Unexpected | Teen Ink

Unexpected MAG

June 26, 2010
By ssophiaa GOLD, Falls Church, Virginia
ssophiaa GOLD, Falls Church, Virginia
17 articles 0 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You cannot operate from a concern of how you're perceived."
--Kevin Kittle


First kisses are supposed to be perfect. They're supposed to be romantic and sweet. You're supposed to fall in love just after you kiss and feel fireworks all over your body. You're supposed to be under the stars at your front door after the perfect date. A shooting star flies by, and he says, “I just wished that you would kiss me,” and you – feeling unusually flirty and confident, because you're in a perfect moment – kiss him and it lasts for the perfect amount of time and doesn't get gross or walked in on by your parents. And then he says he loves you and you say you love him too and give him another sweet kiss before walking in your door and not telling anyone about it because it was too wonderful.

That's how first kisses are supposed to be, but not always how they are.

Larkin was in the girls' bathroom after school, crying. She tried wiping at her eyeliner, but it streaked even more. Her eyelashes felt heavy and clumped, and she cursed herself for wearing waterproof mascara but regular eyeliner. Then she began to cry again and retreated back into a stall.

Her eyes were red and her lips were puffy. Her nose was stuffed up and she tried to smile, hoping no one would notice. But when she smiled into the mirror to see if it looked like tears, it was unmistakable. So she began to cry.

Again.

She finally emerged from the bathroom 20 minutes after the buses had left. There was no late bus, so she had to walk home, a mile away. And she had a huge load of homework. So she walked, sniffling as she went.

I hope I don't see anyone I know, she thought, but knowing me, I will.

And how well she knew herself, because walking right in front of her was Jackson Davies, a boy she had known since first grade but never really talked to. He was nerdy, tall and lanky, and super pale, unlike the guys she liked who were tan and buff and … well, still tall, but they were into football, not computers. Or whatever Jackson and his friends were into.

“Please don't turn around,” Larkin whispered, willing him to keep going. She made as little noise as possible with her flip-flops, but it was a challenge. However, it was also slow, so it put her even farther behind him, which was good.

A stoplight was ahead. It was a long wait, and if it was still red when she got there, she'd be forced to talk to him.

Please say walk, she willed again. But she knew luck was not on her side that day, and how right she was. She took a deep breath as Jackson turned around.

Look upset and maybe he won't talk to you, she said to herself, trying to force tears.

“Hi, Larkin.” Jackson waved.

No tears came when she needed them. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Hey,” she said softly.

He looked closer. “Are you crying?”

“I was,” she answered truthfully.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Larkin considered this. She wanted nothing more than to pour her heart out to someone who wouldn't judge her. She looked at Jackson in his white socks, pulled up to the calf, and his bright orange basketball shorts and running shoes. She figured he wouldn't be one to judge.

Five minutes later, they were sitting on a bench outside Taco Bell, talking.

“It's just that I wanted him to stay with me into high school,” she admitted, forgetting who she was talking to. “I sort of envisioned us going to homecoming and spending the summer together … I just never thought he would be the one to end it. I mean, I thought of ending it a million times, but I never did. I wanted him to be my first kiss. I wanted him to fall in love with me.”

Jackson sighed and touched her shoulder. She jumped a little at his touch, but then relaxed. He wasn't making a move; he was Jackson Davies, for crying out loud.

“You can't wish for someone to be in love with you. You just have to enjoy them so that first ‘I love you' and that first kiss are unexpected. You can't plan love,” he advised.

Larkin looked up at him, confused. Jackson's face was inches from hers, and suddenly, he wasn't so bad. His breath smelled like 5 Gum and he had freckles that were kind of … cute. His teeth were white and straight because of braces in sixth grade. And his lips were the perfect pink a guy's lips should be: not girly pink, but natural.

And now, Larkin didn't care that things weren't perfect. She didn't care that this wasn't homecoming and she wasn't in a beautiful dress with her hair done. She didn't care that Jackson wasn't asking her to dance under the stars. She didn't care that she was in a smelly Taco Bell parking lot in ripped jeans and worn flip-flops. She didn't even care that Jackson had a pizza stain on his shirt. And mostly, she didn't care that Jackson was, well, Jackson. It just felt right.

She scooted closer and leaned in. Then he leaned in and … then he stood up.

“I should get going,” he said. “Nice talking to you.”

Larkin didn't even wave. She just watched Jackson Davies, the boy she had never paid any attention to and suddenly wanted to be her first kiss, walk away from her.

She ran into the Taco Bell sniffling, clenching her teeth to fight tears. She ran straight up to the counter.

“You got a bathroom?” she asked frantically.

“For customers only,” the greasy guy at the counter replied.

“Crap!” she squeaked, running out and down the street.

Her eyelashes felt heavy as she ran and tears moved toward her ears and her flip-flops broke.


The author's comments:
There are so many articles about perfect first kisses, I wanted to write something real.

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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 69 comments.


JulsieBee said...
on May. 13 2015 at 2:43 pm
JulsieBee, Kutztown, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
We are all minor characters in each other's lives and main characters in our own. ~Anonymous

I need part 2! ahh soo good!

