"I will if you will."

Who goes first?  

If I lean in, will he think I'm too fast?  

Not that kind of girl.  

Mom told me to save all my kisses for the one I marry.  She really did.

The thought gives me a chill.

Not so sure about this.  Kind of curious but still... 

If I really like him and he's really cute, it could be a thrill.

What if it doesn't land on him and I get the yucky guy instead?

I'm in the circle, so I guess I have to play now.

It spins.  I watch.  I hold my breath.  It lands on 'him!"  OK, this is weird.

Hesitation.

We've never played this before. 

I'm nervous.

What if he doesn't want to kiss me?

I don't even feel like kissing him right now.

I wish I didn't play.  It's embarrassing.  Can I just walk away?

Break circle?

All eyes on me now.

He's not moving.  So do we just quit?

I say I do not want to play and everyone gets mad at me.

They make fun of me and say I have to.

This makes me feel even worse.

Raised voices all in unison, "Kiss him!"

He looks bewildered and frozen.

So what am I supposed to do?

The voices grow louder and more insistent so I start moving towards him. 

My body feels like dead weight, hardly wanting to move.

I feel my face flush and hear a voice say, "You're turning all pink!"

His eyes are looking at the ground so I don't know what to do. 

I hesitate before him, bending down, trying to look at his eyes.

This is so uncomfortable but everyone is cheering us on.

What's the big deal?  It's just a kiss!

His buddy pushes him in the back towards me but it makes me feel bad.

Don't want hin to feel forced into kissing me.

This seemed like so much fun at the beginning, but we were the first to "go."

No big deal, right?  Just lean over and kiss him fast.

So I did.

Quick kiss on his lips, which remained unmovable.  Nothing.

Then he leaped back into his side of the circle.

That was it?

'That' was my first kiss?

Wish I did't remember it.  Too embarrassing.  Stupid.  Hated it.  Boring.

                                                                       ~~~ 

Now, the second time I was kissed by a boy was at the Freshman Year school picnic.  Everyone was being paired off and the guy I liked was sick. Another guy, Tom, was willing to be my date for the rides, so we went together, sort of.  On the roller coaster, he leaned over and tried to kiss me but it was going so fast and jerky, he kind of missed my lips and went off to the side.  But it was a kiss, right?  He wanted to go again, so I think he was going to kiss me again or something.  My stomach hurt and I prayed he wouldn't try to kiss me again.  We got off the ride and I started to walk away from him.  He had a weird look on his face, like, "why was I walking away from him?"  Time to board the bus to go back to the school.  I started to walk toward the bus and I hurled, right there, in front of Tom and everyone.  No one sat next to me on the bus.

                                                                        ~~~

It would be worth noting, that the third kiss started to get real good.  

He was a year ahead of me and had some experience kissing girls and I was really excited that he asked me out.  As I knew I would.

Mom and dad weren't thrilled about the date but said that I could.

Had a 10:00 PM curfew as any good girl should.

Be on time, I would.

And as good girls don't 'kiss and tell,' in my neighbor-hood...

Let's just say it was a kiss that lead to more and more and more...

Kissing!  

He was, after all, a very good kisser and I hoped that more was in store.

Nope.  That was it.

He moved on to an even younger girl that week,

leaving my stomach with a big pit.

                                                                           ~~~

Fortunately for me, the guys and the kisses got better with age.

We sometimes need to teach how to kiss right, to bring it to the next stage.

The initial softness grows harder and more urgent as the tongue searches.

Our heads cocking to one side or the other as our heart beat lurches.

A good Catholic girl keeps her distance from the other bases.

She kisses in private and not in any churches...or other public places.

Except that one time,

behind the bar and grill...

a near empty parking lot during a first winter chill.

Near frozen from the cold, icy car, we tried...

The heat of intense kissing, kept us warm inside.

One another.

Now...THAT was a KISS!