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Kiss To Remember (Short Story) |
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Short Story Title : Kiss To Remember
Entered in the The 'First Kiss' Writing Contest with 95,000g in Prizes!. xd
Contest Subject: First Kiss
Finished and submitted on July 10th, 2011
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It was already after one, and the sun bore hot on my skin. In the middle of the summer, I could feel sweat forming, even in the shade. I sat on the swing set in the nearby park and started swinging for a breeze. Waiting for Daniel, my Danny, was taking forever. And 20 minutes late to go on our lunch date! I only gave him half a minute more!
Just as I thought this, Danny rounded the corner of the block and called out, "Hey Freddie! Sorry I'm late." I called back, a little pissed, "I could've called Pizza Mutt ahead of time and had our order waiting!"
"Yeah, I know, I know. It's my fault. I had to try and help our ol' hopeless romantic friend."
Ol' hopeless romantic was Steve, and he was at it again. He fell for any girl in sight, including me at one time. I guess girls just aren't into a needy guy. I had an idea who the new girl was, but asked anyway, "Who is it this time?"
"Deedee. You know, the girl with the colorful furniture, that moved in across the hall from us? Last friday, Steve bumped into her on the staircase... he's smitten."
It was just the way Danny said 'smitten' that made me forget I was irritated. My guy has a way with words sometimes, and I suppose he noticed the way I looked at him. He danced a couple of steps up to me and grabbed my waist, did a little dip, and kissed my nose. I wrinkled my nose, always subconscious about it's enormity. He laughed, "I'm 'smitten' too," and kissed it again.
He let me go, simply because of the gust of hot air that passed our way. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, "Lets start walking to Mutt's. And you owe me a big whopping soda for waiting in this heat!" He agreed, probably wanting one for himself too.
As we walked, my mind drifted back to Steve. He's not that bad of a guy. He just hangs all over girls, showers them with presents (cheep presents- like a creepy, hollow, wooden owl from a thrift shop that I threw in the back of the closet), and wants to hang out every single day. Some girl, somewhere has to like that in a guy!
"There's someone for everyone."
Danny glanced at me, "What?"
"Well, I'm sure Steve will find a girl that doesn't mind being smothered. Someone who can see the beauty in him."
"Right! Deedee DID go on that date with him!"
I halted abruptly. This was news to me! Steve hadn't been on an actual date for a couple of years. I grabbed Danny's shoulders and shook him, "She went on a date with him?!"
"They went to the Backyard Bistro and he surprised her with a necklace made out of broken pieces of a tiny toy bike. Hey, don't give me that look! I only know this because he bought it when I was with him. But, it turns out that she is a real avid biker. She loved it and they parted with, get this, his very first kiss."
With Mutt's in sight, and another gust of hot air against our backs, we booked it to the pizza shop. We'd continue this conversation in an air conditioned space.
I found us a seat, kind of secluded from any prying eyes. This town is a little too familiar, someone might know Steve or Deedee.
Just as Danny sat with the pizza and drinks, I started asking the questions. "When was this? Who asked who? Who paid? What did they talk about? How's he feeling now? Does she want a second date?"
Danny shook his head with his mouth already full of pizza. He held up a finger to signal for me to wait. I thought of how grateful I am to date a guy willing to give me the info.
"Steve asked Deedee out two days ago. He paid. He says that they have a lot in common and that she's interested."
"Okay, that sound's good! Did they set up another date?"
"As far as I've heard. He's taking her out tonight to Edmundo's."
"Wow! Well, go Steve go!"
"I still can't get over that she's his first kiss. I mean, I knew he was a virgin, but, man!"
I tisk-tisked at him, "I'll have you know that I've only kissed three guys."
He looked at me in disbelief, "Really?"
"Why do you say it like that! You don't keep a running tally of all the girls you've kissed, do you?!"
"Look, we're in our mid twenties, and out of all the girls he asked out, not one kiss. He asked out more girls than me, Rich, and Gary combined. In high school, we thought he was a player, until all of that mess with Carrie Brandt."
I remembered that. Carrie told the whole school that she would "never, ever date a dweeb like Steve." Unfortunately, that's where 'Steeve the Dweeb' came from. She ruined his high school career. Or, maybe he did, by asking out a girl in running for Homecoming Queen.
We ate in silence for a while, just remembering. High school did that to us from time to time. I laughed to myself and decided to share, "Tom Mead, in the boys bathroom, after Mr. Lawson chased us back into school about Tee-Peeing his trees. Good thing we had those crazy masks on. Weird. I wonder how we got separated from Barb..."
Danny pounded his fist on the table. He looked impressed, "Tom? You mean the Tom that got picked to be a starter for the university team?"
