my first kiss...

it was the summer of my 14th year (yes, i know. major late bloomer here...) i was fairly tall for my age, and truly 'one of the guys'. ironically, i think this put most boys off. i was like everybody's way kewl sister, not somebody they wanted to necessarily lock lips with. we had a house @ the jersey shore, and that's where i'd spend my summers. kay and al, a couple who lived across the street, had this absoutely adorable 16 year old nephew who lived in jersey city. jimmy would visit about once or twice a month, and i was in major like. he had long brown hair that always hung in his gorgeous blue eyes. he was tall and lanky and needed to shave his chin probably once a week at least! he smoked, and i loved the way he exhaled out of the side of his mouth. due to high tides, houses at the shore are built up on "stilts" -- a good 8-10 feet between ground level and the houses. people would put little storage sheds under there. it was a great place to store lawn chairs and boating/beach paraphanalia. unless of course, the house was not yet sold, in which case it was just unused space for teenage kids to hide out in and suck face.
i remember one minute, we were just sitting on the dock of the bay (really, we were) and the next minute he took my hand and was leading me under the house. (why he could not just plant one there on the dock i never understood...) with butterflies the size of buicks, i followed my prince. his breath smelled of cigarettes and his cool beard i loved so much was now just a pain in the ass. after a minute or two he said..."what, are your arms broken"? except with a jersey city accent. for those of you who do not know, jersey city is to new jersey what brooklyn is to new york. accents so thick you can cut them w/ a knife. his question came out more like...'wutter yer ahms brokun"? it was only then i realized both my arms were hanging flat at my side like two wet noodles. limp and lifeless. i had no idea what i was supposed to do with them either. remember, this was my first time "evuh" making out. i tried to do like they did in the movies. i clumsily wrapped my arms around his neck, but after a while that became uncomfortable. he was tall and i felt the blood draining from my arms. then i entwined them around his waist, but that just seemed too girley and barbie like. i decided to compromise and settled on his mid-back area. he was a hard kisser and i remember having to move my face alot so i could breathe thru my nose.

i should mention here, that i never saw jimmy again after that. he simply stopped visiting his aunt and uncle. suspicious? i think not...

i prefer to think i ruined him for all other women...