Kiss List (2 page)

“Is there something wrong with us?” Olivia said.
“Are we all total losers?”

“No, I just think high school boys are not mature enough for us,” Payton said.
“How many boys this age would try to sweep you off your feet with romance?”

“I don’t know,” I said.
“This photo of Graham kissing Missy looks pretty romantic. I mean it’s dark and you can see the stadium lights behind them. He probably just threw the winning touchdown and the first thing his heart demanded was that he run over to kiss her and celebrate with her. That seems pretty romantic to me.”

“I don’t think so,” Payton said.
“Winning touchdown? What football team do you think he plays for? If he threw a winning anything I think the first thing that would happen would be that we would all die of shock.”

“Ryan could be romantic,” Olivia said a tad breathlessly.
 

“Or Gabriel Contreras,” Alyssa said.
 

“The Venezuelan exchange student?”
Payton asked.

“Yeah,” Alyssa said.
“He looks pretty romantic to me.”

I shook my head.
These girls were clearly confusing romance with good looks. They needed to look past beauty into the soul to find romance. Aaron, for example, was clearly a romantic at heart.

“This is so sad,” Olivia said.
“We’re sitting around talking about boys we haven’t kissed. Let’s talk about something else before we get any lamer.”

“I think avoiding the subject would only make us lamer,” Payton said.
“How about instead of that we actually do something about getting kissed?”

“What do you mean?” Alyssa and I asked at the same time.

“Look, I think we are way cooler than Missy,” Payton said. “We’ve always said that we are great together. So how about we work together to prove it? If Missy is going to rack up photos of her kissing boys for the yearbook, how about we rack up more?”

I didn’t like where this was going.
“What exactly are you proposing?” I asked. 

“It’s simple,” Payton said.
“We make a list of the hottest, most romantic boys in school and then one of us goes around and kisses each one of them, making sure to get a photo for evidence. By the end of the year we’ll have a bunch of photos that will prove how amazing we are. Then if Missy wants to include all her kissy photos in the yearbook we can put our own photos on the opposite page to show her up.”

Payton looked at us excitedly but we were all dumbfounded.
“That’s the dumbest idea I have ever heard,” I said. The other girls erupted as well and soon we were all arguing.

“Alright… alright!”
Payton finally yelled. “Wow, I’m sorry I even suggested it. I guess I just thought we could try something fun and challenging and adventurous for once.”

Olivia opened her mouth to deliver another tongue-lashing but then Alyssa spoke up first.
“Okay I change my mind. I’m in,” she said.

My jaw dropped.
“What do you mean you’re in?” I said.

Alyssa shrugged.
“Why not? It would be an adventure that would get us out of our comfort zones. Plus with your competitiveness, Olivia’s brains, and Payton’s looks, we’re unstoppable. I think it could be fun.”

“Oh, so Payton is going to be the test subject,” Olivia said before I could respond.
“I’m good with that then.”

“
Nuh-uh,” Payton said. “We will help each other out but we are all equally unkissed. I say we flip a coin to see who the kisser is.”

That was a terrifying idea.
Somehow, however, it seemed to be picking up steam with the girls. 

“Not a coin,” Olivia said, already switching into an analytical mode.
“We should draw cards and have the one with the lowest card be the subject.”

“Okay but it should be the high card,” Payton said.
“Kissing the hottest boys in the school isn’t a punishment. It’s a reward. Winner gets to be the one.”

And that was how I found myself standing beside my nightstand staring down at a pack of cards as if it were a poisonous snake.
We had moved the nightstand into the center of the room and the other three girls were standing around it as well.

Payton took a deep breath and then looked at us.
“Okay, who is the youngest?” she said.

“Oh for goodness… I’ll go first,” I said.
I spread the cards across the nightstand and picked one. I looked at it and sighed in relief. “Seven of hearts,” I said. The other girls groaned. It wasn’t a low card but at least one of the girls was bound to pick something higher. I was safe.

Olivia picked next.
“Four of clubs,” she said. Dang it. Close but not good enough to beat me. Come on.

Alyssa was nervous now.
She picked a card and then visibly relaxed. “Two of hearts,” she said.

Now Payton looked very worried.
I didn’t know why. It should have been her all along. She was the pretty one who had already had a boyfriend. It made sense that she would be the one to win. The universe was setting things back in order. This was right. 

