A Kissing Story

Her lips felt fantastic. Moist. Slightly experienced. She's going to think I have no idea what I'm doing, was all he could think. Her lips are going to get caught on my braces, I know it. Those perfect lips, getting stuck in the twisted metal trap that was his mouth... it was enough to make him break up with her just to save himself the embarrassment, and save her from a life of tragically deformed lips. They stopped kissing for a moment so he could catch his breath. She smiled at him as he breathed a little heavily, and they just sat on the steps looking at one another as he grew red, not saying a word. Damnit, breathe through the nose, that's what the note had said! If the nose takes the air, a longer kiss you'll share. He smiled back at her nervously, hoping she hadn't noticed that's why they stopped. If only we were in a more private place, he thought. He never imagined his first make-out session to be outside on the back steps of his high school. He pictured a quieter place, darker, and without the possibility of his friends busting in and ridiculing him.

"She's kissed lots of boys ya know," that girl Tara told him at his locker right before he was about to meet up with his new girlfriend. "Shut up, Tara, go home." They had lockers right next to each other, and Tara always seemed to be looking for ways to get on his nerves. He knew that she had a crush on him in Junior High, and now he had to constantly endure her bitter jealousy ever since he rejected her invitation to a school dance. "I saw her kissing John DeFranco last week under the bleachers, and I heard they went all the way." She finished putting her books in her bag, and now she was standing next to him, frustrating him with her every word. He slammed his locker, and walked away, but she called after him, "I bet you never even held a girl's hand before!" Stupid Tara. He wished he never laid eyes on her stupid, fat face.

He put his lips on hers again, and felt a wonderful, but queasy sensation in his stomach. Forget Tara, stick to the note, he told himself. Slip in some tongue, and then you'll have some fun. After kissing her a bit with his lips, he decided, braces be damned, he was going in, and pushed his tongue into her mouth. At first it met with her closed teeth, but after some persuading with his prodding tongue she allowed him access. In his eagerness he shoved as much of his tongue in as he could, and swirled it around the far corners of her mouth. She was making noises - she's loving this! - but to his surprise she pushed him away, unlocking their lips.

"What are you doing?" She looked disgusted as she wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

He stared at her with wide, horrified eyes.

"I'm...kissing you?"

After a second, her faced became amused, and she giggled a bit. "Have you done this before?" She sounded stuck up just then. Conceited. He remembered that same tone of voice when he first asked her out. She had looked him over, giggled over at Tiffany, and then said, "I can't believe you just asked me out. But... okay." He had always dreamed of dating either her or her friend Tiffany. They both liked to laugh, giggle with each other, and they actually talked to him. They were friendlier than any beautiful girls had ever been to him. And he was ruining it... ruining the chance he never thought he'd get with his giant tongue.

"Of course I've done this before. I'm a great kisser; I'm just out of practice." And with those words, he cupped her face in his hands and brought her lips back to his. He was doing better without the tongue, so he went back to his old method. "You're gonna fuck this up, dude." Jacob's voice suddenly filled his head. "And she'd gonna dump your ass tomorrow if you don't take this note." The note... think about the note. "Some girls wrote it for John DeFranco when he started going out with her, and he said it really helped, dude. He said it saved his ass more than once." He tried to think of the note and nothing else. Not the taste of her lip gloss, not the smell of her hair, not even the fear of his braces getting caught on her soft lips. He pushed his lips harder against hers, and his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest in anticipation of what he was about to do. A hickey on the neck is better than a peck. He stopped kissing her abruptly and latched onto her neck as quickly as he could. He didn't really know what he was doing; Jacob's only advice was to "suck hard". She gasped as if she was surprised, and he sucked wildly on a single spot on the side of her neck and refused to let it go. That was until his mouth filled with a bitter taste, and she started screaming for him to get off her. When he tried to back away, he realized he couldn't, because his braces were stuck in the skin on her soft neck. He tried to remove them with his hands, but she yelled in pain.

"What do we do?" He attempted to ask, but it was impossible to talk without hurting her.

After several minutes, she finally spoke up. "Okay, listen, don't talk. My parents are going to be here soon and if my dad sees me like this he's going to freak, so on the count of three we're going to pull apart." Although he didn't think this was the greatest idea, he couldn't think of a better one. He thought about the what her dad's face would look like if he saw the metal-mouthed kid attached to his daughter's neck.

"Okay... ready? One...two..." She in took in a deep breath. "Three!"

He'd never seen more blood in his life.