It Started With A Kiss

Chapter 2: Summer Love

It was the first day of third grade.  She was assigned this seat because she was late, the last kid to walk in.  She hadn’t even noticed the boy sitting next to her because as soon as she walked in, the teacher rushed her to her seat, shoved a paper in front of her, and gave her the assignment. 

  Red. Red. Red.  She thought as she dug through the crayon box.  She tossed aside the broken pieces: Blue dirtied by black, purple too small to use, dull green…“I thought I had a red crayon.” She thought aloud.  “Here, you can use mine!” A voice chirped beside her.  Her big, round hazel eyes met with almond-shaped, caramel ones.  The boy held out his hand, the thin red crayon lay in his palm.  His dark short hair was unkempt, as if it was a windy day or like someone had ruffled the top of his head.  The strands stuck out in every which direction.  Her eyes shyly fell downward to his name written in big, bright red scrawl on his paper: Seiji.  She looked into that sincere, smiling face and said shyly, “thank you.”  “You’re welcome,” he said.  “Here, you can use any other ones you need, too.” He pushed his crayon box toward her.  She reached in and grabbed a perfectly intact orange crayon and wrote her name on her own paper. 

     Since then they had become inseparable.

     In elementary school, they were boyfriend and girlfriend for a week.  In middle school they were just friends.  Exams to get into high school were hard, especially for Seiji.  He was determined to get into the same school as his best friend, so he enrolled in cram school. 

     He had classes until six in the evening.  His parents worried he was overworking himself, so when his classes ended for the summer they went away on an extended vacation to Okinawa.

*

     Airi sat on the swing in her backyard.  It was another hot summer day.  The white sun burned high in the cerulean sky.  Heat waves radiated off the cement.  Even the grass under her bare feet felt blistering hot.  Cool, red liquid trickled over her knuckles and down her palm from her melting popsicle.  She licked the sticky goo before it ran down her arm.  Her auburn tresses were tied back in a bun.  She tucked back loose strands of hair behind her ears with her free hand.  She lifted her bangs with the back of her hand and wiped the sweat from her forehead.        

     School would be starting in a week and Seiji still wasn’t back from vacation.  She pulled out the last post card he had sent her from the front pocket of her mustard-colored sundress.  She stared at the glossy picture of a Zen garden.  She flipped it over to read his short message: Hey, Airi! I’m in Aoshima having fun without you!  I found a souvenir for you.  Sorry, it’s not food! :-p My mom and dad say hi, too.  See you soon.  She shoved the post card back in her pocket.

     She tossed her popsicle stick on the ground.  She tucked in her bottom lip.  All of her friends were away for the summer.  Her parents couldn’t afford to send her to camp or take a vacation.  She sighed heavily and kicked herself into motion on the swing.  The air was hot and thick.

     The swing slowed and suddenly came to an abrupt stop.  The shadow of a figure covered the beaming, scorching rays of the sun.  She whipped around and looked up into familiar light brown eyes.  She gasped in surprise.  He was so tall!  Before he had left they were nearly the same height, around five feet.  Her best friend had changed drastically over the last three months.  His shoulders were broad.  His chocolate strands were now locks, still a good length for a boy, but long enough to cover half of the back of his neck.  She stood up and raised a hand to his head.  He only smiled when she reached up to touch the tips of his straight hair.  She tentatively let the strands slide between her fingers.  Her hazel eyes gazed at the soft hair between her finger tips.  He leaned down to look her in the eyes and said, “Hi.”   

     Her eyes widened and she took a step back.  She sheepishly greeted, “Oh, sorry.  Hi.”  She lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers.  He flashed a smile before he broke into laughter.  “I’m sorry,” he said between breaths, “but, you should see the look on your face right now.”  She frowned and narrowed her eyes at him.  “You-you surprised me, what do you expect?” She replied defensively.  She felt her cheeks growing warm.  She turned her back to him.  “Aw, come on.  Don’t be mad.”  He said, still chuckling.  He placed a large hand on her shoulder to keep her from walking away.

     Her bare shoulder was soft.  His palm brushed the curve of her shoulder as she pulled away from him.  She whipped around and said with a cheeky grin, “So, what’d you bring me?”  He gave her a blank stare and replied, “What do you mean?”  “In your postcard, you said you got me something.”  She answered.  She closed her eyes and held out her hand. 

     She felt something soft placed in her palm.  She opened her eyes and looked down at the keychain that rested in her palm.  A plush, magenta elephant with black beady eyes stared up at her.  “When I saw it, I thought of you.  I don’t know.  It’s nothing really.  I probably should’ve brought you back cookies.”  He said as he nervously ran a hand back through his hair.  “It’s cute.” She said with a smile.  “You don’t like it.” he said flatly.  “Yes, I do!  I swear!” She exclaimed as she clutched the key chain to her chest. 

     “So, what’d you do this summer?”  He asked as he took a seat in the swing beside hers.  She shrugged and replied, “I helped mom clean up the house.  I earned some money babysitting for the neighbors, and just read a few books from the library.”  “That’s cool,” he stated.  “When my mom develops all the pictures I’ll show you all the stuff we did.  It was fun, but I’m glad to be home.  Even though we were on vacation, we didn’t have any down time.” 

     “So, where are you going to high school?” She reluctantly asked.  She stared down at the keychain in her lap.  He bumped his hip against hers as he replied, “The same as you, silly!  You think I worked hard for nothing?”  “Oh, that’s great!  I hope we have the same classes.” She chirped. 

     He stood up and leaned over Airi.  He grabbed both chains of her swing and looked down at her as he said, “Well, I should get home and help mom and dad unpack.  I just wanted to stop by.”  “Thanks for the keychain and congrats on passing!”  She exclaimed with a bright smile.  “There’s something else I want to give you still.”  He said as he leaned down closer to her eye level. 

     She gawked at him with her wide green eyes as he leaned in even closer.  His eyelids slid closed and his lips lightly brushed hers.  She instantly felt her cheeks flush. “I’ll call you later,” he said nonchalantly and smoothly walked away, leaving behind a stunned Airi.