Never Summer Again

Chapter Two - The First Kiss

Score: Castle on the Hill - Ed Sheeran

Lydia

Mark Carter is one of my and Gloria's best childhood friends.

The Carters are friends from university with Gloria's dad, and, therefore, have known my dad since before I was born. We were all pretty close before The Incident. The three of us used to have sleepovers at Gloria's, till Gloria and I turned ten and our parents decided it was not appropriate anymore to be sharing the same bedroom with a boy.

Mark went to our school, two years ahead of us. He has a sister, Lily, who is much younger than us.

Also, Mark Carter is the first boy I ever kissed.

Like, properly.

Well, I guess it wasn't really "real", as it was part of a stupid dare, but yet, to me, it was a big deal back then.

Lame, I know.

We went on a ski trip in Italy two years ago, in February, all of us with our families, Patrick, Gloria, Alex, Nate, the Carters, and I. That was right before my mother tried to kill herself. All of us stayed at the same hotel, and our parents put "the kids" together.

So, we shared a massive flat on the last floor of the hotel, Gloria, Alex, and I shared a bedroom, and Patrick, Nate, and Mark stayed in the studio across from us. That was a pretty convenient arrangement, as Alex was constantly sneaking across the hall into the boys' room to be with Nate. They had been dating for a while at that point and lost their virginities to each other on that trip.

Patrick and I weren't dating yet, though Gloria was positive he liked me. She was sure he would make a move on me on that trip.

I thought I liked him, too, and I hoped Gloria was right. I was also extremely nervous the whole time. I had never had a boyfriend before, and I'd turn ridiculous shades of crimson every time I caught a glimpse of Patrick staring at me.

Mark and Patrick were pissed that they were constantly being locked outside of their studio, and they spent a lot of time in our room. We played cards and drinking games. That was the first time I got drunk, like, really drunk, as well.

I had drunk before, and I was playing tough, doing shots with the boys in a stupid card game that basically made you drink on every draw. I recall hugging the toilet and Gloria pissing herself, laughing, as she was holding my hair back, while I tried to flush what seemed like a pint of vodka from my body.

One night, when Alex and Nate were able to stay physically detached from each other for long enough, all of us played Never Have I Ever and Truth or Dare. I had embarrassed myself in front of everyone, admitting on a round of Truth or Dare that I had never snogged anyone, at almost sixteen, before Gloria dared Mark to kiss me.

Killing two birds with one stone, she had called it: fixing my snogging...err...situation, and making Patrick jealous. He hadn't made his move yet and she was disappointed because she was certain he should have done something already.

Also, Mark was safe territory. He was playing the cool, older guy, complaining that he had to hang out with the "nursery" and play stupid, childish games. He was mine and Gloria's best friend, and completely not interested in me, or Gloria, in any other than a platonic you-are-just-a-guy-friend-who-just-grew-boobs-over-the-summer kind of way.

But Patrick didn't need to know that.

"You can thank me later," Gloria had mouthed, as I shuffled in my place before completing the dare.

I remember being insanely nervous as I moved to my knees from where I was sitting on the floor to stand in front of Mark. He smiled at me, asking for my permission before he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. My hands were shaking and my breath caught, as he pushed his tongue into my mouth to meet mine. It briefly swept the inside of my mouth, leading mine in circles, once, twice, and then he pulled away, breaking the kiss.