Payton closed her eyes and then picked a card.
Her hand was nearly shaking as she raised it to her face and looked at the card. Then she smiled and looked at me. She turned the card around so I could see what it was.

On the face of the card were three black spades.
I had won.

The other girls were jumping up and down and giggling with excitement. 

“Oh, hush up,” I said.

“How long should we make the list?” Olivia asked.

“Three guys?”
I said hopefully.

“Nope,” Payton said.
“15.”

We finally negotiated it down to 10.
I thought that was outrageous but the other girls seemed to think it was low. Of course they would. Then the work of assembling the names on the list started.

“Gabriel needs to be on there,” Alyssa said.
“He just looks so romantic. Maybe you can get him to take you out dancing. Latin American men are such good dancers. I can give you some tips on him. I’ve been to South America.”

“If Alyssa gets to pick someone then I get to pick someone too,” Olivia said.
“Put Ryan’s name down. I want to hear how good of a kisser he is.”

I didn’t even know what made a good kisser.
This was happening too fast. Had I even really agreed to this? 

“I think we should put Graham on the list,” Payton said.
“Sadie did say the picture of him kissing Missy looked pretty romantic. I think that’s code for she thinks he’s hot.”

Now they were talking like I wasn’t even in the room.
“Are you serious?” I said. “In what world do I even have a chance with Graham? He’s a senior.”

“Girl, you don’t understand,” Payton said.
“With us behind you, you can have any boy you want. Who do you want on the list?”

My thoughts immediately turned to Aaron and I felt myself blush.
I pushed the thought out of my head. It was ridiculous to think that I had a shot with Aaron. “Don’t you think this is morally wrong and unfair to the boys to use them for a stupid competition?” I said.

“Are you kidding?” Payton scoffed.
“Boys love to make out with girls with no strings attached. They’ll love this.”

“I agree but to make this work you can’t say anything about the competition,” Olivia said.
“If we’re going to learn anything from this you need to try to seduce them without telling them what’s going on.”

“To be safe, though, I don’t think we should include any boys younger than you,” Alyssa mused.
“We don’t want to get into a situation where age is a factor.”

“I’ll go along with that with one exception,” Payton said.
“Sam Queen.”

There was a collective intake of breath from the group followed by a wistful exhale.
Sam Queen was only a sophomore but he gorgeous and had made the varsity baseball team his freshman year. He was ripped and definitely looked older than his 16 years.

“Okay but we’re not giving her any freshmen,” Olivia said.
“We’re better than that.”

“How about Paul?”
Alyssa said.

“Paul Stedman or Paul Dolan?”
Payton said.

“Both,” Alyssa said.
I grimaced. Paul Stedman was a cute, popular guy. I got along with him. Paul Dolan was nearly seven feet tall and the center for the varsity basketball team and a little too much of a party animal for me. I would be way too scared to try to seduce him.

“Not Dolan,” I said.
“I’m not kissing Paul Dolan. It’s my lips, I think I get veto rights.”

I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth.
It almost sounded like I was going along with it.

“Fair enough,” Alyssa said.
“But that gives me an idea. What about Chris and Liam Hall?”

“Yes!” Payton cried.
“That needs to happen.”

“No!” I yelled just as loud.
“I’m not making out with twins.”

“You don’t have to make out with them at the same time or anything,” Olivia, “though we’d give you bonus points if you could swing that.
I mean come on though, you have to. They’re so hot and they are both lacrosse boys. Lacrosse boys are the hottest of the hot. Come on.”

“Well, they are really hot,” I said as I thought about it.

“Jamal has to be on the list,” Payton said.

“Are you sure you want me to kiss him?” I asked.
“I know you have a crush on him. And by crush I mean a monster I’d-die-if-he-ever-touched-me crush.”

Payton stuck her tongue out at me and then said, “Fine, I’ll admit I have a little crush on him, but that’s why he needs to be on the list.
You can figure out all of his moves for me. You just have to swear it won’t go any further than one kiss.”

“What about Jacob Goodwin?” Olivia asked.
“He’s going to wrestle for the U next year.”

“Not him,” Payton said.
“The guys a jerk and so muscular he’s freakish looking. David Reagan is cute though and he’s really trim from wrestling. You know he’s got a rockin’ body.”

