JAMES
I sat on the swing of my family's front porch, reading a book.
My childhood home was a big, white Victorian home with a wraparound porch and two pillars on either side of the front door. It had a big yard that I played in with my sister when I was younger. It would be the house I would end up living in for the rest of my life.
I looked up from the book when I heard soft footsteps coming up the walkway. I froze when I saw Martha walking my way.
She stopped at the bottom of the stairs. We just looked at each other. She looked even more beautiful than when I first met her.
"Good morning, Mr. Robertson." She greeted first.
I smiled and placed my book beside me. "Good morning, Miss. Parilli."
Martha pointed at the swing. "May I sit down?"
"You most certainly can." I said and slid over, placing my book on my lap. The swing moved a bit when she sat down.
"Your home is beautiful." I have given her my address a few days earlier and now I guess was the perfect time for her to show up.
"Thank you. My father built it from scratch before I was born."
Martha looked around. "I can tell. It looks hand made. It always looks better when it's hand made."
"Why'd you stop by?" I asked.
"I can't just come and give you a surprise visit?"
I shook my head. "No. But usually people have a valid reason in all honesty."
"Well, I'm not like those people. I just wanted to see you."
"I wanted to see you too." I smiled at her.
"Then why didn't you?"
I shrugged. "I never found the right time."
She nodded. "So, now is the right time?"
I shrugged again. Another force of habit I have for when people ask me questions and I don't know how to answer right away. "I guess." We sat in silence for a moment. "Can I ask you something?"
Martha nodded. "Sure."
I took a deep breath and smiled. "Will you go out with me?"
"What?"
"Please don't make me say it again."
She laughed at my comment. "Yes! About time!" She cheered and wrapped her arms around me into a hug. "I've been waiting for you to ask me."
"Why didn't you ask me?"
"Gender stereotypes' and such."
I smiled. "Then I guess we have ourselves a date. Want to see a movie and then go out to dinner?"
She smiled back. "That sounds lovely." She hugged me again.
I walked up to her house, nervous. This was my first date. I didn't want to mess it up. I took a deep breath before knocking on her front door.
The door was opened by her mother. "Hello, James."
"Hello, Mrs. Parilli."
She smiled at me. "Martha is just about finished. Come inside."
I nodded and followed her through the door.
"Martha. James is here!" Mrs. Parilli called up the stairs. She turned to me. "She's very excited."
I stared at the stairs as Martha walked down. Her hair was curled up in an old fashioned bun. She wore a navy blue dress with matching heals. She looked so beautiful. She took my breath away.
"Hey, James." She said once she was in front of me.
"Hey." I said trying not to sound nervous.
"You got a car?" She asked.
I nodded. "Yes, I do."
She smiled. "Nice."
We both said bye to her mother and left the house.
"Now, why do we need my car anyway?" I asked as we stepped onto the front lawn. "It's a small town. Everything is basically all around the corner from each other."
"I want to leave the town." She said. She seemed full of joy and happiness. Seeing her like this made me feel just as happy. "Go on an adventure. Go someplace I've never seen."
"And where would that be?"
"How about New Bern?"
"You sure?"
She stopped moving and looked at me. "Is that okay with you?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I love New Bern."
She gave a toothy smile and moved towards me to walk at my side.
"I'm so excited."
"Me too." I said. I was. I wanted this since the day I met her. "You know now we have to walk all the way to my house to grab my car?"
She nodded. "I enjoy a good walk."
I smiled down at her. She was about five feet, three inches while I stood at five feet, nine inches. I always liked a short girl. "Me too."
"So, is your whole family from North Carolina?" She asked making slight conversation. I liked how she knew how to keep a conversation going.
"No." I said. "Most of my family came here from Italy before I was born. Including my parents."
She gave a slight laugh. "You couldn't tell by their perfect American accents."
"Well, they've been here a long time."
"How old are you?" She asked. "My mother said you were somewhere around my age."
"I'm 23."
"21."
I smiled down at her as we continued walking. "Perfect."
She suddenly grabbed my hand, lifting it up and twirled underneath it before settling at my side again. Her hand never leaving mine. I chuckled at her playfulness. "I just love it here." She said. Her voice full of joy and adventure.
"We agree on something."
"I bet we agree on a lot of stuff."
We weren't silent for long when we arrived back at my family home. "Wait here a second." I said and walked over to my car.
"What are you doing?"
I smiled at her as I reached into the car and turned on the radio. I held a hand out to her as I walked towards her. Her hand extended and she met me half way. I grabbed her hand. "May I have this dance?"
"What about New Bern?"
"New Bern can wait." I spun her around and brought her closer to me. I held her hand as I had a hand on her waist and she had one resting on my shoulder.
"You're a pretty good dancer."
"My parents taught me." I spun her around again and brought her back.
"My parents taught me this." She dipped perfectly straight behind her. Keeping her balance by holding my hand. I went along with it. My parents taught me the same thing.
"You're pretty good."
She came back up. Our faces coming incredibly close with one another. "You too."
Our faces moved slowly closer to each other. Our lips coming out until our lips connected. The music faded in the background as I slowly kissed her. When I kissed her the world seemed to have stopped. It felt like time was frozen. It felt like it lasted forever.
She slowly leaned back and looked at me. She wasn't smiling. I thought I have done something wrong until a big smile came on her face.
"New Bern?"
"I want to do one more thing." She smiled as I cupped her face and kissed her again.
The story always begins with the first kiss...