The Kiss

It was a beautiful midwestern night, the stars shining in the sky like they only do in the country. The weather outside is unpredictable, as it always is here. A night that almost shakes with opportunity. A poor boy shares the time with his best friend. This night she is working, but he’s there talking to her anyways. They chat as easily as they always have, but something’s different tonight.

I’m not sure she notices that so much has changed, the way I look at her, the way my heart’s beating of my chest just being near her. All the small things, oh Christ. Just look at the way she pushes her auburn hair out her eyes, I’d never noticed this before but this minor movement is almost graceful coming from her. The slight curve of her wrist as she pushes the rebel hair back where it belongs. She’s perfect, I think it a thousand times just in one minute. I can’t help but look at her lips, so damn kissable. Perfectly formed to tempt a man to do anything just to taste them. That’s not all I’m stealing glances at however, I can’t help but notice the places where her uniform curves. I long, no I ache to put my hands there, to feel them underneath my hands. I snap out of these thoughts quickly, that’s not what I’m there for. I’m there because when I talk to her she saves me, that when she smiles at me I forget that I’ve felt the worst of human emotion, that her laugh makes me remember the good times, however few there may be. God, I think, How could you ever take this for granted? How could you not tell her every minute of every day that she’s beautiful? This continues for hours, playful, casual banter being exchanged while I marvel at her. I’m just happy I’m not drooling on the floor like a dog, the thought leaves as quickly as it goes. I ask for a ride home, and she graciously agrees. My heart begins to pound like in the old Poe story, I swear she must hear it. However she drives me to my home in relative silence. She parks out front and by now my heart is beating so hard I think I have a bruised rib cage. “Good night,” she says. I do the last thing she ever thought I would do, I take her head in my hands, and I kiss her. Holy fucking shit, she’s actually kissing me back. This is no kiss fueled by teenage angst, no this is tender, sweet, and I never want it to end. She sits there, stunned, “Wow,”

“Do you believe me now?”

“Yes, yes I do.”

I lean over and kiss her again. After this kiss she whispers in my ear, “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

“I’ve gotten myself into worse,” I reply. I step out of the car, trying my hardest to not let the biggest, most foolish, smile I’ve ever had show.

PS folks, this is all true