First Kiss, Over in a Flash
My fairytale romance was over before it even began.
My first kiss was followed by a short-lived first romance. In the middle of my high school gym, the floor covered by a plastic blue material to protect the court from hundreds of high heeled shoes, while the DJ played the first slow song of the night, my homecoming date wrapped his hand around my waist, settling on my low back and took my hand in his. As Taylor Swift’s Everything Has Changed played, he looked deep into my eyes and gave me a cheeky smile. My stomach dropped as I realized what was about to happen. My first kiss. He placed his lips gently against mine for just a few seconds and pulled away, smiling. I was smiling too, but not wanting him to see my blushing, I kept my face tilted down.
I had only known this boy for three weeks. He had asked a friend of a friend for my phone number, which the friend giddily provided. I received a text from him while on the bus to a school field trip into Washington, D.C. My heart fluttered when I saw who it was. He had been sitting at my lunch table for the last week and fell for him right away. We continued to text for a few days and he switched his position at the lunch table to be right next to me. My friends gave me knowing glances that I was too shy to meet. It only took a few more days for him to ask me on my very first date.
He picked me up outside my house in his beat-up silver Nissan Sentra. I had my license but I wasn’t allowed to drive non-family members for several more months. We went to Pizza & Pretzel Creations, the classic first date spot in our town, and split a cinnamon sugar pretzel between us. Once we finished, we walked hand in hand back to his car. Before I could open the passenger door though, he pulled a guitar case from his trunk and lead me to a park bench. He opened the case and plucked a few cords on the strings before playing a lyricless version of a song by Green Day. I was being guitar serenaded. I couldn’t imagine anything more romantic. When he had played the last stanza, he asked me to go to the homecoming dance with him. I couldn’t believe it. Shy, little wallflower I finally had a date to the dance my junior year of high school.
When he picked me up for the dance later that evening, I was wearing a strapless black and silver high-low dress from Macy’s. His plan had been to have dinner at Bonefish grill but when I told him I didn’t like seafood, we went to Noodles and Company instead. After we had our pasta dinner, he took me to the high school where we met up with my friends. I saw many of the other couples on the dance floor were grinding on each other as I walked down the stairs and I got nervous that perhaps he wanted me to dance with him in a similar manner. But he didn’t and we spent the night dancing in a big circle of our friends, until the one slow song came on and my fairy tale moment began.
After the dance, our group went to the local bowling alley and rented out two lanes, still in our dresses and suits. In between our turns, he pulled me onto his lap and kissed me again. I had my arms wrapped around his neck and couldn’t imagine the night having gone any better.
“So,” I asked, still wrapped around him. “Are you my boyfriend now?
“Do you want me to be?” He posed back.
“Yeah, I think I do.” I smiled before he kissed me again.
“Then I am.”
For a week, we texted non-stop. He would walk me to sociology class after lunch. The following Friday, he texted me to meet him in the parking lot after the final bell before I went home.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I want to kiss you goodbye before you go away for the weekend!”
I waited for him patiently on the hood of my car. I got my kiss and went home.
On Monday, he wasn’t at school. I texted him during lunch to make sure he was ok but didn’t receive a response. Until I got home after school and got the text.
“Hey I wasn’t feeling good today so I didn’t go to school. But I’ve been thinking and I don’t think we should date anymore.”
My fairytale romance was over before it even began.
