We left at six-o’clock in the afternoon to go take care of my friend’s dogs, careful to avoid touching until we were well out of sight of my house so that my parents couldn’t see us. After we turned the corner that took us just beyond the visibility of my house, we joined hands relishing that simple contact. It takes a something or someone great to get a person to totally forget the self-consciousness that accompanies almost every teenagers days, but she did it. I was completely engrossed in the way the setting sun shimmered through her hair, the way her smile lit up her face.
After too short a time, we arrived at our destination. I slid the key into the lock, laughing jokingly about how my parents didn’t trust us enough to allow us five minutes in my room when there were three adults just downstairs, but they would allow us to be alone in an entirely empty house for over an hour. I wanted to prolong the moment, just so that I could have a little while longer alone with my girl-friend. Reluctantly, we walked back outside to walk the dogs, putting ourselves back in full view of the neighbors.
We didn’t break contact once as we walked the winding streets, even with the two dogs between us. Once, briefly, her arm brushed mine and I felt her skin as I felt no one else’s. The instant I recognized her touch, it felt as though a caressing fire were on my skin. I looked into her beautiful eyes and smiled, and felt the almost familiar jump off my heart when she smiled back.
As we rounded the last turn that would put us back at my friend’s house, I wondered idly if she was feeling the same sense of anticipation that I did. I let us back in the house and put the dogs out back. Walking to the table in the front of the house, I placed the dog’s leashes in the drawer. I returned to the kitchen finding her standing there waiting for me. I had never kissed her before, but I had contemplated it for a while. At that moment, I felt a fierce desire to feel her lips on mine. Pointing to the table cloths that were on the counter across from us, I mentioned that while they were cute, she was much more so. While she turned from looking at the table cloths to return her striking gaze to me, I bent and kissed her. I wasn’t exactly sure how she thought of it at that moment, but I knew that there was very little I wouldn’t have given for that moment. After we separated from each other, I looked into her eyes and said the three words that some fear, and others wait so long to hear. I said, “I love you.”