It's Twisted

First Kiss

Do you remember that unforgettable first kiss you had? That is if it has already happened.

Well, it obviously has for me. I remember that kiss as if I lived it on a loop. I was eleven.

I was sitting on a swing at the school park, pushing my legs to fly higher into the air, waiting for my mother to pick me up. Feeling my hair soar past my face, as I move back and forth, I noticed the boy watching me from the swing next to mine, he wasn't swinging. He was a little tall for our age then and had freckles that covered his nose.

"What's your name?" I asked the mysterious boy after I stopped swinging.

"Nathan." He responded, awkwardly taking a step towards me on the swing.

"Hi Nathan. My name is Kate." I responded stepping up to him and giving him a hug.

"Katie." He whispered once I moved my hands from around him.

"No, it's just Kate." I frowned at him, wondering how he could get such a short name wrong.

"Katie sounds pretty." He responded, looking down at the ground.

I nod my head, "then you can call me Katie."

He didn't really speak much but I remember asking him that day why he wasn't swinging and soon after he started ranting and rambling about some new game he beat on his Gameboy.

I'm not quite sure where the discussion went after that but I know it ended with us racing for the monkey bars on the other side of the school yard. I remember my diminutive figure diving to latch onto the first handle as if it was the easiest thing for me to do. As I reach the middle I start to struggle with my grip and squint to focus on the few bars I have left.

"Are you sure you can make it?" I hear Nathan under me and see he is walking right behind me, his limp arms crossed, obviously waiting, not so patiently, for his turn.

I started to give him a strangled 'I got it,' but as I formed the words I felt my grip loosen and let a squeal escape my lips instead, at my terrible fate of the broken arm I was sure to have after this fall. When I finally fell to the ground I felt a thud below me right before I heard a muffled groan. I lifted my arms up to see I had tumbled onto Nathan. Being the twelve year old I was, my cheeks steamed with embarrassment and I looked down at him with my best apologetic smile.

"Sorry." I remember saying and his response was, and I quote, "Your knee is hurting me."

Yes, famous words, I tell you.

After moving my leg a little he elevated his upper half while placing his elbows on the sandy ground to keep himself up, he spoke again, "You are really clumsy."

"Well, you are really boney." I got up from him, brushing off my pants. Luckily we only suffered some minor scars and soon to appear bruises.

"Well," He struggled with his next insult, glancing around the park as if it could give him ideas, "You're really pretty."

My face flushed again and I started to move my foot in circles through the light mulch. "You think so?" I ask, getting a slight nod from him. "Well, I think you are too."

He lifts his head up and tries pushing the shocked expression from his face.

I remember the giggle I let out before leaning to him, puckering my lips out and letting them briefly meet his. Just as I leaned away I hear the familiar honk of my mother's car and look at Nathan one last time before running off and yelling back at him, "see you tomorrow."