Almost V

열아홉

If I was worried about dying from not kissing before, now the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. We definitely overdid it. I got home well before curfew, at eleven, but by then, Taehyung and I had time to eat dinner in Cambria at a cool restaurant that served Korean BBQ - so good - and lots more time to park at Lovers Point Park and watch the sunset behind trees as waves crashed over the beach.

Or, in our case, not watch the sunset. Which is what we ended up doing. A lot.

And now my dress is covered in grass stains, and because of Taehyung's lips, my lips look red and swollen. And did he really give me three hickeys on my neck? THREE? He swore it was an accident and that I'm "too white" and bruise easily. at first I got a little offended by this, but maybe it could be true, because I don't remember any Hoover-like suction happening during the proceedings. And he did apologize a million times . . .

Then again, I was pretty distracted, because we were lying in the grass on an elevated area above the beach, and he was pressed against me and it was delightful. I mean, nothing serious happened, really. Mostly just a lot of touching that didn't stray to any unknown areas, unless my hips and side boobs count. (They don't, in my opinion, but it was nice. Very nice.) But there was a lot of heavy breathing, and we both agreed once again that we are compatible arguers and kissers. And when he dropped me off at the surf shop, he tapped his temple and told me, "Today is moving up in the brain bank as best day in recent memory."

In my own brain bank, my eyes turned into cartoon hearts that pinwheeled.

But things got a little tricky after that.

"What in the world happened to you?" appa said when I walked in the door, looking at my unholy, bedraggled state.

"Anna and I were goofing around outside in the grass," I said. "Just wrestling an stuff with some other people from work. No big deal."

He made a face. "Wrestling?"

Yeah. That sounded like me, all right. I mentally cringed.

"What happened to your mouth?" he asked. He looked appalled and concerned, like I was contagious, and held the sides of my head while he inspected me, lest he catch it too. "Did you get into poison plant or something?"

"Uh, maybe?"

"Should I get some oatmeal? I don't have any vaseline. Should I go to the 24/7 convenience store?"

I was pretty horrified at this point. "I'm sure I'll be fine. Just a mild burn or something."

Appa narrowed his eyes at me. His gaze wandered lower. Don't look at my neck, don't look at my neck, don't -

Uh-oh.

Now we were both horrified. He released my head. "Okay. If you're sure."

"Yup, so sure," I said.

"Did you find your fashion-fanatic guy? What's his name, V?"

I made a face, because just the mention of his name stings. "I'm not speaking to him at the moment. I think he's got a girlfriend now, because he blew me off. And no, I haven't found him yet."

"Suzy -"

"Appa, just . . . please don't."

"Let me say this, okay?" he said, suddenly irritated, which is really unlike him, so it took me aback. And it took him a moment to calm down enough to finish. But when he spoke again, he was serious and eerily fatherly. "You have grown into a beautiful woman, and people are going to take notice of that, which I don't particularly relish."

Oh, brother.

He raised a hand. "But I accept it. However, what I want to talk about is you. Because the thing is, Giant Makane, sometimes when traumatic things happen to people, they retreat until they feel comfortable. Which is okay. But when they're finally ready to step back into the world, they can be over confident and make mistakes. Which is not okay. Do you understand what I'm saying?"