like that kiss was worth waiting for. :)

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  2. Oooh, your first kiss just made me weak in the knees! :D

    Wish I could say mine was so sweet - but no, my first was more like haphazard and embarrassing, lol!

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  3. One of those nose-bumping kinds, Laura? I've had those, too. A lot of early tries are haphazard and embarassing...fortunately we get much better with practice!

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  4. Aw, score one for Kevin for having the wherewithal to pull the smooth move outside the car, thus avoiding the whole seat/belt/gearshift/rear-view hazards inside the vehicle.

    Did you rock the Juliet costume for the kissing booth? Reno Sweeny? Daisy Mae?

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  5. Nice. I'm not sure I remember my first kiss all that well. LOL.

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  6. My owner tells me her first kiss was wet and ackward. I myself still hope to meet that special lady pig for my first kiss.

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  7. Kisses and then there are Kisses.

    I don't remember my first 'kiss', but I remember THE first kiss. Oddly enough...in a cemetery. My husband was the first man who'd ever kissed me and set my world on fire.

    Sullivan - ROFL

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  8. Great point, KAK - did we do costumes? Seems we would have, but I totally don't remember! He was a pretty smooth guy - though this was a different Kevin than THE Kevin. Kevins rock?

    It must have been forgettable, Allison!

    I hope you do, too, Sullivan!

    I love that DF - "set my world on fire." Glad you found the man to do it!

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  9. Aww, that's so sweet! Especially like the splash of cold water analogy with your ma/good thing when you're 16 and on fire. Ever use this in a story?

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  10. I never have, Linda, cuz I've never had a character that young. Would be interesting though!

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  11. Huh. I could have sworn I posted a comment this morning and it has apparently fled. Such a lovely first kiss story. Sigh. For a moment, very brief, I wanted to be sixteen again. Then I came to my senses.

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  12. LOL, Kerry. It's true - those shining 16 yo moments hardly justified the 98% agony of the rest!

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  13. Yep. I made it to sixteen without being kissed, as well.

    No way I'd go back to being a teen. Though I do wish that I could sit my sixteen-year-old self down for a talk with my adult self...

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  14. that would make a great blog post, Laura!

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  15. nits: I believe you accidentally entered a question mark into one of your replies, when you clearly wanted an exclamation point; ala - "Kevins rock!"

    And, no, I don't remember us doing costumes for the kissing booth.

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  16. Heh. I think you're right that we didn't, Kev. Though it would have been clever of us.

    Kevins Rock!

    (better?)

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