“Who says
rockin’ body anymore?” I said. “Okay, add him to the list.” I adjusted my shirt uncomfortably. The thought of kissing any one of these guys was making me nervous. David was really cute, though.

“Just two more spots because the twins only count as one,” Alyssa said.
“Do you think we should include anyone from the soccer team?”

I straightened up and glared at her.
Alyssa stared back at me innocently. It seemed that little Miss Nicey-Nice was having a bit of fun at my expense and making me squirm by raising the chances of someone saying Aaron’s name. So much for the Mother Theresa act. 

“Hmmm,” Payton said.
“A soccer couple would be cute. How about Dylan Myers?”

“Ooh, yeah, you two would be really cute together,” Olivia said.
“Okay that’s got the soccer team covered. How about someone from a different group altogether? Maybe an emo boy? What’s that one’s name? Todd? He’s kinda cute.”

“No,” I said firmly.
There was no way they were putting Dylan on the list and not Aaron. I knew I didn’t have a shot with Dylan but I certainly wasn’t going to kiss another boy on the soccer team and not kiss Aaron. But I couldn’t very well tell the girls that. They were looking at me for an explanation. What was I going to say?

Then Saint Alyssa came to my rescue.
“Girls, I think we should put Aaron Caldwell on the list.”

“Done!”
Olivia said. “Now how do we make sure she is going to follow through with it?”

“Ladies,” Payton said.
“Get the bunny pajamas.”

And then list was finished.
Olivia wrote each name down carefully and on a sheet of paper from my desk and then scrawled the words “The Kiss List” at the top. Payton and Alyssa held me down as Olivia took my bunny footie pajamas hostage and I fought back with all my might and screamed in horror. They threatened to reveal the pajamas to the world if I ever backed down. That hardened my heart and set me to my purpose. I was going to have to find some way to make out with the ten most good looking boys in the school over the course of the year. 

I was terrified.

The girls wasted no time picking out our first target.
Figuring we should start out with the easiest get on the list, they decided that the first lucky guy would be Sam Queen. He was just a sophomore, they reasoned. The idea of making out with an older girl probably appealed to him and my age would give me and air of experience and authority.

Olivia came up with the plan.
“Boys love to tease each other and egg each other on. It’s a socially-acceptable means of challenging each other that I personally believe stems from a concept in psychology known as the Challenge Hypothesis. Anyway, here’s my plan. We get you dressed up and help you with your makeup and then you walk down the hallway with us past Sam and his friends. You flirt a bit with him as we walk by, just enough to get his and his friends’ attention. That’s all you have to do. The boys’ testosterone will do the rest. The boys will see how pretty, popular, and athletic you are and will begin teasing Sam about making a move on an older girl. He will be motivated to rise to the challenge to show them up. I don’t think you’re going to need to play hard to get with this one; he probably won’t have the patience for it. Just take him somewhere a little quieter – not too quiet, he probably wants to be seen – and give him a smooch. If we’re not around to take the picture have him take one with your phone. He’s not going to object to having the proof out there.”

“Are you sure?” Alyssa asked.
“That sounds risky. Shouldn’t Sadie take charge and just kiss him?”

“No way,”
Oliva said. “Like, think about it. Sam needs to feel like the hunter. As long as he feels in charge he’s going to be on the offensive. If Sadie takes charge, her air of authority and mystery from being older is going to become overpowering. Sam’s not going to be in the mood to make out if he feels like a little boy who is having his strings pulled by an older woman. Let him be the man and think he’s in control of the relationship.”

“She actually has a good point,” Payton said.
“It’s a fine line to walk but if you do it right, he should be all over you.”

“Fine, the less I have to do the less chance I have to mess up,” I said.
“But what do I wear?”

“I think a girl’s first kiss requires something special,” Payton said.
“It’s time to go shopping!”

The following day after school we all squeezed into Alyssa’s beetle and drove to the mall.
We spent over three hours trying on clothes. We all had to try them on, of course. Finally, however, it came down to one outfit.

“I’m not wearing that,” I said as I stared at it critically.
“There’s no way my dad would let me out of the house in it.”

“So sneak past him when he’s not looking,” Payton said.
“Come on, it’s gorgeous. We’ll all chip in.”

