Unexpected

So, today I received a message via Facebook from my very first boyfriend. We dated when we were 15 and he was the first boy I ever kissed. He is now married and happy and has an entire "life." However, on today, his birthday, he decided to message me with an apology for all the times he drunk dialed me along the years. Now, this message from him brought back a few memories. Not so much the drunk dialing, because I only remember one time that it happened. It's nice to see, however, that he's grown into technology and his drunk dialing has morphed into drunk e-mailing.

the thing I remember most is the first time I kissed him. But, before I go there, let me give you some background. This guy was the most punk rock guy in my middle school. He had sid vicious spiked hair and a furrowed brow and when he spoke his lip curled up on one side like he was snarling. I remember he broke his leg his 8th grade year and had to have a cast and crutches for what seemed like the whole year. I remember him, hair spikey, on his crutches with a giant yellow "nevermind the bollocks" shirt.He had a girlfriend too. They had been together all through middle school, which was an extremely long time back then. She wasn't so punk rock. She was sweet, she lavished him with gifts and attention and she was DEVOTED. His girlfriend was also my best friend's older sister. Spending the night at my best friends house put me next door to the room where my beloved and his girlfriend would kiss and listen to music. It was exciting stuff. I soon became an 8th grader and he left my middle school.A year went by and I was at the top of my game, big fish small pond. I didn't completely forget him though. truth be told, everytime I made a wish, some part of it involved asking the powers that be to make him love me.

Summer, before high school and my best friend is having a birthday party. It was laser quest. for those of you who are unfamiliar, it a place where you strap on a pack a'la ghostbusters that is connected to a laser gun and you are split onto teams in a blacklit multi level obstacle course to let each other have it. He was there, with his girlfriend. It had been a while. A few days prior to this party, I received a strange phonecall. It was him. I don't know how he got my number, I didn't care, he called me. We talked a bit, he still had the same girlfriend, but he said he was going to break up with her. "See you at the party," we agreed. So, there I was, in the dark, finding a post to pick people off. Suddenly to my side, I see him. He sneaks me a school picture of him and a note. His teeth glowed blue as he smiled huge and I stuck the evidence in the top of my 14 hole docs. Nobody could ever find out about this. Soon the birthday party was over and I went to my best friends to spend the night.

Sitting in the car on our way to my friends house, it was tense and quiet. The girlfriend sat in the front seat stoic and cold. I sat in the back with my friend wondering what the silence was about. It was a party afterall. My friend whispered to me "he broke up with her at the party."

shit.

I went to my friends house, her sister ran up the stairs and slammed the door and played "don't speak" on repeat all night long. Me and my best friend sat and talked and somehow I knew that this was the last time we would be doing this. That night was the last time things would ever be the same, normal. All that I knew was about to change and there was a heavy feeling in my chest that life was moving forward quickly.

Eventually, him and I met up at the mall, we goofed off, talked on the phone all night, went to amusements parks and drank orange julius. Sometimes I'd pretend to throw up my orange julius infront of a group of unsuspecting ladies just to see if I could make them sick. We got kicked out of the mall for chasing each other with squirt guns and things were too much fun. My best friend stopped speaking to me after finding out that he was talking to me now. I had done nothing, but I took the blame. It was worth it.
So, the dollar theater. We were in the arcade, again it is dark and there is blacklight. Blacklight was like the moodlighting for teens in the 90s. He played a game while I stood near. As soon as he finished playing he turned around and I stood up and we were face to face. he led me to the side of the game where he kissed me. With tongue. It was awkward and foreign and I couldn't believe that somebody's tongue was actually inside my mouth. Nobody had ever been that close, that connected to me before. Then it was over. "that was my first kiss," I said. "yeah, i could tell," he replied.

damn.

Needless to say, I got better at kissing, with lots of summer practice of course. I also learned all about how to get hot and heavy then pop up quickly at the sound of a door knob being touched and pretend to watch T.V. Ninja like qualities so very important to the experimenting teen.

So, today, over 10 years later I receive a message with an apology. But, lucky for me, I don't remember the bad times. All I have are memories of how I left 8th grade not knowing what the summer had in store for me and entered high school with a boyfriend. My first boyfriend and my first puppy love. happy birthday to you.