Lavender2015 said...
on Oct. 15 2014 at 10:49 am
ABSOLUTELY loved this story. I felt like the scene was happening right in front of me. 5 star for you!

ssophiaa GOLD said...
on Nov. 21 2012 at 12:09 pm
ssophiaa GOLD, Falls Church, Virginia
17 articles 0 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You cannot operate from a concern of how you're perceived."
--Kevin Kittle

WOW i wouldn't go that far but thanks!

ssophiaa GOLD said...
on Nov. 21 2012 at 12:08 pm
ssophiaa GOLD, Falls Church, Virginia
17 articles 0 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You cannot operate from a concern of how you're perceived."
--Kevin Kittle

nah man, the point is that life goes on and nothing happens next. or maybe something does happen. it's all up for interpretation, it just depends on how you look at life. but no, i'm not writing any more on this :)

on Nov. 12 2012 at 7:41 pm
foreverSmall PLATINUM, Brighton, Michigan
23 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
Psalm 23:2-4

This is so awesome and utterly alive. It was so realistic I felt like I was in the story. Great job!

on Oct. 1 2012 at 7:41 pm
PatientSoul BRONZE, A Place, California
4 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We accept the love we think we deserve."

  I love this piece. It's very realistic, and romantic. 5 stars to you. :)

TaurusGal GOLD said...
on Mar. 28 2012 at 1:00 am
TaurusGal GOLD, Hong Kong, Other
13 articles 25 photos 107 comments
just very realistic. =]

on Mar. 5 2012 at 3:19 pm
Devil_rose96 SILVER, Cibolo, Texas
6 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
a broken heat is like a broken mirror...its best to leave it broken rather than hurt yourself trying to fix it.
-annonymous

is this new jersey or new zeland!?!?!
-logan henderson

i totally loved this!!!! and ur right everyone always writes about the perfect first kiss, and you wrote something thats real, and is still really awesome!!!!

on Feb. 28 2012 at 4:36 pm
Goddess PLATINUM, Connellsville, Pennsylvania
27 articles 0 photos 73 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.”

write more i must know what happens next!!!!!!

on Feb. 6 2012 at 8:47 pm
zadiekatie23 PLATINUM, Rio Rancho, New Mexico
39 articles 4 photos 69 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

That was funny at the same time that it was really sad, funny because you were expecting the obvious, and sad because that's what happens in real life. I had fun reading this. Thanks! :)

on Jan. 15 2012 at 11:39 pm
Pamplemousse SILVER, Gilbert, Arizona
7 articles 1 photo 69 comments

Favorite Quote:
"To be happy, Don't do whatever you like, Like whatever you do" -James Barrie (author of Peter Pan)

This is so great and so true! Real life isn't like all the perfect love stories and kisses. Of course it's a little sad...its life.

on Jan. 14 2012 at 9:54 am
koala_song BRONZE, Pitttsburgh, Pennsylvania
4 articles 0 photos 2 comments
OMG that was absoultely amazing!!!!!!!!! Congrats on being such a skilled writer!!! I mean like seriously wow that was amazing

on Dec. 31 2011 at 11:55 pm
SunkistKisser BRONZE, Tempe, Arizona
1 article 0 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Not one would mind, neither bird not tree
If mankind perished utterly
And Spring herself, when she woke at down,
Would hardly know that we were gone." ~Sara Teasdale
(Yea, I know, it's kind of deep, but I kind of dig it.))

This is adorable! It's real and raw; good job! Keep writing!!!!!!!

on Dec. 7 2011 at 2:51 pm
chrissie_star GOLD, Commerce, California
11 articles 0 photos 35 comments

Favorite Quote:
Its just another chapter in the past just turn the page dont close the book.

ever so true :')

on Dec. 2 2011 at 7:42 pm
RiverSong BRONZE, Baltimore, Maryland
3 articles 0 photos 100 comments
This was tear-inducingly beautiful.

on Nov. 21 2011 at 8:01 am
LillyBelle13 BRONZE, Statesboro, Georgia
2 articles 0 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
the worst fear is of fear itself.

good but sad

on Nov. 21 2011 at 12:18 am
MarissaWhitecloud SILVER, Oskaloosa, Iowa
7 articles 0 photos 84 comments
This was such a great article. I loved every word!

Fia-fia BRONZE said...
on Nov. 10 2011 at 6:54 pm
Fia-fia BRONZE, Bethesda, Maryland
4 articles 1 photo 157 comments

THis is an amazing piece, I see why it was published in the magazine! Thank you

:)


on Nov. 3 2011 at 5:31 pm
LetsFlyAway_ BRONZE, Dallas, Texas
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"3 things I want in a relationship: Eyes that wont cry, lips than wont lie, and love that wont die"* Wiz Khalifa

i loved it !

ssophiaa GOLD said...
on Oct. 31 2011 at 6:53 pm
ssophiaa GOLD, Falls Church, Virginia
17 articles 0 photos 52 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You cannot operate from a concern of how you're perceived."
--Kevin Kittle

hence the title :) haha thanks