Alyssa came over to my house the following morning while it was still pitch black out to help me get ready.
She expertly wielded my curling iron as I blended my foundation. I didn’t want too much makeup on. I would not be comfortable if I didn’t look natural. Then, too soon, I was ready to put on my new outfit. I nervously slipped it on and zipped up the zipper. 

“Well?” I said to Alyssa as I fidgeted nervously.

“Wow,” Alyssa said. “That sophomore boy won’t know what hit him.”

“Stop,” I said flatly, though I was secretly pleased.

“Seriously,” Alyssa said. “I’m going to follow you two around with the defib paddles in case we need to restart his heart.”

When we got to school, I knew Alyssa was right.
The first person we saw when we entered the building was Katie Eaton, another junior and a cheerleader. When she saw me her mouth dropped open. Then she walked into a pole in middle of the hallway and dropped her books. “Umm, I...” she said as she knelt down to pick them up. Alyssa rushed to help her but I kept walking. I knew there was nothing I could do. There was no way I could kneel down in what I was wearing.

I had on a brilliant ivory zip line dress.
It had an exposed zipper in the front and the straps were wide enough to cover any hint of my bra, keeping me in compliance with school rules. Barely. The dress hugged my body tightly and came down to my mid-thigh. It was probably illegal in some countries.

I never would have worn the dress to school in a million years… until my girls somehow managed to peer pressure me into it.
I felt insanely uncomfortable at first but after a few minutes of seeing every head swivel in my direction I started to like it just a little. I knew I had a nice-looking body. It was usually safely hidden beneath jeans and sweatshirts but now it was certainly on display. My legs and arms were toned from soccer and working out all the time and my stomach was flat. Thanks to Alyssa, my blond hair was wavy and cascaded down around my shoulders. I felt like I was going to a dance. As I walked through the hallway, I felt a bit like I was on a catwalk. I may have even heard a few people clap in appreciation.

As I sat through my first two classes, however, my nerves grew.
There was no way that Sam was actually going to kiss me. This was just a fantasy. If we had been going out for weeks then maybe but I had never even said a word to the boy. Our plan had been to ambush him in the hallway before third period but I needed to get to the girls and call this off. Otherwise, the only thing we would achieve would be my everlasting humiliation.

“Girls!”
I hissed when I saw the three of them standing there waiting for me in the hallway. 

“Oh good, there she is,” Payton said.
“Come on, let’s get this started. Game time.”

“No, girls, I don’t want too…” I said.

Payton had already seized my hand and propelled me forward. I slipped a little as the smooth soles of my shoes slid on the hard tile floor. I silently congratulated myself on being able to resist the girls’ entreaties to buy something with heels.

“Really, girls,” I said.
“I don’t think this is such a good…”

“OMG!”
Olivia said. “He’s right there!”

My head whipped back around and I saw Sam and his friends walking directly towards us.
He looked great in a tight-fitting long-sleeve shirt and jeans. This was not good. We had expected them to be hanging around his locker. He must have gotten his stuff earlier than usual.

“Abort.
Abort!” I whispered.

“What?” Alyssa asked.

“Plan A isn’t going to work,” Olivia said.

“Plan B,” Payton said.
“Damsel in distress.”

“What’s damsel in…” I started to ask.

“Oh that’s so funny,” Payton said loudly. 

I felt a playful shove on my shoulder.
Except that it was too hard. “Whoa!” I said as my shoes began to slide across the floor.”

“She’s slipping!” I hear Payton cry.

I felt myself fall and I braced for impact. 

Instead of hitting the floor, however, I landed in someone’s arms.
Strong arms. I waited but they did not drop me. Hesitantly, I opened my eyes.

Two beautiful and concerned eyes were staring back at me.
Sam Queen was kneeling on one knee and cradling me protectively in his arms. I could feel his tight chest and ab muscles through his shirt. I couldn’t help but notice that he smelled good too.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a voice that was surprisingly deep for a 16-year old.

“Yes, thank you,” I said as he helped me to my feet. “I’m sorry, my friend can be a bit over enthusiastic at times. And stupid,” I said as I gave the wide-eyed, innocently looking Payton a quick glare. “I’m lucky you were there to help me.”

I reached out to pat his arm in thanks.
Somehow, my pat turned into more of a soft stroke. Okay, so maybe I was a little bit attracted to him. He had just saved me from great humiliation, however, and I did not want to put him out any more. 