I nodded and shrugged, "It's not all that exciting. He slopped around in my mouth like a dog. It was gross. But I had bragging rights for a week, until Barb hated me for it."
"So, that's why you think she's not friends with you anymore?"
"Has to be. I didn't know she liked him. I didn't like him, really. She could've had the dope."
Danny looked thoughtful for a moment and frowned, "Hmm... if I tell you this, promise not to be upset."
I looked at him, suddenly nervous, why would he think I'd be upset? He stared at me, still frowning but grinning at the same time. I wasn't sure how to respond, so I nodded. He looked intense, "Okay. You promised."
I edged forward. This better be good. His voice lowered to a whisper, "This was freshmen year. I told Barb that I wanted you to ask me to MORP, but she said you liked Steve, and that she liked me since 4th grade or something like that and..."
I moaned loudly with food in my mouth. It was something like the sound I thought a sasquatch would make. The pizza shop clerk glanced over at us, and I quickly looked unconcerned. Maybe she wouldn't figure out who made such a horrible noise. God! That's why Steve was always into me! Why would my best friend lie about me and Steve!
Danny sat back and looked away with 'I knew I shouldn't have told her' written all over his face. But it was too late now. I had to know the rest, even if I didn't want to.
I gestured him to continue with the story, but he was reluctant. I placed my hand over his, "I'm not mad at you. I'm not going to go and pick a fight with Barb either."
After a moment, he shook his head and went on, "She was really into me and I just learned that you weren't, so I thought, what the hell, and we went to MORP and dated for a few days."
"I remember her dating a mystery guy for a little while. But I didn't go to MORP that year, so I had no idea who it was."
"Yeah, and I didn't tell anyone we were dating. Because right after that, I heard about that note Steve got from you. The one that was addressed to me."
He paused and grinned at me. But I was caught off guard and was blushing badly, "I had no idea what happened to that letter! Steve got it?!" Boy, did this explain a lot! Then it dawned on me, "and Barb was your first kiss!"
Danny took the defense, "Yeah. But after that, I kissed Katie S., Katie M., Sarah Prouty, Deborah, Amy..."
"Okay, okay. God! You did keep a list!"
"I didn't. I just, kind of, remember these things. But none of those other girls ever could compare to you!"
"Whatever. You say that to all the girls you kiss. So, if you knew I liked you, what took you so long to let me know?"
"Steve. He didn't read the name on the back of your note. He thought you wrote it for him. I didn't have the heart to tell him any different. Out of all the girls, back then, he liked you the most. And I did too, but he claimed you first."
"Boys! When I finally agreed to that date, I just felt sorry for him about the Carrie incident. I wouldn't let him kiss me. He kissed my hand goodnight. Just to think, I could've been his first kiss."
I shuddered, thinking about that wooden owl, but felt a little bad that Steve had to wait this long for a first kiss. What is a kiss anyways. I could've given him that. Still, I didn't want to lead him on. And after such a bad date, and I did try to make it a bad date, the guy finally left me alone.
"The point I'm getting to is that she was mad at you about me, from the very start of high school. She tried to set you up with Steve, but you didn't take the bite. I bet Tom, being your first kiss, was just the icing on the cake."
I nodded. He squinted his eyes at me, folding his arms, "Never going to tell you anything else."
"Well, it's not like I want to hear about any other 'firsts' you've had."
We walked back to the apartment, a little more quiet than usual. Lo and behold, Steve was parking his car, with his bike on the back rack. We waved at him and he nodded back, with an evident smile on his face.
Walking up the stairs to our apartment, Deedee peeked out expectantly. She smirked when she saw us and stepped out of her apartment in a blue tank top, a bleached-jean mini-skirt, and blue leggings. She leaned against her door frame and lowered her blue shades like a pop star from the 80s, "I heard Steve likes blue."
Danny looked her over and whistled, "Yep, he sure does!" I raised an eyebrow at both of them, "So, getting ready for a night out?"
She leaned into me and whispered excitedly, "Oh, girly! He's taking me out to dinner. That friend of yours is such a dream!"
Seeing girls whisper, Danny slipped quietly into our apartment. I smiled at her, kind of excited that she was excited about Steve, "I'm glad you think so!"
She laughed and hugged me lightly. Turning to lock her door and swinging her purse strap on her shoulder, she headed down the stairs with her bike, calling up to me, "Freddie-girl, don't wait up for me! If he is as good in bed as he is a kisser, I'm in luck!"
Here's hoping!
 PurpleCrystaLady · Sun Jul 10, 2011 @ 09:57am · 0 Comments |
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