When we were little before I'd moved further away and Jon was only on the verge of becoming Jonothan Miles :Child Prodigy, Jons father William died.
We were only twelve and thirteen and it was the day Jonothan got his first kiss. Running from the park past his house and next door to mine he jumped to the swing next to mine. I was annoyed because I wasn't allowed to go to the park and mad that he had gone off without me so being a moody thirteeen year old girl I was a little touchy. But I doubted at the time that anything was going to get to him, not that day.
"What's got you all Truey?"I grumbled with my back to him ignoring his obvious excitement and ginormous smile.
"Fine I won't tell you then phony, You're just never gonna know." He knew he was going to tell me and so did I but of course he had to drag it out. I mean who else was he going to tell?
"I'm not going to speak a word of my magic until you look at me."
"Magic?" by then I was fed up with hes smart words and turned to face him.
"The best magic ever, the kind that only grown ups get."
""Huh?"
"I got kissed!"
"Is that it? Who is it?" At first I was jealous and feigned indifference. It wasn't fair that he was a whole year younger and got smooched before I did, it's just not how it works.
"Yes that's just it, how can you say that? It was magical it was amazing it was better than Mrs. Marsh's freshly baked cookies". Now I knew he was being stupid, nothing is better than his cooks freshly baked cookies.
"Pshureee. Nothing is better than that.If you're going to lie and not tell me who it is I'm just going to walk away and you can be a genius all by yourself."
"No! Don't go, I'll tell you and it was amazing. It was Richard." By that time I was laughing so hard it wasn't funny. My thirteen year old self didn't really care about hurting my bestfriends feelings.
"Dick! You kissed him?But he's a boy, you're supposed to kiss a girls like me or Missy, not Richard!"
"Don't call him that! He's really nice. Nobody says I have to! Where is it written? It's in none of my books and in none of my classes and people say Michael Knsky does it with Bruce Fields all the time!"
"Yeah, but they're queer." The smile was slowly melting from his face and I felt really bad, like I was telling him off or something. I mean there was nothing wrong with kissing a boy was there? No, I decided, there wasn't. Jonothan was the best person ever and there was nothing wrong with him and If he wanted to kiss Richard Lewis then that was fine with me.
"What's Queer? Whats wrong with it, why are you saying it like that?"
"Queer, Gay, likes boys - I thought you were the genius here not me. Nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong with being gay, and if anyone tells you differently tell me and I'll puinch them in the face. It makes you happy then it makes you happy. Just tell your Mum first okay."
Even back then I knew what it meant and how other people might feel about him and I wasn't going to let him go through it alone. But he mustn't see it as a bad thing and like he always said, even back then 'What ever makes you happy', The 'doll' was added on later, much, much later.
"Mum, why?" I interrupted him with my look, the special one that only we shared. "Whatever makes you happy." I followed him up the garden path, throught the gate that our dads created and into his house next door before I stopped him. I had one question I had to answer him since he knew before me something I thought he never would.
"Wait!" He stopped midstep and turned back, a worried look in his dark grey eyes. "Was it good, kissing a boy?" He smiled a secretive smile.
"It was amazing," came the whispered reply and he continued towards the house, sprinting as fast as he could like the wind spurred him on. I followed behind in a daze. I could hear his announcement to his mum, and I heard the phone drop, but it wasn't what I thought. His mother turned to me with a stunned look on her face as I came inside.
"There's time for that later," she said. "Go home and get your mother Lina. Jonothan, grab my things, your father is in hospitable."
Samantha Miles was always a no- nonsense woman, but she did have one love, her husband William. That was before he took ill. Then Jonothan and his status as a prodigy became her life.