“Well, anyways, thanks for your help,” I said.
“You are very quick on your feet. Great reflexes. And strong too.” Now why had I said that? I bit my lip to keep from talking and making a bigger fool of myself.

“Yeah, uh, anytime,” Sam said.
“I’m Sam by the way. Sam Queen. I don’t know that we’ve met before.”

“Of course, sorry,” I said.
“I’m…”

“Sadie Anderson,” he finished for me.
“I know. You’re the captain of the soccer team. I’ve seen you play. You’re really good.”

“Oh, well thanks,” I said.
“Well I should go.” I just needed this humiliation to be over. “See you around, I hope.”

“Yeah,” Sam said as one of his buddies gave him a playful nudge.
For some reason the nudger had a smirk on his face. “I hope I’ll see you around soon,” Sam said.

As soon as we were out of earshot I rounded on Payton.
“That was awful!” I exclaimed. “That’s it. We’re done with this game. No more. That was humiliating.”

To my surprise, all three girls had huge smiles on their faces.
“Are you kidding?” Olivia asked. “That was a huge success. You two were flirting like crazy. He obviously likes you."

“No, not possible,” I said.
“I looked like a complete idiot. He was nice, though. Hey, what did you mean when you said Plan B?”

“Well, you are pretty clumsy,” Payton said.
“We had a backup plan just in case something like that happened. You make a good damsel in distress. We figured plenty of guys would want to rescue you.”

“Idiots, all of you,” I said.
And then, “Do you really think he liked me?”

“Definitely,” Alyssa said with a smile.

It turned out we didn’t have to wait long for verification. Payton and I were leaving the lunch room together when Sam suddenly appeared at my side, this time without his friends. Payton instantly melted back into the crowd, leaving us alone.

“Are you feeling better after your fall?” Sam asked me.
“No more slips?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine,” I said.
“I just got these new shoes and they don’t have much traction. My friends convinced me to buy them to go with this dress. It’s new too.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Sam said.
“Well, I mean I noticed that it looked new. The dress, I mean.”

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.
He was trying to play it cool but he actually looked a bit nervous. If I didn’t know better I’d say that the baseball star was blushing.

Then it hit me.
Underneath that cool, sexy exterior, Sam was just as nervous as I was. Maybe even more so. Boys weren’t some sort of different species. They had their own insecurities and inhibitions. Confidence might come with time but this boy was not there yet.

“Have you ever been in the east gym before?” I asked on an impulse.
 

“The… what?” he asked.
“The little one nobody uses anymore? Once.”

“Come with me,” I said.
I grabbed his hand. It felt large and smooth but quickly began to get warmer and warmer as I led Sam through the building and into the gym.

When I came face to face with him he looked openly nervous and excited.
“What do you have in mind?” he asked. His voice echoed throughout the empty gym.

I stared at his beautiful eyes and chiseled jaw line.
I felt weak in the knees but I forced myself to stand straight.

I took a deep breath and then went for it.
“Thank you for helping me in the hallway,” I said. “But it wasn’t totally an accident that I slipped. My friends and I think you’re cute. Really cute. We kinda started talking about what it would be like to kiss you and, well, my friend just thought she would give me a helping nudge. I’m sorry.”

I don’t know why I apologized but, for some reason, Sam smiled.
His nervousness seemed to wash away.

“You think I’m cute?” he asked.

I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything else.

“I think you’re cute,” he said in return.
“I have a confession to make as well. My buddies gave me a hard time about you. They think you’re hot and they dared me to find out if you were interested in me. I went along with it because I think you’re hot too. And nice and athletic and really smart.”

Sam took step towards me, invading my personal space.
I breathed deeply. His face had taken on a slightly cocky smile but I found it attractive on him. I liked a boy with a bit of swagger. 

“So if you think I’m cute and I think you’re cute,” he said in a low voice, “doesn’t that mean we should make out or something?”

He picked up my hand and pressed it against his chest. I could feel his heart beating rapidly against his hard chest. 

He reached forward with his hand and softly touched the side of my face.
Then he moved closer so that his body was pressed up against mine. He bent his head down and closed his eyes. 

I lifted my head instinctively to meet his.
I parted my lips. 

His lips brushed mine softly at first and then the pressure grew.
I didn’t know what to do so I followed his lead. It didn’t feel like kissing a slug at all. It was like… heaven.